When we first began the Encore Voyage, we had a few moments of total freak out at our complete loss of income stream! Then, cooler heads prevailed and we took a deep breath. We realized that we would most likely not starve, at least for a day or two. To all you youngsters (and by that I mean anyone under the age of 40), listen to me now:
We are living proof that you absolutely, positively,
need to have an emergency savings plan in place!
And that means before you go out and buy those jet skis or that snowmobile that you think you absolutely must have! You don’t need it nearly as much as you will need to live in the event that you lose your income! Just sayin’…
So back to the story…For the first couple of months we were able to draw upon our savings, without raiding our retirement account, while we figured out what to do. We decided to start our own small business, and having some cash set aside allowed us to get that started. Having your own business takes lots of work and drive, and is the topic of many other blogs, from which we have learned a great deal. But I also started following The Minimalists and Be More With Less, and I started thinking about how much we really need to be happy. Now don’t get me wrong – this is not about being cheap. I want to have some cash in hand just as much as the next girl. But it is about really evaluating how and where you spend your hard earned money…and that’s where we woke up!
In the years when there was a much bigger income in this household, we spent a great deal. I don’t want to think of it as being wasteful, but let’s just say we ‘squandered’ quite a bit. We didn’t really give it much thought until recently. The Encore Voyage has started us thinking about some ways in which we could be wiser about our spending:
1) We reduced our cable TV package to the minimum package. When you actually sit down and calculate the cost of higher level movie/sports packages and then compare that figure to the number of movies or events you actually see, the cost per viewing for this convenience can be ridiculous. You can rent a lot of movies from Red Box for a buck…
2) We paid attention to how we use the heat and air conditioning in our house. Rather than just set the thermostat and forget it, we took an active role in closing shades, opening windows, adding another layer of clothes…and cut our heating and cooling bills by 4-10% over the previous year.
3) We cancelled our subscription to the newspaper. It was a habit that was simply adding to the bulk of the recycle bin. Lots of access to local and national news is available on my tablet. There’s even too much news and I must be cautious not to let electronic media rule my mornings! I even found a free app to replace the comics and my favorite daily word puzzles!
4) I monitored our cell phone use and ultimately reduced our data package. Not because we put ourselves on any type of data diet, but because we were previously paying for data that we were not using!
5) We have changed the way we eat. We now rarely eat at fast food restaurants. Not only is this change way healthier for us, but it saves us a lot of money! It is amazing how much fast food we used to grab, just for convenience. Seriously – I used to have the phone number for Pizza Hut memorized!
6) We plan, shop for, and cook more meals at home. I’m a much better cook now that I have time to plan and shop for groceries. I’m not “extreme” about any of it, but a coupon here and a trip to Costco there all adds up to savings. Not to mention that we have found we actually love cooking, chopping, and drinking wine in the kitchen together – An added benefit!
7) We got rid of a bunch of magazine subscriptions. That stack of magazines that are sitting there unread??? Yeah those – You don’t need them! You can find most of that stuff on line, and I have learned that your magazines should not cause you stress! Bu-bye!
8) We turn off the lights! There were times when this house was lit up like a Christmas tree! Crazy wasteful!
9) I download books from the public library. Probably cut my book purchases in half! My Carpe Librum post will tell you how.
10) We spend waaaayyyyy less money on both gas and clothing. Because we now work primarily from home, we don’t need nearly as much. The savings on gasoline is huge! And because our minimalist efforts are paying off, reducing all those clothes in the closets just makes everything seem lighter and less stressful!
11) I don’t know if this is going to be a savings, but because I have more time, I make many of the gifts I give. Shhhhhh…don’t tell – quilted things for everyone! And lots of pleasure for me!
12) Our most recent step was to get rid of our land line telephone! Why is it that everyone under the age of 35 has already done this, and everyone over the age of 35 has a hard time cutting the cord? We took the plunge, because the only calls on that number were usually solicitations! …And just like that, there’s another 20 bucks, and we found we really didn’t miss it!
So, you see, it’s not about being cheap. It’s about paying attention to where the money goes! And it’s about deciding with intentionality how you want to live. So how about it…Do you have any other strategies that you’ve used to cut costs? Please be sure to share in the comments!
Lynn
An Encore Voyage 
Most of what you list are serious ecological pluses, also. Depending on where you are living, it can be good to give up the car. I really like public transportation, and cars are one huge expense. Good luck to you. It sound like you’ve been wise along the way.
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Lynn,
We’ve saved the most money, by far, cooking at home more and, like you mentioned, actually planning menus and paying attention at the store. I planned our budget to allow us to eat out twice a week and that’s working out nicely. Plus we almost always have water with our meals out and that saves a ton. I will drink margaritas out with Mexican food (not giving that up!) but rarely order soft drinks, liquor or wine out anymore. We’ve pretty much given up soft drinks anyway and I can have a bottle of my wine at home for the price of 2 small glasses out!
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I so hear you about the Margaritas! And I now treat trips to Starbucks as only a special treat for special occasions. There are so many little ways to cut some costs without completely trashing our lives!
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Now that I have the time, I find that I thoroughly enjoy cooking at home. I cook up a huge pot of soup and freeze the excess so for those nights that I don’t feel like cooking, we still don’t have to resort to eating out.
We haven’t been able to cut the landline yet, but we are getting closer and closer to that day.
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Before we chopped the land line, I started recording WHO was actually contacting us using that number. As it turned out, it was primarily marketing calls and a couple of things like Drs and the pharmacy. It was pretty easy to change those over as I went along. Now the only weird thing is that when we come home, we both look at the counter to see if the light is flashing on the non-existent answering machine!
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Those are all great ideas! Many of which my hubby and I implemented years ago when he got laid off during the big recession that hit California especially hard. Last year, having retired from full time work, I donated bags of clothes and shoes I was never going to wear again. Nice tax benefits too.
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Isn’t that the truth. I still have a couple of women’s suits that I haven’t parted with, because I paid so much for them. But I’m pretty certain I’m never going to need them again – well, maybe I’ll hold back one…
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Great post and great tips. Some people don’t look at the big picture to see the need for an emergency savings plan. I was raised in a modest, hardworking family, that always had savings in mind, which I am very grateful for because I am very conscious of how my money is spent now as an adult.
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If I could impress ONE thing on the younger generation, that would be it. Pay Yourself First! The reason we were able to start on this wonderful voyage is because we had both saved from every paycheck we had ever earned! We both knew that we would not starve, so we could take the chance. Is this something only our generation was taught? I look around our neighborhood and see young families with boats and cars and jet skis and motor homes, and think, “They must be leveraged up to their eyeballs!” Yikes!
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We need to get after the subscription costs that come with our devices – cable, Internet, and cell phones.
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My husband and I have done most of these things too! Fortunately, we are both natural savers so not one change felt like we were giving up anything. You are right, it’s not about being cheap… it’s about being smart.
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We are both savers as well. I think people are raised to be either savers or spenders – and the spenders have a much more difficult time giving up the “stuff” – which makes it harder to afford the experiences!
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