As you probably know, the East Coast of the United States is often highly celebrated for its rich history, extremely diverse culture, and unique lifestyle.
Among all these things that we love about the East, there’s something we could learn from, and that is their frugal money habits. While they might look wealthy and well-established, trust me, they have the most practical spending habits!
In fact, there are a couple of valuable lessons we can learn from them, especially if you’re living on the West Coast. In this article, we will discuss all these healthy spending habits and how we can incorporate them into our own lifestyles!
They prefer public transportation.
The spending habits of East Coasters: Some cities like New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C., are well-known for their rather extensive public transit systems.
In fact, plenty of East Coasters made a habit of using subways, buses, and trans for their day-to-day endeavors. This way, they manage to save a significant amount on gas, parking, and, of course, car maintenance.
Lesson for the West Coast: The West Coast is wildly known for its preference to use cars. However, there’s an increasing opportunity to use and invest in public transportation options, so why won’t West Coasters profit from that?
The shift will not only help them save more money, but they will also contribute to environmental sustainability.
Compact living and efficient space usage
East coasters? Because of an ongoing increase in population and continuous historic development patterns, most East Coast residents are very used to living in smaller and more compact spaces.
In other words, they are accustomed to moving a lot. While this might come with a lot of hassle and other types of costs, it also leads to lower energy costs. Moreover, they are discouraged from accumulating excessive things they don’t even need. Frugal behavior at its finest.
Lesson for the West Coast: Well, West Coasters, I’m sorry to break it to you, but you could use a mindset focused on living efficiently rather than a lavishing one.
Just saying! You have no idea how much those housing and utility costs are dragging down your monthly budgets. Embracing minimalism could also curb unnecessary spending on other things, like home furnishings and decor.
Seasonal and local shopping
East coasters? With distinct seasons, East Coasters often shop for various seasonal produce and attire. Basically, they fully take advantage of seasonal sales and local markets, which is a wonderful thing.
This habit encourages eating more fresh produce and local foods, but also buying clothing items when it’s most economical.
Lesson for the West Coast: Even if the West Coast enjoys a milder climate, there’s still room for improvement when it comes to seasonal shopping. Utilizing local farmer’s markets and other seasonal sales for clothing and other items could also lead to important savings.
Prioritizing savings and investments
East coasters? You might be surprised to read this, but there’s a very strong culture of financial planning and investment on the East Coast, especially in financial hubs such as New York City. Many people prioritize savings and investments but also focus on long-term financial security.
Lesson for the West Coast: West Coasters could easily benefit from adopting a more aggressive savings and investment mindset. If you’re constantly seeking advice from financial advisors and exploring all kinds of investment options, you might be able to enhance your financial stability faster.
Networking and leveraging community resources
East Coast: Well, dense urban environments like the ones we see on the East Coast bring multiple benefits: they promote increased networking but also the use of community resources.
When we say community resources, we also talk about sharing information about different deals, discounts, and, of course, cheaper services within those communities. It’s a win-win situation from every angle.
Lesson for the West Coast: Building strong community networks and sharing common resources could ultimately lead to mutual financial benefits. This could also include everything from childcare to affordable services and community gatherings.
These lessons in frugality can truly benefit everyone, no matter where they might be located. If you’re open to embracing such habits, you will soon realize that there are many ways to live more economically and save more.
Bad spending habits
Now that we discussed good examples, I think it’s worth taking it the other way around, too. Irresponsible spending habits will make it much more difficult for you to achieve your financial goals.
As these habits usually develop slowly, you might not realize how much of an impact they have on you. However, with the necessary amount of self-reflection, you could easily break bad spending habits and adopt a much healthier and frugal approach.
Relying on credit cards
Some people who want to maximize reward card points would rather make purchases with their credit card and pay the card off every month. In some ways, that could be a pretty smart way of stretching your budget, if you want our opinion.
However, if you make a habit of carrying your balance every month, you might lose money in interest charges. Even more, relying on credit cards just to make ends meet could ultimately indicate that you really have to revise your budget and make some changes to better control your finances.
Paying for convenience
Whether we’re talking about grabbing coffee on the way to work or simply picking up dinner while heading home, we all have little things that just make our lives so much better and easier.
The thing with these spending habits is that sometimes we end up paying much more for a convenience item. In fact, you can compare the cost of one coffee at Starbucks to the cost of a whole can of coffee in your pantry, and you’ll see why we’re even mentioning it in the first place.
You might want to ditch that tasty but expensive breakfast sandwich on your way to work and try to make room for some at-home meals instead. These are the kinds of switches that could ultimately add up to hundreds of dollars over the course of a year.
Shopping without a list
People who are used to browsing stores usually make more spontaneous purchases. This is good for them and bad for their budget, which, in the end, is still bad for them.
The thing with impulse purchases is that they get more expensive as time goes by, which makes it way harder to stick with your budget. You could write a list ahead of time to make sure you avoid those extra and unnecessary purchases. Here, try these super cute grocery lists that will help you keep track of what you are shopping for.
Besides, you’re less likely to make a second trip to the store for all the things you might have forgotten.
Shopping emotionally
Let’s be honest; it’s not uncommon for our emotions to drive our decisions. We all do it. As a matter of fact, there’s a recent study from the Journal of Consumer Psychology that shows how retail therapy can even make you feel happier and more in control.
But the problem is that these effects are only temporary, and as soon as they wear off, you’re only left with the same old situation that caused those emotions in the first place. It’s a toxic loop.
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