Almost everyone is looking for ways to save money but they often overlook making cutbacks in areas they consider necessities. It may seem reasonable to do so until you consider that some of these necessities may not be necessary at all. An article by Bankrate.com suggests that if you take a serious look at some of these so-called necessities you may find more savings than you thought possible, therefore, they have put together a list of 12 common “necessities” which could be draining your cash. The list, inside…
1. Daily Latte
A fancy coffee shop cup of coffee could cost 100 times a home brewed cup.
Brew your own and you could save $25 a week, or $1,300 a year.
2. Cable TV
If you can live without premium channels you could save about $25-$30 a month, or $300-$360 a year. If you are hard-core you can drop cable altogether and save $55-$65 a month, or $660-$780 a year.
3. Manicure/Pedicure
We don’t have much experience here but apparently if you skip a manicure and a pedicure once a month, you would save $50-$110 a month or $600-$1,200 a year.
4. Botox
Treatments usually run $300-$1,200 per visit. Try going “au natural” and save $1,200-$4,800 a year.
5. Bottled Water
If you feel ok about drinking tap water you can save $25-$40 a month, the average monthly delivery fee based on online averages.
6. Second Car
According to the article, this is the highest-ticket “new necessity” today. Getting rid of an old gas guzzler could save you thousands on insurance, registration, maintenance and of course, gas.
7. Cell Phone
Does EVERY child in the family need a cellphone? You could save $480 to $720 per year for every phone you eliminate.
8. Lawn Service
If you have the time, mow your own lawn. You could spend $65-$90 on average for weekly mowing, hedge cutting, and leaf blowing which equals $260-$360 a month.
9. Clothes
Unless you have an urgent need to keep up with the latest fashions, famous frugal-master Jeff Yeager has an idea that will probably seem radical to most, “I think most Americans could easily go for one year without buying any new clothes,” he says. The savings here could be monumental depending on your clothes-shopping habits.
10. Private School
Since you’re already paying for public school, why not use it? You could save $8,000-$35,000 per year according to the Boarding School Review website.
11. Childhood Parties
Nobody’s suggesting you take away a child’s day of celebration but you don’t always have to overdo it. Do you really need the inflatable moon-walk, magician, clown, and pony-rides every year?
12. Pet Grooming
Spend $25 on a set of clippers and learn how to groom your pet from a book or online. Professional grooming could cost $30-$90 depending on the size and breed of your pet.
Most people become complacent inside their comfort zone and are reluctant to go without those things to which they are accustomed, it’s only natural. But try taking a few steps back and look at your necessities objectively, and you may discover that some of those things aren’t necessary after all.
12 new ‘necessities’ that drain your cash [Bankrate.com]
(Photo: Getty)
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I have to say that I’m not really convinced of the value (or necessity) of an “amazing” private school education, at least in the K-12 levels.
I grew up in a dirt poor area and attended a series of truly terrible public schools. That didn’t stop me from developing critical thinking skills, learning to speak a foreign language, and acquiring the ability to learn any subject I was interested in.
Later on, I did the Ivy League thing. Many of my friends and classmates there had been put in the best schools from birth, no doubt because their parents believed in the transformative power of expensive schools. You know what? I wasn’t impressed at all. The same kids whose parents had spent $40,000 a year on high school tuition at Exeter said dumb things and struggled with basic concepts in class.
I think the truly important factor is a child’s motivation to learn. Part of it is inborn; part of it is a result of good parenting. Regardless, I don’t think any parent should feel bad for skipping high-priced primary and secondary education.
(My one exception would be where the public schools are truly war-torn. In those cases, I would send my child to a private school for safety reasons.)
@Trai_Dep: “If the Tanakh is a bible, then so isn’t the Koran?”
No. The Tanakh consists of the same books Christians call the “Old Testament”; it is quite commonly called the Hebrew Bible in English. Both have been referred to by the word since antiquity. Both are a COLLECTION of several books, which is what the word Bible means — “books” — from the Latin biblia, from the Greek biblion, from the place name Byblos.
The Koran does not share text with the Hebrew or Christian Bibles and is, moreover, a single book.
Really, sticking needles in your face is a necessity now. Okay, okay, some people NEED it, but I thought that was just my mean voice talking.
Sure if we cut back on all this we’d save about $20k a year, but seriously, we don’t party, we need international programming for the old folks, our cell phone is already discounted, we don’t really drink coffee daily, no pets, no beauty salons (except haircuts); it’s not we can just move for lower taxes and stuff. This list is bloody useless; yes we can all be homeless and save a ton of cash per day.
I save money on bottled water by using a funnel to refill water battles (which is also better for the environment, and I get the convenience of having water in a bottle).
As for coffee, you can buy a liter of pre-brewed, black iced coffee for about 170 yen. It doesn’t taste great, but I don’t drink coffee to savor the flavor, if you know what I mean.
If you have an internet connection, I see no reason why you would ever need cable television.
Hmmm. 0 for 12. Vodka and cigarettes on the other hand…….
Re cable TV: get a digital-to-analog converter and a set of rabbit ears and see what you’re missing on cable today. Each one of the stations in your area probably has two or three sub channels. My PBS station in Los Angeles has four – the main one which carries high-def, then one for kids, one in Spanish, and one for the “Desert Cities” (Palm Springs area). It triples your choices. Great for metro areas.
1. Daily Latte…….nope, brew my own mud.
2. Cable TV…..what TV?
3. Manicure/Pedicure….clip my own claws.
4. Botox……get my own food poisoning too, why is this even here?
5. Bottled Water…..I buy it, then refill it and refill it.
6. Second Car…at one time I had three. Now one.
7. Cell Phone….I like to lose the land line instead.
8. Lawn Service….Don’t own any grass.
9. Clothes…….Holes are just SO cool.
10. Private School…..No kids…no need for that.
11. Childhood Parties….see above
12. Pet Grooming…..cat does it all herself.
@unpolloloco: In my area, the public schools are actually far better than the private ones, since they have more students, there are newer, larger schools, extra-curricular activities, classes beyond the core subjects, and great test scores. Though, in large cities and other places like that, private school is the way to go. But, here in the suburbs, public schools can usually do a good job (obviously depends on your area)
Never was addicted to coffee (especially not at $4 a cup!!!), so number one is not an option…
Already reduced the channel count, so number two is done…
I can cut my own toe nails, so can’t do number three…
Botox? Never was stupid enough to put a toxic substance in my face, so number four will bring no relief…
Never been a user of bottled water as the bottle was made from oil AND it used to be more expensive than gasoline, so number five is wash as well…
What would a single person need with two cars?? Number six is out…
If I had kids, they wouldn’t get a cell phone until they went to college and paid for it with the money they earn with a side job. I dropped the land line myself and went with only a cell phone and saved more money than Geico, so number seven is basically checked off…
I cut my parents lawn as a kid (and I got room and board for the trouble) and I have no kids to do if for me, so I so it myself; so number eight bites the dust…
I stick with a winning style for years and only buy clothing each year that replaces what is wearing out, so number nine has long since been accounted for…
If I had kids and could afford it, then I WOULD send them to private school – it made me smarter (until my parents sent me to public school to save money and I waited three years for the kids and curriculum to catch up). Number ten is not an option…
My parents never threw me any big, expensive parties; they were smarter and spent the money on private school (until they got dumb and stopped). But, since I don’t have kids to continue to pollute the world once I am gone, then number eleven is pointless as well…
Don’t currently have a pet and wouldn’t take it to a groomer if I did – I would let the brush and scrub found on a hike do the job for me. Darn… number twelve is a looser idea also.
So, if the price of gas is still earting me alive, what do I do now???
@pgh9fan: The suggestion wasn’t crap; your indignation to it, however (when it obviously doesn’t apply to your situation) is full of it.