How to live cheap in Nashville

For me- one of the keys to happiness is living well below my means and spending money toward achieving my dreams. 

That looks like living off as little money as possible to be able to invest in Nashville startups, take a financial leap to start a space for startups, and travel the world as much as possible. 

It helps that I grew up with an extremely frugal father that created 3 frugal children who haven’t strayed far from their Midwest roots (: 

I wrote this blog to share my best tips to save money living in Nashville in case other people want to try any of the methods.

Here’s how I save money:

Rent

It’s true, rent prices have skyrocketed in Nashville, but I haven’t paid over $1000/month in rent. 

Here’s my tips: 

• Stay the hell away from any new, luxury apartment building. Anything you can rent that has a website, a full list of amenities, and a leasing office is most likely not budget friendly. 
• Instead, take the time to actually walk, bike, or drive around neighborhoods looking for ‘FOR RENT’ signs. These are where the BEST deals are found. The areas where you see these deals the most are Hillsboro Village, West End, and Sylvan Park. 
• Simultaneously, scour Facebook Marketplace. This is where most individual landlords share their listings. Because these folks aren’t as focused on margin and usually just want an easy tenant, I think you can find other good prices here. 
• Be patient. You’re not going to find the best deal when you have 1 week to move out. It takes time to network. Once you’re in a spot that’s a good deal- stay there as long as you can!!!! 

Transportation

• I ride an electric bike. I can go 95% of the places I need to go by e-bike and it’s the best purchase I’ve ever made (or Mr Zap made because it was a birthday present haha). You can find bikes for way less, but I think the investment in an Aventon for $1600 is the best bang for your buck. If you buy it directly from Green Fleet Bicycles in North Nashville they will build the bike for you for free. The thing you need to splurge on is getting a pricey, but good bike lock so your investment doesn’t get stolen. While Nashville needs to improve its bike-ability, I think it’s way more possible to get around than folks realize. AND it’s actually faster a lot of the time because you don’t deal with traffic. I can get downtown faster by bike and avoid having to pay for parking. 
• If investing in a bicycle upfront is too much, I started by renting the city Bcycles. These are electric bikes all around the city and a monthly membership is a whoppingly low $20/month!!! It’s a great test to see if e-biking is a good fit for you. 
• This is a tip I haven’t implemented myself, but I have friends who say the city’s bus is actually pretty good and saves them a lot of money. It’s $2/trip or $65/month. You can see the map here.

Food 

• Avoid Whole Foods. 
• Buy the majority of items at International Markets. For whatever reasons, items are always cheaper here, especially produce. I go to K&S World Market off of Charlotte.
• Sign up for a CSA. A CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. This means you almost ‘subscribe’ to a local farm. This is a great way to support local farmers so they know their income, but also one of the most convenient ways to eat locally grown foods! Each week or biweekly, you pick up a box at one of the many farmers markets. Here’s an article about Nashville CSAs to join. Me and Mr. Zap have been members of Cooper Creek Farm, which isn’t on the list, but it’s a tiny farm in an Inglewood backyard that has pickups at Richland Farmers Market on Saturdays for $35/week. There are also ways to join meat-focused CSAs from other farms.
• Eat at Nashville’s affordable restaurants. Some of my favorites are:

Brown’s Diner

Hoang Tofu for a $5 banh mi (pretty sure it’s cash only)

Uzbegim

Baja Burrito 

51st Deli

Family Taco’s 

Hugh-Baby’s 

SATCO 

Literally almost anything on Nolensville Pike. Great Mexican food, Kurdish food, and more.

• Wherever the college kids are is usually full of affordable options.
• Go to networking events with foods. Yes, this is a little scavenge-y, but I literally lived off of this method for years. There are a TON of events in town every single night AND you can expand your network simultaneously. Lots of people say I am very well networked, well the truth is that I was just showing up for the food LOL.

Gym

• There have been times in my life where I splurged on a luxury gym, but nowadays I am a YMCA girlie! You can't beat $44/month. Plus, they have all the equipment you need and the cleanest locker rooms. I recently checked out Centennial Sportsplex which was offering a deal to purchase an entire year's membership for $325, which comes out to $27/month.
• I like to do yoga as a form of self-care, but there are some hot yoga spots in town that will ring you over $40 for a 1-hour group class. My favorite spot is Shakti, which offers several 'community classes' that are $10. If you buy a class pack here to go to any of their classes, it will come out to $14/class. They have great instructors and a friendly community, all while being budget conscious.

Clothes

• This tip is more for the girls. For the past 6 years, I have always rented my clothes either through Rent the Runway (10 items/month for $144) or Nuuly (6 items/month for $99). While on the outside this seems like a luxury price point, I have found it to only help me save money. Because I rent my clothes, I rarely buy new clothes (and Mr Zap can attest to this). When I do, I purchase shoes and jackets/coats and try to find durable options that will last a long time. Plus, I don't fall victim to the 1-time outfit occasions like weddings, awards ceremonies, etc and instead just wear a rental each time.

Managing Finances

• I recently became a customer and investor in the Nashville startup Fifr. They are a financial advisor that charges a flat-rate of $100/month as opposed to a typical 1% AUM fee. When I did the math, I saw that making this switch would save me over $1M throughout my lifetime, so the savings alone made it an easy choice. On top of that though, I find that their tech-driven approach helps me know better what's going on and their customer service is top notch. While the cheapest option is to manage my own investments, I personally like paying some money to work with a professional to have a plan and know that I am staying on track. It's like having a financial coach more than anything.

I think this article is missing options for cheap coffee, but I don't know anywhere!! If you have any ideas, leave a comment (:

Finally, while I love saving money, I do spend money!! But I have chosen to focus spending my money on two things- achieving my dreams and traveling.

My final tip- decide what you think your money should be spent on. Having that alignment and goals will make it easier to say no to things like Instagram ads, expensive meals, etc. And instead make you feel good when you do choose to spend money.