Hey what’s up guys. Previously we talked about how to find at least one hour per day to work on your business. Well for 6 days of the week. Whether you’re travelling or sticking in one spot that one hour will allow you to do a lot.
Now we’re going to be digging into how we’re going to be finding $100 per month to invest in your online business. If you want to be successful you’re going to have to invest in tools and training to make the job much easier. You’ve heard of the saying “you’ve got to spend money to make money” right? With an online business you don’t need a lot of it!
So let’s dig in.
I want to focus on cutting back on the bigger things. Being frugal is just going to make you unhappy and more likely to give up. Go buy that Starbucks, Tim Hortons or whatever coffee you like. Only cut back on these things if you really need to.
We’re going to look at the sort of expenses you can cut back or completely cut out that’ll give you $100 or more to invest in your business.
We’re going to look at this in 2 ways. First, what sort of things you can cut back on if you’re already travelling and being all nomadic… You lucky devil you! And then we’ll look at what expenses you can cut back on if you’re still in your own country. We’ll get you on the road towards that laptop lifestyle and turn you into a digital nomad in no time 😉
IF YOU’RE TRAVELLING ALREADY
Some of the bigger expenses you’ll incur when you’re travelling are usually accommodation and alcohol (at least alcohol was a big expense on my first trip… Lot’s of partying in hostels in Australia!).
Let’s look at accommodation first.
Are you staying in fancy hotels or in cheap hostels? Have you looked into rentals if you’re staying in one place for a longer period of time?
Swapping to a cheaper form of accommodation can save you more than $100 in a month. Especially if you’re staying in hotels. Just staying in a cheap hostel for one week instead of hotels is going to save you at least $100.
If you’re staying in one place a little longer then look at renting an apartment or a flat share/renting a room. When I was living in Australia the cheapest hostel was $200 per week. I rented a room in a 5 bedroom house for $150 including bills and internet. I was saving $50 per week AND getting internet.
That was in Australian Dollars but it works out to be around $150-$160 per month. Plus the house was much nicer than the hostels too. You’ll appreciate privacy a lot more when you’ve stayed in hostels for a while.
Look at where you can make savings with your accommodation and I bet you’ll be able to find that $100, or come very close to it.
Now let’s look at alcohol and where we can make savings there.
Even if you’re not a drinker you can still spend quite a bit of money if you go out partying a lot. If you’re a drinker you’ll be able to save a S@!T TON of money by cutting back.
The vast majority of people spend at least $50 on a night out. That’s being conservative. If you’d spend more then you’ll be able to save yourself even more.
When I was in Australia I would go out at least twice a week. In Fiji I partied 5 nights a week, but Fiji was a lot cheaper. Less than $1.50 for a beer in Fiji.
Yeah… Partied hard!
Cut out just one night per week and you can save yourself a fortune. If you’re on the conservative end and spend $50 on a night out then you’ve saved yourself $200 in a month. Then that night you would have gone out you can spend on working on your business instead. Found yourself that one hour for the day too. Awesome 😀
Here’s something for you to try out. For the next 7 days write down every dollar you spend and when it’s being spent on. Don’t be frugal for these 7 days though otherwise it won’t be a legitimate for an average week. Once you’ve done this look back and see what you’ve spent your money on. I bet there’ll be some surprises and you’ll easily be able to see where you can make some savings.
IF YOU’RE STILL IN YOUR OWN COUNTRY
Now what if you haven’t started your travelling adventure, or even if you don’t want to travel? Well we’re going to look at accommodation again and look at those unnecessary expenses you probably don’t even realise are a money suck.
Let’s look at accommodation again.
Are you living in a humungous house with some much space you could turn the place into an army barracks and still have space? Probably not! But you can probably downside still.
There’s a good chance that you can downside to a smaller place, or a cheaper place, that will allow you to save a good sum of money. Can you find a place that’s $100 cheaper that you can use for your business.
Another option would be to move gave in with your parents. Yeah I know it could suck moving back in with your parents but if you’re going to be serious about your business… It’s something to consider.
You can make considerable savings and it’s what I did. For my first trip I moved back in with my parents where my monthly expenses dropped from £550 to £260 per month. That’s just accommodation. I managed to find $400 I could put towards my business.
You could save even more if you can live with your parents for free.
The other thing to look at are your unnecessary expenses that you probably don’t even realise are unnecessary.
If you were travelling there are a lot of the expenses you’re currently paying out that you wouldn’t anymore. When you’re travelling you’re mainly paying for accommodation, travel, food and excursions/activities.
Things like gym memberships, cars (fuel, insurance, general maintenance) and eating out are all things you’d either not be paying or paying a lot less for whilst travelling. Are these things you’re paying out for that you could cut back or cut out of your monthly expenditure?
Lets look at eating out. How often do you go to restaurants or get take away? If you regularly visit restaurants to can easily save $100 by cutting the frequency in half. Or go to cheaper places.
Like I mentioned earlier you can write down all the things you’re spending money on in a week and your monthly expenses. You’ll realise you’re paying out a lot of money for things you don’t need. Cut these out of your life and use the money you’ve saved to invest in your business that’ll give you more freedom to do what you want.
All these things you’re cutting out now can be a part of your life again once your business is providing you with the lifestyle you want.
WHAT TO TAKE AWAY
If you’re serious about wanting to create a business that’ll give you more freedom, that’ll allow you to travel, that’ll give you the laptop lifestyle and allow you to be a digital nomad you’ll make the changes necessary.
If you can save more than $100 in a month to invest in your business even better! I’ll show you want you can use that money for to make success come faster but you’ll want at least $100.
Yes you can start a business without having to spend any money but it’ll take longer. $100 isn’t a lot of money when you look at what you’re currently paying out every month. Let’s use this money to speed up the journey to success.
Now we’ve found ourselves $100 each month and found ourselves the 1 hour per day to spend working on our business it’s time to move onto the next stage. We’ll be going through what to spend your 1 hour per day doing and what to spend your $100 on.
