12 Ways I Saved 13k’s… from My Expenses Last Year

Year in Review

I cut my annual expense by $13,359 this last year and increased my savings rate by 17%! I did this all without downgrading my lifestyle or quality of life. In this article, we will go through exactly how I did that, in case you would like to replicate some or all of this success in your personal finances.

Additionally, this article weighs the impact on the quality of life of these savings tips. Saving money at the cost of overall satisfaction level is a net sum loss. Frugality at the expense of happiness is futility.  By the way, adding $13,359 each year to an investment account earning a conservative 7% in interest (that’s 2% less than the 100-year stock market average) would yield $197,494.10 after 10 years and $585,994.90 after 20 years. So if you are the kind of person that would rather put $13,359 into a growing investment each year rather than donate it to your bills, this article is for you.

I increased my annual income by $10,208 this last year and tripled my invested net wealth but we will cover those points in another article. For now, let’s stay focused on how I cut $13,359 dollars from my annual expenses. To keep it real, I am also going to confess two embarrassing admissions in my budget. Don’t judge me! You know you have something embarrassing in your budget too.

1) Power Bill Savings – $279.72

I continuously challenge myself to save money on my power bill. The majority of this savings is on my heating and cooling cost. Since I live in the sunny steam bath southeastern region of the country, this is mostly A/C costs. I bought myself one of those pricey Nest thermostats. It is a “smart thermostat” which means it connects to the WIFI and can modify the heating and cooling schedule based on my preset schedule, the local weather forecast, my proximity, and estimated arrival time to my home. How is all that possible, you ask? I can explain but that is an article for another time. For a more in-depth article, look for a coming post “Power Bill” in the “Kill the Bill” series. I will also do a review and cost/benefit analysis and payback timeline for the Nest thermostat with the data I have been logging. *note that the cost saving in this article does not account for the investment in the new thermostat.

Here is a list of several of the other saving tactics I employed in their respective seasons.:

Summer Season

• Lights – Switched out all my CFLs to LEDs.
• Dishwasher – Stopped using the high heat rinse and heat dry cycles. I cracked the dishwasher open to aid in evaporation after each cycle.
• A/C – Turned temperature up one degree while home. Plus, with my fancy new thermostat, the A/C cut out whenever I left my home and turned back on when I was on my way back to my house. It is very easy to change the temperature one degree. Just make sure you are in shorts and a t-shirt when lounging around.
• Hot water – Stopped using hot water if I didn’t need to (year-round.)
• Oven and stove – Opted to cook outside on the grill whenever practical. This had an amazing psychological/happiness benefit as I love being outside, connecting with nature, in the sunshine and talking with neighbors. This was way better than standing in a hot kitchen alone. The work of cooking felt more like a joy when I took it outside. It even drew the kids and dogs out into the yard to play more with neighbor kids. Pro tip: get a pizza stone for your grill, and a metal basket to roast veggies. Cast iron also works great!
• Dryer – Stop using it! Get a $10 folding drying rack that stashes away in a closet when not in use. I put my clothes on a screened in back porch in the sun. If you must, keep using the dryer for little things like socks that take a lot of time to hang out. Bonus, my clothes look newer and last longer when you cut out the dryer cycle. It is amazing how much wear the tumble dry cycle causes on your close.
• Shade – I strategically planted long living tall white oak trees in my back yard that will provide shade for my house during the most direct sunlight time of the day. This is a slow play as it will take years for their contribution to be significant. “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time to plant a tree is today.”
• Timer switch – I put a couple of lights on timer switch to automatically turn off and on at the preprogrammed time of the day.
• Basically, anything that uses power gives off waste heat. Anything that introduces heat into my house has a double cost. One, the power consumed to create the heat. Two, the power to run the A/C to pump the additional heat outside of the house.
  
  

Spring and Fall Seasons

• Window fans – I got the automatic temperature shut off ones that run until they reach the temperature you preset. The fancy things came with remote controls too. I mean, only a savage should have to get out of bed to balance the room temperature to the perfect level of comfort. Who says frugality is discomfort? 🙂
• Heat & A/C – Basically, I avoided using central air or heat. Using automatic window fans, I ran air in during the night to cool and air in during the day to heat as needed. Compared to friends in my area I stretched the need to use Heat or A/C out a full month more than his family with this trick.
  
  

Winter Season

• Hot water – Insulated my hot water pipes and stopped using hot water if I didn’t need to. When I gave the kids a bath or shower, I let the hot water sit in the tub until the next morning. That way the heat dissipated into the room rather than flushing it down the drain. Water has 25 times the heat capacity of air.
• Heat – Cut way back on heat. Call me primal but I have a wood burning fireplace and live in an older neighborhood where there are still these tall fibrous plant objects called trees. I regularly visit my local pawn shop where I found a great deal on a used chainsaw in good condition. Whenever a neighbor lost a tree to bugs, disease, or in a storm I offered to remove it for them. Not only did I help out neighbors for free, but I earned more free firewood than I can use. The quadruple value of firewood: firewood warms you three times. Once when you cut and haul, once when you split and stack, and once when you burn it, not to mention the free workout you get through that process. That is, if you value a rock-solid bod like I do. Need I even mention that this is a 100% renewable resource that provides habitat, shad, and oxygen for animals throughout its life cycle? Besides, showing off some man muscle swinging an ax makes for a good dating profile selfie…J/K those apps don’t actually work…do they? One investment I am saving for is a fireplace blower to blow heated air from the fireplace into the room. By quick math, it will pay for itself in year one.
• Clothes – Add a layer of clothing. Just throw on a sweatshirt. Grab your most comfy one and use it for the around the house shirt. There is something almost spiritual about being in a big warm comfy shirt and slippers with a warm drink to slowly sip on when the air is the slightest bit crisp.
• It is worth mentioning that the heat reduction summer hacks don’t apply in winter months as the goal in winter is to keep all possible heat in the house.

For a much more in-depth look into saving money on the power bill, look forward to a coming post “Power Bill” in the “Kill the Bill” series.

Quality of Life Impact

While there was a bit of work and investment spending in this cost savings, it still ranks as a net positive to my quality of life rather than a sacrifice. I really enjoy cooking outside, more time outdoors, fresh air scented laundry, a smaller environmental impact, more interaction and help with neighbors, less reliance on electronics and the grid, the feeling of increased self-sufficiency, and more exercise.

2) Trash Savings – $135.84

I have a fire pit in my back yard where I could burn my own trash. Given that I have cut way back on my consumeristic habits, I don’t produce a lot of trash. I burn my paper products in the winter for heat. And recycle them in the summer. I have a compost pile for biodegradables and I recycle all that is accepted in my area. This leaves me with about one bag a week of waste. I could easily handle burning one bag a week. In my area, I have to pay for recycling pickup which I wanted to continue even in my pursuit of FI. Unfortunately, all the pickup services require payment for trash service to get recycle service. To cancel the trash collection service, I would have to drop off recycling regularly. I considered what this prospect would look like for my time and schedule.

I called around to get pricing on different trash services. I found one that had a contract with my neighborhood that apparently none of my neighbors knew about. They offered trash service for half the cost and offered free recycling service to boot! Since the effort is below my ‘Vicky Robins life energy time cost’ I chose to keep trash service rather than burn and drop off recycling. I called my then waste service provider to cancel and the conversation went like this.:

Me: Hello my name is _Mr. Refined_, I found a more affordable waste pickup service and would like to cancel my service with you.

Customer service: OK, May I ask what rate you found?

Me: Certainly, I found one for $16/mo. with free recycling collection.

Customer service: OK, please hold one moment sir.
One minute later….

Customer service: Sir, I am willing to extend service at that same rate if you would like to stay on with us.

Me: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ OK, deal.

Quality of Life Impact

That conversation kind of made me mad. I realized that they would have been willing to give me service all these years at half the rate they were charging me?! Well, winning is winning and the second best time to plant a tree is today. There really was no felt impact up or down to the quality of life, same trash service, same schedule, simply less cost.

3) Phone Savings – $182.28

I already use a prepaid service provider. Why everyone in the world doesn’t do this is beyond me?! I get to use the same tower as the major providers (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint) at a fraction of the cost with no contract. I can cancel anytime without penalty and I get to use any phone I choose and upgrade as often or infrequent as I wish. There are other cheaper plans such as Google Project FI, and Republic Wireless starting at $12/month but I wanted Verizon towers because they are by far the best provider in my area and I was willing to pay extra for it, so I went with Page Plus.

I looked at my data usage on my phone bills and calculated my average and maximum data usage per month. Since I am almost always in a WIFI coverage area when on my phone, my data average was 3GB with a max of 5 GB per month. I moved down from the unlimited data to the 8GB per month plan at $40.24 with taxes and fees. I left a lot of meat on the bone and will likely move down soon. The other weekend while I was at Camp FI, Brad Barrett of ChooseFI mentioned that he only pays $16/month for phone service. So, there is plenty of meat left on the bone for next year’s savings

Quality of Life Impact

A nice easy improvement here with no contracts and free market options. My experience was so good with this change that I actually stopped investing in Verizon. Without a change to their income model, I expect them to be undercut in price until they die a slow death of bleeding profit margins.

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Update: December 23, 2022: New government programs now allow for free phone & data. There are many ways to qualify for a list, or to apply follow the links below:

For Lifeline and the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which helps “low-income” households pay for internet service and internet-connected devices. Visit AffordableConnectivity.gov to learn more about ACP and visit LifelineSupport.org to learn more about Lifeline.

I now qualify for free cell service.

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4) Dog Food Savings – $154.44

The brand of dog food I was buying kept going up slowly in price to a staggering $38.83 for a large 25lb bag. I simply shopped for brands. I found another brand that sounded very healthy with good ingredients, higher protein content, and carried a good rating. After identifying the brand, I looked for the lowest-cost shipper to have it delivered. Time is money and my time cannot compete with the efficiency of Amazon Logistics. I switched from Chewy to Amazon as I already have a prime membership. I set up the reoccurring order for a deeper discount and even found a 20% off coupon on the first order. I always look for ‘set it and forget it’ options to automate and free up decision-making power for things that matter more. The puppy seems to like it and has a healthy coat.

Quality of Life Impact

The quality of life actually went up with this one as I am providing a little higher quality food to the puppy at a better price.

5) Auto Insurance – $1,204.60

I have a confession. Admitting this one is a risk. I bet I lose 500 readers in this one paragraph. Shamefully, before I was walking on FIRE I bought 3 cars…. I know, I know there is nothing refined about that, you’re right. That is pure stupidity and lifestyle inflation that bit me in the butt. Sure, I never found a way to drive more than one at a time. Yes, it was a stupid mistake. Don’t judge me monkey! To save this money, I canceled auto insurance on the two cars that I don’t drive regularly. I am fixing them up and either going to sell them or Turo and rent them. I have to do the math to find which has the best cost advantage. If I sell them the auto maintenance category will show a nice savings. When I took the time to think about it, I realized they really don’t spark joy in my life. At least not enough to offset the burden and cost of additional maintenance.

Quality of Life Impact

I almost never drove the other cars. They sat in the garage and driveway getting in my way and getting dirty. I had to move them and spend time out of my Saturdays to wash them, worry about them, and maintain them. I actually look forward to getting rid of these and adding the cash to my investments. I didn’t get much joy for the status of owning 3 cars. I rank this as a quality-of-life improvement for these reasons. Simple is good.

6) Food/Groceries Savings – $4,716.00

I made two fundamental changes in my food shopping habits. The first is that I became more cost-per-unit, and cost-per-calorie conscious. I actively look for a better deal on the items that I already buy. Some foods that I like are healthy and good sources of calories, protein, and nutrients. Now I buy more of these and less of the empty foods, with respect to calories, protein, and nutrients, than I otherwise would have bought.

Second, I changed where I shop. My three favorite grocery stores are now Alde, Lidl, and Cost Co. This was a hugely underestimated savings tool. I could buy a used Honda Civic every year with the savings from this one choice. 

Quality of Life Impact

I didn’t have to drastically change my diet. I do feel a little healthier with what I eat now. I have reduced the time I spend shopping because these stores tend to have fewer options to deliberate between choices. I would rank this savings as a net quality of life downgrade. The stores I used to shop at had better options and specifically more organics and drink choices.

7) Dining Out Savings – $2,400.00*

I spent a lot of money dining out in the past. I have cut that back significantly. This has been an area of massive savings for me. I am a social guy and enjoy going out and the company of others as often as I can get out. This savings is tough on two fronts. One, I have a strong appreciation for delicious food, especially food that I didn’t have to cook. Secondly, I don’t want to lose the social aspect, especially as a single guy. I don’t want to die single which means I don’t want to live single which means at some point I have to actually meet a cute girl. The only cute girl where I hang out (at my house) is my daughter and she is already in my family and that is not at all what I am talking about here.

To keep up with friends and perhaps one day meet a beautiful girl, I really don’t want to give up the habit of going out. I hate to be so crass, but it is a game of numbers. To marry one beautiful, smart, confident, faithful, and motivated woman, I may need five serious relationships. To have five serious relationships, I may need to date 20 girls. To date 20, I may need to call 100. To call 100 I may need to get 1000 numbers. To get a thousand numbers I need to go out an awful lot. Man, that is exhausting just to think about! Let’s get back to something much more achievable like personal finance.

Quality of Life Impact

From a health perspective, more water and less food and drinks is an improvement. However, this is a notable quality of life reduction for me. To combat this I still try to go out and just not order food or at least not as much. When my schedule allows, I eat before I go out. I keep a snack bar in my car and I look for happy hour apps whenever they can be found. I drink more water and, well, more drinks. After all, alcohol has food value but food does not have alcohol value. : ) Sometimes my friends take note that I am not ordering but after 2 seconds seem to either forget or realize they don’t care and the conversation marches right on. You can give up the expense without giving up the activity. Pro tip: friends often order twice as much as they eat. If there is no shame in our game, clean the fries off their plate when they are done eating. Leave no piece of avocado toast behind.

*note that my numbers here are not exactly like the other meticulously calculated numbers. Admittedly, I did a poor job of keeping receipts and tracking my dining-out expenses. Take heart, you can expect exact numbers going forward.

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Update: December 23, 2022: Since writing this article this is the one area that I have really added back to my budget. I found that I do value social dining connections, dating, getting out, and just not cooking. I settled about in the middle of where I started and where I cut to, which is still savings of ~$1,200.

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8) Internet Service Savings – $600.00

My internet provider has continued to hike the price of home internet over the years climbing up to $65.99/month. To their credit, they have consistently doubled the bandwidth all the way up to 200Mbps. There is only one ethical company in my area so I don’t have the option of shopping rates or I would have leveraged it. However, I did hear of an unadvertised affordable plan option from a cable man who I spoke to when he was connecting a wire in my yard while I was outside cooking on my grill, to avoid the cost of dining out, reducing the power bill, while throwing a ball to my healthy coated well feed dog. See what I did there? ; )

My provider is Charter (now Spectrum) and the program is called “Spectrum Assist.” it is intended for low-income people but there are a variety of other circumstances that you can qualify with. The plan offers 15Mbps for $14.99/month. The person on the phone sarcastically ridiculed the plan as if trying to talk me out of this archaic speed for not being able to support multiple screens simultaneously streaming at 4k definition, but that didn’t seem to deter me with my one-screen house. ; )

Pro Tip: check out https://www.cheapinternet.com/ they have a “plans by state” tab.

Quality of Life Impact

None. There is no felt impact. I can still stream Netflix in great quality. If I had a half dozen teenagers with multiple WIFI devices I might be able to notice but for this single FI guy, I am good.

9) Lunch Savings – $1,800.00

I really didn’t give the expense of food the respect it deserved before I started calculating the numbers. This math is quick and easy. The average cost of a lunch out, in my area, $10.83. The cost of a packed lunch is $2.50. So say an average savings of $8.33 per packed lunch. There are 22 business days per month. I still go out to lunch on Fridays to maintain the social connection, networking, and relationship with co-workers. Therefore I am savings 18 lunches per mo. x $8.33 per packed lunch = $149.94.

Quality of Life Impact

Increases for the reasons that packing my lunch automatically increases the health level of the foods I eat. Since I am not consuming heavy greasy foods in the middle of the day there is a productivity gain in the afternoon. I tend to eat slower as I work at my desk which increases productivity and decreases the portions that I tend to eat. Smaller portions also help me be more awake in the afternoons as my brain and stomach share the same blood supply.

I find it takes less time to pack a lunch than to run out in the middle of the day and buy one. I log fewer miles on my car driving to lunch. That is partially offset by the reduced social interaction I get with coworkers during the day. However, with the increased productivity and saved time, I could meet friends for a quick happy hour to satisfy the social desire. And wouldn’t you rather spend time with the friends you choose rather than the co-workers you probably didn’t choose?

10) CR Membership Savings – $10

This is a Consumer Report membership that is reoccurring. I think I used this once or twice. In case you have lived under a rock for the last decade, the world wide web has really evolved to have good product reviews and top ten lists for just about anything you can imagine to buy and many more things you never imagined you could buy.

Quality of Life Impact

So marginal it only deserves one line. As I progress in FIRE I buy fewer consumer products anyways.

11) LTD Membership Savings – $145.20

OK, time for another embarrassing confession. I canceled this membership. It was a reoccurring membership to a pyramid scheme, in particular, one of the branches of Amway. Now before I lose all respect and credibility, let me explain. I am hungry for FIRE and highly motivated! I am willing to try just about any side hustle to accelerate me to FI. Consider my criteria for good side hustles. Is it performance-based? Yes. Is it infinitely scalable to market saturation? Yes. Does it afford the flexibility, location freedom, and ability to manage my own schedule? Yes. Pyramid schemes are a system where your mentors called “up-line” (bosses) are monetarily rewarded for your success. In other words, they have every reason to help you grow and become successful. Did not Charley Monger say “Show me the reward and I will show you the outcome.”

Now I know the statistics. Only 1/200 people are profitable and only 2/1,000 people make substantial income to consider this primary income. But in case this is the first article of mine that you have read…I am Mr. Hustle. I am confident that I can outperform 1000 others! I realize I am bias but the fact that I am still alive after all that I have been through should be an indication of the grit that I possess. Read the book “Business of the 21st Century” by respected author Robert Kiyosaki and tell me you still don’t see significant potential in this business model. Your startup costs are minimal, a few hundred, and earnings are unlimited.

Don’t judge me you know you have an embarrassing membership subscription too.

Quality of Life Impact

Negligible. They actually have a good training, reading and motivational program but as they say in the south “If you ain’t going to cook, you don’t need the stove on.”

12) Daycare Savings – $1,732.00

I shopped daycare rates of a few programs in my area and applied to this one six months earlier. I was waitlisted but finally got in. My kids moved from a traditional daycare where they were close to the older age limit to a sports activity-based program at a large county recreation pavilion.

Quality of Life Impact

For me, it was a loss. I have more registration deadlines to meet and get in Todoist. I also added 15 minutes to my evening commute. There are a few less days of the year that the new daycare is open where I have to find alternative care. For my kids, they report that they love it! There are many more physical activities to do. They stay much more active, seem to get into less trouble and they are smiling every day I pick them up. This one is not about me, this one is about them. Overall this balances out to be a huge net gain.

Summary Final Thoughts

It is funny when I excitedly boast about my savings wins each month and no one cares that I save $154 dollars on dog food but telling people I saved $13,359 cutting expenses over the year and everyone asks “Wait, what, how did you do that?” Shop your reoccurring expenses. Be critical if you really need them in the first place. Spend on experiences, not things. And never underestimate the power of the aggregation of marginal gains.

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