How To Get Control Of Your Monthly Expenses
How To Manage Your Expenses Lot of ordinary people have done something they never thought they would do.
They let their expenses get out of control.
This leads to all sorts of other problems like a lack of savings and high debt.
Learn some simple ways to get your money back under your control! Get To Know Your Expenses The first thing you need to do is to figure out exactly what you spend money on each month.
You may think you know, because you are the person who writes the checks.
But you would be surprised by the amount of people who do not really have a clear idea how they spend their money.
Without an understanding of your budget (or lack of one), it is almost impossible to manage it.
You can use a printed worksheet, scrap of paper, or an online budget calculator to help you figure out where your money goes every month.
Sit down with your bank and credit card statements and force yourself to group your expenses by categories.
For example, I did not think I overspent at the grocery store.
But I was forgetting to include the two or three stops I made every week at the corner pharmacy or convenience store for items like bread, sodas, and shampoo! By planning my regular grocery trips better, and making sure I had stocked up on what I would use, I managed to save about $50 a week without really sacrificing anything.
When I schedule and planned trips to the grocery store and the discount store, I could virtually eliminate all those "convenience" shopping trips.
It was not really more inconvenient because I could cut out the extra trips too.
Skipping those extra trips also helped me save a little money on my gasoline bill.
I did not need to run out for paper towels or shampoo or ketchup, because I had stocked up on them, and also purchased them for a lower price.
In addition, I tended to purchase extra things on my extra trips on impulse.
It was paying for convenience, and impulse buying, that got me in trouble.
Saving $50 a week, adds up to $2,400 a year! That money serves me better by paying off credit cards or sitting in an emergency fund.
Even if you can only cut out $50 a month, which almost everybody can, you can still save $600 a year.
I think that savings would justify a few minutes of time for almost everybody I know.
They let their expenses get out of control.
This leads to all sorts of other problems like a lack of savings and high debt.
Learn some simple ways to get your money back under your control! Get To Know Your Expenses The first thing you need to do is to figure out exactly what you spend money on each month.
You may think you know, because you are the person who writes the checks.
But you would be surprised by the amount of people who do not really have a clear idea how they spend their money.
Without an understanding of your budget (or lack of one), it is almost impossible to manage it.
You can use a printed worksheet, scrap of paper, or an online budget calculator to help you figure out where your money goes every month.
Sit down with your bank and credit card statements and force yourself to group your expenses by categories.
- Figure out your fixed expenses.
These are things like your rent or mortgage, car payments, and insurance. - Then look at utilities.
This would include your electricity, Internet, and phone bill.
This is a little tougher because some of these things vary from month to month.
Try to get an average, but also note the high months and the low months. - Consider your groceries.
This usually does not just include food, but also other things you happen to pick up at the grocery store like cleaning supplies and personal products.
If you can, try to figure out what you actually spend on food, and what you spend on other things.
This is because you may find cheaper ways to buy non-food items than at the grocery store. - Gasoline and transportation has become a huge expense lately.
You may not even realize how much you spend every month because you probably just automatically fill up when you need to. - Entertainment, like movies and eating out, are part of life.
However, they are one way to run up a lot of expenses that you may be able to reduce. - Now here's the hard part.
You may think you know what you spend on scheduled shopping trips every month.
But what about those quick stops at the convenience store that end up costing more than your regular visits to a grocery or discount store? This is where a lot of families tend to spend more than they should!
For example, I did not think I overspent at the grocery store.
But I was forgetting to include the two or three stops I made every week at the corner pharmacy or convenience store for items like bread, sodas, and shampoo! By planning my regular grocery trips better, and making sure I had stocked up on what I would use, I managed to save about $50 a week without really sacrificing anything.
When I schedule and planned trips to the grocery store and the discount store, I could virtually eliminate all those "convenience" shopping trips.
It was not really more inconvenient because I could cut out the extra trips too.
Skipping those extra trips also helped me save a little money on my gasoline bill.
I did not need to run out for paper towels or shampoo or ketchup, because I had stocked up on them, and also purchased them for a lower price.
In addition, I tended to purchase extra things on my extra trips on impulse.
It was paying for convenience, and impulse buying, that got me in trouble.
Saving $50 a week, adds up to $2,400 a year! That money serves me better by paying off credit cards or sitting in an emergency fund.
Even if you can only cut out $50 a month, which almost everybody can, you can still save $600 a year.
I think that savings would justify a few minutes of time for almost everybody I know.
