5 Ways to Improve Your Lifestyle in 2012 (without making more money)

You don’t always need to make more money to improve your lifestyle.  Sure, having more money
helps.  But, I’ve also discovered that the more you make, the more you spend.  And the more you earn the higher percentage the government takes in taxes.  To me, lifestyle is about having enough money to do what you want AND having the time to do it.  Unfortunately, few people have both time and money.

That being said, there are some simple things you can do to improve your lifestyle this year, without making ANY extra money.  I will share a few ideas with you below.

1. Calculate How Much You Make Per Hour: Take your total earnings for the year, and divide it by the number of hours you work.  Make sure you include commute time too.  Let’s suppose you work 50 hours per week in your job, and you commute 8 hours per week.  That equals 58 hours per week x 52 weeks (3016 hours per year).  Let’s assume you make $40k annually in your job.  So, if you divide $40k by 3016, you make $13.26 per working hour.  This is frequently referred to as life energy(how much one hour of your working life is worth).
2. See if You Can Find a More Enjoyable Job, Closer to Home, and Work Less Hours per Week: Let’s assume you could find a fun job working closer to your home.  The pay is only $30k per year, but you only work 40 hours per week (instead of 50) and commute 2 hours per week (instead of 8).  In this example, you work 42 hours per week x 52 weeks (2,184 hours per year).  If you divide $30k by 2,184, you make $13.73 per hour.  In this example, you make $10k less per year, but you make more per hour worked.  Your #1 priority should be to make the most amount of money in the least time possible.  That way, you can get your life back.  Please note that this doesn’t mean having the biggest salary.  You have to factor in your total time worked to earn that salary.
3. Reduce Your Living Expenses: Another way to increase your lifestyle is to reduce your living costs.  For most people, their mortgage (and misc. housing expenses such as cable, water, and electricity) takes up a large portion of their income.  What if you could save $500 to $1000 per month by finding somewhere cheaper to live?   This means you would need less money to live, which frees up more of your time to do what you want.
4. Stay Out of Debt: Is your $600 per month car payment (plus insurance, upkeep and gas) really worth it?  Is your ego so important that you have to keep up with the Jones’?  I will tell you that for most people, their car payment is their first or second biggest expense (along with housing).  Personally, I refuse to have a car payment.  Sure, that means my car isn’t as nice as my neighbors, but I’m saving that money each month (which improves lifestyle).  This means I can work less and maintain a similar or better lifestyle.
5. Go Out To Eat Less: I’ll be the first to admit that I do enjoy going out to eat.  But, it is expensive to visit nice restaurants.  And you can normally make the exact same meal at home for less than 1/3 of the cost.  By going out to eat less, you will save more money, so you won’t need to earn as much.  This will significantly improve your lifestyle.

In summary, I define lifestyle as having both time and money.  Most people think that making more money is the answer to their troubles.  I disagree, because most people who make more, spend more.  Your ultimate goal should be to maximize your life energy, so you can make more per hour, and work less.  That way you have the time and money to do what you want.  The easiest way to do this is to evaluate your current living situation and make small changes to where you live, what you drive, where you eat, and what you do for work.  I hope that helps.