Woman Who Retired At 39 Cut Her Electric Bill From $250 To $162, Then Admits Her $30,000 Jeep Left Her Underwater On The Loan With Only $2,000 Down

Susan Parker

2 hours ago

Lauren Theresa retired at 39. She is 43 now, a former trauma therapist who makes videos about frugality, minimalism and financial independence. Yet in a budget video on her channel, Lauren_Theresa, she admits something that might surprise you: “You can have all the knowledge in the world and still make terrible financial decisions.”

The proof was parked in her driveway. She bought a 2023 Jeep Wrangler of about $30,000 and put only $2,000 down, which left her underwater on the loan.

Her Electric Bill Fell From $250 To $162 In One of America’s Priciest Places

Lauren lives in Hawaii, where she says electricity runs 44 cents a kilowatt hour, “one of the most expensive electric places in the nation.” Even so, she lowered her bill from about $250 a month to $162.

No single trick did it. She stacked several small habits, and each one is easy to copy.

Wash on cold. Her machine has a tap cold button, and she says most clothing today does not need a warm cycle.
Use less detergent than the label says, since extra soap can leave a film on clothes.
Run full loads, because you pay the same whether the load is small or large.
Use sensed heat on the dryer instead of timed heat, and hang partly dried bedding and towels to finish.
Switch to LED bulbs, which last longer and use less power.
Put gadgets on power strips and unplug the air fryer, toaster, Vitamix and Instant Pot so they are not drawing phantom power.

The Oven Was Costing Her $10 To $20 More Every Month

Lauren says her oven is a huge drain. She bought an air fryer that doubles as a convection oven for $127 on sale, and she cooks almost exclusively with it and her Instant Pot.

The difference showed on the bill. In months she used the regular oven more, she says, it added “10 to 15 to $20” to her electric bill.

She also learned a thrifty lesson the hard way. A used air fryer at a thrift store would have cost $17, but when she plugged it in, it did not work. She bought one new instead and warns that it is not high quality.

“I Was Underwater On The Loan” And Why Her Jeep Had To Go

Lauren calls the car question controversial. “The fastest way to find room in your budget and save money is going to be the big ones. Housing, transportation, groceries, and recurring bills and insurance.”

She says she slipped into a “YOLO mentality” and “keeping up with the Joneses” when she got away from frugal content and was making a lot of money. The Jeep was a hybrid with 20,000 miles on it, and she figured she would save on gas.

Then she had to plug it in, and her electric bill jumped up $100 a month. She sold it at a loss. “The pain is still with me.”

She replaced it with a cheap Prius, which she now owns outright. It costs very little to insure and run, and she spends maybe $110 a month on gas.

Her Rule For Car Payments Over $300 A Month

If your car payment is more than $300 a month, Lauren would consider selling the vehicle and getting an older Corolla or Camry with low mileage, around $5,000. She says they are still out there. She recently spotted a 2007 Corolla with 100,000 miles on Facebook Marketplace for $3,000, a well-maintained car from an older owner.

“Imagine what redirecting those funds towards an emergency fund could do for you.”

Grocery Tricks That Work Even In Hawaii

For a family of four, Lauren still keeps groceries reasonable, and she is lowering the bill every trip. Her approach is practical.

Take cash and a calculator. Type in every item as it goes in the cart so you never pass your limit of $100, $150 or $200 a trip.
Shop ingredients, not prepackaged meals.
Check the Flipp app for the weekly loss leader flyers, where produce, yogurt and proteins often show up.
Buy meat in bulk when it is on sale. She mentions chicken at $2.99 a pound at Costco and a chest freezer she planned and saved for over at least 6 months.
Freeze half of that big tub of spinach right away. She cites a government estimate that food waste costs about $728 a year per person.

Her rule is simple: “If you paid for it, make a plan to eat it.”

Cleaning With Old Sheets And Mop Slippers

Lauren has cut her paper towel use by keeping rags, towels and old shirts or sheets cut into cleaning cloths. She recommends navy blue kitchen towels over white, since she hesitated to use white ones on messes. “If it was good enough for my grandma, then it’s good enough for me.”

She also bought a four-pack of mop slippers for about $8. Her daughters slip and slide across the floor on weekends, and the slippers go right in the wash.

The Amazon Bill That Hit $900 Made Her Add Friction

Lauren calls herself a born spender. When she began to buckle down, she looked at her Amazon bill and saw $900, then $800, then $600 in a month. Some of it was pantry basics, but a lot was sale items and kids’ stuff.

Her fix was adding “a little friction” to shopping. She dropped Amazon Prime, unsubscribed from marketing emails, took a break from social media and tried the Freedom app, which blocks sites like Amazon and Instagram.

She also puts in headphones and plays frugal living videos while she is in a store. After a recent Target trip she walked out empty-handed and says she was thrilled. “I am not willing to give away my life for this junk anymore.”

What She Does Instead Of Shopping

When she feels spendy, she goes for a walk, cleans, declutters or organizes. She notices the urge to buy hits when she is anxious. She also uses the library, where she prints for free, grabs books and seed catalogs, and signs up for community events. A composting class at a worm farm now leaves her with a worm bin at home.

Her biggest realization: “Buying our way to happiness is just a one-way ticket to unhappiness. And I have tried, and it doesn’t work.”

Lauren is careful to say that frugal hacks have limits. If rent eats half your income and you already buy the cheapest groceries, there is only so much you can do. But for everyone else, she says these are the habits she wishes she had started in her early 20s.