Five Ways to Cut Your Monthly Expenses

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Are you financially stretched? Start your month out with a budget only to end up going way over? The following sneaky budget busters can play havoc with your monthly expenses, but fortunately, they are easy to fix and can save you hundreds of dollars over the course of a year.
Cook at Home
According to GO Banking Rates, Americans spend on average a whopping $2,176 a year on eating out or grabbing takeout. Not only does grabbing food not made at home wreck havoc on your budget, but it can also lead us to indulge in less-than-healthy meal choices. To help save money – and calories – take a couple of hours over the weekend to plan meals for the week, grocery shop and meal prep. Take leftovers to work to avoid grabbing takeout for lunch.
Ditch the Cable
Get rid of that cumbersome cable bill once and for all by ditching cable and subscribing to a streaming service such as Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime instead. Subscription services have come a long way and offer a vast array of movies, TV shows, and documentaries. Research the current lineup for each service to see which one offers the type of entertainment you are interested in.
Get a No-Contract Cell Phone
Why be tied to a pricey cell phone contract? No Contract cell phone plans are available from all the major carriers and allow you to pay much less for cell phone service with no binding contract. Best of all you can pick which one suits your need for data requirement. If you are constantly within WiFi range there is no need to pay for extra data you just won’t use.
So Long Pricey Latte
According to GO Banking Rates, we spend on average $718.20 per year on takeout coffee alone! Invest in an awesome travel cup and brew your own java to take with you to work, or school. There are so many choices of coffee flavors out there and some great prices if you buy in bulk from places like Costco, Sam’s Club, or Amazon.
Plan Your Trips
When running errands for the week plan your trips according to their location to save on gas money. Have a dental appointment in one part of town? Make plans to do other errands in that area during the same time. Not only does this save you time, but it also cuts down on the amount of money you pay at the pump in the long run.