How To Reduce Your Monthly Expenditure
budget (Photo credit: 401(K) 2013)
Many families are struggling to feed their kids and pay the bills every month as the cost of living continues to creep ever higher. Times are tough, but although there is not a lot we can do about the soaring price of groceries and the astronomical cost of petrol at the pumps, it is possible to make savings in many areas.
Draw Up A Monthly Budget
Unless you make a point of analyzing where you spend your money every month, you have no chance of making any savings. I bet if you sit down and scrutinize your spending habits you will discover that an awful lot of cash is frittered away on unnecessary things you could live without, including takeaway meals, gym membership and nights out. Even the cost of a cappuccino on the way to work starts to add up when you have one every single day!
Sensible Savings
Try and reduce your spending to essential items for a month and see how much money you have left. Hopefully you have enough cash left over to put aside into a rainy day fund, but if you don’t, you need to look at ways of reducing your expenditure in order to build some savings – just in case the unthinkable happens and you lose your job.
Utility Bills
Consumers living in Europe pay a lot less for their gas and electric. This is largely because prices are capped in Europe and the big utility companies can’t charge what they like. Unfortunately, things in the UK are somewhat different and the big utility companies do nothing to help consumers save money. Instead they have a confusing array of energy tariffs, which makes it hard for most people to work out which tariff is the cheapest one. Instead of accepting rip-off prices, shop around using price comparison websites and make a point of doing this at least twice per year. You’d be amazed how much you can save, especially when you factor in cash back offers and free nectar points.
Mortgage Payments
For anyone not living in rented accommodation, the mortgage payment is likely to be the largest drain on a monthly budget. Unfortunately, unless you fancy having your home repossessed, you need to keep on paying it. But this doesn’t mean you have to stick to your existing lender out of misplaced loyalty. Mortgage interest rates are very low right now and there are some excellent fixed rate deals to be had, so even if you are stuck with a redemption penalty, it might still be cost effective to remortgage with a cheaper deal.
Groceries
Unless you are used to shopping in Harrods food hall every week, you are unlikely to be able to save significant amounts on your grocery bills. However, instead of shopping in your favorite supermarket week in and week out, shop around more and take advantage of great deals offered at the discount supermarkets. It is also cheaper to buy fruit and vegetables from local greengrocers instead of supermarkets, and if you enjoy meat but would prefer to know where it came from, stick to farmer’s markets and local butchers.
Bio
Laura is always looking at ways to save money on her monthly expenses. She only shops at discount supermarkets and regularly switches utility providers, but the biggest boost to her savings this year came when she was given a payout over her mis sold mortgages claim.
Category: Budget
