My goal is to invest consistently in this portfolio until the spring of 2029, so that its value reaches at least $15,000. I treat it as a kind of savings account for a dream vacation—because yes, I’ve decided that in 2029, as a gift for my 50th birthday, I will take my family to the United States for three weeks.
At the moment, the difficulty is that I don’t have much room to increase the amount I invest each month. My time is limited, and my income is already allocated across various responsibilities. Specialists say that the main driver of wealth is increasing your income. But in my case, that’s hard to do… I simply don’t have the time for additional work. Under these conditions, the only thing left for me is the first rule of building wealth: saving.
I’ve already gone through this stage once before. I reduced my expenses and the results were great. My wife and I have a solid savings strategy—we manage to save over 60% of what we earn. But those savings are for our shared goals: a peaceful retirement, accounts for the children, and possibly buying a new house in the future.
With that in mind, the only option I have left is to optimize my personal expenses again. I’ve identified three recurring expenses that I can reduce—or even eliminate.
1. Phone subscription
I’ve been a Vodafone customer for almost 20 years. With each contract renewal, new benefits appeared… along with small monthly price increases. Little by little, I ended up paying roughly $20 per month.
For Romania, this is quite a lot, especially considering there are similar subscriptions for only $5, offering unlimited calls and unlimited national internet. The only difference is roaming data—just 6.4 GB in the EU. My plan is to switch this month.
Savings: $15/month → $180/year
2. Lunch
I admit it—I’m lazy when it comes to bringing lunch from home. If I eat in the city, I spend around $8 per meal. Since I’m in the office about 20 days per month, the cost adds up quickly. If I build the habit of eating home-cooked meals, I could save more than $100 per month.
Savings: ~$100/month → ~$1,000/year
3. Smoking
This is by far the biggest expense—and the hardest habit to break. Besides the obvious health benefits, quitting smoking would save me around $330 every month.
Savings: $330/month → nearly $4,000/year
Of the three, quitting smoking is clearly the hardest. Even knowing I could save almost $4,000 per year doesn’t seem to motivate me enough. I’ve tried before and never lasted more than a week.
Still, if I manage to apply all three savings strategies, I could redirect about $5,180 per year toward my dream of visiting the United States.
When I calculate how much I spend on smoking, eating out, and an overpriced phone plan, I realize that for the first three months of every year, I work just to pay for these habits. And yes—habits have a cost. Once you add them up, you may discover that a big part of your life is spent earning money simply to maintain them.
I don’t know how many people will actually read these lines, but if you’d like to give me a hand with this plan, you can make a small donation through my Revolut link.
All donations will go directly into my stock portfolio.
Thank you!
