I used to make just over minimum wage and I thought that the reason I was broke was because I wasn't making more money. Then I started making a lot more money and I still didn't have much money! I wasn't sure why untill I sat down and started looking at my finances. What I found was simple.
I sat down with paper and pen and started doing some basic math, thinking about where I was spending my money. My first budget had some revelations that helped me, but over the next few weeks as I thought more and more about it I was noticing many little things that were missing. As I revised and perfected my expenditure list I came up with two lists, essentials, and non-essentials.
Let's be honest, how many times a day do you buy something that is unnecessary or non-essential? Let me give you an outline of some of the things I cut out that added up to HUNDREDS of dollars a month in savings.
Snacks - On break at work I used to walk down to the convenience store and buy a soda and something sweet or salty to eat. I cracked this habit down to maybe once a week.
Coffee - I drink black coffee so hey that's not too bad compared to Frappe, Latte, or Capucino right? Wrong. It's still 10x overpriced for something I could simply make for myself at home.
T-shirts - I used to buy these stupid $40 t-shirts because I thought they were cool. I'm by no means a shopaholic, but I would buy them every couple months.
Cigarettes - I wasn't a full time smoker, but as someone who works at a bar I definitely would occasionally buy a pack
Movies - This was 9-10 years ago so I'm talking about both going out to movies, and buying DVD's. I had a fairly cheap cable package with HBO that I split with my roomie that had on demand viewing of all the excellent programs they had to offer. Yeah HBO isn't cheap, but it's a heck of a lot better than buying $80 worth of DVD's a month.
The worst thing for a budget though? Eating out and going to bars. Once I figured out how much money I had been spending on bars and restaurants I realized I could save thousands in months! I think I used to spend $300-500 a month eating out! Once I figured that out I cut down on eating out to a few times a month.
So here is my biggest tip for saving up lots of money for world travel - Learn how to cook!!
