If you are currently living paycheck-to-paycheck or if you have high-interest rate debt that you are trying to pay off, then you may want to find ways to cut your budget and household expenses. Yes, even learnhow to drastically cut expenses! Perhaps, you don’t have any debt and you don’t live paycheck to paycheck, but…
If you are currently living paycheck-to-paycheck or if you have high-interest rate debt that you are trying to pay off, then you may want to find ways to cut your budget and household expenses. Yes, even learnhow to drastically cut expenses!
Perhaps, you don’t have any debt and you don’t live paycheck to paycheck, but you just want to cut your budget and household expenses further to reach a financial goal of yours.
Whatever your reason is, finding expenses to cut from your budget may help you live a happier life, retire earlier, save more money for the things you value in life, pay off debt, and more.
By taking some of the actions listed below, you may be able to improve your financial situation quickly.
Plus, you may even realize that you don’t need certain things in your life you once believed you did. So many people pay for things they don’t actually need. This could be because other people have them, because you are trying to keep up with the Joneses, you think you actually need or deserve the item, and more.
Now, I realize that some of the cost cutting actions below may not work for you, but someof them will. It’s about how badly you want to reach your goals.
If you don’t have a budget, I highly recommend you start one as soon as possible. My guide, The Complete Budgeting Guide: How To Create A Budget That Works, can help you start one right now. If you’re finding it hard to stay positive about your situation, I recommend reading Why I Believe Being Positive Can Change Your Financial Situation And Your Life.
Related posts that will help you save money and cut household expenses:
- 75+ Ways To Make Extra Money
- 30+ Ways To Save Thousands Each Month
- 8 Things To Sell To Make Money
- How To Save For A House
10 ways to drastically cut your budget and household expenses.
1. Cut your cell phone bill.
Not everyone needs a cell phone, especially an expensive cell phone plan. Cutting your plan or getting rid of your cell phone may be the way to cut your budget in an easy and quick way.
You should evaluate what you actually use your cell phone for, and see if there are other ways around it. If you are just making phone calls to catch up with family, then you may want to try Skyping from your computer instead. If you are mainly using it for texting friends, then perhaps downloading a texting service onto your computer would be a more affordable option.
If you don’t want to completely cut your cell phone bill, then you may want to look for a more affordable cell phone plan. If you are looking for a cheap cell phone service, check out Republic Wireless. They have monthly cell phone plans as low as $10 per month. Read Saving Over $2,000 A Year With Republic Wireless Review for more information.
2. Sell your car.
If you want to learn how to cut expenses in the family budget, then selling your car can be a big one.
The average person spends anywhere from $7,000 to $11,000 a year on their car! Getting rid of your car can be an easy way to cut your budget and household expenses significantly.
If you can walk, cycle, or take public transportation to work, then you may be able to save thousands of dollars each year. You can save money on your car’s monthly payment, fuel, maintenance, repairs, insurance, property taxes, and vehicle registration.
Now, if you don’t think you can completely get rid of your car, then you may want to try finding something more affordable instead.
3. Stop eating out.
Eating out can get very expensive, especially if you have a large family. Eating out just 2-3 times a month may cost you $100 altogether. If you go out to eat more than that, then you may be spending a couple of hundred dollars a month.
Instead of going out to eat, you can try eating at home more, hosting and attending potlucks with family and friends, and more.
4. Find ways to save money on food.
Food is one of the largest household expenses in a family’s budget. Yet, the average person wastes around 40% of the food they buy.
Yes, 40%!
There are many ways to reduce the amount of food you waste and save money on the food you buy each month.
Some of the things you can do include:
- Meal planning. This will help you buy only what you need, reduce food waste, shop on a budget, and more.
- Compare prices between generic and store brand items.
- Buy things in bulk when they are on sale, if they will not spoil before you get to use them.
- Use coupons on items you frequently buy. Too many people buy things on sale or use coupons for items that they will never use. You aren’t saving money if you never use it!
- Prep meals ahead of time for days when you’re too tired to cook.
- Make extras of meals and eat leftovers for lunch the next day.
5. Get rid of cable.
One way to learn how to drastically cut household expenses is to get rid of your cable TV bill.
According to a market research company, the average monthly cable bill is approximately $120. By the year 2020, the average cable bill is expected to be around $200 a month.
This is a lot of money!
You can read more about cutting cable here and how it will help you save money. I recommend getting a digital antenna to watch local channels for free!
We got rid of cable over a year ago, and around 6 months ago we even got rid of Netflix. Now, we only watch a few hours of TV per week. The average person watches around 35 hours of TV each week, that is a HUGE difference! Without all of the TV, we are much happier.
6. Buy used.
Learning how to cut costs may mean buying more items used.
Purchasing used furniture, clothing, and more allows you to save money on the things you are already buying.
Sometimes, you can even get items for free by seeing what friends, family, and neighbors are trying to get rid of, or by perusing the free section on Craigslist. Trust me, people want to give away their stuff! It’s much easier than trying to find a place to donate things (some places actually have too many donations and have to say no), and then the person doesn’t have to haul it away.
7. Cancel all memberships and subscriptions.
Memberships and subscriptions, such as to magazines, monthly boxes, gyms, and more can easily add up to a lot of money. You should carefully analyze what you do and don’t need. In some cases, you probably don’t need any of them.
8. Have fun for free.
Recently, someone was telling me about how expensive it was to have fun. They were telling me about their debt and everything that goes along with it, and then they told me that their monthly “fun” budget was around $500.
Uhhh, what?! $500? A month?!
If you are trying to get rid of high-interest rate debt, I can’t think of any reason for why you should be paying $500 a month to have fun.
There are many ways to save money by having fun for cheap. Check out How To Have Frugal Fun for some of my ideas.
9. Find a roommate.
My husband and I have had roommates in the past, and while that’s not really possible now that we live in an RV, I do recommend that anyone with an extra room in their house think about trying it out.
While renting a room in your house will not make you rich, it may earn you a good amount of side income with little effort.
If you are interested in renting out a spare room on a short-term basis (such as for vacations), I highly recommend you check out Airbnb. I know people who are making thousands of dollars a month by renting out rooms on this site!
Related: A Complete Guide To Renting A Room For Extra Money
10. Move to a smaller home.
This one may be a little more difficult, especially if you have a mortgage. However, it is possible.
If you want to save a lot of money, you may want to think about moving into a smaller and more affordable home. This can help you save money on your monthly mortgage payment, property taxes, utility bills, and more.
What other ways can a person drastically cut their budget and household expenses?
If you are new to my blog, I am all about finding ways to make and save more money. Here are some of my favorite sites and products that may help you make money money, as well ascut your budget and household expenses:
- Start a blog.Blogging is how I make a living and just a few years ago I never thought it would be possible. I earn over $70,000 a month online through my blog and you can read more about thisin my monthly online income reports. You can create your own blog here with my easy-to-use tutorial. You can start your blog for as low as $2.95 per month plus you get a free domain if you sign-up through my tutorial.
- Sign up for a website like Ebates where you can earn CASH BACK for just spending like how you normally would online. The service is free too!Plus, when you sign up through my link, you also receive a free $10 gift card bonus to Macys, Walmart, Target, or Kohls!
- Answersurveys. Survey companies I recommend includeSurvey Junkie,Swagbucks,American Consumer Opinion, ProOpinion,Pinecone Research,and Branded Surveys. They’refree to join and free to use! You get paid to answer surveys and to test products. It’s best to sign up for as many as you can as that way you can receive the most surveys and make the most money.
- Save money on food. I recently joined $5 Meal Planin order to help me eat at home more and cut my food spending.It’s only$5 a month (the first twoweeks are free too) and you get meal plans sent straight to you along with the exact shopping list you need in order to create the meals. Each meal costs around $2 per person or less. This allows you to save time because you won’t have to meal plan anymore, and it will save you money as well!
- I highly recommendCredible for student loan refinancing. You can lower the interest rate onyour student loans significantly by using Crediblewhich may help you shave thousands off your student loan bill over time.
- Cut your TV bill. Cut your cable, satellite, etc. Even go as far to go without Netflix or Hulu as well.Buy a digital antenna(this is the one we have)and enjoy free TV for life.
- Try InboxDollars.InboxDollars is an online rewards website I recommend. You can earn cash by taking surveys, playing games, shopping online, searching the web, redeeming grocery coupons, and more. Also, by signing upthrough my link, you will receive $5.00 for free just for signing up!
- Find a part-time job.There are many part-time jobs that you may be able to find. You can find a job on sites such as Snagajob, Craigslist (yes, I’ve found a legitimate job through there before), Monster, and so on.
- Lower your cell phone bill.Instead of paying the $150 or more that you spend on your cell phone bill, there are companies out there like Republic Wireless that offer cell phone service starting at $10.YES, I SAID $10!If you use myRepublic Wireless affiliate link, you can change your life and start saving thousands of dollars a year on your cell phone service. I created afull review on Republic Wirelessas well if you are interested in hearing more. I’ve been using them for over a year and they are great.
