I was driving in the car with my co-workers the other day when I made a quick call, “Hi, this is Christie. I just got a missed call from you. Yes, I will be in later today to pick up my library book.” Before I would even hit “end call”, they both shouted, “LIBRARY BOOK?!”
I get all of my books and movies from the library (if movies are not available on Netflix). I shared this information with my friends, “What do you mean? You can get movies for free?”
Yes, it shocks me that this is shocking.
And then it brought me back to the question I still get asked constantly, how do you afford to travel so often? And I’ve talked about this before in my article, How I Afford to Travel and (How You can Too) and the secret is simple. I am intentional with how I want to spend my money. I am not merely saving to practice frugality, I’m saving to spend it intentionally on things I care about.
Why are you choosing to pay for things when you don’t have to? Yes, the library gives enormous amounts of free resources from books, audio books, movies, to fitness classes, cooking classes, writing workshops, and so much more.
I get books and movies from the library. I park where it’s free and walk instead of paying the meter. I make my breakfast and tea before I go and I bring my lunch and snacks to work. I drive a little bit further to movie theaters that have $5 tickets. I take a defensive driving class every 3 years to lower my insurance rates. I drive the most affordable base model car I could find. I only stop for gas where it’s the cheapest. I never (and I mean never) get my nails done. And I rarely eat out.
It’s very easy to say, “Wow, you’re so cheap. It’s $3 for parking. Or what’s an the extra 20 cents a gallon?” If there is an option to do it for free or cheaper, why not take it and spend it on things that matter to you?
Let’s break down the sum of these small expenses:
In one year, if you..
..rent one movie a week, you’ve spent $207.50.
..buy a coffee on your way to work every morning, you’ve spent $1,040
..buy a slice of pizza and a soda for lunch every work day, you’ve spent $1,300.
..get your nails done every two weeks, you’ve spent $720
..spent $100 a month on clothing or accessories, you’ve spent $1,200.
For a grand total of $4,467.50.
My week trip to Ireland cost less than $1,200 including flight, food, transportation, and accommodations.
So tell me, can you still not afford to travel or are you just spending your money elsewhere?
Spending money where money doesn’t need to be spent is an epidemic. Technology makes us impatient. We need immediate gratification. Especially now in the world of “Swipe up”/ Prime shipping/ Facebook ads targeting our real-life conversations (we’re onto you, Facebook) It’s hard to not make one-click purchases and enjoy the convenience of getting it now.
Are you guilty of this?
Do you buy movies or books on Amazon?
Are you paying for multiple subscription services? Hulu, Netflix, Prime, HBOgo, Showtime, Apple Music?
Are you paying for a gym membership that you don’t even to go? (Talking to myself here)
Do you stop at Starbucks or Dunkin for coffee on your way to work?
Are you using apps like Uber-eats and Door-dash?
Are you paying for delivery charges on your food?
Are you eating out instead of making food at home?
Do you spend your downtime online shopping?
Do you take weekly trips to Marshalls, Target, or Home Goods?
If you nodded yes to most of these, you are unconsciously spending seemingly small amounts of money that’s adding up to a large sum.
Here’s the trick: When you don’t have a plan on how you want to spend your money, you can justify spending it on anything and that’s where the trouble starts.
To be intentional, you need to know what you prioritize. What would you be glad to spend your money on? By creating spending goals, it’s easier to say no to things that don’t fit into that criteria. Once you figure out what’s important, its easy to see what’s not.
Now the whole point of this is not to guilt you into sacrificing every small thing that brings you joy and never spend another dollar without a plan. If your Starbucks is thats the one thing you look forward to in the morning, get your Starbucks. But be honest with yourself about what you need and what feels good to invest in. That’s different for everybody. If you are dying for a Gucci bag, stop having retail therapy at Forever 21. If you want to take a trip to Europe, stop planning brunches in NYC. If you go to bottomless brunch 5x in a year, you could have bought a flight to Rome.
I automated this for myself to make it easier. I created an IRA and a savings account with multiple sub-savings groups including “Travel”, “Photography”, “Emergencies”. Every month, $100 goes into each one of these categories automatically. Even when I don’t have a trip planned, I know I will have a cushion of money set aside if I decide I want to. Also, with the money taken out of my account automatically, it it limits my ability to spend frivolously.
If you stopped buying things that you don’t value, you’ll have enough money for the things that you do. But most importantly if there is one thing you take away from this article, get a damn library card!
Do you guys have any budgeting/savings tips? Does this seem more realistic when you break it down like this?
I’m interested in hearing your thoughts.
I am working on more itineraries for Greece, Spain, Italy, and France. If you’re interested, make sure to sign up for my mailing list. That’s the only place they will be available for free.
Happy journeys,
CK
