While there are certain things like a gym membership that can easily but cut from the monthly expenses, likely because you have signed up during a new year’s resolution, went a few times, and have since continue to pay every month for frequent no-show’s, there are others that will be more of a sacrifice. After all, those that have a built up a nice emergency fund, are out of debt, and have significant savings, have made more of the right money moves than say someone who consistently goes on shopping sprees every time the check is deposited. By making some of the tough cuts, you can watch the savings add up almost immediately.
Paying Rent
Sure, you have to life somewhere, and it’s not suggesting moving back in with parents, although that would be a great way to save, going down the path of homeownership can get you out of renting and begin to build equity that can hopefully be gained along the way until the home is paid off, of more realistic, when it’s sold. Paying rent, while gives you more freedom to get in and out of cities of choice, spending too much of your income and years renting can really make you wonder how much you would have helped your net worth otherwise buying.
Going Out to Eat
It’s nice to have someone else wait on you, serve up a meal of your choice, not to mention take care of all of the dirty dishes, but the problem is, the costs add up. Between stopping for coffee in the morning, grabbing lunch at the cafeteria at work, or picking up carryout on your way home from work, not to mention going out to a restaurant and ordering appetizers, drinks, entrees, you could otherwise save hundreds per month by going grocery shopping instead, not to mention eating a little heathier.
Credit Card Interest
While using a credit card the right way can net you plenty of points or cashback on just the purchases you were going to make anyways, but it’s when you cannot pay off the full statement balance and you begin paying interest. Sink deeper into debt and only being able to pay the minimum and suddenly it’s decades until you can finally get out of credit card debt. Depending on the APR which can be upwards of 16%, plus the balance you’re carrying, and you could be spending hundreds a month just in interest.
Cable Bill
Compared to the rest of the items mentioned above, this one should be a no-brainer, but unfortunately likely most, if not all, of your live you’ve had the freedom to channel surf through cable channels. The problem that is finally being solved is not having to pay for hundreds of channels you don’t want, let alone live without your DVR, and many are cutting the cable cord and opting for a streaming service, or even a few that are still a fraction of the price for cable. You can even get an HD antenna for the initial startup fee of around $30 to still get local broadcasts for free going forward.