Painless Ways to Trim Your Budget
Today’s economy presents many challenges, especially when you are trying to raise a family on a tight budget. If you’ve already developed a budget, you should have a pretty good idea of where your money is going. However, you can implement some of these changes to stretch your budget even further without sacrificing your sanity.
First, it’s vital to make sure that you aren’t using your hard-earned money to pay for things you don’t need or use. You would never throw your money in the trash can, but you might as well do this if you’re paying for unnecessary services. For instance, maybe you are paying for the highest-level cable package when you don’t even have time to sit down and watch one movie a week. If you examine your home phone bill, you might find that you’re paying for features you never use, such as three-way calling or pricey long-distance packages. You won’t even miss these services when you get rid of them, but you’ll love having some extra money in your wallet.
Next, it’s a good idea to take a look at your recurring expenses. These are bills that you receive every month. The best thing about recurring expenses is the fact that you will enjoy savings every month if you are able to negotiate a lower rate.
If you’re searching for a better deal on automobile insurance, take the time to visit your local insurance agent. Having a face-to-face meeting is a great way to discuss ways that you can save without sacrificing quality coverage.
Your agent will likely start by going over your current coverages and also make sure none of your current information has changed. For instance, you might be able to reduce your teenage son’s rates just by producing a copy of his last straight A report card. If your current vehicle is older, you might be able to reduce your coverage due to its reduced value.
After you’ve examined your insurance, research your other recurring expenses. Can you reduce your smart phone costs by adding everyone to a family plan? Can you call your Internet company and request a reduced rate?
When you use a little creativity and work hard to reduce your recurring expenses, you’ll notice some extra wiggle room in your budget. This will reduce your stress level about finances, and you’ll also love having some extra cash to spend on what’s important to you.
My husband is an accountant, so he’s usually on top of things & makes changes if necessary. I’m glad he’s paying attention!
Robin, my hubby too, although it has been ages since we reevaluated our insurance. Maybe it is time.
We cut cable last year (we have internet, and haven’t missed cable at all!) We’ve looked into our insurance and we really have the best policies for us right now. These are all great tips!
I ditched my cable awhile ago. So glad we did, it was a money waster!
I keep track of all our expenses because my husband is my biggest child. If I let him he’d spend every penny. He just recently got a huge pay increase so he has no idea what to do with himself and the fact that he has money.
Great tips! I’m always working on our budget and trying to save costs wherever I can!
I’m always trying to save money where I can! It’s so important to look at your budget every so often and see what you could do better.
These are some great tips! i haven’t been doing very well lately with the family budget. I need to follow some of your suggestions.
My goal this year is to get out of debt. I used to be DEBT free – until I married my husband. He brings out the worst in me instead of me bringing out the best in him.
I need to trim mine a bit more. My $6 a day green smoothie habit ain’t helping
Fabulous tips. We are slowly cutting out our debt. Hope to be done in a couple years.
All good suggestions. We don’t have smart phones (except the teen who was gifted one and gets her bill paid ea. month, lol!). I don’t want to pay that expense when we barely use the phones. If I was working out of the house, I might.
These are great suggestions! I need to work on trimming out a lot of unnecessary purchases!
We have reduced our budget but not having a smart phone. And each year I do call our internet/cable company to ask for a reduced yet.
We do not have cable and we try to not eat out! Those are our tips.
Good tips – we yearly check all monthly expenses. Amazing how much you can save by calling companies and asking about deals – also switching companies can save you huge amount.
We cut corners everywhere we can. We dont have cable. Got rid of the land line ages ago. We have the cheapest insurance I could find. We modified our home loan for lower payments. I coupon when I can, but there aren’t really many available where I am. We only eat out once or twice a month. I am not sure where else we could save money!
I am always looking for great ways to save money. Thank you for these budget tips.
These are great tips. I’m guilty of not double, or even triple checking my bills and statements before paying. I usually just pay. I need to do this ASAP. Thanks for sharing.
ugh budget is a bad word around here. We so need to follow your tips as they would save a head ache.
Thanks for sharing these! I could always use an extra bit of savings.
Good tips. I really need to take a look at my recurring charges. I have a feeling there’s a few things we could do without.
These are great tips. I know we definitely need to trim our family budget.
One place we could really save is on coffee. We try to buy more at the store than Starbucks!
We started looking at our expenses a few months ago and really found some great ways to cut back. We were shocked at what we spent eating out. So now we eat at home more and have a bigger savings account.
This is nice and it’s great if you can save money. I hate the fact that you can negotiate prices with your service providers though. Somebody is being taken advantage of on the other end somewhere. They should just offer low cost service and we wouldn’t be asking for reductions.
Great ideas! All those things that feel little, add up fast, so it is worth it to look at them and see where cuts can be made.
Usually dining out is what takes the biggest piece of the pie when it comes to unnecessary expenses. That’s usually what I’ll cut first.
cutting expenses wherever I can has been the theme of this past year- I kicked my boyfriend out AND bought my house a year ago, so this single mom has become a huge fan of coupons, loyalty cards, contests and…. making do! I’ve been a thrift-store junkie my whole life. You can live a wonderful rich life with little money if you’re diligent and creative! Thanks!