Tips for Reducing Your Monthly Expenses

Tips for Reducing Your Monthly Expenses

Taking a day to go over your expenses and cut your bills can save many people thousands of pounds over the course of a year. A new year can often begin with a whole host of bill and expense hikes - and with millions of people already overpaying on bills, further hikes could push you into debt. Why not take the time now to check your expenses and potentially save hundreds of pounds on broadband, gas and electric, mobile phones, fuel, food and more by working through your finances to ensure that you have the best deal on everything?

Are you spending more than you earn?

The first thing to figure out is if you are spending more than you earn - if the answer is yes, then you definitely need to spend some time working out where you could be cutting expenses in order to save more money each month. If you’re not sure where your finances stand right now then it’s important to take the time to add it all up - use a budget planning tool (there are plenty of free ones to choose from online) to calculate your annual income and tell you how much you’re spending.

Work through your expenses:

Once you’ve determined what you’re spending, it’s a good idea to go through your bank statement and work out where that money is going. You may find that you’re paying out each month for things that you don’t even use - for example, maybe you resolved to join a gym last New Year and have been a couple of times since, in which case you might want to ask yourself whether a monthly membership is actually worth it, or whether you’re better of exercising for free outdoors or at home instead.

Use comparison sites:

Once you’ve cut out all the unnecessary expenses that you’ve been wasting money on, it’s time to tackle the ones that you can’t get rid of. Expenses like car insurance, gas and electricity, broadband and your mobile phone can’t really be avoided these days, but the good news is that you could easily be paying less. Utilise comparison sites to see if there are any better deals that you could be taking advantage of. If you’re still in a contract with a provider, then it might be worth getting in touch and letting them know that you’ve found a better deal elsewhere or asking if you can reduce the amount that you pay. Mobile phone contract providers, for example, will often allow you to reduce the number of minutes, texts and data in your plan mid-contract to reduce the amount that you pay.

Cut your food shopping:

Grocery shopping is something that you simply can’t get away from spending money on - but the good news is that there are several things that you can do to cut the cost down. Consider doing your grocery shopping online; the ease of being able to see the total price of your groceries adding up, find the best deals and promotions and the lack of temptation of walking around a store with items to throw into your basket can lead to saving money. Wherever you can, switch to budget supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl and buy own-brand products instead of branded; they are usually just as good for a fraction of the price.

Reduce debt payments:

If you are paying off debts, then it’s likely that these will take a huge chunk out of your income each month. There may not be much you can do when it comes to things like mortgage payments, for example, but if you’ve got a car on finance then you might want to think about downgrading it for a lower monthly payment, if possible. Other types of debt can also be paid off using a Debt Consolidation Loan; this is a very useful type of credit that you take out for the sole purpose of paying off your debts, leaving you with just one debt to repay - the one monthly payment is usually less than several different ones, and along with being cheaper can also be far easier to manage.

Can you boost your income?

Finally, along with cutting expenses, it’s a good idea to try and find ways to boost your income. Thanks to the internet, finding a side job is much easier than ever before these days - you could turn to things like content writing, virtual assistance, web design, graphic design or social media management to make money from the comfort of your own home, or offer a local service like cleaning or dog walking.

If you want to spend less and keep your money in your pocket, cutting your monthly expenses is the way forward.