I’ve been looking at my regular expenses lately and realized there are quite a few things I used to buy without really thinking about them. I’m curious what others have cut from their spending that actually made a noticeable difference. Was it eating out, subscriptions, name-brand products, or something else? Looking for ideas that are realistic to stick with long term.
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Hi
welcome to the community
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Rather than specific items,these are some general observations based on volunteer financial coaching and instructing that I am doing. Detailed budgeting is advisable to capture all expenses. Look at the expense items one by one and start eliminating the low hanging fruit. It is important to over time examine every category including the major expense items including insurance, vehicles etc. The process is greatly aided by using the clark.com site.
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I agree with this approach. I think it’s easy to focus on the small purchases and overlook bigger recurring expenses like insurance, car costs, or subscriptions. Going through each category one at a time seems much more realistic than trying to cut everything at once.
That’s a good point about looking beyond the obvious small purchases. I’ve started paying more attention to recurring expenses because they can quietly add up over time. Cutting one small thing helps, but finding a few larger expenses that can be reduced or eliminated seems like it could make a much bigger difference.
Prior to Covid we ate out about once a week, sometimes more. There are few outdoor dining areas in our area, so our dining out habits dramatically changed. We bought a chest freezer, vacuum sealer, pressure cooker, and a couple of kitchen tools. My wife is an excellent cook. She taught me a great deal about food preparation and cooking. We rarely eat out any more. We invite friends over for a better quality meal at great savings. The amount of money we save per month is fantastic. The food quality and environment is even better. Yeah, we still eat out once in awhile, but rarely.
The recommendation to do a systems review of your spending is very good.
We’ve found that cooking at home can make a surprisingly big difference too. It’s not just the cost of the meal itself, but also drinks, tips, and all the little extras that come with eating out. Having friends over sounds like a great compromise because you still get the social part without spending nearly as much.