It All Adds Up, The Podcast

You’ll achieve significant financial savings by practicing the tips and tricks from our podcast series. But it’s important to not fall victim to Jevon’s Paradox, which could make you spend even more money than you did before you implemented our podcast advice. Check out this episode to learn more!

Most of the concepts we have discussed throughout this podcast series can be applied to both personal and workplace settings. By transferring our podcast tips from home to the workplace, companies can save money on their utility bills, food offerings and waste, business travel, and more. 

You can save a lot of money with these simple rules: live smaller, live closer, and live with others. Smaller housing spaces save money on utilities and material possessions; living closer to work and social centers saves money on transportation; and living with others splits costs over multiple people.

If you could live with only 100 material possessions, what would you choose? It’s important to be aware of what and how much you own, so you can decide what you really need. If you are intentional about your purchases and buy only what you need, you have the potential to save a lot of money. 

The average American household spends $1,800 on clothes every year. The average American spends $650 on jewelry and buys 6 new pairs of shoes every year. You can save money on clothing, shoes, and jewelry by purchasing fewer items, buying durable items, and enrolling in rental programs.

In the US, we send hundreds of millions of pieces of mail per day. Across the globe, we send hundreds of billions of emails per day. Mail and packages are expensive to ship and dispose of in landfills, and emails are expensive to store in data centers. You can save money and time by cleaning out your junk mail and your email account.

The average American uses over 700 pounds of paper per year. The US spends over $470 million every year on paper just for school work, and the average American uses over 50 rolls of toilet paper per year. These costs can be reduced by reusing scrap paper and limiting your paper use.

The average American spends over $1,200 on prescription medication and $100 on dietary supplements every year. It’s important to spend money on medication and dietary supplements that maintain and improve your health. You can reduce these expenses by eating a healthy diet and exercising daily.

The average US household spends over $700 per year on personal care products and services, and the average person also pays over $700 per year on dental care. You can reduce these expenses by using smart and effective hygiene habits, like air drying your hair or decreasing how often you shave.

This interview with Caroline Ling (Stanford University MBA/MS) takes a closer look at some of the topics we discussed in our episode called Your Trash. Caroline reviews some tips for proper disposal of trash, recyclables, and compostables to help you reduce how much you pay for waste collection.

About 75% of US adults wear glasses or contacts. The average glasses wearer spends up to $600 per pair, and the average contact wearer spends $250 per year on lenses, plus expenses for solution and cases. You can reduce these costs with regular eye doctor visits and by eating more veggies.\r\n

The average American spends only $92 per year on reading material. Reading more books improves your literacy skills, and childhood reading increases adulthood income by over 20%. Purchasing used books or reading free books from the library are great and affordable ways to enhance your life.\r\n

The average US household owns 5 electronic devices that have high upfront and ongoing operating costs. For example, the US spends $16 billion on streaming services per year. You can reduce these costs by using your devices until they break, by reducing streaming services, and by using your devices less. 

The average family spends close to $7,000 on toys per child from birth and throughout adolescence. Toy purchases are important because toys greatly impact childhood development measures like attention span, coordination, creativity, and interpersonal skills. Purchasing fewer and more purposeful toys can provide huge savings!

In 2020, the US spent $99 billion on pets. Some expenses, like training classes and healthy food, are good investments to ensure your pets’ safety and health. But there is high potential for savings with purchases like pet clothing. And you can save up to $4,000 by adopting (instead of shopping for) your next pet!

The average US household pays over $7,000 to furnish an apartment with new furniture. The cost for a new mid-range sofa alone can be as high as $2,000. These expenses can be reduced by purchasing second-hand and multi-purpose furniture. Further savings can be achieved with strategic furniture placement.

Every year, the average US household spends $180 just on paper towels, not to mention the cost for all their other cleaning supplies. Chemical cleaning solutions can have costly health consequences. By switching to reusable cleaning tools and to non-toxic cleaning solutions, you can save close to $300 per year.

The US spills 17 million gallons of gas every year while filling up residential lawn mowers. Assuming $2.60 per gallon, that’s over $44 million wasted on spilled lawn mower gas! Smarter lawn mowing methods combined with strategic tree and shrub placement can provide huge gas, energy, and water cost savings.

This interview with YouTube cooking star Ethan Chlebowski takes a closer look at some of the topics we discussed in Season 2: Food. Ethan reviews some clever tricks for buying in bulk, repurposing food scraps, and eating more vegetables to make home cooking cheap, healthy, and tasty.

The average US gym goer spends $300 on annual gym memberships. If these memberships are used regularly, they are a great investment, since exercise can reduce medical expenses by $2,500 per year! You can save money while you exercise by taking public transportation to the gym or by working out at home.