In a world where luxury is often associated with success and status, some people have found that cutting out certain expenses can actually bring them closer to financial freedom.
What luxury or optional expense did you give up to become financially responsible?
After polling the internet, several responded to deliver this authentic top-voted list.
1. The Cost of Beauty
“After crunching the numbers today, I can no longer justify spending $85 every two weeks to get my lash extensions. They add so much joy to my life, but with inflation on food and gas and a slight rent increase, it just doesn’t make financial sense anymore,” confessed one.
2. Stop Spending on Unused Products
“I stopped buying a lot of different types of makeup and skincare products. As I’ve gotten older, I know what I like and what works for me. I only need a few different makeup products since I have the same look and am happy with what I currently use,” another shared.
3. Cutting Out Food Services
“Food delivery apps are a killer. When did I decide it was okay to wake up from a nap and drop $34 on a meal because I deserved it? I would do this five times a month.” Another added, “Uber eats, yesterday I spent $77 on one meal. Insanity.”
4. Go Down to One Car
“My husband and I share a car. We both work from home most of the time, and when I go into the city, I use the commuter rail,” replied one.
“It is inconvenient sometimes; scheduling things, especially having kids but not having that second car payment, is great. We can afford it but choose to put that money away,” a second confessed.
5. Wait for the Movie To Come Out
“I used to enjoy seeing movies at the cinema. Now I live a 40-minute drive from the nearest one, so fuel is a factor, and tickets seem excessive when the movie is almost certainly going to be on a streaming service soon after,” someone suggested.
6. Start Eating In
“Eating lunch out. I used to go out to eat lunch all the time with some coworkers in my 20s, but meals that were $5-6 are now $8-9 or more,” replied another.
A third said, “I sometimes eat out once a week when a hot dog stand comes to my office building, but I mostly go home and let my dog out and eat leftovers or cheese and crackers.”
7. Cut the Hair Expenses
“Coloring my hair blonde was incredibly expensive, and when I lived with my natural hair long enough, I found I liked it just fine,” one person declared. Another stated, “I learned how to cut and dye my hair. There was a steep learning curve, but now I’m very confident.”
8. Cut Some of the Streaming
“We had so many streaming apps. There are more, but we had Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, Disney Plus, Peacock, and Spotify. It adds up. We kept Amazon Prime and Hulu and cut the other one,” someone confessed.
9. Switching Grocery Stores
One person shared, “I gave up going to Whole Foods for regular groceries and instead going to the big supermarkets (mostly Safeway) because their apps have tons of coupons for the expensive items like laundry and dish soap. On most trips, I save more than $20 by going through the deals on the app and strategizing grocery shopping.”
10. Your Time Also Has a Worth
Finally, someone said, “I have yet to take the plunge, but my one luxury is a cleaning service. It costs $520 a month after tip for biweekly cleaning – but it saves us around 16 hours per month, so we are still debating if we keep it up. Unfortunately, our property taxes increased by $300 monthly, so we feel the squeeze.”
We hope you enjoyed this Reddit picks list of luxury expenses people ditched to save big money.