Budgeting Tips: 10 Ways to Lower Your Life’s Fixed Costs

Lowering our life’s fixed costs offers great opportunities. We can get ahead financially, we can pay off debt, or we can live more generous lives.

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You can read more tips in my book, The Minimalist Home.

Read hundreds of articles on decluttering and owning less on the Becoming Minimalist blog.

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[parkerposey]

1- Live in a smaller home
2- Don’t have a car payment
3- Double check recurring payments
4- Research insurance costs
5- Take lunch to work
6- Pay off credit cards
7- Stop upgrading your phone
8- Cut utility bills at home
9- Research childcare options
10- Ditch the storage unit
Perseverance pays off

[AhmetKaan]

*Don't be afraid to start all over again.*
*This time you are not starting from scratch.*
*You are starting from experience.* 📚

[alanbirkner]

About 50 years ago, I told coworkers they could save $1000 a year by bringing lunch most of the time. They laughed at me. Another suggestion I made was
not to buy coffee on the way to work. My husband and I were able to retire from full-time employment when our youngest finished college. Frugal living means
less stress in the long run. Tina

[sirdino]

A smaller house means less stuff that can fit into the house /less stuff you can buy, its a win win situation

[mariaolguinchavez]

When I downsized apartments, I put the stuff that didn't fit into storage. After 3 months I realized I didn't know what was in there and I didn't ever go to get something else. I went through quickly just to make sure no sentimental items were there and I donated it all.

[tgayer]

I am completely debt-free, having paid off my modest home mortgage in 2019. I take my lunch to work every day, and when my cell phone was going to become obsolete, I got a used one from a friend to replace it!

[cheapsoot]

It's been a journey, but I am an official minimalist. Once I was able to let go of the VHS 📼 basketball tapes- nothing was safe.
Anything can be let go. And what is left is life and liberation. Thanks Joshua.

[joannafoster]

Wish I could hit love on this video. Living within our means, a debt free lifestyle, is rarely a popular topic, BUT, it is possible and the rewards are endless!

[jeanniestaller]

We tend to get better insurance rates by being long term customers. Downsizing your home only works if you very large home. Otherwise, downsizing costs more than the original home.
Preschool/daycare is not worth it unless you make a significant amount more than the coat of daycare.

[seizethedaytime]

Shopping for childcare is about cost but it is about way more than monetary costs.

I could have paid half what I ended up paying but it was at a place where I didn't feel comfortable on the tour and saw adults yelling at kids.

And if your kids are already established in a good center with friends and teachers they know, the cost of making them cut ties with those people could be a lot more than the few dollars saved.

[valeriehowden]

7 years ago our banker thought when we came to him about our mortgage, he thought we wanted a bigger house (or at least a bigger mortgage). He was surprised when we wanted to move into a more established neighbourhood. We ended up cutting years off our mortgage however the square footage of our new house is the same, our yard is 50% bigger, property taxes are a third less, and the commute time + fuel costs to work and activities is also reduced. Yes we have some renos on our to do list however our old house would be approaching the same reno projects soon too. We were debt free years ago and it's really liberating.

[abdulhai]

People fail to realize that upscaling your house is the most taxing to your mind. I remember when our family moved to a townhouse which was just 1700, it had small bedrooms, but our family was so happy. When we upscaled to a 2400 sqft, we got more space but they are literally just sitting there.

[Whoiskevinjones]

Took a while to isolate all recurring charges, including insurance, phone, cable and other quarterly or semi-annual expenses. Moved them all to a separate credit card, restricted only for those expenses. Now I can clearly estimate my monthly expenses and they don't get co-mingled with other credit card bills.

[oldtymer]

Your absolutely right about the storage unit - what a waste of money! It was a huge financial burden to my family for over fifteen years and the cause of a lot of friction between my wife and I. If you aren't using it, sell it or donate it to someone who can enjoy it.

[laurielatour]

My cell phone is a Trac Fone. Cost is $99/year. I’m 72 and most of my life there were no cell phones(I know that is a shock to some people but we lived just fine.) You can’t imagine the peace of not having one more bill each month, one more piece of tech to upgrade or fix, etc.

[MXofTHREE]

My first car was $3, 000 cash I held on to it for 5 years bought another car for $3, 000 that one lasted me 7 years. HUGE relief on my income. Never carry a car payment.

[MXofTHREE]

Another piece of advice from me personally, I'm living in a 4 bedroom home. I Airbnb 3 of the rooms for $650 each room I live in the last room having the home pay for itself. My expenses plus bills is $1, 200 a month.

[DavidJohnson-dclu]

In the UK our gas and electricity has gone up by 10-15% each, I slashed mine down by 40% just being more mindful of what I am using. Apart from car insurance, insurance for anything else is not a legal must, so I don't have insurance for anything else. Healthcare is free, but overall I look after my health, no smoking, no drinking, no drugs and exercise is money saving health insurance within itself.

[julio]

For many years I had a home with a dining room that got used twice a year, a living room that no one sat in and each kid had his own room. Paid off that house, downsized to a three bedroom condo and will permanently retire in December at age 55.

[anonimowadziewuszka]

Hi, I am from Poland I I would say that most of us live here by all those rules all the time :)