I know it is hard to cut cost of living if you are not used to live frugally
But if you are serious about how to cut household expenses
Let me tell you it is never too late
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You can start today by learning from the below tips
Remember no matter how many tips you read, you have to try few of them
But if you try one or two tips at a time you will get used to it
I know it will be hard to try all of them at once
Those sacrifices which you make won’t be sacrifices in the long run
It is similar to reducing my four spoons of sugar I used to add to my coffee
It was hard to go right away to half spoon but I took it gradually
Anyway let me start with the following
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Use a family budget
Regardless of all the other tips, this is the master tip of all
If you can practice this one then you will be able to cut cost of living dramatically
But why? because if you create a family budget then you will be able to look at all expenses
Just by looking at all expenses you will be able to analyze where you can start saving
Get out of debt
Getting out of debt is not going to cut cost of living only
It will relief you from the stress and many nights of losing your sleep
I cannot explain how great you will feel when you manage to get out of debt
Buy generic brands
If you are serious about cutting cost of living then start with non brands products
Not only for non brands groceries but for everything
I started to ignore buying non brands apparel, electronics and all other things
Use a jar for your spare change
To be fair, this tip is not about saving a lot per month
It is about being organised
I wrote a previous post about doing the penny challenge
Read it and see how much you will save annually
Don’t be fooled by any sales
I was at Costco when I saw a winter jacket on sale
It was very cheap and that jacket was really good
I was hesitant but I had to think about it
Unfortunately we buy so many things we don’t need because they go on sales
If you buy what you need on sale that would be grrat
A tip for you, always buy off season
Choose affordable rent or mortgage amount
I know it will be a surprise to you if I ask you the below
What is the percentage of your rent to your income?
I bet you would be able to answer this unless you checked it before
Below is an example of using my budget sheet which you can open in excel or free open source sheet
Below mortgage is 1960 and it is 27.62% to your income
Good news is if you use my budget sheet in my products page you will be able to calculate all the percentages for all expenses
Use coupons and cash back apps
It is really bad to buy something and discover later that it was on sale with a coupon
Nowadays there are so many apps to help you not to miss these offers
For the cash back app, I love Rakuten, Mr Rebates and MyPoints
Plan your meals with shopping list
I always say you can save money on grocery by using shopping list
You don’t have to use a sheet of paper for your shopping list
With AnyList mobile app you can type your grocery items
This is the app I use as it integrates with Amazon Alexa
I love it because if I ran out of grocery item or I remember something to buy
I call Alexa and ask her to add it to my shopping list and it will be there on the app
Use your leftover dinner for lunch at work
To be fair when I was single I used to buy lunch at work
On average it costs me around $10 and that’s around $240 a month
Nowadays I am taking my leftover dinner to eat as my lunch next day
It is up to you but you can cut cost of living a lot by eating left over dinner for lunch
Cut alcohols and soft drinks
I should say reduce alcohols and cut soft drinks
To be realistic I drink alcohols on special occasions
But there is a bid difference between consuming alcohol every day and only when you are inviting friends and family to your house
Think about it when it comes to soft drinks it is not healthy
Practice replacing your soft drinks with natural juice you make it at home
Join wholesale club membership
Although wholesale club memberships cost you money to join
But it saves you money in the long term
There are so many products there cheaper than all grocery stores
Anyway I recommend to check your annual purchases and check your total spending
I upgraded my membership to $120 per year and this saved me money
Why? I used to pay $60 with no cash back then I upgraded and paid $120
By doing that I collected $101 cash back so my membership costs me $19
Reduce dinning out to special occasions only
I am not against dinning out, I keep it to the minimum
I recommend living frugally but not living stingily
Find cheap gas stations
I have a gas station near my home cheaper with at least 4 cents
Anyway for anyone who is not aware of a cheap gas station in your area
I recommend to install GasBuddy app on you mobile
You can use GetUpside to collect 25 cents on every gas fill up
Also you can fill up gas from wholesale club membership when possible
Know your wants and needs
Your need is anything that keeps you alive like paying for your shelter or your drugs
Your want is buying a new scooter or replacing your car because you’re bored of it
Cut cable and replace it with IPTV
I will not ask you to cut cable and not watch TV
I recommend to invest in IPTV where you can pay $30 a year
Not only you will save money but you will be watching a vast range of channels
Cut cost of living by giving up your home phone
I am a true believer of using VOIP (Voice Over IP) phone
The amount of money you save is great
If you decide to use cell phone only that’s a good decision too
Buy used items instead of taking a loan
From my previous experience I was paying $530 for a car loan
This was in the past, nowadays I buy a reliable used cars without any loans
Not only for cars but for electronics you can buy refurbished TV
Or you can even buy used items from Facebook Marketplace
Save fund for your gifts and parties
Birthdays and all special occasions like Thanksgiving and Christmas are not a surprise
Wise families plan for them like keeping your store gift cards in a drawer to buy gifts for birthdays
You can also plan for it in your budget