SAVE MONEY AND LIVE A BETTER LIFE

Cheap and free alternatives to the expensive things we waste our time and money on.

• Cable TV is unnecessary. Just use the high-speed internet connection you probably have anyway, Hulu, NetFlix and Amazon Prime and save a couple thousand bucks a year. You literally don’t even need a computer these days; just a Roku or Amazon Fire TV Stick.

• Cancel your cellphone contract. I pay less than $70 a month, contract free, for unlimited talk, text and data/internet use through Simple Mobile. Check them out. See if they cover your area or find someone similar like Boost Mobile or MetroPCS. Many of them are greatly improving their coverage and I know that I have no complaints. That’s another $1,000+ you could save every year.

• Drink tea instead of booze. At least during the week. It’s way cheaper. And way better for you. Plus, it’s easier to replace a habit with a new one than just giving up or refraining from the old one.

• Read more. Educate yourself, or just lose yourself in some fiction. You’ll save on electricity and miss cable TV much less. If you stick to going to the library, this is something you can literally do for free, too. I’d give serious thought to not having Netflix, Hulu or anything like that if I didn’t have kids. It’s usually just a waste of time and money. Plus, rather than watching TV before going to bed and subjecting yourself to the blue lights emitted from your TV, computer or tablet that can stimulate your brain and keep you awake, settling down with a book by candlelight is a much more relaxing, electricity-free way to unwind.

• Be creative; Draw more. Write more. Paint. Brainstorm business ideas. Spend some time thinking of nice things to do for other people, speaking of which...

• Volunteer. There are likely folks doing much worse than you that could use your help. Time spent volunteering is both time spent that doesn’t cost you any money, and likely something that will give you greater perspective. Seeing people less fortunate than us can really help us appreciate what we have instead of focusing on that which we don’t have but want. Socially, the people you meet will likely be kind hearted as well. It’s an all around win.

• Meditate. A calm mind is a clear one. You should control your mind, your mind should not control you.

• Get a Ninja blender (or something like it) and stock up on frozen fruit. It’s affordable and the fruit won’t go bad before you get to eat it, so you save money in the long run. And smoothies are delicious, nutritious and way too expensive to get premade from somewhere else!

• Ditch the gym membership and stick to HIIT workouts, calisthenics, runs, etc. You can find thousands of free routines on youtubes and through articles all over the internet.