Does living cheaply mean you have to be unhappy or give up things you want? In no way. For me, it meant getting the things I wanted most. Spend less on each thing or activity, right? Then you can do more of them. The key is to spend less while still getting what you need and want. I'm going to tell you how I did it.
How to Live on a Low Budget: Housing
My first home was a mobile home on a small piece of land. I paid less than $20,000, and my monthly payments were $257. Even with taxes, insurance, and fixes, it was still cheaper than renting. It was very comfortable, with three bedrooms, a bigger living room, and a nice yard that was fenced in. In the end, I got $45,000 for it.
I did two things that brought the price down even more. First, I paid as much as I could toward the mortgage while I was working. I had no debts after five years, and it cost me an average of $300 per month to pay for utilities, phone, trash pickup, taxes, insurance, and repairs. This is a cheap way to live.
I could easily rent out the other two bedrooms, which made it even cheaper. I got $65 a week for one and $75 or more a week for the other, including all utilities, for both of them. I found good young men to rent to, and their rents added up to $600 per month, which is more than cheap and even better than free housing. I was living for free and making $300 a month.
Think and plan if you want to live cheaply.
If I had less money to spend, I could work less and get by without a car. Even more money was saved this way. The few bus rides I took and the used bike I bought didn't cost as much as having a car. I should have better planned my trips around town, but it was worth it.
I never paid more than $40 for a piece of furniture until I was almost 40 years old. You need to know what you care about. I DID spend $220 on a high-tech sleeping bag because I wanted to do ultralight backpacking. On the other hand, I bought a nice, clean used couch for $30 instead of one that cost $900 because I couldn't tell the difference between the two.
I found that when I worked less, I had more time to think about what to do. A lot of money can be saved with time. When I finally got a car, I found a repossessed one that was worth much more than what I paid for it. Everything about my month-long trip to Ecuador cost $1,040. This included flights, hotels, meals, and a guided hike up a 21,000-foot mountain. I was able to find the deals because I had time to look for them.
I've never cared much about jobs, and for years I only worked part-time. I read good books, wrote poetry, and played chess. I went on trips a few times a year. South America is where I met the love of my life (happily married for almost 5 years now). All of this was possible not because I made a lot of money, but because I spent less than I made and put the difference toward things that were important to me.
This article is not meant to tell you how to do something. In many other articles, I talk about how I was able to travel and buy things for so little money. This is just to get you thinking about what could happen and to show you some rules. What do the rules say? Find ways to get what you want for less money. Don't spend money on things you don't need. Lessen how much you work and think more. Don't get into debt. Lastly, you should know what you value most, because this is what you can get more of if you live cheaply.
