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When it comes to budgeting, people think about the monthly expenses for items such as the mortgage/rent, car payment, grocery bill, subscriptions and so on. 

On the flip side there are costs that fall into the general spending category where the items are not fixed amounts. The way to manage this is to look at the repetitive activities throughout the year and decide if you can get more out of what you’ve purchased. 

In my case, I think about buying opportunities that I am given or I put thought into the new items that I will purchase. Let’s review a few of them.

The easiest one for me is with my orders on Amazon. I'm often offered digital credits if my packages are delivered in 2-7 days rather than the next day. I usually get a few dollars per order and I use that for renting movies, buying books, music or apps. This really comes into play during the year-end holidays.

Another one is the car wash. My wife washes her vehicle 3-4 times each month at $10. So we  purchased an unlimited monthly plan at $25 saving us $15 and that comes to a savings of $180 each year. 

One item that comes up periodically is bowling. We like to sprinkle this throughout the year, especially during the winter and with that comes renting shoes for my wife at $4 a pop. Now over the course of two years, it was more cost effective to purchase a permanent pair and over time that $4 stays in her pocket each time we hit the lanes.

Here is an usual one regarding consumption. I bought a large bag of zip ties to help stake my plants and shrubs in the garden. They are a single use item; however, I insert flange in backwards so that it doesn’t lock, meaning that I can reuse them several times. 

Let’s do more: during my travels, in some cities, such as New York, using a taxi rather than an Uber or Lyft is less expensive by a wide margin. 

Okay, let’s wrap this up. When you incorporate this type of mindset with your purchases, the savings are small per transaction; however this money adds up over time. The beauty is that you save money without changing what you use or purchase. In addition, less consumption of items helps the environment.