By the author of The Ultimate Guide to Frugal Living and What to Eat When You’re Broke
Common wisdom is that city living is outrageously expensive and filled with pricey pitfalls. But a savvy urbanite can save a lot of money by taking advantage of a lifestyle that is only available in more populous places.
Before I even get started, let me give a disclaimer. I’m not suggesting you get rid of your land and move to a high-rise in a nearby city. I’m not criticizing living rurally. The purpose of this article is to remind other city dwellers and suburbanites that we have some benefits, too, when it comes to saving money and living a thrifty life.
I live in a large city in an apartment complex. This was meant to be a temporary move, but I’ve had multiple health issues and spent a lot of time in hospitals over the past three years. My doctors are here, the treatments I get, such as infusions, are here. For now, this is the best place for me to live. I still haven’t given up the hope of one day having a charming home in the mountains like my character Grace in The Widow in the Woods. But for now, this is safer and less expensive for me.
While the higher rent is rather dismaying, there are also a lot of ways to save in the city. And we’ve talked before about the importance of your attitude, so I rounded up a list of awesome, thrifty things about city life.
1.) Walkability
The very first way that city living can save you a fortune is that, in many cases, you can completely ditch your vehicle. Within a quick walk (less than 15 minutes) of my apartment, I can find two different grocery stores, a variety of restaurants and cafes if I want to eat out, a dollar store, three different liquidation outlets, a craft store, clothing stores…the list could go on and on.
Your mileage may vary, of course, especially if you have any issues with mobility. But the convenience of being able to use your own two feet for transportation is pretty nice. Not only are you saving money on vehicle maintenance, but you’re also getting exercise by walking and carrying your things home. And even with my limited mobility, going to the store is a 3-minute drive instead of 30 minutes each way. That’s way easier on a fragile physical system.
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2.) Transportation
What if the place you want to go is too far away to walk to? You may be wondering how to get from A to B if B is farther than you’d like to go on foot.
My daughter lived in this city for five years without a vehicle, always living near a bus stop that would get her anywhere in the region. Bus fare is cheap (and for some people it’s free – see if you qualify!), and bus passes are great investments for folks who use the city bus frequently. Yes, it takes more time to get places, but she enjoys spending that time with headphones on, listening to music or an audiobook. Sometimes she likes to read on the bus, and sometimes she just people watches. It’s actually kind of nice downtime.
On occasion, I use an Uber or a Lyft if I need to go to an appointment in which parking is extremely far from the clinic. Because of my central location, fares are usually lower than when I lived farther away. It’s so much better than having to pay for parking, wobble across three areas of uneven pavement and up a hill to the entrance of the hospital, and then walk what feels like an extra mile once I’m inside to the specific office I’m visiting.
3.) Time-saving convenience
Another bonus to city living is that a lot of shops offer free or low-cost delivery within a certain area. I can make purchases and have them at my door in very short order. I often do this with heavier groceries that might be tough to manage on my own. Things like canned goods, gallon jugs of water, kitty litter, and other weighty supplies are mine quickly, and I don’t even have to spend the time going to the store.
Also, when I do need to go myself to run an errand, it’s nearly always close at hand and takes far less time than when I lived farther out.
4.) Access to more shops
As I mentioned before, I’m super close to two different grocery stores as well as a plethora of other options. A wise shopper can quickly identify which shops have the best prices on certain necessities and make the rounds to take advantage of those deals. I used to call this “hunting and gathering” because I worked it into my daily routine to visit different shops on different days for the things I was planning to buy.
This DOES require some self-discipline, of course. It’s easy to get lured in by all the beautiful displays and interesting things you didn’t know you needed. I resolve this by bringing cash for my shopping in the amount I need for what I’m planning to buy.
5.) Free activities
Being thrifty doesn’t mean you don’t want to have fun. The great thing about city living is that there are constantly free (or very low-cost) activities. The public library, the local parks, and other nearby venues offer free concerts, festivals, splash pads, and even outdoor movies in the summer. In the winter, the museums all have one day a week with free admission. When the weather is nice, there is yoga in the park every day at 2 pm.
If you pay attention, you can nearly always find some free or cheap local entertainment.
Heck, I can watch the Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve fireworks from my patio – it’s the best possible seat available for things like this.
Are you a city dweller?
City living isn’t ideal for everyone, but at this time in my life, it’s far more convenient for me. It helps me manage an otherwise difficult situation, and I’ve always been someone who can find the bright side.
If you are put in a scenario that may not be your ideal situation, you can make it better by looking for ways to use it to your advantage. And that’s exactly what I’m doing here.
Do you have other thrifty tips for urbanites? How do you save money in the city? Have you found ways to offset the higher rent by finding local resources or transportation?
Let’s discuss it in the comments section.
