10 Little Sacrifices which make a Big Difference
By just cutting out those little things here and there, you can make a big difference to your future savings or your past debt. Either way you'll be much better off. Also, by starting now you can help reduce both the time you'll need to pay off your mortgage and the time you have to wait to retire. Sounds good doesn't it and in all honesty, it almost sounds too good to be true.
ECRD - Or "Little Sacrifice" to You and Me
So what's an "ECRD?" I hear you say. Well, it stands for Expensive Coffee-Related Drink. What it means is those habits for which there are easy but cheap substitutes or which you can cut out entirely. You know what I mean, that takeaway coffee you get from the cafe mid-morning. That chocolate bar you buy on the way home from work. That magazine you really just don't need (and contains no redeemable information in it anyway). It turns out for each of these things, you are paying exorbitant amounts of money for something you can conjure up yourself for pennies.
As for the acronym, ECRD, I think it's a terrible phrase so instead I shall call these new habits "Little Sacrifices". Why? Because it fully describes what you're doing, rather than what they are. It also keeps them in perspective a bit more in your head; they are both a sacrifice but in reality they are only little.
My 10 Little Sacrifices
This is a copy of my list which I drew up a couple of weeks ago. It might be a good starting point for yours:
- Takeaway Coffees: at $4 or $5 a time, these babies can add up to something over $1,000 a year
- Fast/Takeaway Food: at $6-12 a pop the cumulative amount adds up real soon
- Magazines/Newspapers: which you can probably read on-line anyway
- Chocolate Treats: already expensive at $1.50-$2.00 a go, a snack each workday afternoon adds up to over $400 a year
- Breakfast on the Go: buying on the go eats into your paycheck
And possibly some more controversial ones:
- Going to the Cinema: adds up over time, especially with added snacks
- CDs/DVDs: think about renting rather than buying
- Books: these too can be gotten at the library
- Satellite/Cable TV: think about how many channels you actually watch and then how many you actually need
- The Car: I'm not (yet) saying do without but consider walking or riding for those little journeys
All For the Win
I'm sure you don't agree with my list above, after all it is quite specific to my circumstances but this is what I recently came up with to stop me spending all those extra dollars every day.
My typical day used to go something like this...
Get up late and grab breakfast on the way into work ($3). Takeaway coffee mid-morning ($4.50). Eat out lunch ($8-15). Chocolate in the afternoon ($1.60). Supermarket or take-out for evening meal ($5-$15). That's about $30 spent, every single day, excluding anything else. How does $7,500 a year sound?
And add in the odd purchase of a DVD, CD or book on the way home, watching a film on TV in the evening and maybe a beer or two at night (oh right, I didn't mention alcohol!) and it all adds up.
Zero Dollar Days
The best thing about all of these Little Sacrifices is that none of them are too big to say that you can't do them. Since I started my plan to Retire at 40 I have gone without (or substituted) a number of these things for other, cheaper options.
I always eat a healthy and filling breakfast at home. I have Milo or coffee in the office mid-morning. I've been walking home to have lunch (double benefit of exercise too), no afternoon snack and instead of paying lots for cable, I have joined an all you can eat DVD service to get films sent to my house. I've also been making healthier - and cheaper - evening meals.
This leads me on to my next plan, which is to have more Zero Dollar Days. So far, I have had three of them and the first time I had one I couldn't believe that I had gone through the entire day without spending any money whatsoever. It didn't feel real. Now that I've had three, I want more. It feels a lot more real now.
Your List
My challenge to you is to go and make your own list of Little Sacrifices and see how many you can stick to over the next two weeks. You'll probably realise as I have, how much you've already saved in just two weeks. It shall be my two week anniversary tomorrow and already I can see a healthier me and a healthier bank balance.
Let us know some of those "Little Sacrifices" you have also made in your life.
This post originated on http://chilts.org/.
Email me on andychilton -at- gmail -dot- com.