4 Tips for Living on Less without Being Gloomy
The idea of living on less does not seem to be very appealing to people unless they fall into debt. When it becomes challenging to keep your head above water, you eventually realise to slash your regular expenses. You downsize your home, rent out a room, and prefer living a luxurious lifestyle, and so on, but these significant steps are taken after your finances become ruined.
Some people think that they do not need to bother about their spending as they have a lot of money. If a lot of cash is coming in, tracking your expenses is not worth it. However, your financial security is not determined by the amount of cash coming in but by the amount you save.
How do you benefit from your income if you overspend? You will have to balance between incomings and outgoings to have financial security. Regardless of your earnings, you can follow various ways to ensure financial stability.
Even if you live paycheck to paycheck, living below your means can actually help you have money for a rainy day. The thought of living below means often disappoints many people, but you do not need to be dejected. You can be exhilarated even if you are living on less.
How to live below your means and be happy
Here are the tips you can use to live on less without losing your happiness:
1. Live in a smaller house
Almost everyone has a dream of owning a big house. More space means a more organised lifestyle – but it adds up your living expenses. Building maintenance costs will go up. The mortgage cost will be double or maybe more than that, and so forth.
Housing cost consumes almost half of your essential budget, and you can slash this cost by 50% by downsizing your house. There is no point living in a three-room set if you can manage to live in a two-room set.
You just need to organise the space to occupy everything. However, if you need all rooms, you still need to look at the space. You can see various flats with a three-room set far bigger – big rooms, a big kitchen, and a big bathroom.
You do not need to pay for an additional square foot if you can make do with a smaller space. You may worry about the space but use your creativity. You can occupy everything in your house. You can get various storage tips online without incurring any additional pennies.
2. Get deals
Do not fight shy of seeking discount deals and schemes as this can help save a lot of money on your regular expenses. For instance, if you have a baby in your family, you do not need to buy them new clothes all the time as you can use hand-me-downs. If it is not a feasible option, you can get cheaper clothes from local stores.
Likewise, buying groceries in bulk will save you a few pennies. A lot of items are out there you will never stop wanting, and they do not go off too soon. For instance, you can buy toiletry products, kitchen items like wipes, dust mops, and the like in bulk. Buying them in bulk will help you get them at wholesale prices.
To save money on veggies and fruits, you should visit during non-rush hours. You will likely get veggies at reduced prices. You can also buy them in greater quantity to get an extra discount. However, make sure you consume before they go off.
Learn the art of bargaining to have more hold of your money. Buy only when you need things. For instance, some people keep buying clothes even though they do not need them. Do not make such a mistake.
You should not block your money like this. This is a complete waste of money. This is one of the causes of overspending that pushes you on the verge of a debt cycle. The money you save in such ways can go toward your emergency cushion, and you will not need to apply for very bad credit loans from direct lenders in the UK every time unforeseen expenses crop up.
3. Find affordable ways of entertainment
Living below means does not mean that you cannot entertain yourself. Living less does not mean being stingy. It cannot stop living your life to the fullest. You just do not have to go to clubs and pubs to entertain yourself.
Night parties and expensive dining out are not the only way to unwind. There are various ways of entertaining yourself when living below your means. You can go outside to have a picnic with your friends or family. You can go fishing, camping, hiking or for a bike ride. These activities will not make you feel the pinch.
4. Accept frugality
To live below your means, you will have to embrace frugality. Many people find it hard to live on less as they cannot be frugal. You can feel like you will have to kill your desires, but frugality can never stop you from spending money the way you want. It will instead prevent you from overspending.
If you manage to prevent your money from overspending, you will be able to build an emergency corpus and make most of your money.
The bottom line
Living below your means does not need to be very challenging. It can be difficult in the beginning to take it in your stride, but once you give up overspending and accept frugality you will automatically find yourself living on less.
It can help save a lot of money undoubtedly. This will help improve your financial situation. Getting finances in order is a tough challenge for many of you, but by bearing aforementioned tips in mind you can become succeeded.
When your finances are in order, you will not take on too much debt to meet your expenses and consequently you will not fall into a debt trap. A frugal lifestyle can have your finances in order, which is a must to avoid taking on debt on and off.