Saving Money In The City: Why It's Not As Expensive As You Think
Sometimes it seems like living in the city is costly. In some cases it can be; property is usually more expensive, car dealerships charge a little more inside the city limits not to mention the gas stations!
Added to all this you feel more pressure to keep the same standard of living your neighbors do, because you live closer to them. Then there’re the choices… instead of having one or two options for dining out you have hundreds, or even thousands – enough really to eat out every night.
Plenty of ways to go over-budget, eh?
It doesn’t have to be that way though. The amount of variety available in the city works in your favor too. For every top-shelf choice there are many, many frugal choices that you can make. Let’s take a look at two of them:
Free events – You don’t find much of this outside the city limits (or at least not always the productive kind that you can take your family to.) Cities offer festivals, concerts, and educational opportunities – all for free. Grab your local paper and see what’s scheduled for this month. I guarantee you will be surprised.
The ability to shop around – When you have a limited number of places to shop, your expense usually skyrockets. It’s a lot easier to take advantage of store sales and promotions in the city. No matter what you need in the city, someone will be running a sale on it that day. All you have to do is find it (and if you’re a fan of Mogo on Facebook, we even help with that).
Having fun doing nothing – In the city, you don’t have to do “something” to be entertained. A simple walk down Queen Street W in Toronto, or Robson in Vancouver can provide hours of entertainment – or you can head to the park with your favorite book. Heck… find a bench and just people watch… all for free.
There are a lot of trade-offs to city living, but expense really doesn’t have to be one of them. The key to saving money is simply understanding what’s available to you in your particular city. Get to know your area and you’ll be able to save money in ways you never dreamed possible. Take advantage of all those deals at your fingertips and enjoy the options that you have!
How do you save money in the city? Leave us a comment below!
