5 Easy Ideas to Cut Expenses

Whether you’ve got a specific future goal in mind or you’re just looking to have some breathing room in your monthly spending, here are my favorite easy ways to lower your spending and get yourself on the financial track you’d like:

1. Scroll through your recent spending

Although it may not seem like just looking at your expenses can help you lower them, this is a great first step in reducing your monthly spending! Once you bring awareness to where your money goes each month (and how much of it is going there), it will naturally make you more mindful the next time you pull out your credit card. Give it a try and let me know what you think! It can be as simple as scrolling through your banking app, or as extensive as collecting and categorizing a months worth of spending.

2. Question Your spending

Are you spending in a way that is even helping you create the life you want? Is it positively impacting your personal wellness? It can be helpful to consider the following question on future spending: Does this purchase help me achieve my goals, bring me (lasting) joy, or fulfill a need? If it does none of those things, it very well may be unnecessary, out-of-alignment, and you may want to consider removing the option completely.

Note: Some expenses may still be worth it even if they don’t do any of these things, so don’t get too concerned if you feel something you’re spending on is still worth it.

3. Find Some Promos or Deals

If you’ve been using a service or product for awhile, it might be time to look around and see if the company is running any special deals to help you save on your recurring spending. You may want to start by checking out their website, or even calling the company and asking. If there’s not any promotions going on and it makes sense to do so, consider switching to a competitor. Before you make that move however, you may want to call up the original company and let them know you’re thinking of switching; You may be surprised at what they do to keep a loyal customer!

4. Put a Pause on Subscriptions

We all use subscription services, they’ve almost become a way of life! The problem with subscriptions is we can sometimes forget we’re paying for them when we stop using them, which causes us to spend extra money month after month. You may want to look through your recurring charges and cancel some services outright. But you also should consider putting a temporary pause on the subscriptions you think you need. After a month or two, you may find that you didn’t need that service quite as badly as you thought, helping you save money each month (and possibly eliminate distractions as you set out to achieve your goals)!

5. Switch to a Less Expensive Option

Although we all want quality goods and services, sometimes there are better, lower-cost options on the market that we don’t know about, simply because it’s easier to just keep buying what we always have (or to buy what everyone else is). If you have something that you consistently buy (or you’re about to make a big purchase for the first time), it’s worth it to spend a few minutes researching to make sure you’re getting the best deal out there. Otherwise you risk overspending on the things you buy, keeping your spending unnecessarily high. Note: make sure the time you spend researching is appropriate for the amount you’re spending, giving more time to bigger ticket items and not over-spending your time researching on small purchases.

If you find these concepts are inspiring or sparking some motivation inside you, and you want an easy-to-implement plan to get this done in 7 Days, including scripts and tips for you to use, you may benefit from completing my Budget Detox Workbook (pictured below). It will help you make permanent changes to your spending that will pay off month after month (and year after year!). It’s helped me have the financial margin to do accomplish goals like: taking a month-long trip to Paris, paying off my husbands $189,000 student loan, and be able to afford hiring freelancers sooner than expected in my business.

Here’s the links if you want to check them out:
Budget Detox Workbook (Home Edition)
Budget Detox Workbook (Business Edition)

If you have other ideas of how to lower your spending, I would love to hear about them! Leave a comment below! You can also connect with me through my website or on Instagram @sarahdeshaw.