Ever been curious about how someone else spends their money?
It’s not something we get to see that often, but it can be interesting to peek into another person’s life, and maybe pick up some ideas for our own spending.
To give you a look into my own spending, below are some things that I do and don’t spend money on.
Also please know that this is NOT an article about “you should do this” or “you shouldn’t do this.” Spending is personal. We all need to make our own decisions about what we want to spend money on. The secret is to be intentional about putting your money towards the things that are important to you. That can be different for every person!
Eight Things I Don’t Spend Money On, and One Thing I Do
1. My internet bill is $0.
Tired of paying for internet, I asked my neighbor in the apartment below mine if I could pay him to log on to his internet and he said I could just use it for free. I bought a wi-fi extender for about $60, which at the time was how much I was paying each month for internet service. I ended up having to get a second extender to really make it work, but over the six years I’ve been doing that I’ve probably saved about $4,000.
2. My monthly phone bill is $35.
Several years ago Sprint was offering a no-expiration new client special for $30 per month that included free international text and data. I jumped on it and never looked back! Sprint was bought by T-Mobile, and a few months ago they finally raised it to $35, but it is still a great deal.
That being said, I could actually reduce my phone bill to $20 per month by switching to Mint Mobile and paying one year in advance. They use the T-Mobile network, so the service would be the same, and lots of my friends use Mint and say it is great. But, although their international data package is quite reasonable, because I travel a lot the free international data that I get with my $35 per month plan is still a slightly better deal. But if my travel ever slows down, I will definitely switch to Mint!
3. I’m fine with older/used tech.
A few weeks ago I finally decided to upgrade my six-year-old Iphone 8. I saw that T-Mobile had the latest model, the Iphone 16, for $829.99. That was way more than I wanted to spend, so I did some research and decided that an Iphone 12 would still be a great upgrade for me. I got a used one from Ebay for $265 including taxes and shipping. It didn’t have a scratch on it and works great.
T-Mobile did offer a payment plan for that Iphone 16. It was $34.59 over 24 months, which probably doesn’t seem like that much. But when trying to decide on a purchase, you should always always look at the total cost, not just the monthly payment, before making a decision. That total cost was too high for me!
That monthly payment can also trap you into an overly expensive phone plan. Many of my clients have phone bills of $100 per month or more, but can’t switch to something cheaper because they are still paying off their phone.
Another example happened about a year ago when I had to buy a new laptop because my old one suddenly died. I needed something that same day, so there was no time to shop around. I went to the Best Buy website and searched for a discounted model available in store. They had a new, open-box laptop that was originally $800, but because someone had returned it and the box was open, I got it for $500. A total score!
4. I don’t own a car.
I realize that many people absolutely have to have a car, but I’ve been fortunate that for my whole adult life I have lived in a place with good public transportation.
I say “fortunate” but this has actually been a conscious choice on my part. I grew up in a rural area where cars were a necessity, but I didn’t want to live that way as an adult. The expense was part of it, but it is also the time involved in maintaining the car, and the financial unpredictability. At any moment you can be hit with a repair bill that makes my $500 laptop seem like nothing! Yes, sometimes it’s inconvenient, but for me it is worth it.
5. I don’t have food delivered.
I love going out to restaurants, but if I’m eating at home, it’s going to be something that I cook myself.
Part of it is the crazy cost of delivery. I also just don’t like the idea of eating food that has been sitting in a styrofoam container in someone’s car for who knows how long. But it is really just because cooking is part of my regular routine. I do it all the time, it’s not that hard, and most times it takes less time to just cook something than to wait for delivery. And when I cook it myself, I get to make it exactly how I like it.
But of course, that is just me … you do you!
6. I don’t buy water, and rarely drink soda.
We almost never had soda growing up, so when I went to college I decided I was going to finally drink all the soda I wanted.
After about a month of drinking only soda, I had a glass of water and it just tasted so flat and strange. I decided that if I was drinking so much soda that something as fundamental to human life as WATER tasted weird, I needed to stop drinking soda. I became a water drinker from that day forward.
And by water I mean tap water. A frugal person like me is not going to pay for something that I can get for free from the sink!
7. I rarely buy prepared foods at the grocery store.
Buying ingredients instead of prepared foods can be a huge money saver! Don’t believe me? Check out this article I wrote, “A Tale of Three Grocery Carts: Saving 80% On Groceries” to see all the details. (And yes, my grocery cart usually looks like Grocery Cart Number 3.)
Because I track all of my spending, I can tell you that in 2024 I spent an average $268 per month on groceries. I know from looking at many people’s budgets that this is on the low side, but it works for me.
8. I don’t spend money on salon services.
What can I say? I do my own nails, dye my own hair, and don’t get any of the other services they offer. I do have someone cut my hair but that is really about it. It’s not something I grew up with, and I just never got into the habit of doing it.
Lastly … I use a free fitness app called FitOn.
The reason this isn’t item # 9 is that I actually DO think that people should spend money on having a good fitness routine. Dance classes, yoga classes, having a personal trainer, playing a sport—spending money on something that gets you moving is worth it!
That being said, during the pandemic I started using a free fitness app called FitOn to do at-home workouts, and I can’t recommend this app highly enough. It has high-quality fitness videos with no outside ads, and includes everything from yoga to weight lifting, to HIIT, to cardio, to stretching, and more. It tracks what you have done, and you can work out with friends. And did I mention that it’s free?
And finally, the one thing (two things?) that I DO spend money on.
One of the biggest things in my budget each year is travel. Even there I look for deals, but I will spend as much as 2 to 3 months each year traveling. Cutting back on some of the other things gives me the ability to do that, and to me it is totally worth it.
And there is actually one more thing that you might say I “spend money” on. I was able to retire at age 52 in part because I have always kept my living expenses low. (You can read more about my financial journey on my website.) The simple fact is that you don’t need to save as much money for retirement if you are willing to live on less.
Do I sometimes wish I had worked a few more years so I could be a little more extravagant in my spending? To be honest, not really. I have loved every minute of being retired, and retiring early gave me the time and opportunity to explore a new venture: being a personal financial coach. This has turned out to be something that I really and truly love doing.
Financial coaching can help you prioritize your spending.
Want help coming up with your own list of spending priorities? Helping people focus their money on what is important to THEM is part of what I do as a financial coach.
I walk my clients step by step through their monthly bills, their spending, paying down debt, money psychology, saving for retirement, building good credit, learning investing basics, and many other things! We set goals, come up with a plan to get there, and then work on creating the good financial habits that will make them happen.
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