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3 Budget Hacks to Do in 2021
Ready to save hundreds of dollars every month? In this article I will discuss three genius budget hacks that you can save hundreds every month on your budget in 2021!
There are so many common ways that I have heard people advise to cut money from a budget and save money. For example, it you likely have heard the suggestion to stop going out to eat, stop drinking your Starbucks, and to quit entertaining yourself by going to the movies.
I feel like everyone talks about doing all these restrictive things, and honestly, they just reduce your quality of life and just make you more frustrated.
However, everyone seems to be missing out these three big bucket hacks that could be saving you so much more money!
I have paid off tens of thousands of dollars this past year in student debt, in order to live debt free, and eventually achieve status of being financially free. With that in mind, I’m going over a topic that has proven as successful in my life to pay of a huge amount of debt!
The three budget hacks to do in 2021 include:
- Hack your living costs
- Hack your food costs
- Hack your travel costs
1. How to Hack Your Living Costs
This first concept was discussed in my favorite personal finance book called Set for Life by Scott Trench.
The idea here is to automatically save your monthly budget without any extra effort!
Now, this topic may be a bit controversial. The reason I say that is because a lot of people do not want to admit that this is likely one of the best ways to save money every month.
Let us take a step back and realize what’s in your monthly budget. So, of course your budget you have your housing expenses, food, gas, your regular bills, and a handful of differing categories that you spend money on.
Yet, when you look at your budget, what is the most expensive budget category? In a typical budget, your living expense is the most expensive!
As mentioned above, so many people talk about saving money by quitting your coffee routine or by no longer doing those small things in your life that bring you happiness!
Fixed and Variable Expenses
To better understand this first budget hack, you have to realize the difference between your fixed expenses and your variable expenses.
Fixed expenses are expenses that don’t change month by month. This can include housing costs and student debt payments, for example.
Variable expenses are costs that vary month by month. This can include food, entertainment, or even personal care.
Now, I want you to consider this concept: You could choose to stop going to Starbuck or out to the bars and stop going out with friends or make one simple change.
Change Where You Live
Let’s be honest, you do not have to live in the most prestigious suburb and you don’t have to send your kids to the best school in your city. If you were to go to the second best suburb or city, how much would that save you in living costs?
Housing costs vary depending on where you live! If you are working diligently to save every dollar you can, yet you live in one of the higher-class suburbs, imagine how it would feel to save an extra few hundred dollars a month from changing where you live.
If this budget hack is too difficult to implement in your life, then consider house hacking! This is a rental investing opportunity that is available to anyone and is the easiest to do!
I recommend you check out The House Hacking Strategy by Craig Curelop to learn more!
2. How to Hack Your Food Costs
Food is incredibly expensive if you’re someone who goes out to eat frequently. We all know this!
I will be honest and say that this was the hardest budget category to cut out of my life because I love going out to eat. It is something that I truly enjoy doing and it really makes my heart happy.
These 4 budget hacks will decrease your food expenses:
- Meal prep your breakfast
- Learn how to make your own signature coffee drinks
- Choose only one night to go out to eat and make it a reward, not a regular event
- Double all of your recipes and package the extras for lunches and dinners
Consider Health Costs
Thing is, we all know that eating out is expensive. However, I want you to consider something else that can hack your budget.
I absolutely advocate for healthier choices and so this is something where you need to realize the cost of your health down the road. If you ate healthier over the next few years, could this help you on your fitness journey or to lower your cholesterol?
Rising Costs of Fast Food
Fast food used to be so much cheaper! Nowadays, it is common to spend anywhere from $6 to $10 during a fast food run. Gone are the days of spending $3 at McDonalds.
Here are a few tips to really save money on your food costs:
- Do not go out to eat for breakfast
Eating fast food for breakfast is overall not a good choice. I am not here to give you any health advice or recommendations, but the cost of breakfast options are still rising and adding up your food costs.
- Always keep snacks nearby
Having energy bars, nuts, or other healthy snacks at your office desk or in your car can make a huge improvement regarding your cravings for eating out!
- Meal prep
Ever since switching to meal prepping for 50%-75% of my meals, my food costs have dropped dramatically. I now spend half of what I spent of food.
3. How to Hack Travel Costs
This concept of hacking travel costs is another one that is not often discussed in books and posts regarding how to save money!
This budget hack takes a bit of upfront effort but can save you a considerable amount of money in the long run.
How Much is Your Time Worth?
In regard to the word “travel”, I don’t mean traveling for leisure. Instead, here I am talking about traveling to work.
I used to travel 40+ minutes to work every day. It equated to over an hour every day spent driving. When you think about it, this really adds up, especially for a people who drive over an hour to work!
Your travel to and from work can be a significant amount of time that you could either putting in toward your side hustles or your other money making efforts! Additionally, that is time that could be put to, learning in order to grow in skills or to expand your passive income streams.
For my husband and I, we have now save hundreds every month in time cost and in gas by living closer to work. It is actually more significant than you realize if you’re someone who really does live far away from work!
Here are a few hacks to save money on your travel costs:
- Move closer to work
- Bike or use alternate options to travel to work, aside from a car
- Car pool with a coworker, family member, or friend
- Consider public transportation options
When you consider how much you are worth per hour, imagine what an extra hour or so each day could provide to you. If you get paid and work per hour, you potentially can get paid an extra hour in a day. This extra time could be huge if you do not currently get a lot of time with your family.
The time cost that you can gain back, compounded over a year or more, can add up to be more than you would imagine. However, the problem with this is that your travel expenses are not easily fixed overnight.
Ready to finally tackle your finances? Do a financial reset with this step-by-step guide!
Using Budget Hacks to Save Money
When you combine the first and the third of these budget hacks, you can potentially save multiple hundreds of dollars every month! Plus, you would not have to sacrifice anything else in your life!
In order to save money, you have to really break it down and consider what sacrifices you are willing to make to get the extra hundreds of dollars every month.
On one hand you could work really hard on a side hustle or work extra overtime. Or just change where you’re living and your food expenses. Which would you think is best for these next few years of your debt free journey or journey to financial freedom?
If you’re really intense about saving money and you need ideas that will easily help you get a few hundreds of dollars more a month, then these three ways will do you wonders! I know these three topics are a little bit more controversial but it is important to consider if you really need to save money.
This is not as easy to say stopping your morning Starbucks coffee. These budget hacks can save you hundreds more in 2021!
