Takeaways
- Reviewing your monthly budget will highlight areas of improvement.
- Pesky recurring expenses can be devastating to your finances.
- Cutting expenses is equivalent to making more income.
- Put money back in your pocket by monetizing everything you own.
- Reducing monthly expenses gives you more money to invest and increases your net worth.
One of the fastest ways to improve your finances is to know where your money is going. According to a recent survey by Mint, over 65% of Americans didn’t know how much they spent last month. Getting a grip on your finances can improve your budgeting process. After illuminating what you spent last month, one of the fastest ways to improve your monthly cash flow is to cut unnecessary expenses.
14 Ways to Cut Expenses Quickly
Whether you are doing a 30-day no-spending challenge or not, here are 14 fun and fast ways to cut back on your monthly expenses:
1. Drink Coffee at the Office
Buying coffee every day on your way to work can add up. This habit can quickly add up to hundreds of dollars spent on coffee each month. And if you are enjoying multiple brews – hot or cold – this can become pricey. Instead of visiting your local Starbucks, save money by fetching your morning brew at the office.
If you work from home (WFH), consider brewing your coffee at home to cut and decrease costs.
Whether you enjoy your coffee with coworkers or in the comfort of a home office, consider the pros and cons of WFH.
2. Carpool with a Co-worker
With gas prices at historical highs, reducing transportation costs can be a simple way to add money back into your pocket each month. Consider carpooling to work with co-workers or share commuting expenses by splitting the week driving to the office.
Smart Money -> 5 Ways to Curb Excessive Spending
3. Work Hybrid
If you have a flexible working environment, consider working one or two extra days from home to reduce transportation costs and other expenses incurred during your commute. Even one or two days a week can save hundreds of dollars. If you annualize these savings, you effectively give yourself a raise.
4. Maximize Gym Membership
Utilize your gym membership to the fullest. Many gyms offer showers, saunas, and miscellaneous benefits that members rarely use. The successful gym business model relies on non-utilization of gym equipment and facilities. In a month of reducing expenses, here are some products and services that can help pad your pocket:
- Skin lotion and moisturizer
- Soap and shampoo
- Towel and laundry service
- Razors and shaving gel
- Q-tips
- Unlimited showers
5. Exercise Outdoors
Pause your gym membership. If your gym membership doesn’t offer the amenities to help you offset other costs, ask whether you can pause your membership for several months. Instead of incurring monthly gym costs, work out outside. Go on runs. Go on walks.
Not only is exercising outdoors free, but it has benefits such as acting as a natural antidepressant, providing mental relief, and allowing for cheap social outings.
6. Meditate
Free mental health is hard to find. According to the Mayo Clinic, meditation is a fast and simple way to reduce stress. Spending only a few minutes meditating can help you cope with financial situations, keep inner peace, and increase self-awareness. Meditation offers a free portal to emotional and physical benefits.
7. Call Old Friends
One of the highest variable costs for young professionals is going out to eat and drink with friends. At a time when you are balancing your discretionary income, removing this expense from your budget can add cash back into your monthly budget.
Social spending is essential for mental health and well-being, so instead of incurring this expense, an alternative cost-effective method could be to try and reconnect with old friends. Call or FaceTime someone you want to reconnect with, such as an old friend, new friend, or family member you haven’t talked to recently. Connecting with old friends can usher in gratitude, social interaction, and fulfillment for free.
8. Plan Meals
Meal planning can dramatically reduce how much you spend on food throughout the month by reducing waste, shopping for deals, buying in bulk, and allowing you to swap higher-priced items for lower-cost solutions. How to Meal Plan and Save Money can help you with the step-by-step guide on getting the most out of your money.
In addition to planning for your meals, some meal services help you keep the cost of your meals fixed, plan your meals, and send you all the ingredients straight to your doorstep. Here are some of our favorite meal prep services:
9. Clean out the Refrigerator
If you are like most consumers, you buy items and don’t consume them right away. A hodgepodge of foods can make up your refrigerator, and the freezer could be full of items you have forgotten about. Taking an inventory of what you have and planning your meals to reduce food waste can be a great way to cut expenses in your food budget.
10. Cancel Subscriptions
Unmonitored expenses can wreak havoc on your budget. Recurring monthly subscriptions can be the worst offenders. Start with a blank slate and cancel all your subscriptions. This will shift the balance of power back in favor of your budget.
If you miss an expense – say your Netflix subscription – you can add it back gradually. Alternatively, you can still use services that you regularly pay for. For example, consider stopping your Spotify subscription and embracing the commercials for a month or two. This can free up needed cash.
Smart Money -> 5 Ways to Curb Frivilous Spending
11. Read Books
How many unread books do you have lying around? Picking up an unread book to dive into a fantasy story or learn a new skill set from a non-fiction book can be cheap entertainment. Plus, you have already purchased the books, so it is a prepaid expense. And in a month when you are on a spending fast, books can provide hours of free entertainment.
Purchasing used books on Amazon can give you heavy discounts on books you want to read too. If you don’t know where to start, here are our top 10 best personal finance books for 2024.
12. Work Later and Longer Hours
Working late hours has its pros and cons. Most companies, if you work past a certain point, will offer employee incentives such as free transportation, meals, and other perks. In a month when you are tightening your financial belt, working extra hard on that project at work could benefit you professionally and allow you to negate food and transportation costs.
Check with your employer to ensure your company policies give you these benefits. If they do, take full advantage of them.
13. Rent Out Your Room
The highest monthly fixed cost for young working professionals is rent. Fixed costs do not change over time and are set for a fixed period (e.g., Annual Rental Agreement). The average cost to rent an apartment in major metropolitan cities attracting young professional talents, such as Austin, is around $1,825 per month.
Geographic arbitrage can allow you to save thousands of dollars a month. Millions of young professionals are choosing to live in cities. Renting out your couch, or room, or fully subletting an extra room in your apartment can be an awesome way to offset the cost of the rent.
Here are some of our favorite platforms for making passive income with extra living space:
14. Start Paying with Cash
Using payment systems like the envelop budgeting method, where consumers place money into envelopes allocated to certain monthly expenses, can dramatically reduce spending. Paying with cash increases, what economists call, the friction of the transaction. When friction rises, consumers become more heightened as to whether the expense falls within their budget. Even carrying around $100 in your wallet has been shown to curb spending because it is a large denomination, associated with making larger purchases. As a result, you are more conscientious of your spending patterns
Smart Summary
Reducing monthly expenses is a great way to boost your monthly cash flow. The more money you keep each month, the more you can save, invest, and pay off debt. Choose a budgeting strategy that will help you highlight areas of improvement so you can increase your net worth quickly.
