Knowing Where To Make Cuts

I always keep my receipts but in addition to that I also have a diary in which I use to keep track of all my expenses. Any time I spend money, I'll write down what I spent that money on in the diary. At the end of the month I review the entries and can easily figure out what I shouldn't be buying if I want to save more money.

 

We also experienced financial downtimes before so I know the feeling of that cuts. Actually, cost-cutting is not really that bad if you know how to do it. First is to make a list of the regular expenses followed by a list of occasional expenses and third list is the emergency expenses. More likely you can make adjustments with the regular spendings particularly the non-essential like newspaper and grooming. Going to the salon and barber shop can be postponed so instead of spending for that every month maybe the haircut can last for a month and a half. With the food, I don't scrimp on that unless we really are so broke.

 

The areas where I usually cut back are on entertainment things. Movies, concerts, sporting events. Then I'll look at cutting back on food next. Quit eating out as much. Cooking more meals. It's amazing how much money you can save when you really focus and only go out once a week or so, and make small changes to your lifestyle. I think these are sacrifices well worth making.

 

I personally haven't done the spread sheet thing, but I watch for sales always and check in-store specials. I save a lot of money at Safeway $5 Fridays, that you can find online. All you need is your free Safeway account and card. Sometimes Safeway has a $3 minus when you spend a certain amount too at their digital coupons only, so it's worth to check it and have an account at Safeway. Other sales like the weekly CVS and Walgreens is onliine too. Free to get their cards, free to open an account for both stores too. There are good ways to cut back at sales and living sometimes sale to sale too, if you can that is to live sale to sale.

 

I have tracked expenses by using a few different methods. Originally, I used my monthly bank statement to track monthly spending. I have also tried using an expense list posted on the fridge, where for one month any time my husband or I spent money we recored it on our expense sheet. I currently use receipt tracking apps, which offer rewards (such as gift cards or PayPal payments) for uploading your receipts. So far, the receipt tracking apps (Receipt Hog and Receipt Pal) seem to work pretty well, however, I do wonder if there is a better way to track expenses.

 

Tracking expenses can really open your eyes to what your are buying and spending your money on.
Sometimes it's great to "refresh your wants" too.
I do this by spending some time at my grandparents farm in the country.
They are retired now and don't really have a farm for income, more for sustenance.
They don't make much of a pension but also don't spend much, I think they get by on about half of what the average North American consumer gets by on. They are also very happy and content people.
This often makes me rethink what I am buying or subscribing too.
You don't have to spend a lot or have a lot of luxury things to be happy.

 

I have been cutting back in all areas since I have lost my job almost two months ago. So only the necessities are allowed in my budget. I have to cut back on groceries and going out to eat. Luckily, I do not have many other bills to pay so this helps out a lot. I do save my receipts since I use them with some of my apps to get money back on them. It has been helpful to see where the money goes and where it is the easiest to cut back without going without.

 

No I haven't. I gradually became a minimalist over the past few years and in doing so, it became glaringly obvious where my unnecessary spending was. It was actually almost ALL unnecessary lol. We buy very few extras, we don't eat out, we don't go to the movies, we don't shop unless we have to... many would feel the way we live is restrictive and boring (we certainly don't feel restricted or bored). I'd say that's where the problem lies. Everyone feels they NEED when they absolutely don't.

 

I recently did the same but instead of an excel sheet, I used my phone's note-taking app. There, I jot down a schedule along with the list of items I have to buy or pay for the entire month. On one hand, I calculated the amount of money I earn on a monthly basis and carefully deducted my estimated expenses from my projected earnings. This method allows me to see which items I should postpone buying or paying for the current month. I intend to continue doing this from now on. It gives me perspective.

 

I have been trying to cut back on my spending. I have only just started but I haven't seen any results yet. I am trying to not carry cash or my debit card with me when I'm out and about. I feel like it's been helping me cut down on my spending and also to eat less.

I never though about writing down everything I buy but I think I'll give it a go. Are there any mobile apps that work well to track my spending?

 

I actually have not tried this but think that I will. I know me and my husband spend a lot of money on going out to eat and have stated many times that we need to cut back but I never actually took the time to see how much we were spending on different categories to see where we could cut back. I hate having extra money and then it's gone and its even worse to not know where it went. This should help me see and be able to explain to my husband where we are spending to much money and where we can cut back. Thanks for this post!

 

I am using an Excel spreadsheet to list down my expenses and projected income for the next six months. It's difficult to cut back on expenses when everything is down to the barest minimum so I am always looking for ways to increase my income without necessarily increasing my expenditures. My monthly internet subscription, for one, is a fixed expense but I'm doing some online gigs to pay for it and my other utilities. Our utility vehicle leaves the house every morning and we usually get a free ride to buy groceries or pay bills.

 

I am the only bread winner in our family. My wife does the budgetting and of course of spending for our family needs, foods, clothing and medicines. I do the paying of our monthly utilities like electricity, water, Internet and cellphone planned bills. We always talk to each other and discuss things which need to be minimized in the next month expenditures. We have to agree with it and implement. It is indeed a very happy feeling to both of us in getting things done together.