Image via sushi♥ina
If you haven’t already checked out Money Rabbit’s Gen Y financial blog, you probably should. Thanks to the fact that she records what she spends each week, I also started doing the same each day.
I was pretty appalled by how much money I spent last week on food and frivolous items, so I decided to try a little experiment this week and see if I could spend only what was necessary for travel, in this case being about $20 in bus fare.
This is how I did….
Monday:
$4 Bus Fare
No Spend Day
Tuesday:
$2 Bus Fare
No Spend Day
Wednesday:
$4 Bus Fare
No Spend Day
Thursday:
$4 Bus Fare
No Spend day
Friday:
$6 Bus Fare
No Spend Day
I’m proud to say that I did it! I only spent $20 this week, and it was only for traveling to and from work! And believe it or not, it wasn’t very hard to resist the temptation of spending money.
How to Spend Less than $20 a Week
1. Use Public Transit, Carpool, Bike, or Walk to Work
I don’t have a car, and while this may be a pain sometimes, it also means that I don’t have any car payments or insurance bills to worry about. But most importantly, it means I don’t have to spend ridiculous amounts of money each week on gas. While everyone else is cringing over the cost of gas, I am sitting happily on a bus that will take me all the way to downtown for 2 bucks. I also get my daily exercise from this because there is some walking involved.
This may be easier for those of you who live in a bustling city with an actual transit system, but the rest of you still have many options. If you don’t live in an area where there is public transit you can always take turns carpooling with your co-workers. Better yet, kick it up a notch and do something healthy by biking or walking to work.
2. Make Your Own Breakfast Smoothies
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day because it gives you the energy you need and keeps you from starving all morning. Unfortunately, sometimes we’re in such a hurry that we either skip it or hit up the first Starbucks or smoothie place we see, which then creates a major dent in your wallet.
If you have some fruit, juice, yogurt, and a blender you can make a delicious breakfast yourself and take it to go. For instance, I have been making myself a mango-orange smoothie everyday this week. This completely eliminated my urge to grab a smoothie at Jamba Juice every morning before work and my bank account is very pleased.
3. Brown Bag Your Lunch
Eating out is a major inhibitor in our inability to save money. It’s also very bad for our health because restaurants tend to serve very big portions. Avoid this by taking your lunch to work everyday. All you really need are leftovers from the night before or some deli meat and you’ve got yourself a meal that didn’t cost you any extra money.
(Extra Tip: If you are a serial snacker or have a crazy schedule like I do, make sure to pack some munchies too!)
You will be surprised at the amount of money you can save by taking these simple actions each week. It may not seem like much at first, but eventually it all adds up.
Oh, and all of the tips I mentioned are also eco friendly. So not only are you saving money, you are also going green!
What do you do to save money each week?
Thanks, you’re too sweet!!!
But you definitely have me beat, there’s no way I could survive on $20 a week – way to go!!! This is stellar!!!
P.S. I like the new look of the site!
Haha yes well sometimes it’s more than $20 and sometimes its less. It really just depends on where my boss sends me. The most important part is not spending any money if I don’t have to, if I can accomplish that then I’m happy
And thank you for the compliment about the design! I read Problogger’s “31 Days to a Better Blog” and decided I should switch things up a bit
LOVE this! I’m horrible about spending money on things I most certainly don’t need. I might have to try this experiment as well.
I used to have the same problem! In fact, for a long time I was kind of scared to actually record what I was spending each day. It wasn’t pretty
Amanda,
I spend about 20 dollars on my gas a week but I end up wasting so much of my paycheck on food! And the sad thing is that the info on this post is info that I already am aware of, but reading this only solidifies it in my mind. It is so hard to put these things in practice but I will try my hardest! Thanks! Marilyn
That’s awesome that you can get around with 20 bucks for gas! With the amount of traffic in Miami and gas prices around $3.17 a gallon I’m lucky if I make it to work and back on 20 bucks a week lol.
As for food, I am a serial snacker and I love my smoothies so I thought it was going to be really difficult to cut back on spending. Turns out it was much easier than I expected
Making your coffee and home and bringing it to work saves a lot of money. Starbucks charges so much it makes me sick. Buy a can of ground coffee for $6 and you’ll be set for weeks!
Same can go for tea.
That is a great way to save money! I barely drink coffee and if I do it’s from work.