Key Takeaways
- Choosing a budget-friendly gym and running outdoors can provide the same health benefits as a luxury gym at a fraction of the cost.
- Meal prepping at home significantly reduces food expenses, with homemade meals costing about $4 each compared to $15 for lunch out.
- Small, consistent savings from fitness and food choices can add up to over $2,500 annually.
- Investing those savings—whether in a high-yield savings account or the stock market—can generate hundreds of dollars in returns over time.
- Smart budgeting doesn’t mean deprivation; it’s about prioritizing spending on what truly matters and cutting back on unnecessary expenses.
In New York City, it’s easy to leave your apartment and drop $30 without even realizing it: $8 for a latte, $6 on a pastry, $13 on a lip gloss—you get the point. If you’re not careful, a painstakingly planned budget can quickly go down the drain.
To stay on top of my finances, I regularly comb through my spending by looking at my credit card bills and pay stubs to see if there’s any unnecessary spending and where I can save money.
Rather than cut costs on luxuries that are worth it to me—going out to eat with my friends and the occasional concert and drinks out—I try to tamp down on expenses that don’t add value to my life.
These are some of the expenses I’ve forgone in order to save more money.
1. Skip The Fancy Gym Membership
Savings: $960 a year
I like to prioritize my health and wellbeing by exercising regularly, but for me, the $100 (and often more) monthly price tag attached to going to nicer gym just isn’t worth it. Instead of opting for a luxury gym membership, I have a discount gym membership at Blink Fitness and run outdoors (which is free!).
My gym membership costs me less than $20 a month after accounting for the maintenance fee, which is a one-time payment of $60 per year. Although I occasionally have to deal with an overcrowded gym after work, Blink is clean and has all the equipment I use—like free weights, cardio machines, and a yoga room.
Plus, when the weather is nice, which is usually in the spring or fall, I break out my running shoes and go on jogs.
2. Avoid Buying Lunch At Work
Savings: $1,584
Meal prepping can be time-consuming and laborious, but it can also save you a lot of money. I go into the office at least three days a week and most meals at the work cafeteria or at a restaurant in the area will run you at least $15. That’s $45 per week or $180 a month.
Typically, I spend roughly $240 a month on groceries, which, for me, equates to roughly 15 meals a week or 60 meals month. That means each meal I make myself costs around $4, and I can save $11 every time I avoid eating lunch at work.
Over the weekend, I’ll try to prepare a few meals in advance—I try to keep it simple, opting for pasta and quinoa salads in the summer, soup in the winter, or roasted vegetables, potatoes, and meat in the fall.
And of course, this doesn’t mean that I never dine out. Instead, I prefer to reserve dining out for more social experiences, like going to brunch with friends or enjoying a nice dinner with my partner.
The Bottom Line
To me, saving money isn’t about deprivation, it’s about spending on the goods or experiences that bring me joy and cutting back on the expenses that don’t. While spending on a monthly gym membership and buying lunch at work may not seem like huge expenses in the moment, it can add up over time.
If I took that $2,544 that I saved and put it away in a high-yield savings account with a 4% APY, for, say, an emergency fund, I would generate more than $100 after a year. But if I had a longer investment horizon and invested that money in an S&P 500 index fund via my brokerage account, I would earn more than $250 after a year, assuming a 10% annual return.
After five years, that money would be worth nearly $4,100—not bad savings for some simple meal prep and a cheap gym membership.