Lifestyle: How to save money while living with your parents

Nowadays living costs are expensive. Especially in cities. Some people have student loans to pay. Some can't afford the rent. Wages and salaries are not rising fast enough to cover the rising costs. So it's not surprising some people still stay with their parents. I do anyway. I am currently unemployed until I find the job I really want. I am not sure yet how long that will be.

Anyway, I have put together a list of how to save money while you are living with your parents. Living with your parents are a great opportunity to save money! You get free food and lodging so why not use it to your advantage and save some money for the future? Ok, lets get started.



1. Set aside money from your salary, allowance or other income each month. You can do this by transferring money from your salary account into a separate account for savings. It could also be an auto debit set up to transfer on a certain date each month. This way, you save automatically each month. It could be 20% of your salary or any amount you want. But it should go into savings immediately before you do anything else with the money.

2. Reduce vice spending. If you drink or smoke, cut down or be wiser about your consumption. If you smoke, switch to vaping. It is cheaper and better for health than cigarettes. If you vape, try to cut down your vaping to save money on vape liquids. Don't do it absent mindedly. If you drink, try to cut down the amount or be wiser about it. You can buy alcohol from the supermarket in bulk when there is a sale, instead of going to the bar to drink. 

3. Don't go out to eat. Eat at home wherever possible. My mom is a good cook so I take that opportunity to have my meals at home for free. And I get delicious and healthy food. If a friend asks me out to eat, I will go just to spend time with them. I will tell them I am fasting or vegetarian today and just order a drink. I end up looking good coz my friend thinks wow, even though I am fasting I still went out to meet my friend just to talk. 

4. Only shop when mom and dad pay. Ok, this sounds weird but when I go grocery shopping with my mom and dad, I get to put things I want in the cart and they will pay, provided it is reasonable. I get good things to eat and supplies like toiletries this way because they always buy in bulk or on sale.


5. Don't buy books. Read on an e-reader. Download free versions of books, or buy e-books from Amazon for cheaper. I don't need a physical book to read.


6. Shop for clothes online. When you shop online, go straight for things you need. Don't get sidetracked. I know when I go to a physical store I tend to buy things I end up not liking. There are too many distractions in the store and too many deals and gimmicky things that make me impulse buy. Plus with online shopping, you get to use discount codes during special occasions every now and then. That can save you up to 20%.

 7. Only buy things that are a few dollars. I like to go to dollar stores like Daiso to cheaply get things that I need. Like kitchen gadgets, cups, storage items, notebooks etc. They are cute and you get to get a haul of items for cheap. This is the only place I can get to haul stuff.

8. Take care of your things. If you look after your things, there is less of a need to replace them. Things will be in good condition and still look good. Display and organise stuff well. Use products like toiletries sparingly, alternating between cheap and expensive ones so you stretch out the time of use of the products.

9. Make your own coffee at home. If you want coffee, can it be instant coffee? For me, I don't mind instant coffee. I even add coconut oil to my coffee. It saves a lot of money in the long run. You can also buy the coffee beans to make coffee at home and it would still be cheaper than going to Starbucks to get your coffee fix.

10. Work out with no equipment. No need for a gym membership if you are unfit. You would be thinking about going to the gym and end up not going only to cancel the gym membership within a few months. Workouts with no equipment are just as effective if you really wanna lose weight. They are simpler so you would actually do them. You can find loads on YouTube.

11. Go to a cheap salon for hair treatments but cut your hair at a good salon. For rebonding or colour jobs, I use Groupon offers which can be quite cheap if you don't add on anything and just go for that thing you bought. The difference in service is not much for these chemical treatments. But for more technical things like a haircut or style change, you can go to a proper salon. Also, once you found a regular salon that you trust, stick to it. No point cutting your hair elsewhere then going back to the regular salon to fix it.

So those are my top tips to save money while living with parents. I hope it helps, and I hope to be saving more money for myself for a rainy day. Thanks for reading! =)

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