It is OHH so easy to rack up expenses that overtime take a toll on your monthly budget but making the decision to cut ties with those expenses can be hard to do. On a general note, I recommend everyone to be very aware of where their hard earned money goes each month. This means you need to list out every single payment you have, even if itโs just .99 cents a month. Doing that will be a crucial step in having a clear picture and begin making decisions about where you can trim your budget.
Another fundamental thing to note is that you should have a goal you want to achieve, it can be buying a car, paying off debt, saving money for the trip of your dreams or saving up for a down payment of a house. Having a goal to strive towards will absolutely make trimming your expenses so much easier. The one word I can use to describe the feeling of getting rid of those unnecessary expenses is: LIBERATING!
Nix box subscriptions
It is hard to resist the temptation of signing up for unnecessary subscriptions and have then renewed on a monthly basis. I remember signing up for GlossyBox and BirchBox soon after getting hired for my first full time job I started racking up unnecessary expenses. While I do not regret those subscriptions because it introduced me to an array of products that I otherwise would probably not come across. At the same time, I was not using up all of the products and ended up with piles of un-opened and un-used products. I am still to this day testing products I received during my GlossyBox and BirchBox days!
Canceled gym membership
Contrary to popular belief, you do not need to be a member of a gym to get fit or stay in shape. I went through gym memberships from $10 a month to a whopping $100 a month! Yes. I do not know what possessed me to spend $1,200 a year on a gym membership. But alas, I finally came to my senses and canceled that membership. Instead of the gym I know follow at home workout programs like Tone It up and Blogilates. They have a ton of great (and FREE) resources on their websites and awesome videos on youtube. Another hidden benefit to this is the amount of time and money youโll save in getting to and from the gym and our house and/or work.
Got rid of cable
I was paying $175 a month for a cable subscription that I never used. I finally got the courage to cut that expense and stick with the streaming services I was already paying for, like Netflix, Hulu and HBO. I also got an antenna with a good range so that I could still have access to local channels - it was secretly just for The Voice :).
Have you trimmed your budget recently? If so, what have you gotten rid of? Do share below!