Financial Friday: Cutting Expenses

*I am starting a weekly blog series called FINANCIAL FRIDAY. Every week I will post about personal experience & things that we are doing to better our financial future.*

Last week I wrote about how we are implementing The Envelope System

Towards the end of 2012 I started looking at our bills & seeing what we could cut back on. I combed through our bank statements and highlighted areas that I thought we overspent. It was very eye-opening.

~FOOD: We spend spent way too much on groceries & eating out. That was the first area that got a makeover. I set a certain amount, based on our previous spending, for groceries each week. I make a meal plan every week & try to use as much out of the pantry & freezer as I can before I decide what I need from the store. We also agreed on only eating out once per month & we have an envelope for that. Right now we are allowing $50 per month for that. Right now the grocery budget is $150 per week. That includes food, household products, pet food and health & beauty products. I hope to lower that by using some coupons again, shopping at ALDI & buying some things in bulk.

~CABLE: We have Direct TV Satellite mainly because we do not have any other option where we live. I looked at our bill and we were spending a ridiculous $155 per month!!!! I wasn't aware that we had all the movie channels and 2 sports packages, so bye bye they went. Our new bill is now $101 per month.

~CELL PHONE: We no longer have a landline phone, so we use our cell phones for everything. My parents are also on our plan, but they pay me for their portion. I started looking at our plan and usage and we were paying way too much. I changed some things around and lowered the bill by $80 per month.

~FUEL: This is one area that the cost is actually increasing for us. DH no longer has a company truck with a gas card, so he now drives his own truck and pays for his own gas. For me, I've been trying really hard to only run errands one day a week and save on gas. This has worked out pretty good so far. I sometimes travel for work, but I am reimbursed mileage.

~NO MORE I WANT! This isn't the fun part, but we've kind of grounded ourselves from spending money on things we really don't need. This is tough, but we're making a true effort. When I cleaned out and organized the pantry this week, I really wanted to go buy fancy bins & baskets to make it look pretty, but I didn't. The pantry needs to be functional, not showroom ready. It's been difficult to tell the kids that we are basically on a spending freeze, but there is just no other way. They have been told that we are only buying necessities right now and if they want something that is for fun, they have to save their own money for it. A little financial lesson for them ;-)

This is just a start to cutting our expenses. Every week I look at everything and see what else we can do to lower our spending. It's hard, but the end result will be totally worth it. I want to be debt free and have the financial security we need.

Next Financial Friday: Paying down debt!

Linking up with:
Blissful and Domestic
Delightful Order
Six Sisters' Stuff