In a world where most people are NOT self employed, instantly creating more income is not that easy. In my opinion, cutting your spending is a much more important tool for creating financial freedom. Every dollar you save and invest is going to generate income for you. Eventually your money will be making more money than you can, so let’s learn to get out of the way of the numerous employees (dollars) who are begging to get to work.
Most people know some basic financial advice such as “pay off your credit cards”, “don’t get into debt” Boring! I already heard that one. This post is designed for the people who want to know why they aren’t saving more money, and the answer in my mind, is that social norms of what “most people do” are crushing savings accounts. Let’s evaluate alternatives, save thousands of dollars, and live a happier life.
Cycle
As an avid cyclist, I will be honest, I hate unnecessary driving. I was at my local bike shop and chatting with one of their bike techs who told me “Cars are coffins”. I don’t know if I would go that far, but it is amazing to me that taking a large, inefficient vehicle is most people’s ONLY mode of transportation. I don’t want to pay money anytime I need to go somewhere, talk about crippling! By biking, we can improve our health and our wallets at the same time.
Disregarding the tremendous health benefits to cycling, I’m going to give my example of how much money I save every month from cycling. I chose to cancel my car registration so the estimates are based off of that.
| Car Insurance | $100 / month |
| Parking | $70 / month |
| Gas | $120 / month |
| Maintenance | $50 / month |
| Grand Total | $340 / month |
Since my car is paid off, I didn’t include any lease amounts, but regardless, the amount that I save each month by cycling is a significant amount that goes straight into investments upon payday.
Now when I talk about cycling, the first problem most people say is “What about when I need to get groceries?” Now, I handle this question via my bike rack and pannier bags, and then if more groceries are required, via a bike trailer.
Using cycling as an option is my number one recommendation for turbocharging your finances. If you don’t yet have a bike, no worries, there are many low cost options available. Take a look to see if there are any local bike co-ops. Here in Saskatoon, we have the Bridge City Bike Coop which is a great service to help fix your bike or set you up with one for a low price.
Cut your own hair
When I moved to downtown Saskatoon, I tried out a new local hairstylist that offered men’s haircuts for $35 and up. After the haircut, I was left with a bill that cost me more than $50 before the tip, ouch! This was the catalyst that caused me to start cutting my own hair.
I asked my girlfriend if she would cut my hair, but she was a bit scared at first. So taking matters into my own hands, I used my universal hair trimmer ($50 at Shoppers Drug Mart) and went with the old buzz cut for extra breeziness. The top was a little shorter than I like to go, so I’ve started buzzing the sides only and doing the top with scissors. My girlfriend helps me out with the tougher spots such as the back of the neck and gives me quick feedback if I made a mistake.
The money saved for a men’s haircut is not a huge amount, but I really like the time it has freed up to do other things. I also like that I can do a quick touch up on the sides and back which cleans up the look tremendously. Highly recommended!
| Cut your own hair! | $35 or more / month |
Use Your Local Library
As humans, we need to be gathering fresh information to be excited about life. Books are a super way to get that excitement back. Although purchasing books is money well spent, our local library has almost every single book available, so why not borrow it?
Some books I take out and never read because I realize they aren’t that interesting. This is all fine and dandy with a library card. Do you really need more stuff laying around your house anyways, it’s almost always better to borrow something if you’re only going to use it once.
My current savings from the library for the year are greater than $600 and the year is only half way through. So cost savings are based off of that.
| Borrow books from library | $100 / month |
When’s the last time you used the library? It’s time to start again.
Make Your Own Beer and Wine
Making your own liquor is one of those tasks that seems daunting at first, but is so easy and delicious that it’s a no-brainer. The cost savings and fun that come from making beer and wine are huge.
My girlfriend, Chelsea and I have made about 7-8 batches of homemade beer, and recently made our first batch of homemade wine. The beer is generally better than most bought beers and costs less than $0.50 a beer. I also like that we are reusing the bottles rather than having to send them away to be melted down which is more energy efficient.
A typical batch of homemade beer will cost about $30 or less and will make 60+ beers. The cost for 60 of my favorite store bought beers is $165 in Saskatchewan. At less than 1/5th of the price, it’s hard to ignore this exceptional way to save money. If you compare to a restaurant or a bar, it’s about 1/10th of the cost. Whatever happened to predrinks anyways? I think it’s time to revive the trend!
A quick way to get into home brewing is with a starter kit. Northern Brewer has a great offering below for $100 which includes everything you need to brew your first batch.
https://northernbrewer.ca/collections/shop-kits/products/brew-share-enjoy-kit
I am currently taking my beer making up a notch and am getting into steeping grains while still using liquid malt extract as the main source of the sugars. Steeping some grains allows for customization while using the liquid malt extract makes the process easier.
For more information on brewing your own beer I recommend “How to Brew” by John. J. Palmer.
I estimate the cost savings based off of 12 beer per week and a bottle of wine.
| Homemade beer and wine | $150 / month |
These are a few things that can be done to supercharge savings, and have more fun at the same time. Stop giving away money when lower cost, funner alternatives are available!
Amazing article! Very good ready and astoundingly accurate!
All great ways to save money . I may even check out biking more often . I would also like to add that picking the free fruit that grows in the summer is great . Free and nutritious . So many people let their fruit just fall and rot . It is amazing how many ppl will let you just go pick their fruit for free . Today I made raspberry jam .
Good work Adam!!! I liked your ideas around cycling. On haircuts, I personally am glad to support a local hair dresser. I have been blessed with a good job, and I feel it’s a privilege to support a hardworking stylist with my business and tip as well. Of course, haircuts are cheaper here than in the big city.