Accidental Thriftiness - Things You Probably Shouldn't Do That Save Money

I'm not generally a very thrifty person, as evidenced by the hefty Amazon purchase I made about 30 seconds before starting this post.  But there a few ways I save money without actually trying, and I figured I'd let you guys in on all the secrets...

1. I Cut My Own Hair

I started cutting my own hair partially out of laziness.  Making appointments and driving to the salon - so much effort!  But I discovered that I really enjoy it.  Watching those wisps of hair fall into the trash can, and shaving off all the missed strands or weird corners.  So much fun!  But when you get down to it, that's anywhere from $30 to $60 per cut (I don't do Supercuts anymore.  I've had ok experiences, but I've also had really bad ones, and I'd rather pay more for reliability).  I tend to trim my hair twice a year and do a more thorough layering/angling cut a couple times, so that's probably two $30 cuts and two $60 cuts, for a total of $180 saved by doing it myself.

Estimated Savings (for me): $180/year

2. Drive Thru Aversion

Sometimes I think, "I could really go for a chicken bacon swiss," and the only thing that stops me from hitting up the nearest Arby's is my own apathy.  Extra driving and speaking to people... eh.  I'll just have a frozen meal at home.  I generally would like food without effort more days than not, but only actually crave some sort of fast food maybe once a week.  So we'll say $5 per week - $20 per month - $240 a year.  Boom!  Saved by my own laziness.

Estimated Savings: $240/year

3. Being a Bad Car Owner

I'm supposed to get an oil change every how often?  If 3 months goes by and I've only driven a couple thousand miles, I just don't feel it's necessary.  Especially now that there's no warranty on the car anymore.  I still go every 4,000 miles or so, which takes me about 6 months to reach.  So that's 2 oil changes I skip, at about $50 each, so I save myself about $100 by being terribly irresponsible with my automobile.  Fingers crossed the car doesn't collapse due to my bad treatment and take away all those savings.

Estimated Savings: $100/year

4. Resisting Medical Treatment

It's a pain to find a doctor (still don't have a primary care physician), and frequently it's a lot easier to just wait and see if it goes away.  Oh, and things like the eye doctor.  They want me to come in every year!  My eyes have had the same prescription for about 10 years.  I think I can pretty safely push that back to every couple of years.  I really only go in when I run out of contacts, which is infrequent, since I don't wear them often.  Since our health insurance has a pretty high deductible, and I haven't had much time to build up my HSA, I've been paying a few expenses out of pocket.  It seems like the bills I get for a medical visit tend to be anywhere from $50 to $200, so if I saved $100 by skipping the eye doctor, $50 for a random visit just to choose a PCP, and another $100 for not going to physical therapy (yeah, I know, I should probably go), that's $250 this year!

Estimated Savings: $250/year

5. Being a Homebody

While we can go out with friends and have a good time, Ryan and I tend to stay in more often.  Our ideal night is when there's no nagging obligations hanging over our heads and we can just have dinner together and play video games.  We do like to eat out on occasion, but the larger bills tend to be bar tabs, and those are infrequent.  So let's say the average socialite goes out for dinner and/or drinks with friends once a month, and we only do so once every 3 months or so.  With an average bar tab of $80 when we do go out, that's $320 we're not spending simply by being anti-social!

Estimated Savings: $320/year

As I wrap up this list, it occurs to me that most of my savings can be directly attributed to some vice or other.  Laziness, primarily.  So probably don't follow the example I've set.  Or do.  Whatever.

Do you have any ways you save money by being lazy?  Or just ideas for how to save money?