Excited to share my successes after being inspired by all of yours here!
I'm a long time mostly frugal person, but accrued some CC and student loan debt during and after getting my PhD while doing multiple intercity moves for a series of short-term adjunct gigs and low-paying postdocs between 2011 and 2015. Fortunately, I have a full-time, tenure-track teaching job now and a decent salary. I'm 36, so playing catch up.
After living a few months in my new HCOL city, I tried to figure out where all our money was going so that my partner and I can pay off our debts faster and save for a home. In the past four months, here's what we've done to save an estimated $16K per year (between two people cohabitating):
Partner: beer and coffee budget from $400 --> $200 [he's a freelancer and writer and does the writing from coffee shops -- his main 'social' activity, or else he would never leave the house]
Me: personal money from ~$150 --> $50 [includes coffee shop visits, clothing, non-essential house stuff]
Restaurants: ~500-->$50 [strict once/month policy. Easier since I now have diagnosed gluten sensitivity and other intolerances]
Cell phone: $112 --> $82 [family plan additions, cut extras; T-Mobile. Soon to be $62 when second phone is paid off.]
Auto Insurance: $92 --> $51
Spotify: $10 --> 0
Netflix: $ 10 --> 0
Groceries: $750 --> $400 [Costco; simpler meals]
Haircuts: ~$75 [monthly average for two adults and dog] --> 0. [I'm cutting everyone's hair, including my own]
Bus Pass: $75 --> 0 [biking or driving to work instead -- turns out driving is actually cheaper.]
Dog Food: $20 --> $15 [buying bulk]
Flea/Tick: $25 --> $15 [generic]
Western Union: ~$30 --> 0 [was sending money to parent overseas quarterly; now giving lump sum in cash once per year]
Other areas of saving that were already routinized:
No cable, $30/month internet, no home phone, $20 for gas every month and a half.
The biggest new savings is obviously from restaurants. When my partner and I were long distance, we ate out when we visited each other, but after cohabitating, we realized it we'd started spending much more money at restaurants without really noticing. Groceries are the biggest challenge, now that I'm on a restricted (no grain, gluten, dairy, etc) diet.
I'd be interested in hearing if you have any more ideas to share! Thanks everyone for the inspiration!
