10 Saving Techniques to Save 100,000 Yen a Year

Lowering fixed costs through "systems" rather than self-denial

What image comes to mind when you hear the word "saving"?

Stop eating out.
Deny yourself things you want.
Don't go to convenience stores.
Reduce travel.

Of course, that can sometimes leave you with more money.
But honestly, this kind of saving is exhausting.

It requires willpower, and there's a rebound effect.
Moreover, the effects don't last unless you work hard every day.

On the other hand, what people who successfully save money do is much more low-key.
It's not about flashy tricks, but rather "systematized saving" that works forever once you review it.

For example, smartphone bills, insurance premiums, subscriptions, and electricity bills.
These fixed costs automatically lower your monthly expenses just by reviewing them once at the start.

In other words, the essence of saving is not "self-denial," but changing the design of your living costs.

In the "Recipe for Success" starting in April, we plan to publish in-depth articles on money, saving, and systems in our free articles every Tuesday and Friday. Tuesdays will focus on knowledge about systems and applications, while Fridays will feature list-style articles that you can save and refer back to.

In this article, I have compiled
10 realistic saving techniques that can save you 100,000 yen a year
that are easy for beginners to start and have a significant impact, ranked by priority.

You don't have to do all of them.
Start with one, or three if you can.
Try incorporating them into your life.

As they accumulate, they will make a bigger difference than you imagine.

1. Switch to a low-cost SIM

Estimated annual savings: 30,000 to 60,000 yen

If you are still using an expensive plan from a major carrier, this is top priority.

It is not rare for people to spend around 8,000 yen on their monthly smartphone bill.
However, depending on how you use it, you can sometimes keep it in the 3,000 to 5,000 yen range just by switching to a low-cost SIM or a low-price plan.

For example, if you save 4,000 yen a month, that is 48,000 yen per year.
There are actually very few things in saving that have such a big impact.

Moreover, you don't have to work hard every day like you do with food expenses.
The strength is that you only need to change your plan once, and it works forever after that.

Key points for review

• Check your monthly data usage

• Consider whether you use more voice calls or data separately

• Compare whether family discounts or fiber-optic bundle discounts are truly beneficial

It is easy to leave things as they are because you are not having any trouble, but
fixed costs are expenses that cause those who neglect them to lose money.

2. Review insurance to avoid being 'over-insured for peace of mind'

Estimated annual savings: 10,000 to 50,000 yen

Insurance is more important to review than when you first sign up.

Common situations include:

• Having multiple medical insurance policies

• Having too many riders and not even knowing what they cover

• Remaining enrolled in a policy just because it was recommended

• The coverage does not match your household budget

These are the states people find themselves in.

Since insurance is a 'product you buy for peace of mind,' it is easy to put off reviewing it.
However, a difference of a few thousand yen every month adds up to a significant amount over several years.

The important thing here is not to think in extremes like 'I don't need any insurance at all.'
While keeping the necessary coverage, the goal is to reduce overlapping parts.

Things to check when reviewing

• Make a list of the insurance policies you currently have

• Organize what risks you are preparing for

• Check the scope covered by public insurance

If you keep paying for insurance without understanding the details, it becomes a silent drain on your household budget.

3. Organize unused subscriptions

Estimated annual savings: 6,000 to 30,000 yen

Subscriptions may look cheap individually.

500 yen a month.
980 yen a month.
1,200 yen a month.

But before you know it, they add up.

Video streaming, music, cloud storage, learning apps, photo storage, paid tools.
If you have multiple subscriptions, you might be paying nearly 5,000 yen every month.

And the scary part is
paying for things you don't even use
.

Recommended organization steps

• Check your credit card statements for the past 3 months

• Write down all your subscriptions

• Determine if you have used them in the last 30 days

• Consider if there are alternatives

• Decide which ones to cancel this month

Thinking "I might use it someday" usually means you won't.
If you really need it, you can just sign up again.

4. Compare electricity and gas rate plans

Estimated annual savings: 6,000 to 20,000 yen

Utility bills are often thought to be hard to save on, but
reviewing your contract is often more effective than changing how you use them.

The following points are especially worth reviewing.

• Whether your contracted amperage matches your lifestyle

• Is a bundle discount actually worth it?

• Is the rate plan suitable for your usage hours?

• Will switching to another company make it cheaper?

Turning off lights frequently is important, but
reviewing the underlying rate structure
is easier and more reproducible.

Things to be careful about

Don't decide based solely on the "absolute lowest price."
You are less likely to fail if you also look at support, cancellation terms, point rewards, and compatibility with your usage volume.

5. Don't "ban" convenience store use, but "purpose-orient" it

Estimated annual savings: 10,000 to 40,000 yen

Convenience stores are convenient.
That is precisely why unconscious use increases your spending.

However, if you make it a "strict ban on convenience stores" here, it won't last.

The recommendation is not to ban them, but to
"decide why you are going in"
.

For example, rules like these

• Do not buy drinks as a rule

• Lunch is for emergencies only

• Do not use the ATM

• Avoid impulse buying sweets

• If you buy something, only buy what you decided on beforehand

Even small purchases of 500 yen at a time, if done 5 times a week, add up to around 10,000 yen a month.
Over a year, this becomes quite significant as an invisible expense.

If you think of saving not as "enduring everything," but as
closing the exits where money leaks out
, it becomes easier to keep up.

6. Review your drink expenses

Estimated annual savings: 10,000 to 30,000 yen

It may seem minor, but it is quite effective.

For example, if you buy one 150-yen bottled drink every day,
it adds up to nearly 50,000 yen per year.

Of course, you don't need to cut it out completely.
However,if you are buying them unconsciously, there is plenty of room for review.

Easy ways to review

• Carry a reusable water bottle

• Make coffee or tea at home

• Limit the number of times you buy drinks outside per week

• Reduce your use of vending machines

150 yen a day may seem small, but it becomes significant when it turns into a daily habit.
When it comes to saving money, starting with these easily overlooked routine expenses makes the results easier to see.

7. Don't neglect the Hometown Tax Donation program

Estimated annual benefit: equivalent to several thousand to several tens of thousands of yen

Strictly speaking, this is not so much saving as it is
improving your household budget by using a system.

If used by those eligible, you can receive return gifts while keeping your actual burden low.
However, if you use it without understanding the mechanism, you are likely to feel like you've lost out.

The following four points are important.

• Check the estimated upper limit for your donation

• Understand whether to use the One-Stop Exception system or file a tax return

• Do not choose items carelessly in a last-minute rush

• Choose things you actually need, not just because it's a good deal

If you choose return gifts that directly impact your household budget, such as rice, daily necessities, or frozen foods,
it can also lead to a reduction in living expenses.

In our Tuesday money articles, we plan to delve deeper into these systems and application processes in the future.

8. Limit cashless payment methods to a "manageable range"

Estimated annual savings: 5,000 to 20,000 yen

Point rewards look profitable.
However, if you aren't managing them, they can have the opposite effect.

Common pitfalls include:

• Having too many payment methods

• Making unnecessary purchases just for points

• Losing track of closing dates and billing amounts

• Household management becoming too complex to grasp

These are the states people fall into.

People who save money are surprisingly simple.
They limit their payment methods to two or three, making it easier to track what they spent and how much.

In other words, rather than maximizing points,
a system that allows you to visualize waste
is more important in the long run.

9. For food expenses, focus on "reducing waste" rather than "finding cheap items"

Estimated annual savings: 10,000 to 30,000 yen

When it comes to saving money, people tend to focus on comparing supermarket prices.
Of course, that is also important.

However, what is even more effective is
reducing food waste.

Letting food spoil in the fridge and throwing it away.
Buying the same seasonings twice.
Going shopping while hungry and buying too much.

This accumulation of habits puts a gradual strain on the household budget.

The solution is simple

• Check the refrigerator before shopping

• Create a day once a week to use up everything

• Reduce buying things just because they are cheap

• Decide on a rough menu before you go

For food expenses, focusing on
reducing waste
is easier to sustain than cutting unit prices.

10. Reduce the number of days you buy things just because

Estimated annual savings: 10,000 to 50,000 yen

Finally, this is a very essential point.

A major cause of financial strain is often not
the high-priced purchases themselves, but
the accumulation of small, unconscious expenses
.

For example,

• Buying because it's on sale

• Buying as a reward for working hard

• Browsing the internet aimlessly

• Wanting something while reading reviews

• Opening shopping sites without any plans

These actions increase the gateways for spending.

I recommend not "not buying," but
“reducing situations where you buy without thinking”
.

Specifically,

• Wait 24 hours before buying something you want

• Write down the purpose in one line before buying

• Check if you already own something similar

• Check if it is within this month's budget

Just doing this will significantly reduce impulse buying.

You only need to start with these three

You don't need to do all 10 at once.

If you are a beginner, I recommend starting with these three.

Priority A

1. Review your low-cost SIM plan
2. Organize unused subscriptions
3. Audit your insurance

These three have one thing in common:
once you do them, they provide monthly benefits
accordingly.

Conversely, people who struggle to maintain savings often start with daily effort-based saving methods and end up exhausted.

Start with fixed costs.
Just by organizing these, your household budget will become much lighter.

What I want to tell those who struggle with saving

Even if you are not good at saving, there is no need to feel down.

The reason it doesn't last is not because your willpower is weak, but because
your method is based on 'sheer grit'
.

Saving based only on self-denial will not last.
However, saving based on systems will.

• Fixed costs that drop automatically every month

• Waste that can be reduced if you don't ignore it

• Expenses that improve just by setting one rule

Changing things like these will make managing your household budget much easier.

To reduce financial anxiety, it is important to strive to increase your income.
But at the same time, organizing the flow of money going out is just as important.

Summary

Saving money is not a 'skill of endurance' but a 'skill of design'

Here is a summary of today's content.

What is important for saving 100,000 yen a year is not flashy tricks.

• Review your budget SIM plan

• Organize your insurance

• Reduce subscriptions

• Compare utility plans

• Reduce unconscious spending on convenience stores and drinks

• Properly utilize government systems

• Reduce the gateways to impulse buying

The key is to start with
things that have a long-lasting effect once reviewed
like these.

Saving money is often thought of as painful.
But in reality, it is also a foundation for increasing your freedom in life.

If you save 5,000 yen a month, that's 60,000 yen a year.
If you save 10,000 yen a month, that's 120,000 yen a year.

That difference will gradually take effect after one year.

The important thing is not to aim for perfection.
If you can review just one thing today, that alone is progress.

In the 'Recipe for Success' starting in April, we will focus on the themes of money, saving, and systems, with a policy of delivering 'knowledge you lose out on if you don't know' and 'practical information you'll want to save' centered around free articles.