Today’s post is extremely important. How do I know that? Because hundreds of you told me that simply not having enough money to start a business online was a huge problem.
So today I am going to show you a solution that you can use and put into practice today.
First you need to determine how much you need to start your business and then have a little bit extra aside.
Now If You Think You Can’t Afford It – Let’s Look At A Few Statistics…
Note: All info will be U.S.A based because I couldn’t find world-wide statistics for this.
Expenses That Add Up
- Average American Spent Per Year On Coffee Out: $1100
- Average American Spent On Entertainment Out: Nearly $2500
- Average American Spends On Cable/Satellite TV Yearly: $1189
- And A Note: The Average American Spends Almost As Much Going Out To Eat As At The Grocery Store!
Yikes! Those numbers are truly scary. I am not even going into some of the bigger issues such as student loan debt, credit card debt, cigarette/alcohol expenses and issues of that magnitude. These are just simple controllable expenditures.
Also this list is not meant to condemn you if you’re wasting a fortune. It’s just to show you that with a little bit of savings, building that online business is actually really attainable.
Save A Fortune With These Tips
Seriously. From 1 tip alone you can honestly create your business. Let’s get started.
Save On Coffee
Now I am a huge coffee drinker; I honestly love the stuff. I am not a coffee snob by any means but I do like a decent cup of coffee several times per day. But what I found staggering was the fact that the average American spends about $1100/year buying coffee out at coffee shops.
So here are some stats that will blow your mind. Let’s say you like a decent cup of coffee ( I am going to assume you’re not buying the typical run-of-the-mill grocery store coffee. So I upped the prices in the example below.
Here Is What You Can Buy Good Coffee For
- 8 oz. bag = 42 cups $4.40 (.11/cup) Above Average Blend
- 12 oz bag = 62 cups $10.00 bag (.16/cup) Premium Blend
These are rough estimates for decent blends. Obviously, depending on the brand it can vary.
Now even if you drink 6 cups per day of a premium blend that’s only going to cost you .96/day or $350.00/year. That’s a savings of 749.00 over the averages shown above. That alone is enough to build a business on.
Also ditch the K-Cups! Paying .50-$1.00 for watered down coffee is a waste in my opinion and it’s not going to save you any cash as opposed to getting coffee out. Plus, as a coffee drinker I can honestly say that I do not like them. Just my own personal opinion.
But, if you work a job currently you might be wondering how to get your mid afternoon coffee if you’re not buying it out? Simple. Buy a nice stainless steel thermos that keeps your coffee hot for 8+ hours. I know it’s not as good in a thermos 8 hours from making it but it’s actually probably still better than most run-of-the-mill coffee shops. Plus, it saves you a ton of money.
Final Coffee Drinker Pro-Tip
Only brew what you’ll drink. I think coffee is an easy thing to waste because we often do not think about what we’ve paid for it. So if you’re going to drink 2-4 cups then only put that amount on. If you decide to have more later then you can process another exact amount.
Entertainment Savings
I’m not going to lecture you on having fun. I am an introvert so what some of you may find fun, I may not. So I tend to find myself spending less money on outside entertainment anyway. But, I do find myself enjoying time with my family and friends still.
However, with all of the things we have nowadays it’s still easy to spend a fortune on in-home entertainment if you’re not careful.
So I have a few tips to share.
If you have a family wife/husband/kids try to find fun things you can do that you all have in common and aren’t that expensive. I think as a society we’ve gotten away from some of the basic, simple forms of entertainment.
Here are a few really great inexpensive things to do.
- Playing sports together
- Playing video games together
- Playing board games together
- Playing cards/darts/
- Hiking/outdoors stuff/campfire
- Cooking together – This makes dinner creation easy as well
These things can all be fun and won’t cost you much. Plus some things you only need to buy once and you’re set. Again, I’m not trying to get preachy here but instead offer simple helpful advice.
Saving On Cable and Satellite
18,000 channels and not a good thing on, right? We’ve all been there. So, change it.
Now it’s easy to cut your cable bill. I.e. you could get a few services like Netflix, Amazon Instant Video (prime account), Hulu and not to mention the recently opened Youtube Red and still spend a fraction of that monthly cable or satellite bill.
Now, I’m not saying you should do that but I am saying that you could.
Honestly, in the past year I’ve taken up reading even more and barely watch T.V. The amount of knowledge I’ve gained far outweighs the slight stimulation that I got from watching T.V. programs.
Now if you still enjoy T.V. shows consider keeping the lower tiered packages to keep them while spending less or, again, switching to something like Hulu.
Hey, plus if you want to take up reading I have some great insight on that.
Interesting Take On Reading
Reading on subjects that are interesting to you will make you more knowledgeable on that subject. This is especially great news if you’re studying a niche you’re looking to start a business in.
The more you read on a subject, the more likely you are to master that subject eventually. Yes, practice is key but reading and gaining more knowledge sure helps.
If you can’t sleep at night, reading will help relax you. Don’t read on your Kindle though, it won’t. Go the old fashioned book route.
Reading allows you to access more of the creative side of your brain than watching T.V. With reading you’re forced to visualize things that the author mentions. Now, I haven’t personally researched this but I can tell you that if I read for a couple of hours I also tend to be more creative in my processes thereafter. This is a huge benefit in business.
The Average American Spends Almost As Much Going Out To Eat As At The Grocery Store
That statistic sounds insane to me. But, I like to cook. You can make a a steak that taste better than most restaurants at home for a fraction of the cost and make it taste better. Seriously.
Go price that New York Strip in your local market versus the price of a New York Strip on a menu in a decent place.
Learn to cook at home and learn to make things you love. You’re going to save a lot of money and ultimately you’ll be happier. If you feel like you don’t have time to cook read my article about saving time when you’re busy. This should open up enough time to squeeze in some cooking and work on your business.
I want to touch on another subject quickly. Not only will you spend an enormous amount of money eating out it’s also typically not as healthy. Restaurants tend to over-salt and over-sugar foods. They obviously do this to enhance taste but the fact is food doesn’t need a ton of salt/sugar to taste great.
I know this site isn’t the best place for health advice but it’s just an added benefit of cooking for yourself.
Saving That Cash
The above examples were just a few small tweaks that could make a big difference in your life. Of course, there are hundreds of other ways to save and with a few simple searches on the Internet you can find them.
I want to close by saying that by making some small changes you’ll realize that you have more money for a business than you ever did. This makes spending a few hundred bucks on your business easier. Plus, this is your own business that you can build for you and your family for years to come.
Finally, my parting words for this post: It’s not what you make, it’s what you spend. Remember that.
How are you saving? Do you have any additional tips? Do you have anything you’re doing right now that is making a huge difference? Going to use some of these tips? Share below.
Also, it would make me extremely happy if you’d share this post on social media with your friends and family. It also makes you extra awesome in my book.