Yes, I ensure that my outgoings are low. I have a mortgage to pay (it isn't a luxurious area, so the house prices aren't astronomical) but before moving to 3 days I ensured that I cleared debts on cars/credit cards (eg. do you really need a brand new car?), so it isn't an overnight change. I have a strict budget (just a spreadsheet) where I allocate a portion of money to "going out", an allocated amount to fuel and then other bills and rates, car maintenance and insurance (saving up over the year so you can pay at a lump sum when required, saving up in advance, as it is cheaper to pay a lump than pay monthly for car insurance) and any left over goes to a holiday fund or savings. The secret is to religiously stick to the budget! And over-allocate for each section; when you spend less on a section you will be pleasantly surprised and have spare cash, eg. assume 400 for food when you know it is only 300 (just an example). Alternatively, put a smaller figure for your monthly income than you actually earn and you will always have spare cash at the end of the month, eg. if you earn 1000 put 900 and try to live off that. You'll always be 100 better off at the end of the month then.
I do not have many services that I rent, eg. I only have Netflix. I don't have a contract phone - I went SIM-only and bought an Honor Play phone outright since the cost of that was far less than a contract phone per year. I have a large music collection that I bought when I was younger (spent all my money on that really), so you might consider a music subscription service good value but I don't need it myself. I occasionally rent a film, or make use of an Amazon Prime offer to watch stuff on there for a week (and then cancel to avoid an on-going debit) or Google Play movie offers. It is cheaper than going to the cinema and you don't have to listen to someone else eating popcorn with their mouth open.
Sure, I have less to go out and spend on luxuries (a couple of CDs a month perhaps, a book) but I get to spend more time with my wife. Who cares what you eat if you are together (do I really need a gourmet meal to enjoy my wife's company?). You end up enjoying nature more instead of "things".
I see some of my contemporaries being unaware of what they spend per month (literally no clue), and have leased cars, many foreign holidays (pre-lockdown), and rent many services eg. music subscriptions, Grammarly ?!, VPS they don't need, Sky, TV licence, the list goes on and on. And then they are confused why they work so much, and always "run out of money" by the end of the month. It's blindingly obvious - they spend too much on things they don't need, and don't have time to use because they are busy working to pay for them...
Many of these subscription services rely on you not noticing that small fee going out of your account, yet they all add up. If you add them up and work out how much they are per year, you would likely be shocked and consider it poor value. You would probably rather spend the value of the subscriptions on something else - perhaps a holiday or a trip.
If you can aim to live on half or two-thirds of your income, you can save a lot and then you have a bit less worry about incoming crisis bills (eg. broken fridge). We are careful where we shop for food. If you can make a meal plan for the week you will spend less on food since you only buy what you need for those meals. You will throw out less. I am eating a lot more rice these days as potatoes seem to upset my stomach, and the good thing is that rice can be bought in giant bags very cheaply. It is also filling and goes a long way!
For a job, I write software. I try to occasionally supplement it with contract work but I am more of a programmer than a salesman so my success in this area is quite limited!
I was not able to do this when I was younger since I did not earn as much, and foolishly spent all my money than I earned. Getting into debt taught me to keep an eye on what I spend and be strict about spending, so that was a beneficial lesson from that perspective. I wish you success - just look after the pennies, and the pounds will surely look after themselves.
