Cheap Fun for the New Year

Happy New Year Everyone! Want to have a good time with some friends doing something entertaining tonight? Try hanging with friends playing some board/card games! Wait wait wait, whaaaat?! I don't have to go out to the bars and drink to have fun? That's crazy talk!  But rest assure, it's true. This is what I'm going to be doing into the New Year.  I'm going to beat the craze and start my year off right saving money while having fun!  Who doesn't like a cheaper option to entertain a group? Sure, it may sound like child's play at first, but definitely give it a shot. You'll be surprised how much fun you can have. Most importantly, these games have replay value! One time fee to buy the game, and you have it forever. A night at the bar or bowling on the other hand, it's pay to play, every time.

Here are a couple games (recently new to me) that I recommend trying:

1) Monopoly Deal ($10)

Ok, so now that I'm older, I've lost a little bit of patience to play a long-drawn out game of Monopoly. Thank goodness that made a Monopoly spin-off with only cards! The game is easy to learn, and very fast paced.  The game can last anywhere from 5-30 minutes a game. There is more strategy involved than the normal board game so it makes playing extremely interesting time over time!


2) Sequence ($20)

Fantastic team game where you can't talk to your teammates. Interesting huh?  Imagine playing Connect-Five with cards taking turns with your teammates without collaboration.  Not only do you not know what your opponent is doing, but you barely have a clue about what you teammates are doing! Definitely awesome when you somehow plan a win without communication.

Remember, there's more ways to have fun than what Jersey Shore shows you on TV. Yes, I understand that you have to mix it up once in a while and do other things that cost money, and that's fine. No matter what, you're likely wanting to spend quality time with your friends anyways, so it shouldn't really matter what you do. But note this, every time you spend a night with friends playing board games, imagine the saving versus going out and doing what you otherwise would have planned. Add it up over time and see the $$$ in your bank! Get off on the right foot with your financial life this coming year!

Buy Sale Stuff in Bulk

With the holiday season coming to an end, lots of stuff are on sale. Rather than just focusing on clothes, toys, or other junk, spend some time looking for some necessities.  For me, it was stocking up on some breakfast stuff.  It makes perfect sense since I eat it every morning.  I love cereal, so when I see it on sale, I buy a lot.

Here's what I had before going shopping (count them, there's 20 boxes):

Here's my amazing girlfriend holding some of what I picked up to add to my collection:

For $2.19 a box vs. the normal $4.39, you better believe I'm picking up a bunch even though I already have a lot at home.  Not all cereal go on sale at once, so I check the cereal aisle each time I step into the grocery store to grab the ones I'm running low on.  Just to throw it out there, I refuse to pay over $2.50 for a box of cereal, and I buy only the brand-named stuff.  Yes, I can tell the difference after eating them for 20 years...  I know for a fact these will NOT go to waste since I go through a box per week and have plenty of time before they expire. So for ~$5 after adding in a gallon of milk for $2.79 each week, I feed myself breakfast for a whole week. Talk about an effective food-to-cost ratio! Also, they make a great after dinner snack if you happen to get hungry after.

Whether it's toothpaste, toilet paper or whatever, if you have no doubt that you're going to use it, buy it in bulk when the sale is amazing.  Why wait?  You will end up needing it anyways.  I usually buy enough to cover myself I can comfortably guess the next sale for that item will come.  As much as I am for not spending to save money, get to shopping for real NEEDS!

Essential Living

Let me share you a tip on how to save more money, easy.  Stop spending money on NON-ESSENTIAL things.  Not a hard concept is it?  This is especially true for items that are BAD for you (i.e. Smoking!).  This is what it comes down to: You make a certain amount a month.  You have to spend a certain amount a month to survive.  Everything else is saveable money.  Don't question the simplicity of that concept.

SAVED = EARNED - (ESSENTIAL + NON-ESSENTIAL)

You have only some control over the EARNED and ESSENTIAL SPENDING categories.  In your current situation, you make a certain amount, and you can only get so cheap on housing and food to survive.  What you have 100% control over is the NON-ESSENTIAL SPENDING category.  Of course, it's difficult to keep an absolute zero on non-essentials since it makes living enjoyable.  Note that the more you spend to make life more enjoyable now, you delay reaching your financial goals.  Accept the fact that you must live within your means, and your mean is set by what you EARN.  Accept the fact that you cannot live your life like a millionaire if you're working a low wage job.  That recipe just leads to disaster down the road.  Be logical.  What you can do is continue to work hard, improve your situation by learning a skill or getting an education for a job that pays higher.  Meanwhile, you must save your hard earned money to open yourself to opportunities to let your money work for you.  Avoid getting distracted by non-essential spending.  It's not easy.  Discipline yourself to be content with less. 

For a couple ideas, here are some areas where I cut out the non-essential items:

1) Junk Food - Do you really need junk food? You are spending money on food that are bad for you.  I've cut out the chips and soda from my grocery shopping.  My roommate goes through 3 party size bags of chips a week.  He makes up the bad by working out, so it's not too bad physically for him.  However, he is missing out financially.  I'm ahead gaining about $40 a month from not spending money on chips. 

2) Rent a room - Do you need a whole apartment to yourself?  If not, consider living with a friend.  I currently live with a friend from college in a town-home he bought.  I save money since it's cheaper than normal rent, and he's getting help paying his mortgage.  Both people win.  You're trading cost for privacy, but at the same time, I'm gaining additional friendship time.  I am saving a few hundred $$$ here.

3) Smartphone - Do you need to have the internet at every waking money?  I work 8-9 hours a day in an office with a computer with internet, and I'm usually at home the rest of the time, again, with a computer with internet.  The only time I don't have internet is when I'm driving, and shopping at the grocery store.  I'm pretty much already connected 90% of the time! Definitely saving myself $30 a month compared with my "connected" friends.


Be conscious about your spending.  I'm saving hundreds extra each month just from a few smart decisions.  Ask yourself if it's essential or not before making the purchase.  Hopefully it will help you find ways to cut spending and increase spending.  I'll throw in more ideas to trim the cost in due time.  Until then, go at it!