Here are the best ways to save money on a budget. How to cut down on bills.
First make note of how much money comes to you on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis.
Let’s say after tax you earn $1,000 each week.
Now all of your spending will be based on reducing that amount as little as possible.
You can create a spreadsheet showing your net income and subtract each expense from it. End of week will show what money you have left. This will be tough but I try to shrink the expenses more and more as each week passes.
- Week 1 total expenses $420.00
- Week 2 total expenses $380.00
- Week 3 total expenses $371.00
This is not sustainable over a long period of time. Bringing expenses down to $0 won’t be possible and specific week(s) you will need to pay monthly bills making expense reduction difficult.
- Week 4 total expenses $520.00 (cell and internet bills were paid this week)
Reduce Your Monthly Fees and Services
Some monthly bills we may need to keep
- Rent
- Mortgage
- Internet
- Cell Service
You can look around for a cheaper rental unit. Cheaper cell phone plan. These are small ways to reduce your monthly fees altogether. But let’s look at the bigger picture.
Do you actually NEED all of your monthly services?
Are you subscribed to video streaming services?
We used to be subscribed to Netflix for many years straight. We had the top package and price increased again to around $26.99 a month. We laughed and thought it was ridiculous. Then we cancelled our subscription. There just wasn’t enough interesting content on there for us to justify the cost.
$26.99 x 12 = $323.88 a year savings.
I read online articles about the entertainment industry and always check out the comment sections. Some in the US say being subscribed up to three different streaming services is still better or cheaper than being subscribed to cable.
Imagine the total cost of 3 streaming services x 12. That would be the total yearly cost on video streaming alone!
YouTube provides me with tons of content to keep me occupied and the website doesn’t cost me anything.
Now let’s look at Amazon Prime. Comes with video streaming but I find it useful for quick delivery. We live in the city and get offered same day delivery on most products.
We only subscribe to Prime when offered a special.
- Free for 30 days
- One week for $1
- Most recent. Around $6 a month for 3 months
Whenever we wanted or needed something from Amazon, the product(s) were added to the shopping cart and from there we proceeded to checkout. We click through until getting to the final order screen.
Sometimes an offer for Prime appears and we accept prior to completing the purchase.
If no offer appears, we continue with the order if we absolutely need the product(s). If we don’t we’ll cancel the order and repeat the same process another time.
With every Prime special we always cancelled before they expired. That way we don’t get charged full monthly rate.
Problem with being subscribed to Prime is while being a member we feel intrigued to buy items we don’t need. That can be very costly. Some I know make purchases there on a daily basis. At one point I did that. Now we just buy things we actually need.
Not being subscribed to Prime makes it really easy to not buy anything at all!
What about game streaming services?
Same applies here. Most of the content we consume now is digital and for gaming you can purchase games online for download. Or subscribe to a game streaming service paying monthly/yearly fees for access to a huge selection of games.
Some of the game streaming services include Game Pass, Playstation Now and Luna.
Cutting these out will save you money as well!
Reduce Your Retail Spending
Problem most of us face is we visit a retail store only to leave that store having purchased more items than we planned to.
One store this happens to me quite often in and that’s Costco. Many items there are priced much better than the competition. Other items are priced similar. What makes Costco unique is sometimes you will find items there which cannot be found elsewhere.
Years ago I visited Hong Kong. Went to a grocery store there. In the freezer section I found an item and told my wife I bought this for her months back at Costco.
OMG I got this for you at Costco months back!
And yes, I did say the three letters OMG.
It was a frozen noodles dish from the Philippines. Bought it at a Costco location in Toronto and found it in a grocery store in Hong Kong. I never found that item at any of the regular grocery stores near me.
When seeing new items I always tell myself OMG I need to try this!
Or items on sale OMG I don’t need this, but it’s on sale.. so.. I.. must.. get.. it!
When telling myself to purchase I literally am moving in slow motion and trying to prevent my body from moving towards the items.. in slow motion.
It’s taken some practice but when I convince myself I cannot spend more money than I need to it’s made shopping at Costco a lot easier.
Create a shopping list of the things YOU NEED and stick to it!
Eliminate The Unnecessary Expenses
Removing these can really keep money in your bank account.
Whether it’s at the grocery store, online or elsewhere we tend to buy items without knowing if we’ll ever need or use it. If it’s food we take chances buying without knowing if we’ll even like it.
Here’s something I’m quite good at doing. Seeing an interesting item and thinking someone in my household will like it. I then buy it, they potentially try it and end up not liking it. So then it sits on the shelf until it reaches the expiry date. Then gets thrown out.
Lots of lost money doing that.
Stick to buying the things you need and WILL use.
Build Momentum With Your Savings
Build momentum with cost reduction and improved savings.
I get excited when seeing improvements happen on a weekly basis. The more the streak goes on the more excited I get. Only problem is when a major expense or major set of expenses comes in and ruins everything.
- Vacation – Purchasing foreign currency, booking excursions, etc.
- Vehicle maintenance – Oil change, tire rotation, new brakes, etc.
- Home Repairs – Installing new shingles, fix plumbing, upgrade appliances, etc.
If going on vacation for a week, I try downgrading my hotel stay to a smaller room. Doing that has saved me up to $907. With the huge savings that money was put towards other parts of the trip – affordable food options, public transportation, etc.
Smaller room might not be as comfortable, but once the trip is over you may look back and be happy with the decision.
Turn Saving Money Into An Addiction
Have you heard of dopamine?
The feeling of dopamine is addicting and we get it when we make purchases. This sounds accurate because in the past when finding something on Amazon as soon as I complete the purchase I always got really excited.
New USB-C cable for my phone. It’s just a wire. Nothing special.
OMG yes… USB-C heading my way!
Lately I’ve been wanting to buy a high quality soundbar which does DTS and Dolby Atmos. Thinking about amazing sound quality is getting me excited. As soon as I purchase a really good sound bar, dopamine will be hitting me like mad.
Yes… Atmos I love you!
Buying things gives us a hit of dopamine. But what if you reprogram yourself?
What if you change your thinking so you get a taste of dopamine when you REFUSE to make a purchase?
65″ OLED TV, Dolby Vision, HDR10, Dolby Atmos and some other exciting stuff.
ONLY $499.99
Such a good deal.. but I cannot make the purchase!
PURCHASE DECLINED
Oh yes… $499.99 plus tax remains in my account. I feel richer, happier..
Keeping money in your account is clearly better than just spending for the sake of spending. But if you know how to invest and make money off investments, the money saved there can be used to help you make even more money.
Mental Trick To Avoid Unnecessary Purchases
Around 2010 I wanted to purchase a PS3. Wanted it badly.
I kept telling myself to wait another week to see how I feel then.
A week passed and didn’t care about wanting one at all.
This happened repeatedly. One week wanted one, next week didn’t. Wanted it another time, didn’t the following week. Happened over and over.
When you want something don’t purchase it right away. Give yourself time because you may change your mind or lose interest. I have avoided numerous unnecessary purchases with this trick.
Pretend You Already Have It
Visualize the emotions of having one.
Close your eyes and imagine yourself in possession of what it is you want. You see, feel and smell it. It’s completely real and you put it to good use.
In your mind see yourself using it everyday. After quite a few uses you’ll see yourself getting bored and start to lose interest in it.
This exercise allows you to experience the feel good emotions without actually being in possession of it. Once you fully experience the excitement of having it you may not be interested in purchasing the item. In your mind it’ll become just like all the others.
Is Your Partner On The Same Page?
This is a big one. Cost savings becomes much easier when you both are on the same page.
But if one of you are cutting costs and the other continues to spend, then the idea of making progress feels wasted.
More Ideas On How To Cut Down On Bills
- Prepare your meals at home. Avoid eating out, take out or using food delivery services.
- Try incorporating generic store brands over the brand names. Major brand name potato chips here, sale price 2 for $9.00. The generic store brand is 2 for $3 and tastes better.
- Visit second hand stores.
- Do it yourself projects will always be the much cheaper option.
Thanks For Reading The Best Ways To Save Money On A Budget
I hope you learned some ways to save money on a budget. If you have different ideas which worked for you, please feel free to list them below. Our goal here is to build a community and help each other out.