3. One less coffee per day
Coffee is the most drunk drink in the world and it is something that we Italians hardly give up, in fact we consume about 5.9 kg a year, per person. Whether in the form of a cappuccino, a cup of coffee or a simple espresso, it is consumed daily, especially in the morning, before reaching the workplace. For many of us, having breakfast with coffee and a croissant is a sort of ritual, a moment of privacy, a preparation for the day, often stressful, that we must deal with.
But this little special moment of the day costs our wallet a little bit of change a month, with which we could get something more fulfilling and satisfying even for a distant future.
This advice is not intended to make you give up with your coffee ritual, but to change the way it is taken and to make you consider that we could get some benefits with this new habit. As in the previous example, you could avoid a place where you need to spend money to drink it, in this case the bar, and maybe enjoy a coffee, perhaps even better, at home, made with a classic mocha. A simple coffee at the bar costs on average € 1, taking us to spend about € 30 a month. In addition to coffee you often buy a croissant or a pastry, which on average costs € 1.50, spending € 2.50 every morning for a total of € 75 per month.
We often do not realize how much our habits can cost, almost as much as a bill, or that we could use the same money for a future project, which is could be a journey we have been dreaming of for some time.
Setting aside € 1 or € 2.50 a day can give a lot of satisfaction at the end of a long collection period, and helps to motivate us to better achieve our goals, even if they seem light-years away. When that jar is filled with coins, which will be used for an important project, we will feel satisfied and proud of our success.
We will continue to drink our fragrant coffee in the morning, but doing it in a more economical way, preparing an espresso with mocha and some ground coffee.
A packet of ground coffee for mocha costs about € 3, which is 3 coffees at the bar, so you can drink about 33 cups of coffee while staying at home and saving a lot of euros.
You would save, only on coffee, a hefty € 27 a month.
Often we are greedy and we also want our little sweet to make our day more enjoyable. But we could avoid buying it and making a donut, for example, with our hands, needing only eggs (€ 1), water, sugar (€ 1), flour (€ 1), baking powder (€ 2) and maybe chocolate (€ 2) to make breakfast sweeter, for a total of € 7 which could become something more if you take into account the time and electricity used. But a donut will stay in our house for a week, and considering the average weekly cost of € 10.50 for a croissant in the morning, we will save about € 3.50 a week, which in a month will become about € 14.
So, coffee and a croissant every morning make us spend about € 44 a month, while doing the same thing at home we would spend € 31 a month. It’s € 13 of difference, which could be saved for a bigger goal.
For example, with the money that you do not spent at the bar you could buy one of those machines with pods, which today are all the rage and are suitable for all the different needs and tastes of customers, as well as being affordable. Pods cost on average € 0.30 each, so about 3 coffees with that euro that is spent at the bar for just one coffee
You don’t need to give up pampering or Zen moments before a stressful day, but you simply need to change the way you do it if you want to save some money.
THIS SIMPLE ADVICE
WILL ALLOW YOU TO SAVE € 13 PER MONTH.
4. Fighting your vice: quit smoking or smoke less
Smoking kills! A typical phrase we find on cigarette, cigar and tobacco packages. Certainly it is certainly not good for our health, but it is a practice that has been going on for centuries. Worldwide, to date, there is about one billion people who smoke, certainly less than in 2016, and who create a very large business for large and small powers. Also the pollution factor should be noticed, due to the cigarette butts dispersed in the environment.
The average price of a pack of cigarettes is around € 5. An average smoker smokes about 13 cigarettes a day, which means that he spends about € 1200 a year and if the accounts are not wrong, its monthly costs about € 100.
This considering only the economic aspect, but what about the healthy aspect of the topic? In fact, a smoker does not calculate the danger that his body runs by ingesting handfuls of smoke every day, he thinks that the problems related to this vice will occur in a remote future. But in reality our body immediately begins to manifest the diseases related to smoking, starting from the mouth, as it is in close contact with the cigarette itself. Tooth enamel weakens along with gums, which are more prone to diseases such as periodontitis, and finally the breath that will smell like smoke forever. Then there is the respiratory system, which in a short time is damaged making us exposed to serious diseases such as tumors. Finally, there is the skin, which is deprived of oxygen and becomes opaque due to smoking.
In short, only by reading these things we should realize that in addition to the wallet we would preserve also our health and that of those around us. Yes, even passive smoking is not good, especially for children or those suffering from respiratory problems.
Returning to the costs that a smoker bears every month, we must consider also the lighters. It is known that these are lost and left elsewhere continuously and this causes the smoker an expenditure of about € 5 monthly, considering that on average a lighter costs € 1. Maybe € 5 a month seems nothing compared to what we spend for shopping, paying taxes and bills, but € 5 a month become € 60 a year and this already sounds different to our ears.
If health is not the first thought of a smoker, maybe his wallet is, so taking off the habit of smoking could contribute a lot to save money.
THIS COUNCIL WILL ALLOW YOU TO SAVE ABOUT € 105 PER MONTH.
If, on the other hand, you can’t stop smoking, if your willpower is not strong enough and if the advice just suggested is not helpful, then we can also take another route, that of the famous handmade cigarettes, only if you are not too lazy.
A pack of loose tobacco containing 30g of product, costs on average € 6 and allows to make about 100 cigarettes, those that an average smoker would consume in about a week, thus spending € 24 a month compared to € 100 of cigarette packets. But remember that in addition to tobacco we also need filters and rolling paper, the former has a cost of € 1.50 per package containing 150 filters, while the rolling paper cost € 0.50 and each package has 50 inside.
So, an average smoker who consumes 390 cigarettes a month would need:
- 4 packs of loose tobacco for € 6 each (6 * 4 = 24)
- 3 packs of filters of 150 pieces at a cost of € 1.50 each (1.50 * 3 = 4.50)
- 7 packets of 50 pieces each one for € 0.50 each (0.50 * 7 = 3.50)
Thus having a total of € 32, compared to € 100 for regular cigarette packages.
Loose tobacco certainly allows a lot of tobacco consumers to save money, who will create their own cigarettes, but never as much as the advice to completely stop smoking and take better care of your person.
THIS ADVICE WILL ALLOW YOU TO SAVE € 68 PER MONTH.
Finally, another way to continue smoking while saving money is the use of the electronic cigarette, which in addition to helping us with savings will help us stop smoking and therefore take care of our lungs.
Liquid for electronic cigarette has an average cost of € 5 per 10ml, which we will use for about two weeks, spending an average of € 10 a month. Consider that to start we will need a starter kit of about € 40, including cigarette and liquid, the resistance of the cigarette is to be changed every three months and costs about € 5. We will arrive at the end of the year spending € 180 including starter kits. Let us remember that buying normal cigarettes we would spend € 1200 a year.
The electronic cigarette is also a way to quit smoking or otherwise reduce cigarette consumption. In addition to the money you can save, it’s better for your lungs. Many people have found themselves better because the electronic cigarette, in addition to its good smell and to money saving, does not leave the throat dry, does not cause cough or phlegm to those who use it.
Quitting smoking would be certainly better, also because there are those who speak well of it but, like any merchandise on the market, there are those who believe that the electronic cigarette is more harmful than the traditional cigarette. But we know how things go, not everyone likes them. Here the question is about us and of our journey towards savings, so we have to choose the path we prefer.
THIS ADVICE WILL ALLOW US TO SAVE € 1020 PER YEAR.
