After independence, I started living alone and was most worried about money. This is because if you live on your own, you have to pay rent, gas and electricity bills, and if you live alone, you have to pay for food and other living expenses. This is money I would not have spent if I lived with my parents.
However, I could not give up my independence because I was worried about money. I thought that even that money was something I had to handle.
I can’t help but spend money anyway, but I can spend less money that I don’t want to spend, and I chose to save whatever money I can save, excluding my salary. I would like to talk about five ways I spent less and saved more while living alone.
1. Turn on the pedometer app
The pedometer app is an app that many people install and use by default, even if they do not go out to sleep. You can accumulate points by taking care of your health, and you can use those points in various places such as restaurants, cafes, and convenience stores. It is an app that there is no reason not to use because it is a huge mountain of Tickle collection.
In my case, I chose a room near my office. That means I didn’t commute to work by car. My car was always parked in the company parking lot, and I commuted to work by walking between the company and my home, which were about 10 minutes away.
My office is on the 3rd floor of the company building. When working, I often have to go back and forth between the first and third floors. The company definitely has an elevator, but after installing the pedometer app, I ended up walking up and down the first and third floors. I was also able to walk with pleasure because I recognized that my step count was checked by the pedometer.
After work and dinner, I would rest for a while and then go for a walk. I started this walking exercise with the thought that I should take good care of my health as I live alone.
If you walk like this all day, you can easily fill 10,000 steps. With the points I accumulated, I would buy coffee and, when I didn’t feel like it, I would also buy hamburgers. Cash refunds were also possible with some apps. I’m running about 3 apps like this.
2. Use local currency
Depending on the regime, perceptions of local currency are polar. However, from the user’s perspective, there is no reason not to use local currency. When I spend money, I get a certain percentage back. It is convenient to use later because it is refunded not as points but as money that can be used like cash. You can have the refunded money deducted each time you make a payment, or you can save it consistently and use it all at once when needed.
Therefore, whenever I shop at a local supermarket or use a local restaurant, I always use local currency. At first, everyone asks why they bother to use a credit card to pay for it in order to get a refund, but after using it well for a month, everyone regrets why they didn’t use it for a long time. If you have to spend money anyway, you can spend wisely just by using local currency.
However, as mentioned earlier, the perception of local currency varies depending on the government, so it is necessary to select someone who represents the lives of the common people well. This means that voting is important.
3. Trade in used goods
When you start a new life, whether you live in a one-room or two-room room, the room itself is fun at first. The room seems a bit big for me to live alone, and I’m worried about how to fill this large room in the future.
But after just one year of living alone, I realize how meaningless my thoughts were. My room is filled with all kinds of miscellaneous items that I don’t even know when I bought them. Things that I don’t know how long have been in my house start to collect dust little by little, and I repeat the mistake of buying new things as I get tired of the old things.
In times like that, you sometimes need to unpack. This is because reducing the burden on the house will give you some breathing room. These days, second-hand transactions are active, making it possible to trade unnecessary items without difficulty. Of course, it may not be a lot of money, but it is a lot of fun to save a few thousand won, and more than anything, it allows you to organize your house, so it kills two birds with one stone.
4. Collect waste paper
You might be thinking, ‘No, they’re going to do this?’ However, when I started living on my own, every penny was important to me, so I even collected waste paper. Once you live on your own, you have no choice but to order a lot of delivery. It’s annoying to throw away cardboard boxes every time a delivery arrives, so I decide to save them little by little and throw them away all at once. As a result, I started collecting waste paper.
And I have been consistently participating in book review groups. After receiving a book from a publisher, I read the book, write a review, and post it on my blog and online bookstore. At this time, the packaging of books sent by publishers is mostly paper boxes. So, the amount of waste paper collected like that is quite large.
What I learned while selling waste paper is that waste paper fluctuates just like the price of gasoline or gold. However, this does not mean that we sell waste paper by checking the market price of waste paper. When waste paper accumulates to a certain extent and the house gets dirty, we sell waste paper.
5. Donate blood
Although it is a bit embarrassing to donate blood to save money while living alone, blood donation is something that is very rewarding whether you know it or not.
Of course, blood donation did not begin with the purpose of making money. I wanted to do something helpful for society. I could volunteer or donate, but I wanted to do something that would help more directly. In the meantime, something that came to mind was blood donation. Therefore, I continue to donate blood.
First of all, being able to donate blood is proof that my body is healthy. Additionally, when you donate blood, a blood test is also performed. Then, you can check whether hepatitis B virus antigen, hepatitis C virus antibody, syphilis antibody, unexpected antibody, etc. are negative. It is an opportunity to check my health while drawing my own blood for others.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, there were many articles saying that blood supply was an emergency. My blood type is O, so when everyone was having a hard time due to COVID-19, I participated in blood donation a little more diligently.
When I say I donate blood, people around me often ask me if I will get a movie ticket these days. Of course I give it. Movie ticket prices are increasing day by day, but movie tickets are still given in exchange for blood donation. Of course, you can receive a hamburger exchange coupon instead of a movie ticket, a convenience store exchange coupon, and a travel set. In my experience, movie tickets are the best value for money.
2024-01-08 05:13:09
#Living #costs
