Tip #8 comes in the midst of all the summer fun and excitement. There is always something to do during the summer, right?
All of these activities and running around could cost you little by little, adding up to big amounts over time.
Before we moved from our first house, it seemed like we were always doing something. Even when we weren’t out doing anything, we were out doing “something”. I don’t know why we were always away from home, but it seemed as though we always had to be on the go. Sitting home just was not exciting enough for us, I guess.
One day, I vividly recall thinking…we are never home. Our neighbors are all content at home while we are always finding something to do; anything.
In our new home, we have found contentment in being home. We also found savings in being home.
We were spending less on gas. We were spending less on stopping somewhere to grab a bite to eat. The need to stop for a bottled water or soft drink to quench our thirst at the gas station was not there anymore. Most of all though, we were spending less on things that we truly just did not need.
Part of this may have come in the way of higher living expenses with our new home or it may have just come in the fact that we realized before moving from our first home that all that mindless, meaningless running around was costing us big.
Look at your habits. Are you making trips that could be combined into one? Are you bored and needing something to do therefore spending more than you probably should.
Until you look at your life and the things you do, you may not even realize that all that endless “running around” is draining your wallet of your hard earned Nickels-n-Dimes!
To see past posts and the rest of the scheduled series in this Summer Savings Blitz, GO HERE.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s true!! Recently I’ve been running much and I notice a HUGE spending increase, not for things that I really care about long term either!! The things I’ve been doing HAD to be done so unavoidable, but still… If you can plan, it helps, but still costly! Fatigue from this makes me much more likely to be less “cost efficient” too!
If you bring your own drinks,water, ect. and take a bike to find something to do you can get out of the house, spend no money and get exercise all at the same time. If you can do it like this it will actually save you money if you turn your ac temp up or heat down while your not at home. Your not using electric for tv’s computers ect and stop at gas stations to use the bathroom your saving water and TP. You may feel like you need to buy something to do that but you do not, none of them have signs that say must make purchase to use the potty. Me and my family go out and do something almost everyday and it doesn’t cost us a dime! We go to local parks, library, and anything else we can do for free. Just look around and use your imagination you can find lots to do close enough to the house to ride to!
All great ideas Ben! We recently purchased a bike rack for our vacation to Hilton Head and love having it.