How NOT to Keep Up With the Joneses
Housing
Housing is probably your biggest expense as it is ours. And let's face it - housing costs are a bit ridiculous especially in major cities and popular destinations. We really enjoy living in the suburbs but everyone has their own unique idea of where and how they want to live. Bottom line is you want to keep your housing costs as low as possible. Because schooling was important to us, we decided to buy the most reasonable house in the nicest neighborhood we could afford. So we may be surrounded by some McMansions, but our house is old and modest. It could also use a lot of home improvements, but we limit those as well. In this way, our kids attend a good school in a good district; we live in a nice and convenient area; and we keep our expenses in check. No need to keep up with the Joneses here.
Cars
Cars undoubtedly the second biggest expense in your life can get expensive fast. All those premium upgrades add up. I've heard of many recommendations of foregoing the car altogether. I can see that if you live in a city or have access to convenient transportation. That's not really the case where we live so a car is a must. We keep costs down by buying modest cars (typically used). While I value reliability and will pay for it, we avoid luxury brands and fancy add ons. We also tend to keep our cars for at least ten years. This way we have time to start saving for the next one and can minimize or avoid car payments altogether.
Vacations
Everyone loves a nice vacation especially me. The thing is vacations can be very expensive and are very short in duration. We do try to take at least one vacation a year because it's an important aspect of our family, but I always do my research and I always choose budget friendly options. We never lose control of our spending on vacations and we always stick to a tight budget. We also look for free or discounted tickets to save on entertainment costs. See my post on Before Your Next Outing You Must Find Discounted Tickets. For ways to save money on a trip to Disney check out How to Go to Disney without Spending Your Kid's College Fund.
Restaurants
I actually wish we went out to restaurants more, but we majorly cut back on this expense. Again, in part because three children make it a chore and quite expensive to eat out, but also because eating out is generally a waste of money. When we do go out, it is probably a special occasion. We also limit take-out and I have found the kids love bake at home pizza and Mom's homemade Asian food. See my recipe for Korean Beef.
Clothes
Let's face it. I can't even remember the last time I bought clothes, but that owes more to the fact that I have three children and no time. When I need clothes for them, however, I like to shop consignment sales especially at local churches and schools. They tend to have them twice a year and as long as you plan on doing the bulk of your shopping at those times, we haven't had any trouble maintaining ample closets. It does get harder to find clothes as the kids get older, but I try to rely on consignment store and I have found good success on online consignment, such as Thredup (free endorsement here). The one thing I splurge on is shoes. They tend to not last and the kids deserve good support for their feet. I do, however, limit the number of shoes. One pair of sneakers is plenty until they are outgrown or destroyed!
Toys
I'll be honest. I'm completely shocked at the price of toys when I need to buy them for presents for other people's children. All my children know is that a toy is a toy. They have no idea that is used and don't care since it's new to them. Once again I shop the consignment sales and watch for listings on Facebook sites. We have had good success in getting free hand me downs with lots of life left.
So here are a few ways I choose to NOT keep up with the Joneses. I'm sure you can come up with even more ways. Let's stop comparing ourselves to others and start enjoying our own lives.
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