Hey all!
One of my favorite books of all time, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,
opens with the following quote:
“Far out in the uncharted
backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the galaxy
lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight
million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose
ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think
digital watches are a pretty neat idea. This planet has - or rather had - a
problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for
pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but
most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces
of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of
paper that were unhappy. And so the problem remained; lots of the people were
mean, and most of them were miserable, even the ones with digital watches.”
When I was 14, I got my first part-time job. Since then, I’ve learned a whole
lot of things about what to do and NOT to do with money. I’ve gone through phases where I feel super
rich and waste an embarrassingly large amount of money on things like books,
clothes, and movies, and I’ve gone through phases where I unnecessarily stress
myself out over trying to save and feel comfortable in a pool of savings. Finally,
after years of mishandling nearly every paycheck put in my hands, I’ve finally
seemed to learn a few things about managing my money. Basically I feel like my
philosophy on money boils down to this:
Be conscious and spend what you have wisely, but don’t let
your comfort or safety lie in the amount of money that you have saved. Live frugally- not out of fear that you
won’t have enough, but in the freedom of knowing that your happiness rides on
greater things. Give fearlessly- the
money will always come when it needs to come.
That being said, here are a few of the tools and tips that I’ve found help me
spend my "small green pieces of paper" wisely so that I can give and spend them more wisely in return:
GAS
So I have this thing called a Hy-Vee FuelSaver Card (Hy-Vee is the largest grocery chain in the Midwest, for those of
you not from my little bubble). Basically, when I buy certain foods I earn an
amount off on every gallon of gas that I buy at a Casey’s or Hy-Vee Gas
Station. That’s right, I literally get free gas for buying the foods I already
eat. And Hy-Vee isn’t the only grocery store that offers this; it’s becoming
really common! Check with where you buy your groceries to see if they have a
similar program.
CLOTHES
Learn to Sew
Seriously. A one-time investment to
buy a sewing machine or the investment of time to hand stitch allows any
beautiful fabric, oversized grandma dress, or strangely pleated thrift store
pants to magically become exactly what
you want it to be. Sure, it takes a bit of practice and patience, but I have
probably saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars by making clothes rather than
buying them!
FUN
Groupon
Yes, yes. I know. I’m a little late
jumping on the Groupon train. There are so many great deals on things you have
to pay for in life anyways, like oil changes (I just got one for $19!) or
things just for fun like travel, yoga memberships, and restaurant coupons.
Get a library card
Books, movies, and magazines for
free. Say whaaaaaaat?
TRAVEL
Student Universe
This site is theeeee best for
getting discounted rates for flights, hotels, tours, trains, everything. My
absolute favorite part is the “Fareplay” section where you can set the area you
want to depart from and travel to, and it will generate the cheapest time and
place for you to go. It’s the ultimate wanderlust conqueror. Visit here!
Be willing to suffer a bit of discomfort
There are so many cheap airlines out there that are willing to sell seats
on flights for super cheap if you’re willing to give up the normal flight
comforts like luggage-sized carry-ons, on-flight snacks, and (to be honest)
decent service. Spirit Airlines is one of these options for flights within the
U.S., and Wizz Air is a great bottom-line option overseas (I flew with them
this past fall across Europe for about $80. Best. Deal. Ever.)
Volunteer
Volunteering
is a great way to travel longterm without crazy costs. CNN posted an article
that I stumbled across awhile ago, here.
What tips and tricks help you spend more wisely?
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