Spend Less
Lesson 11
If you recall from the track budget resource my wife and I prefer to only tightly manage the categories we always over spend in.
To jog your memory on how most American's choose to reduce spending in emergencies or make more money by category.
-Source
After tracking our spending for months we were able to compare with other Americans spending by category. This helped us set some goals to reduce our spending in these categories.
“Many couples believe that the solution to their financial problems is increasing their income. However, a divided approach to managing money can be far more damaging to a relationship than low income or lack of financial resources."
I'm surprised only 13% get a side income going. I am a firm believer in make more money that you are in control over. More financial independence. But I can really speak to when my wife and I were not working together the money just disappeared.
Meal Planning Resources
“Average American household throws away $2,200 in food every single year,"
There is one thing everyone agrees on when it comes to saving on eating at home. You must shop to the weekly set of meals you will be eating. From there the advice varies.
Here are 4 meal savings strategies with different emphasis. All good sites give out some free recipes. The natural progression from there is cookbooks, guides, full meals delivered...
- Meals around coupons in stores - Living Well Spending Less
- Eating healthy on a budget - Cook Smarts
- Prepared meal subscription services - Various services
- Meals around diets or health restrictions - Mom's Place
Eating Out Resources
My wife and I spend a whopping 18% of our income on food. We had to decide to go out to eat only once per week as a family. This was hard especially with us downgrading to using coupons and mostly fast food. We often cheat by bringing home Papa Murphy's on their $10 any large pizza Tuesday special. A bonus tip is $13 gets you a family sized and you can always do half for the kids and half for you.
So if you are going to east out here are some ideas:
- Fast food health choices - Good House Keeping
- Cheap fast food items - Thrillist
Jamba Juices Wednesday $1 oatmeal deal is my cheat myself into thinking I eat out idea.
My final tip comes with a warning. I use any sort of rewards program from restaurants. I also download the app. But be sure to hide your reward cards and turn off food app notifications to only use when already going.
Common Vices or Large Expenses
We've already covered some of the largest expenses (credit cards, cars, student loans and mortgages) and how to pay them off in the lesson, crushing debt. But 2 Cents has done a great job educating on some of America's biggest vices costing us the most money. Be sure to watch the ones that apply to you and cut spending where you can.
