Frugal Living-Cutting Back Expenses

Today many of us have to tighten our belts just to survive. Many people may think cutting back expenses sounds easy, and it is. But, if you don’t cut back expenses properly it can cause you to fall behind on important bills. There are many ways to save on expenses, this just being one of them. Decide what is best for you and your situation.


The first thing you need to do is sit down with a pen and paper and figure your monthly budget based on your income. Total how much you pay for everything. Total amounts for mortgage/rent, gas, utilities, groceries, credit cards, cable, cell phones, and everything else that you spend money on.

Your expenses cannot exceed your income. Write down how much you can afford to spend on everything.

Next go through your list and mark what is absolutely essential: utilities, food, mortgage/rent, car payments and gas are essential if you commute to work. At this point we are not looking at extras like credit cards, cable, or cell phones.

Now go through the non-essentials like cable and see what you could take out or cut back on. Do you really need that premium cable package? Or the largest calling plan your wireless carrier has? Make a list of what you can get rid of.

Ok, now it’s time to look at changes in the essentials. This area is harder to cut back on, but there are changes that can be made. Look at things you can do to save on your utility bills, cut any non-essentials out of your grocery bill. Do you really need all that ice cream? Make a list of any changes to be made.

This is the time to go through and call companies for any changes, contact your cable and wireless providers ECT. Notify them of any necessary changes to your account. Cancel what you can, and cut back on what cannot be canceled.

Make your home as energy efficient as possible to cut back on utilities. Look at the resource section at the bottom for a link to an article about saving money on your grocery bill.

After doing these things for one month total your bills again and compare to see how much you are saving. A good idea is to take that money that you are saving every month and put it into a savings account for a rainy day.

Resources:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5812432_make-money-buy-alot-groceries.html


The Mom's Guide to Earning and Saving Thousands on the Internet (Mom's Guide to Earning & Saving Thousands on the Internet)

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Melissa Van Horn is a work from home, homeschool mom. She has spent several years and several thousand dollars searching for the perfect home based business. She has finally found that with Ameriplan®. She has a passion for sharing her experiences with others through Examiner. In addition to running her Ameriplan® business, Melissa has a Barefoot Books business and does freelance writing for several clients.Melissa can be contacted here.