What are some skills that we need in order to save money in our daily lives?
- Budgeting and basic financial skills. We need to know how to spend less than we earn. We need to save the difference. That is the basic premise of frugal living. If we can’t save some of the money that we’ve earned, we will never become a) rich b) financially secure c) have money for the things we want and may even d) die on the streets a pauper. There are lots of books out there devoted to this topic and I have lots of articles on this as well.
- Cook. We need to save money where we can and one place we can easily slash our bills is in food and dining. A useful skill to have is to cook, or else it’s canned and frozen food or, even more expensive, fast food, take-outs, and delivery. Cooking our own meals immediately saves us money and we can see it.
- Basic car maintenance. One skill I don’t have and truly wish I do is basic car maintenance. If only I can change oil, I would save so much money! My cousin knows how to change oil. She is my new hero. If you know how to take care of your car, even just a little bit, how many thousands of dollars can you save in a year?! Better yet, you would have the confidence to purchase older vehicles, or even accept free ones, and slash your transportation cost even more!
- Handyman skills. If you can paint, knock a nail to a board, sandpaper some walls, unscrew a lightbulb, put doorknobs back on, just little things, you would save hundreds of dollars a year, if not more, because you DIY! You don’t have to call in someone to take care of little things. Years ago, my bathroom drain got truly clogged. Crying and panicking, I called in a plumber. He used a wire coat hanger and unplugged the drain. You don’t know how P-ED I was at myself when I wrote that check for $95. I’ve kept my drains clear ever since using baking soda and, you guessed it, a wire coat hanger.
Now, all of these skills are basic, take care of yourself skills that fall under DIY. They all save us a tremendous amount of money, money that we can keep. Money that we can save. Money that we can spend on more important things, like investments.