How to have a luxe life on a budget

Going out and grinding every day to make your payments and stay afloat is not ideal for anybody. We all dream about having a life of luxury, where we can lie in bed and wait for room service all the time, but even on the coldest darkest and wettest winter mornings, we have to pull ourselves up and get to work as if it’s the only thing we live for. That’s a pretty depressing thought, but what may be a silver lining is that there are little ways to sneak some luxury into your life and lift your spirits while keeping your budget in control! To get started on living a more luxurious life, try some of these ideas for luxury on a budget.

How to Live the Luxe Life While Saving Money:

1. Detail your car
2. Wake up early
3. Vacation locally
4. Make a luxury meal 
5. If you have a credit card, make sure it’s the “right” one
6. Buy used designer brands

Keep reading for the details on how to make it happen…

Detail Your Car

If you have had your car for years and are ready to trade it in and get a newer model, hold your horses. You can have your car looking and feeling brand new for just the price of a monthly car payment. Get your car detailed inside and out for a complete refresh that will make you fall in love with that old clunker, all over again. All right, the car needs to run well; But As long as it’s not falling apart, a good deep cleaning will really improve your mood and make you feel as though you’ve upgraded even though you haven’t. If you still want that newer model, a good detail job doesn’t hurt the resale value either. but you may prefer to enjoy the luxury on a budget and stay away from another car loan.

Wake up Early

It may seem counterintuitive as we normally view luxury as synonymous with idle wealth, but most of those who are big earners have hustle and drive. Getting up early in the morning is a good habit to have that will help you in life, but it also has the added benefit of creating time. If you usually sleep a lot, try cutting back a few hours. When you have more time before you need to go into work, you can spend it on whatever your definition of luxury is. Lounge around to some music, or make yourself an omelet to enjoy with an espresso. lots of extra time in the morning will have you feeling better about leaving for work, and you won’t feel so rushed, which is perfectly luxurious.

Vacation Locally

If you want to take time off of work and experience some luxury, you don’t have to blow your budget on a big vacation. You can plan a local getaway with no travel fees, It’s easy to find local accommodations that are luxurious, yet inexpensive. Try options like AirBnB instead of booking a hotel. Or you can shop for discounted room rates and find great deals on travel sites like Kayak.com. You can have the luxury of staying at a hotel without the added cost of booking a flight. Since your local, there isn’t any pressure to leave your room either, so you can save money by not shopping for souvenirs.

Make a Luxury Meal

You can add a little bit of glamor to your traditional weekly meal rotation by whipping up something special. It doesn’t have to be super expensive, it just requires fresh quality ingredients and a little bit of finesse. You will be surprised how well you can eat in one evening of cooking at home versus going out to dine. Although it’s well known that home cooking is cheaper, most people approach grocery shopping as an essential and not as an opportunity to add luxury. If you splurge once or twice a month on a fancy home-cooked meal you can have the luxury of fine dining at a comparatively low cost. Also, because it’s only occasional, you don’t work yourself too hard.

Another way to experience luxury on a budget with food is to have restaurant food delivered to your door. This is a pricey alternative, but you don’t have to do any work and you don’t create dishes, so…

Get the Right Credit Card

For whatever you like, there’s a credit card to get it for you. Unique credit cards with targeted reward systems can be a big payoff if you regularly use your credit card for big purchases and then promptly pay the balance. For travelers there are airline credit cards, for Amazon users, there is an Amazon Card. Target has a card, Disney has a card. All of them have rewards for spending that convert into some transactional benefits such as free airfare, or a dollar amount. Different credit cards are good for different things, like consolidation, or building credit. A credit card that adds value by rewarding you with luxury is a nice benefit to have.

Pro tip: If you know this tip would get you into trouble ABSOLUTELY DO NOT get a credit card simply for the “rewards.” If you do you’ll end up in a bigger mess and it is not worth it!

Buy Used Designer Brands

You can wear fancy threads at a fraction of the cost by buying lightly-worn designer clothes to experience luxury on a budget. Find discounted pricing for luxury labels on sites like Ebay.com, or by getting lucky at the thrift store. There are plenty of sites that sell designer brands at discounted prices. You can also go to a fashion outlet to save big on a new fancy wardrobe.

Pro tip: It’s not a “deal” if you’re buying something you don’t need.

How do YOU add luxury to your life while on a budget? Tell us your tips in the comments! And, if you found this post helpful we’d be so thankful if you share it with your friends!