I HATE COSTS ! 33 Costs I Avoid
~ Friday, May 20, 2022 Blog Post ~
I really hate spending money. I’m a penny-pincher, miser, or scrooge. As an aggressive saver protected by the asset protection lawyer I employ, I will avoid costs I believe are unnecessary by all means, especially with soaring inflation rates at the time of writing. I’m very practical with the resources I have, including my money and time, and I think that attitude is just wise.
I enumerated 33 ways for me to avoid costs today, Friday, May 20, 2022. I know there are more ways that can help me and I’ll update this list once I think of other methods and have the luxury of time to do so:
- Having a car (gasoline and maintenance expenses)
- Traveling locally and overseas
- Ordering food from food ordering and delivery platforms
- Credit cards with annual or monthly membership charges
- Shopping for unnecessary items like clothes, accessories, and so forth
- Fear of missing out or FOMO caused by social media
- Fine dining and dining out (except at budget-friendly fast food outfits) (small servings; “shrinkflation”; poor food quality)
- Shopping via popular e-commerce platforms
- Getting sick (medicines, doctor’s check-ups)
- Get-togethers, parties, meet-ups
- Close friendships and family relationships
- Getting married or weddings
- Raising a family, having children
- Charity; giving alms to panhandlers; philanthropy (I advocate the wisdom: “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime”)
- Unemployment
- Housekeeping services, such as home-cleaning and gardening
- Giving tithes in a religious group (Salvation should not cost a penny; That money is actually for the religious organization’s operational costs)
- Uncontrolled use of utility services like electricity and water
- Choosing to take public transportation instead of merely walking to nearby destinations
- Unplanned spending or needing to spend money out of the blue
- Mindless spending
- Being financially illiterate
- Getting scammed
- Watching musical concerts and buying fan merchandise
- Watching movies in theaters
- Subscription movie and music streaming services like Spotify and Netflix
- Credit card interest and late payment fees
- Having friends and relatives who are richer than me but are unhelpful, ungenerous, and will just make me spend more during expensive outings
- Having a relationship or an unexpected and horrible experience with financial predators, like criminals (thieves, charlatans or fraudsters), scheming bankers, clever manipulators, leech relatives, liars, and exploiters
- Being a show-off
- Being too nice and friendly
- Envying and getting distracted by other people’s financial and material success, or focusing on other people’s “dining table” rather than one’s own
- Aspiring and working hard for a luxurious lifestyle
I want to include the basic definitions of the personal finance-related expressions “cost avoidance” and “cost-cutting” here because I think they are relevant to my article. According to Study.com, COST AVOIDANCE is a way of decreasing one’s costs by lowering a potential increase in expenses.
Meanwhile, Simplicable.com defined “cost-cutting” as the process of reducing spending, which is often done to preserve cash. Additionally, COST-CUTTING may be implemented as a long-term controlled strategy.
I favor the wise use of money. I believe it should be merely for savings and investments to achieve a financially secure future and peace of mind; paying monthly utility bills, including food or groceries; and relaxation and enjoyment (I have my preferred ways of relaxing and enjoying myself and they are a part of my monthly budget).
Fortunately, at the time of writing, I have successfully avoided the 33 costs I mentioned above since time immemorial. Of course, I don’t intentionally live a hand-to-mouth life.
Again, I’m an aggressive saver. Besides, I’m a mindful spender and absolutely not a big spender. I decide on my money and my life ! It’s my money and my life, and therefore, it is my decision !
