Day 6 prompt is here: What do you do to save money for long-term travel?

Learn how to participate in #indie30 Art Project.

First of all, start using an app to track ALL your expenses – and yes, I mean the espresso you just had in a café or the pretzel you just bought. If you paid for it, it goes on the list. I discovered Expensify for my Android tablet / smartphone and I love it.

Now make sure to add your FIXED expenses and work out how much those are. By fixed expenses I mean what you pay monthly and are related to the house/apartment and utilities: rent (if you pay any); services (Internet, landline, cell phone); other utilities (electrical power, water, heating, etc); medicines (such as birth control and vitamins) and also the annual fixed expenses such as taxes for property, car insurance (if you have any), house insurance, health insurance, travel insurance, bank fees (reissuing of cards, usually) and so on.

Then, over the course of couple of months, you’d need to work out an average of how much you spend on: food, entertainment (restaurants, cafes, movies, etc), clothes & shoes, and misc (haircuts, bank commissions for transactions, so on). I am in favor of creating an “emergency stash”, as well.

There are some simple things you can do daily/monthly to insure you won’t live paycheck to paycheck and even manage to save some money (which go in the emergency stash; or the travel stash).

Resolve to live debt free. Pay the balance on your credit card and get rid of it. If you don’t have one, don’t even think about getting one. Pay off your loans and don’t apply for others. If you do pay mortgage and cannot pay it off, at least make sure to never be late with your payments.

Decide which subscriptions to keep, which to adjust and which to get rid of. Every two years, I get into re-adjusting my cells subscription and my landline (which also includes IPTV and internet). If I see a promotional offer out there from my ISP / cell provider, I might even be cocky enough to call them and do some haggling. I also read magazines online and I don’t buy newspapers, either.

Save on transportation. Use public transportation where possible and also walk as much as you can. Bonus points: get rid of the car (gas money, maintenance, insurance…).

Get the most out of your house insurance. Every year I get to renegotiate the insurance I pay for the house and haggle as much as I can.

Cut the electricity bill. Turn off the TV when you don’t watch it. Turn off the lights when you are not in that room. Shut down the computer when you don’t use it. Unplug everything aside from the freezer / fridge when you don’t use them. Try to choose appliances which don’t use a lot of electricity (they should be marked with some sort of a “green” label).

Cut the heating bill. Turn off the heating – or set it to minimum – when you are not at home. Also, you might want your bedroom to be on the colder side (19-20C) rather than very warm because you would sleep better.

Sell the appliances / electronics you don’t need. Look at what you’ve gathered over the years and get rid of that broken laptop (even if you only get back a fraction of the cost) and seriously, do you still need to keep that ancient camera no one is using anymore?

Use the quick washing cycle and fill your washing machine to the max. My 5kg capacity machine has a 30C short washing cycle which is brilliant for everyday use. Sure I use the 100C washing temperature when I wash bed sheets and towels but otherwise you won’t need that. Plus, make sure to not run it half empty.

Cook from scratch. I know it is easier said than done but I swear that watching Jamie Oliver’s shows on 15 min meals or 30 min meals will change your mind. Make friends with the farmer’s market during the season and a good supermarket over the winter. Take advantage of gift cards, coupons and other promotional stuff. Plus, it’s healthier to cook from scratch.

Give up junk food. It is expensive, no matter how you start looking at it. Not to mention you’d be living a healthier life.

Go out to restaurants once a quarter. Or only when you travel (that’s what we do).

Go to free events. There are free concerts available, you can visit museums for free on certain days and sometimes you can even watch a play for free. Keep your eyes on such things to cut down entertainment expenses.

Quit smoking

Eat meat once a week, at most (better yet, once a month or give it up all together) . It cuts down the expenses by a lot, plus it is healthier to eat more veggies.

Pay attention to fees associated with your bank account. You mostly likely pay a monthly commission, also you probably pay some commission when you take out money from an ATM – and huge added fees if you don’t use your bank’s ATM- and some even pay a commission when paying bills. So make sure you know all this and use the debit card wisely.

Don’t go shopping for groceries when you are hungry. And always go with a list. Shopping for groceries on an empty stomach also means you’d be buy stuff you don’t need.

Use the 48h rule for shopping. Did you see something you really, really have to buy? Don’t! (unless it is at a really, really low price). Go back home and make of list of why you have to do it and why not. Decide after that.

Brew coffee at home. It is fun to go out for coffee with friends but don’t do that every single day. Find a brand you like and brew the coffee at home.

Pack your lunch. It is cheaper and healthier than going to a restaurant / fast food place.

Work from home. Ask your boss if you can work for home at least a day in a week. You’ll save on commuting, eating out, clothes and even save time.

Get the generic version of drugs. Yes, talk it through with your doctor but where possible opt for the generic ones. Also, do you really need to buy vitamins? Studies show that people who actually eat healthy buy the vitamins, too.

Create a savings account. You can resolve to deposit a fixed amount of money there every month before you even start paying the bills and such. Or, at least, during the first months, you can deposit there everything that is left from the previous month. Don’t touch the money unless it is a real emergency – no, that gorgeous dress is NOT an emergency!

Grow your own herbs. You can grow herbs in apartments in small flower pots. Bonus points if you grow tomatoes or peppers like this, too.

Clean the ice from the freezer. The damn thing uses more electricity if there is an ice buildup.

Consider using generic supermarket brands. I’ve got a list of stuff I *have* to buy from a certain brand – like the clothes detergent, the shampoo and a certain brand of cooking oil – but other than that, I am open for suggestions. I’ve found a supermarket with awesome brand of its own and so far, it has helped me save quite a lot of money.

Use your own shopping bags. Instead of paying for the plastic ones all the time, get ones made from a good material which doesn’t wear out and use them. Yup, I still forget to do this sometimes.

Pay the bills on time. You really don’t want to pay fees for being late, do you?

Do price comparison for any purchase which exceeds $50. It is worth it, trust me. You can compare prices online or use the good old fashion method of roaming the stores.

Sell the clothes that don’t fit you. Don’t keep *that* pair of jeans which is 3 sizes smaller only because you hope you’d fit into them again. You won’t and they are just a painful reminder of a previous lower weight. Get rid of it for money. Of course, if you lost weight get rid of the baggy clothes, too.

Shop when there are sales. But don’t fall into the trap of Black Friday gimmicks. Just make sure to see when an article is really discounted. Also get on mailing lists from the favorite stores. You will get into on when stuff is on sale (and I mean real sales).

Turn your hobby into money. Monetize your blog, sell your photos, or write a book…

Freelance. Put all the money in a savings account and don’t touch it unless it’s an emergency.

Start a coin jar. Any small change goes in there.

Excerpt from my writing project aka book titled Exploring Europe Together – A Couple’s Guide to Europe, Chapter 21 (21.1), 2013-2014

>> almost the same content, but not as elaborate can be found here (an older article on this blog)