How Do you Cut Back Spending?

There are times we need to spend less. And many tips for this so that we can save more. When it comes to cutting back the spending, what do you do? How do you manage this? and this is a question that many of us ask ourselves. Here are some tips on how to cut back spending?

Groceries:

Sit down every week (or two weeks, once a month…depending on how often you shop) and create a menu. Plan for at least one week. I find planning for two weeks is easier and we tend to spend less. After your menu is done, make your shopping list.

Include every ingredient you will need to make every meal on your list. Don’t forget the butter, milk, eggs and bread. Allow for small snacks too. You don’t impulse buy if you allow yourself treats. When you go shopping, take your list with you and stick to it. No matter how badly you want or think you need something, if it’s not on your list, pass it up. Eat before you go. Hungry shoppers impulse buy more than full, satisfied shoppers.

Go earlier in the day as well. You will be fresh and energized and won’t spend as much time in the store. But don’t rush so much that you’ll forget things, because return trips to the store to get a missing ingredient usually leads to impulse buying. When you use your menu, don’t change things up. Stick to the menu so you will have enough meals to get you through to your next shopping trip.

Household Items:

Cut back on usage of items that are disposable. Those items tend to be more expensive and are just used and thrown away! It’s a waste of money. This includes paper/Styrofoam plates, plastic silverware, plastic cups, napkins, paper towels. Use cloth towels instead of paper towels and napkins. Buy bulk for the things you know you use a lot of, such as laundry soap, fabric softener, toilet paper.

In the long run, buying bulk saves money. Use generic instead of name brand. I haven’t bought a single name brand laundry soap or fabric softener in years! Generic is just as good and costs less. ALL of the ingredients are the same. You are just paying for the name! For cleaning supplies, an old tee-shirt torn into small clothes, work wonders for dust rags and to clean up small spills, there are so many recipes for making your own cleaning sprays that work great!

I make my own window cleaner and it works better than most store bought cleaners! That bottle of bathroom cleaner….it’s mostly all bleach. Why not cut out the middle man and just buy a generic bottle of bleach! Water it down a bit if the smell is too strong for you. Look for ways to cut cost, but not corners!

Major Purchases

If you think you need to buy something big, like a new TV or such, research it first. Spend a week looking at different deals. Pick one or two stores that carry what you need and visit them. Look the item over. Then leave the store without it.

Go back in a week if you still think you need it. Repeat all that one more time. If by the third trip, you still think you need it….by all means….buy it. But use CASH. Credit is good….for emergencies and a new TV is NOT an emergency. Of course this doesn’t apply if it’s something that you can’t do without, like a new furnace or stove/refrigerator. But please do research and find the cheapest way without cutting corners.

Clothing and Accessories

Unless you REALLY need new clothes, avoid the clothing stores and isles. Don’t even look. Looking leads to that inevitable “Oh my God I NEED THAT AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH” that your brain tends to say when you see something you like! Purses, shoes, jewelry, make-up and all those other “addiction” items are NOT needed.

One or two small purses will do. A pair of shoes for each occasion is good enough. You don’t need a dozen high heels, tennis shoes, sandals, pumps or any other type of shoe. You don’t need a line of jewelry boxes stuffed with things you most likely won’t wear that often. Make-up is great, but isn’t an expense that can be justified when you are counting pennies. If you do need to buy clothing, plan first.

Then go into the store with the knowledge that you can not buy any more than what is critically needed. Leave the credit cards at home. Take just enough cash to purchase your items and leave the store.

Bills

Do NOT pay a portion of your bills, unless you have no choice. Pay all of them fully. If you stop using credit cards, your payments won’t be a problem. Use credit cards for emergencies only. If the opportunity presents itself, pay off high interest bills first, such as car loans, home loans, personal loans, student loans and credit card balances.

If you can’t afford to eat, yet sit down every night to premium channels on your satellite dish or cable, GET RID OF THE PREMIUM CHANNELS! Basic cable and dish will suffice until you can pull yourself out of debt. Stop all unneeded subscriptions. That fashion magazine isn’t going to feed you when you are hungry.

Neither will the monthly book club or fancy make-up club! Turn off the lights when you leave the room. You’d be surprised how much money you can save monthly by just flipping that light switch! Don’t leave the computer running all night. Even on stand by, it’s drawing power. Unplug the dish/cable box, radio, DVD player….anything that has a little light on it before you go to bed too. It’s not needed and draws power all night! A few weeks of doing that and it will become second nature and you’ll see your electric bill slowly decrease.

During holidays, turn your decorative lights on for a few hours at dusk, then shut them off. While they are beautiful to look at, not many people see them late at night and it’s wasting energy. Fix every leak in faucets and pipes. That little drip can add up to a lot of money! Blow out your pilot light on your furnace every summer when you won’t need the furnace.

That adds up too! Just don’t forget to shut off the gas to that area when you do or you could blow up your house! Shut off the AC and enjoy the air when it’s nice outside. A little heat won’t kill you! For the first month or two of Fall, use blankets if it gets chilly at night. Turning your furnace on too soon is wasting energy and gas, when blankets will do just as good, if not better!

Have your furnace serviced EVERY Fall! It will save money in the long run. Don’t forget to change the filters too. That in itself saves a bundle every year! Shut off the water in your shower while you suds up! Wash your hair or your body (or both) then turn the water back on. Water bills are a shocker when you use a lot of water!

MISC

For those of you with babies….did you know you can make your own baby wipes and save money every month? Yep! You can also make your own baby food and save a TON!

Fancy shampoos are nice, but do you really need that $10.00 bottle of shampoo when the same thing can be found cheaper? Nope! Same goes for pretty much every beauty item!

Buy florescent bulbs for your light fixtures. Sure, they are a bit more expensive initially, but they last longer and use less energy to provide you with light!

Save a percentage of your wages every pay! Take that money out of your checking account and put it in an interest bearing savings account and forget it’s there. We save 10% of every pay. It’s not much, but it’s there in case something big happens, so we don’t have to rely on credit cards or borrowing to fix the emergency! If you can’t afford a percentage, set aside a certain amount, like $20.00 a pay. And do not touch it unless it’s a true emergency.

Christmas Club accounts at banks are awesome! You save money for the holidays and can’t touch it until your bank says you can. Start one and have money put in automatically! If you don’t use it for the holidays, open another one with that money and start all over again! It’s a great way to save.

“fake shopping” it’s pretending to shop… fill a cart… go to check out and re-justify why you need each item. No guilt feeling about the sales clerks having to put things back. Savings =At least half in each situation! That amounted to $325.00
Monitor cel phone usage, by resetting my minutes used on the phone and found a 1-800-Free411 for directory assistance. Savings = no prime time overage charges $10-15 PLUS $1.79 a pop for a 411 call –which amts to $15 a month
NO MORE Starbucks $5.00 coffees Purchase Keurig cappuccino maker cost $80 Purchased high quality Peets coffee Making my own java
Be aware of how much you have to spend by having a budget. See what you can do without. Maybe lower your cell phone plan, lower your cable plan, i would definitely start there. And don’t go shopping, don’t look at the weekly circulars they make you want to go and spend!
I take the credit cards i shouldnt use and lock them away. i keep only specific cards in my wallet and barely any cash. and when i really want to spend, i just think “no!” and avoid it.
I bring my own breakfast and lunch to work everyday and try and cook every night.
I buy/spend money on what I need (food, bills, etc.) instead of luxuries (i.e. buying those expensive body butters from Bath and Body Works and The Body Shop).

Get a Life Insurance Policy

It’s a must, even if you don’t have a family of your own. When you pass away, someone has to pay for your final expenses and take care of your past debts. Leave that someone a way of paying for all that.

Use Coupon Codes

Whenever you want to shop online or offline always use coupon codes. There are 2 different coupon codes. For online use we call it “Coupon Codes”, “Coupons”, “Online Coupons”, “Promotional Codes”. For offline use it is called: “in-store coupons”, “Printable coupons”…

It is always a good idea to find via any of the major search engines coupon codes, or as obvious reasons use Coupon Codes Mall. Always check our online stores and find the latest coupon codes at the bottom of each special online retailer store.

Recommended Online Store Coupons:

If you find yourself still impulse buying and not having money to save or to pay what you need to pay….may I suggest that you seek immediate help because shopping addictions are real and can be helped!

Wrote by Coupon Codes Mall

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