5 Things I Cut From My Budget

I’m lucky that currently I am able to save over 50% of my total income. I have six streams of income but live solely off one. Meaning, I am able to save a decent amount and could live off more. But I choose to live frugally to work towards my FIRE goals. So since I started budgeting, I have cut lots of things from my budget. Mostly because they don’t bring enough value to make it worth spending that money! Here are five of them – plus how much I have saved since cutting them 😉

A car

Having a car was the single biggest drain on my finances! They are so expensive to maintain and run so even though I could afford to have one – I don’t!

Even though I hated how much money I haemorrhaged having a car, I absolutely loved it! Having a car makes everything so much easier! So, the decision to cut this from my budget was hard.

To begin with this decision was made for me because I was moving to uni and couldn’t bring a car. Keeping it on a drive 100 miles away seemed pointless so I sold it. But I kind of thought I would get another one once I moved off campus, yet it never made sense.

I live in a city that has decent public transport, covered by one pass I bought at the start of this academic year for £285. Having a car would cost almost 12x this amount 😳 not worth it!

Savings:

Now for an estimation of how much I have saved! Let’s assume I never sold my car and the related expenses include insurance, tax, maintenance and petrol 😅 These numbers are based off what my car used to cost me!

insurance = £1000/year = £84/month

tax = £120/year = £10/month

maintenance = £25/month

petrol = £160/month

= £279/month

Getting my hair professionally done

I haven’t had my hair cut in two and a half years! I don’t see the point anymore. This is something I never thought I’d cut out. As soon as I was allowed, I started dying my hair blonder and this was something I had to get done at least every six months to keep it looking fresh. But now I have hardly any blonde left in my hair and I couldn’t care less.

This change of mindset was definitely influenced by the pandemic, as no one was able to get their hair done. But I found I didn’t mind my natural hair colour and preferred it longer. Now it’s been over two years and I couldn’t think of anything worse than sitting in a chair for 4 hours, making awkward small talk and being presented with a £150 bill for the pleasure. Erm no thank you!

Savings:

For the savings calculation, I have assumed I would have continued getting my hair done every six months, spending an average of £150 each time.

= £150/six months

= £25/month

New books

Deciding to cut this from my budget was hard! I love books! But like any avid bookworm, my TBR pile is forever getting bigger and bigger so I am not allowed to buy any new books until I have at least made a dent in this. Now I do occasionally let myself buy second-hand books or a kindle deal but for the most part no new books!

Savings:

Working out my savings for this one was hard but I have gone with an average of 3 new books each month at around £10 each.

= £30/month

High end makeup and skincare

This is where I used to spend every single penny of my income when I got my first job, I was obsessed! To the point where I am still using up some of the items I bought during this phase – it’s been 5 years!

This is another change that came from a mindset shift. Now I much prefer getting value for money, and only buying replacements when I run out. No one needs five different moisturisers on the go at one time!

Savings:

This one was also hard to estimate savings on so I have gone for a monthly average as I tended to do a few big splurges throughout the year.

= £50/month

Takeaway drinks

This one is very personal but after working as a barista for 3 long years, I see no value in spending £3+ on a takeaway drink! I feel like I’ve had my fill for a lifetime 😂 Plus I don’t really like coffee and it always seems pointless getting a takeaway tea when it always tastes better from home.

Savings:

For savings, let’s say I get an average of two takeaway drinks each week.

= £25/month

Total Savings

If you’ve been keeping track, you’ll know that by cutting out these five things I have saved myself a whopping £409 per month. £409!!! That’s insane!! That’s nearly £5000 per year 😱

Hopefully this has shown you the power of removing those things that no longer bring you joy from your budget. This will free up more money to spend on those things that truly bring you joy, whether that’s travel or your daily latte!

Are there anything that you’ve cut out? I’d love to hear all about it!