Everyone wants to save more money. But in today’s tough economy, that can be difficult – especially if it seems that every dollar is already accounted for due to expenses. The truth is, though, even if you feel that you don’t make enough income, when you really track your expenses, you may find that there are areas where you can cut back or even eliminate some costs.
Live Below Your Means
In some ways, your personal finances could be thought of as a business. What this means is that most successful businesses know exactly what they have coming in, and therefore they know just how much they can spend. For these businesses, the money that is left over is what’s referred to as profit. In your personal situation, the funds that are left over can become your savings.
Create a Budget
One way to help you determine just exactly how much money you have coming in and going out is to create a budget. Budgets do not have to be fancy, but rather you can simply begin by writing down on a piece of paper the amount of income you have coming in on one side, and the amount of outgoing expenses that you have on the other. Sometimes it helps to take a month and write down everything you spend money on – even if it’s just a dollar. Then, at the end of the month you will be able to see everything that you’ve spent. This can be a real eye opener! In doing so, you may also find that you can actually trim some expenses by eliminating the things you don’t need. For example, if you stop on your way to work each day to purchase a $3 cup of coffee, you could save a great deal of money by simply brewing your coffee at home and taking it with you to work. Likewise, if you tend to go out for lunch each day, consider bringing in leftovers and having that for lunch instead. You’d be surprised at just how quickly the savings can add up!
Make Some Lifestyle Changes
For those who truly want to stop spending and start saving, it may require some major changes in your lifestyle – at least temporarily. This could include renting movies or watching sporting events at home rather than going out, staying in town rather than taking an expensive vacation, and carpooling to work rather than driving yourself each day.
The Bottom Line
There are numerous ways that you can stop spending on needless items and in turn, use that money to put towards your savings. It all starts with having an in-depth knowledge of where your money is going in the first place and then eliminating your spending on items that you truly do not need. By doing so, you will be able to free up the cash that you need to put towards the savings that you require for a more comfortable retirement in the future.
One of the areas of our spending that I must constantly monitor is our food expenses. With the continuing food price creep, I found our spending can really spiral out of control if I’m not really watching it closely. I keep a running total of how much I’ve spent to help me stay on budget throughout the month. When I see the grocery budget is running low, I get really creative with the meals. Here are a few ways that I’ve been able to whittle our grocery bill down every month: