5 Easy Ways to Cut Your Spending This Week

Hello Sophisticated Spenders!

Today I am sharing with you 5 easy ways to cut your spending this week.  These are techniques that I use and I hope they are useful to you too!

1. Have a fun money account! I know that it is really easy for my spending to quickly get out of control.  That’s why I’m a huge fan of my fun money account.  I have a designated amount of money from each paycheck deposited into this account.  And I can spend the money on whatever I want.  The only condition is that I have to be smart enough to make that money last till next paycheck. So when there is no fun money left, I find free stuff to do or just chill!

2. Make a list! It pays to shop with a list.  Don’t shop hungry or without a plan.  You are guaranteed to overspend and pick up a whole bunch extra stuff  that you don’t need and will probably go to waste.

3. Plan your meals! Start planning your meals and going out to eat less. When I have awesome leftovers I have awesome lunches for the next day.  However, when I don’t take the time to plan my meals I spend close to $50 a week on going out to lunch alone.

4. Push Pause!  Did you know that most cable and phone companies will let you suspend your service for  a month or so?  Same for magazine, newspaper and loyalty club subscriptions.  Opt out of this month’s selections to see if you can live without said monthly subscription or service.

5. Exercise self-control! Learn to say no to things you don’t really need.  I used to shop out of boredom or shop with friends and end up buying things that I really didn’t want or need or hadn’t planned for because someone else said “Girl, that looks cute! You HAVE to buy that!”  I’ve learned from those mistakes.  Now when I go shopping with friends, I make sure to mention to them that the shouldn’t buy an item unless they absolutely LOVE it AND they have budgeted for it (can pay for it in CASH).  I’m not a true friend if I’m not promoting ALL of my friends to practice good financial planning!

I have plenty more tips on ways that I cut spending.  I would LOVE to hear some of yours 🙂

p.s. I have pictured small bills here because a LOT of people fail to realize that it’s the small bills that really add up.  The whole “it only costs $5 or $10!” can really cloud our judgement sometimes.  Just because you found a shirt at a bargain for $5 doesn’t mean it looks great on you and you will actually wear it!