Optimize Your Budget: Learn These 7 Easy Skills to Minimize Your Expenses
Learning a new skill can be daunting, but some easy-to-learn skills can pay off not just in satisfaction at a job well done but with significant sums of money saved. One enterprising individual seeking to better themselves and save money asks in an online forum what easy-to-learn skills can make a financial difference.
Other users are more than happy to share their experiences and how their skills have saved them money and bettered their lives in different ways.
1. Cooking
It may be obvious, but learning to cook can save you a lot of money. Buying pre-made food, even if it’s relatively cheap, or going out to restaurants adds up significantly over time when compared with buying groceries and preparing your own meals.
But it’s not just the financial benefits that make learning to cook worthwhile; it’s also a skill that will likely make your diet healthier. It’s also a great way to impress friends and colleagues whenever you host without spending big.
2. Sewing
Sewing is one of the most valuable skills anyone can learn pretty quickly. It not only helps with fixing torn clothing and making alterations to any old or second-hand clothing but can also come in handy with things around the house, like tablecloths and curtains.
As someone in the heavy music scene, I can also attest to sewing as a valuable skill if you want to make a “battle jacket” with patches from all your favorite bands.
3. Basic Vehicle Maintenance
We can’t all be master mechanics, but we can all learn enough to take good care of our vehicles. Knowing basic vehicle maintenance can save you a lot of money, whether you’re driving a motorcycle or a minivan. It keeps you from paying someone else to do it, but it also ensures that your vehicle lives a long, healthy life and you get the most out of the major purchase.
4. Making Coffee
Flavored coffees are lovely, but they’re also one of the easiest ways to spend a lot of money on small purchases. If you know how to make your own coffee, whether it’s a good strong cup of black coffee or a latte with syrups, you can save a lot of money by making coffee at home.
It also allows you to experiment with new flavors without spending $5 to $7 on something you thought you might like but don’t want more than two sips of.
5. Foraging
Foraging is an easy-to-learn skill, especially with the help of the many books, apps, and online resources. But it may only occur to a few people as a skill they could learn and use. While its usefulness is tied to specific locations, foraging can save mushroom and vegetable lovers a pretty penny and be fun.
6. Making Your Own Cleaning Products
There are so many different cleaning products with so many specific uses that it’s often overwhelming trying to pick out the right cleaning product to help with a particular mess.
It’s decently well known that most cleaning products are interchangeable, and you don’t need a specific product to clean each room of your house, but what if you took that a step further? One frugal liver suggests making your own cleaning products as a great way to save money and even a way to make money if you decide to sell your homemade products.
7. Basic Plumbing
Like learning basic vehicle maintenance, some basic plumbing skills will come in handy fairly regularly and save you money on two levels. First, you won’t have to hire a plumber for simpler fixes, and by knowing how to treat your plumbing well, you’re likely to stop more significant problems before they start.
This thread inspired this post.
