Los Angeles is one of those cities where many people around the world just want to be. Music, movies, and television productions make the City of Angels one of the most influential cultural centers on the planet. Some flock here for the opportunities to get involved in those industries, whereas others just want to be here for the status symbol of living here. Millions call the place home, yet they don’t do so easily, considering how expensive living here is.
While there’s no way around the high cost of living in Los Angeles, there are several ways to lower your expenses and minimize bills:
Get a Roommate
If you live alone but have a spare bedroom, you might be able to rent it out. You’ll give up some privacy and space, but you’ll also automatically cut your bills in half. If you’re a homeowner, you might be able to turn your property into two different dwellings. This can add a much-needed income stream to help you with your utilities, insurance, and mortgage.
Utilize Debt Management Solutions
Professional debt consultants help consumers formulate the best ways to manage debt more effectively. With the right assistance, you can have someone take an objective look at your finances and chart a path for you out of your current debt quagmire. Sometimes, just rearranging your debt can help you find a way out of it. For instance, you might be able to move high-interest debts onto cards with lower rates. You can also start focusing on the smallest debts before moving up to bigger ones or paying down high-rate balances first to begin curtailing the growth of your debt.
Cook at Home
After your housing costs, your eating expenses might be the single-biggest expense category you have each month. Eating out is probably something impossible to avoid in Los Angeles, and it actually can be one of the perks of living in such a vibrant and multicultural city. Still, you don’t need to do it all the time. Cook meals at home whenever you can. The real trick is cooking more than you need for just that meal. Make your own microwave dinners to take to work, keep leftovers for multiple meals, or just have friends over to mix saving money with social occasions.
Change Your Transit
If you’re spending a lot of money on rideshares, then you should add up the receipts for the month and see just how much it is. You’ll likely find LA mass transit is cheaper. Depending on how much you spend, you might even find that buying a car and using it is cheaper. Then again, car ownership can also be expensive in its own right, so for some citizens of Los Angeles, selling their car might make sense. The point is that you need to analyze your transportation habits and expenses and see where you can save money. Just shaving 10 percent off of your monthly expenses here can free up a lot of money.
Move Inland
The beaches of SoCal are one of the biggest allures of living here. However, the closer you are to the beach, the higher your living expenses get. Housing is generally cheaper the further inland you move. Even inland, you can save money by switching neighborhoods.
Tap Into the Gig Economy
Whether you need to string together any income you can or just want some secondary income to supplement your primary, look into the gig economy. From doing freelance jobs online to doing delivery and rideshare work, there are many opportunities to work at many different things at your own pace and schedule. Just buying and selling things through Amazon or eBay fits this line of work, even though such opportunities have been around a lot longer than Uber and Instacart. Try to have three sources of income to balance your money coming in and diversify your earnings for more safety.
Key Takeaways
Living in Los Angeles is possible, and millions of people do it everyday. Join their ranks by doing the things listed above. Any one of these steps can help, but together they can change your life. You can not only make living in Los Angeles affordable but you can even free up enough discretionary income to take advantage of all there is to do there.
