5 Easy Ways to Cut Monthly Living Expenses and Save Money
With every new year, month or week, I am inspired to look for how we can reduce our monthly living expenses and save more of our hard-earned money! It seems that several times a year at least one of our expenses has to be reviewed in detail because there is a new tax, increased charge, or a blatant error.
Reviewing monthly expenses is a good practice to start to ensure that money isn't being wasted. I was able to save $12 a month on our cable bill recently. I inspected our bill in detail and saw that we were now being charged for cable boxes that we weren't even using! I sure did return those back to the cable company asap!
Clever Ways To Save Money
Whether you're cutting expenses to the bone, or just looking for how to drastically cut expenses, there is always something to try that makes a small impact which equates to a larger savings over time. It's the kind of analysis that will turn the small savings into a substantial sum of money!
Recycle and Reuse
Have you considered recycling household cleaning equipment? Items like traditional brooms and mops are:
- More efficient because of how sturdy they are in design.
- Much cheaper than the disposable alternatives.
- More convenient because they can be used time and time again.
When our old dryer died, we took it to a recycling facility and earned a few bucks in the parts and metal. We couldn't reuse it but we could recycle it instead of just throwing it in the trash.
Related Posts: Recycle Ink Cartridges
How to Coupon for Beginners
I always say that 25 cents can turn into $6,500. It happened for us! While the coupons have decreased, along with the diminishment of the generous doubling coupon policies in my area, you can still save on everyday items.
Related Posts: Save Money on Groceries without Coupons and Shopping at Aldi
Conserve Electricity
We all need electric to operate our households. It's one of those expenses that you just can't avoid. Have you considered switching to energy-saving bulbs, or even turning unplugging all of your devices when they aren't being used? Here are some interesting facts:
Electronic equipment, like computers, use electricity even when switched off. To really save money, unplug them when you're not actively using them.
Related Posts: Save on Heating Bills in Winter Months and Save Money on Utilities
Selling Unused Items
I'm as guilty as anyone with this one, but I'm truly working to be better. We waste a lot in our household from food to water to general purchases that we end up sending off to goodwill.
Consider purchasing, and using, the items that you truly need. Repurpose your leftovers. Hand down clothes to other siblings. Sell things on eBay. Don't waste anything if you can help it.
Related Posts: Selling Online to Earn Extra Income and Save Money and Reuse
How to Save on Vehicle Expenses
I've become a hermit. I suppose working from home attributes to that in some way. I like to group all of my trips together so I only have to leave the house at once. But, by doing this, I'm also saving on gas and wear/tear on our car.
I also try to carpool when our boys have activities going on with friends. We'll drop off, the other parent(s) will pick up. Carpooling is a great way to save your time and money on gas.
Related Posts: How We Saved by Buying Used Cars and Save Money on Automobile Costs
These tips are truly scratching the surface for how you can eliminate some of your living expenses. Take a look around your home to see what you are spending money on. Go room to room and make a list of absolutely everything you purchased in the last month alone. That will help you get a good start to see how else you can eliminate some of those expenses.
How else have you substantially reduced your living expenses?
Please comment and inspire others!
I agree. Everybody can save money a little at a time. If you are not brand loyal you can save money on a lot of stuff if you match them with a sale (you taught me how to do this believe it or not). If it is free after coupons and it is something you don’t use why not get it and donate it or save it for Christmas stockings. An elderly lady I know makes xmas stockings for a nursing home and I save all my freebies during the year and donate them to her for the stockings. Sometimes I donate them to a food pantry (who knows I might need one when I am old and on SS if it still exsists) or to a friend in need. Take the money you save and pay off bills or put into savings. That is what I am doing. I am paying off bills so hopefully I have them all paid off so I can afford a new roof when I need it in a few years. Every dime helps believe it or not.
Oh yeah! Our biggest savings is we turn off the air when we leave the house in the morning and turn it back on when we get home. It has cut our electric bill in half. Besides if nobody is at home we feel it is a waste of energy . It usually takes about 20 minutes before the house is cool but 20 minutes is nothing and the extra money we save goes to food and other bills. My elderly neighbors have done it for years even before everybody was going green.