Time for another list. This one is a tad different. Would you like to save 10K in one year? Are you determined, willing to do anything (legal!) to save that kind of money? Then this list is for you. Just do these simple things, and I guarantee that you will save 10,000 dollars, this year!!!
If you are super-serious about getting out of debt, then you could do the above things and guarantee some super-mega savings. Just think, if you saved 10K this year, and put it into a decent mutual fund averaging a 10 percent annual return, in 30 years your 10K would have turned into over 150,000 dollars!!!
Now, I know that the above numbers are not “perfect” and do not represent the exact monthly or weekly cost for certain items, but it does give you an idea of some of the “radical” steps you “could take” if you really, really got intense about getting out of debt and saving money.
mmmm… exept no tv, no cell phone, no vacation, no gifts…
this list is perfect!!!
The problem is this list assumes you have the money to do these things and are already doing them. I save millions per year by not spending per millons per year yet I do not have the saved millions between any of my mattresses. What am I doing wrong?
I know the post is old but looking at it a bit more critically the list is a bit off. No Netflix? how about no movies out? For example, I spend $30 a MONTH on entertainment in the form of unlimited Netflix streaming and an online gaming subscription. That is a lot less expensive than a single Saturday NIGHT out with dinner drinks maybe a movie and perhaps a cab ride home (or the gas to drive).
Also, like Phred says, the list assumes you have money to do those things. I don’t remember the last time I bought coffee at a shop or bought flowers. Some of us are already cutting expenses drastically.
Cutting things out like a phone (my only phone is my cell) or internet (which allows me to manage job searches, finances, look at news, communicate with friends and family etc…) would be self defeating because the ‘traditional’ means of doing those things is actually more expensive, ie driving to visit people, buying a newspaper for the classifieds, driving around town to apply for jobs.
Cut expenses on unnecessary things but keep using services that allow you greater value than the alternative and those that will help you improve your station in life.