HAPPIDEZZ: Things I Won't Buy to Save Money

I learned about financial freedom from my former boss when I was 20 years old. That was over a decade ago, but only just recently have I truly learned the best practices to achieve financial freedom. It's better late than never, I guess! But the sooner you realize that saving money will save you, the better.

One way to achieve financial freedom, of course, is to be wise about your spending in order to save money. This year, I've decided that I will give up some things that I consider "luxuries" in order to save some cash.

1. Expensive skin care products

Most influencers push different skin care products -- there's the 10-step Korean skin care, the 7-step glass skin routine, etc. But how many expensive products do you really have to apply on your skin at night? How about in the morning? After realizing the cost of these influencer skin care products, my mind is blown. They're so expensive! And you have to buy at least 5 products (10 if you're following the 10-step routine) to have healthy, glass-like, poreless skin.

Since I want to save money, I decided to only keep my facial wash. If I'm feeling bougie, I'd put on some toner, moisturizer, and sun block. But most of the time, I skip these as well because I sweat a lot and these products make me feel sticky and uncomfortable once they're mixed with my sweat.

2. Manicure & pedicure

I understand that for some people, this is such an essential part of self-care, but for me, these can be done away with. I am not really the type to spend a lot of money on manicures, pedicures, foot spas, etc. All I need is a trusty nail cutter to trim my nails every two weeks.

3. Hair treatments & hair products

The pandemic made me realize one thing: I can do a lot of things without leaving the house and one of those things is getting a haircut. In 2020, it was my sister who cut my hair and it was great! Just like the expensive skin care products, hair treatments and products are things I can live without.

4. Eyebrow grooming

It's the era of bushy brows! This is the main reason why I've given up paying for eyebrow grooming. Also, cleaning up stray eyebrows is not that difficult of a task for me. I can easily do this all by myself and I get to skip going to salons to have my brows groomed.

5. Single-use bottled water

Drinking water is not supposed to be expensive, but when you buy single-use bottled water, it becomes expensive especially when bought from the malls, from airports, from hotels. I've made it a habit to bring my own tumbler in order to save money and avoid buying bottled water. This practice also helps lessen the use of plastic. It's a simple way of being nice to mother nature.

6. Starbucks coffee

If you're an avid fan of Graham Stephan, you'd understand why I included Starbucks coffee in my list. Store-bought coffee is understandably expensive because of the operations involved in running a coffee shop. So to reduce costs, I've decided to buy a blender and just create my own frappes. This way, I still get to enjoy my sweets while saving some cash. Plus, there are a lot of coffee receipes available on Tiktok! You can now easily create your own coffee at home.