How To Cut Expenses When You’re Low On Money

Whether you’ve overspent early in the month, or you’re spending more than you’re making and adding to your credit card debt, it may be time to find some household expenses to put on the chopping block.

While some of your unnecessary expenses may seem like they make little impact on your overall monthly budget, it’s often these areas where you can find the most cash savings.

How to cut expenses from your budget is easy when you look at your everyday expenses and spending habits to see what you can cut from there.

Cutting expenses from your budget on the frivolous things lets you see how much extra room is in your budget and how much cash you have to work with.

Plus, looking at your list of monthly expenses, you truly learn how quickly you can trim your wants versus your needs from your budget spending habits.

Here is a list of expenses where you can cut costs from your budget when you’re low on money.

Coffee

If you are already a home barista, then this unnecessary spending won’t apply to you.

However, thousands of people are spending money on their way to work by stopping by Starbucks and other coffee shops every single day! Then there’s the weekend stops too!

A drink from your local coffee shop will run you about $5 per cup depending on what you get. While $5 sounds like not much money, that’s $150 per month and $1,800 per year!

But of course, it’s usually not just the coffee that you buy daily. It’s the coffee and bagel, or muffin, or other breakfast items that add to the hefty daily bill.

Spending money daily like this is a bad habit to get into. You need to cut spending cold turkey and stop the drain from your bank account.

How to cut expenses is by making your coffee and breakfast at home, and save that money for something more important like adding that money to your savings account.

$150 or more per month added to your savings account sure would make a nice emergency fund at the end of a year. It could also make a huge dent in your credit card debt.

To save even more, figure out how to save on your K-cups!

Eating Out

Believe it or not, eating out is not a necessary expense by any stretch. Even on your busiest night, it is still unnecessary spending when you are trying to learn how to cut expenses. That’s where meal planning can be a huge help to your budget.

It’s true that we need to eat to survive, but you can make food that is just as delicious at home. And there are many quick recipes on the internet that will help you cut costs and help you towards your savings goal.

Your meals don’t have to be anything fancy, in fact, a frozen pizza is better than delivery or the drive-thru, and just think of the money you’ll be saving just by meal planning.

Keep freezer meals or meals you can whip up in minutes for nights when you don’t want to cook or you’re in a rush. This will avoid the need to go out, and put less stress on you and your monthly spending.

Learn how meal planning can be done successfully so that you never have a reason to eat out.

Be A One Car Family

Cars are typically one of the most expensive things you will own.

Between the insurance to drive and protect it, car loan (if you have one), gas, and maintenance, your cars are costing you a pretty penny.

If you are a stay-at-home parent, or you don’t drive all your cars frequently, see if you could potentially be a one-car family.

It might take a little more planning, but the extra money you could be saving from a car loan alone may be worth it when you learn how to cut expenses.

If you can cut a $400 car payment from your monthly spending, you can easily add that cost to your savings account or emergency fund.

While you are thinking about it, go ahead and see if you can reduce your car insurance. That could create some extra money in your budget from the get-go.

While you’re cutting expenses, see how you can save on gas too!

Cut Your Utility Bills

Your utility bills maybe some of your hefty monthly expenses, so it’s time to learn how to cut your utility bill costs.

While you may not be able to drastically cut expenses since you need the air conditioning, lights, and water, you can cut spending by trying out new things and being diligent about how much electricity and water you use.

You can start with simple things like using your outside grill or crockpot instead of turning on the oven. Find more ways to cut your electric bill up to $40 per month!

If you’re trying to drastically cut expenses, taking a look at your daily habits can help you find ways to cut back on all your utilities. There are more ways to be frugal that can help save you money!

Get Rid Of Cable

If you’re still paying for cable, you need to cut that cost from your budget right now when you are learning how to cut expenses.

There are millions of ways to still watch your favorite shows all without adding to your monthly spending.

You can read all about how we broke up with our cable bill and still have too much TV to watch without having that expense and the monthly bill.

If you can’t afford a subscription service in your budget, then you can still enjoy TV without cable. YouTube and other channel websites have tons of shows for you to view, and the best part is that it won’t cost you a dime! And look at all the money you’ll be saving!

Get Rid Of Your Landline NOW

If you are still holding on to a landline, get rid of this utility bill right now. It’s one of those monthly expenses you don’t need anymore.

While this has become less common, there are still tons of people who have this monthly bill in their monthly budget! How to cut expenses is by figuring out what you truly don’t need and cut costs fast!

You don’t need a cell phone and a landline at the same time. Get rid of your landline, and rely on your cell phone as your primary phone so you can save money each month.

The only time you would need this utility bill is when you don’t get good cell reception at your house. But make sure you don’t pay the extra money for all the bells and whistles on your landline. Keep the basic service so you’re saving the most on your household expenses.

Get Rid Of Your Data Package

On the same line as phones, your data package should be one of the first everyday expenses to go when learning how to cut expenses.

While data is tempting and fun while you are out and about, there is wifi in nearly every business these days, and you can do without it while you are out.

If you absolutely must have data, see if you can choose a smaller package for the few times you need to use it. Save yourself the cash and add it to your savings goal.

When you’re trying to drastically cut expenses, every little item should be scrutinized so you can cut costs on every utility bill.

If you can’t cut out the data package, there are other ways to reduce your cell bill.

When you are a business owner or employee that uses their phone for business, you can deduct a portion of the monthly bill for your business costs for taxes. That can help put some extra money back into your pocket with a possible tax refund. 

Cut Out The Snacks

Snacks are a wonderful treat and can make whatever you’re doing more exciting. But not only do snacks offer little nutritional value, but they are also full of unneeded calories and a hefty expense in your budget.

While they might not add up to much, this could give you an extra $20 or so in your budget every week! Especially in our large family, our snack bill was as high as our utility bill one month!

If you don’t have enough extra money to cover your car payment or utility bill, you don’t have enough for snacks while you learn how to cut expenses.

Looking at your everyday expenses and your spending habits can help you learn where you are spending money and where you can really cut costs.

I had a friend who realized that she didn’t need to buy ice cream after she finished the Spending Freeze with us several years ago. If you are trying to cut costs, look at those unnecessary spending items you are buying now that you don’t need to survive on – like ice cream, chips, and soda!

Everyday household expenses are the biggest place to start to save money. Snacks, sugary drinks, and treats are the first place you might overlook as it’s a perceived necessary expense lumped into your grocery budget. But once you start cutting expenses, you’ll see just how much of a waste to your checking account they really are.

Subscriptions And Memberships

If you are having trouble covering your monthly expenses, this should be the first place to start cutting back and cancel any subscription that has a monthly payment.

Subscriptions and memberships with a monthly bill are not a necessity for your day-to-day life and can add a lot to your list of monthly expenses.

If you’re going through a tough period and need to add to your savings goal, put these unnecessary expenses on hold and add them back in when you have more wiggle room in your bank account.

You don’t need a gym membership to workout, Netflix to watch TV, or Amazon Prime to get things shipped to you. While a car payment may be a necessary expense, a magazine subscription is not.

One of my favorite Youtube workout channels is RefitRev! They are a group of women who are great at helping you work out for free! So save the monthly bill for something more important like your emergency fund and to get out of debt.

There are so many extras you can cut out of your monthly budget to save money in a pinch when you are learning how to cut expenses.

How to cut expenses from your budget is easy when you look at your daily spending habits and see what you can cut from there.

When you cut expenses from your budget on the frivolous things, you see how much extra room in your budget you have to work with.

Plus, looking at your list of living expenses, you truly how quickly you can trim your wants versus your needs from your budget.

If you need more long-term solutions to get out of debt, evaluate your monthly expenses to see if there are any extras that can be cut!

YOUR TURN: What things could you consider eliminating when learning how to cut expenses from your budget? Let me know in the comments below!

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