While both obvious and unpopular, I would be remiss if I didn’t say that one thing that saves me an insane amount of money is using AI.
I can do so many things now that I was previously too ignorant or insecure to do on my own. Including technical stuff like complicated automations in YAML, or learning to do self hosting of docker containers or virtual machines. As well as projects around the house that I never knew how to do before and previously would have paid somebody to do for me. Now I can do them myself. Saves me an insane amount of money and makes me insanely more productive at the same time because I don’t push things off simply because I don’t want to spend money paying someone else to do something.
I know it’s a big fad to hate on AI, but my goodness is it the best cost saving and productivity boosting thing if you know how to use it right. You can figure out how to do almost anything now. It easily saves me thousands of dollars a year, let alone time and getting more done and having the confidence to be able to figure out anything. Even just to bounce ideas off it or have it play devil’s advocate with me. Knowing how to use AI effectively has been a Freaking invaluable skill that makes me feel almost superhuman sometimes in a way that I have increased freedom and independence, critical thinking tools & problem solving. There are a lot of things I normally would have just thrown away, but with AI I’m able to dissect and fix a lot of things instead of have to buy new ones or pay someone to help. It’s empowering and probably saves me more money than any other “tool” or device I own.