Wondering for some Budget-Friendly tips to survive in a metro city? There comes a time in everyone’s life when you have to move away from your parent’s nest and move to a new city to make a living for yourself. All on your own! It does sound like a daunting task and believe me, it is!
Moving to a completely new city with no security from family and comfort from your friends can get onto your nerves. Most of the metropolitan cities are generally expensive compared to our hometowns, making it even more difficult to survive and manage your expenses. A house to live, food to survive, entertainment options, there are a lot of things you will need to manage on your own. Don’t panic yet! We’ll help you to figure out Budget-Friendly tips to survive in a city.
1. Affordable living/co-living spaces
The most important and heavy on your pocket expenditure comes in choosing a place to stay. Most of the cities offer you various options to stay. Depending on the area, the rent prices vary. If you’re looking for a budget stay, then mostly you will have to settle for a place which is a little far from the city center and away from the happening places in the city. Few cities have amazing co-living spaces like Zolo, where you get most of the basic amenities at really affordable prices. So do your research and find a suitable budget place for yourself.
2. Use local transport
Rather than using a car or new bike for commute, try to travel using the various options for local transport. All major cities have a vast network of local transport which is pretty affordable and won’t leave a dent in your wallet. Take a bus or a shared auto to work, or you can even avail the office cab services. If your city has a metro train service, this option also comes out to be pretty cheap compared to owning a vehicle.
3. Cook for self
Eating outside food on a daily basis will hurt your budget as well as your body. Rather, cook healthy and affordable meals for yourself at home. This will save you a lot of money and will also keep your body healthy and happy. If you are someone like me, who doesn’t know how to cook, then you can hire a cook which also turns out to be a much cheaper option than eating outside regularly.
4. Shop local
Coming to a new city, there will be a lot of things you need to buy to set up your home. Rather than heading to a mall or a big supermarket, go to small offbeat streets for your shopping. Every city has its budget market area, head there and remembers to bargain to land yourself a good deal. Even for clothes and other things, all big cities offer a variety of places for affordable shopping. So ditch the malls and go local.
5. Cut down on entertainment cost
Entertainment is an absolute necessity in everyone’s life. But what we never realize is that the expenditure on our entertainment needs is way more than it should be living on a budget. Next time you crave for a movie, go to a local theater rather than a multiplex. Go to a local restaurant serving authentic local food rather than spending big bucks in posh restaurants. Cutting down on these expenses will definitely help you survive on a budget.
6. Ditch that expensive gym membership
Gym memberships are usually pretty expensive in big cities. Rather than opting to spend so much on extravagant gym fees, you can go out for a walk or run in the mornings to keep yourself fit. Many parks also feature basic exercise equipment, make use of that. You can also get lots of exercises done at your home itself making use of numerous videos on the internet.
7. Cut down on monthly subscriptions
Do you really need to have subscriptions for Netflix, Prime, and Hotstar at the same time? We don’t realize but these subscriptions take a chunk out of our budget every month. Cut down on these subscriptions or get a multi-account membership with your friends and family. This will help you in cutting short your extra expenditure.
8. Travel smart
Taking vacations has become a part of life for most people. You deserve a break from the long and boring working hours in the city. Invest your time in finding out cheap places to stay at your destination. Sites like Airbnb offer some very good and affordable deals. Also, do keep a lookout for flight discounts and gather frequent flyer miles which saves you quite a lot of bucks!
9. Find free attractions
Buying tickets for concerts and comedy plays can be an expensive affair. Instead, travel around the city to find places that showcase plays and concerts without any cover charges. A lot of upcoming artists play and perform at such places. This way you are supporting upcoming stars and also there is no dearth of entertainment in such places. Also, explore museums and galleries in the city on days when the entry is free.
10. Partime jobs
There is no harm in investing some extra time to earn some extra bucks. There are a lot of websites for freelancing where you can earn while sitting and working at home. Even an hour of work daily can get you 4-5k every month. This way you have some extra cushioning to spend your hard-earned money on things you like to do.
11. Invest small amount monthly
After excluding all expenses from your monthly budget, try to put some money as an investment every month. Be it as little as 100 or 500 bucks, make sure to set aside some money in a fixed deposit or savings account. This will give you some financial security and you’ll always have some amount in case of any emergencies in life.
12. Work from home
If your workplace offers this option to you, working from home can save you a lot of bucks spent on traveling and also eating outside. While working from home, you can cook for yourself as well as save time and money spent on everyday travel to and from your office.
Although it might be scary moving to a new city all alone and dealing with all expenses all by yourself, but this learning will stay with you forever. Staying alone in an unfamiliar city helps you in getting to understand yourself and your limitations and guides you in finding ways to tackle all kinds of situations. If you can learn the art of managing your budget, then I’m sure you’ll have a great time in any city you go to. So go out there and embrace life!
You may also like:
What is the Cost of Living in Mumbai?
What is the Cost of Living in Chennai?
Author: Satish Mohapatra
