It’s no secret that throughout the world there is a cost of living crisis.
Before looking at where you can cut costs, you may want to create a monthly budget. Here you can list all your monthly expenses and compare this with your income.
This budget will help you identify your spending habits to gain a better grasp of where your money is going.
Once you know where your money is going, you can start identifying the necessities and start reducing your expenses and monthly payments.
After creating a budget, these are the expenses that you can consider reducing or completely eliminating from that budget, to reduce your monthly expenses and save money:
1. Subscriptions
Subscriptions that seem cheap initially will eventually add up. Take a look at your subscription services, such as the streaming services that you are currently paying for. If you are not using them to their full potential, it may be worth canceling them or reducing the cost by opting for a cheaper plan.
Examples of these subscriptions include Netflix, DSTV, ShowMax, YouTube Premium, Spotify and Apple Music etc. If you’re trying to cut back on some of your expenses, you should definitely look into cutting back on some of these subscriptions.
A few questions to ask yourself when you consider the subscriptions you should cancel:
- Do I use this often enough to warrant this amount?
- Do I have a similar subscription?
2. Insurance premiums
Often, once we’ve bought the car and home and signed up for funeral cover, we never go back and check what we’re actually paying for these premiums.
Hidden within your contract, is probably something about an annual increase of premiums. Do yourself and your pocket a favour, go back and check what you’re paying on these premiums. Following that, do some research and price comparisons so that you ensure you’re getting the most bang for your buck.
3. Reduce the amount of takeout you buy
Of course this only applies if you are spending money on eating out or those very convenient delivery services. While the price of groceries continues to increase, eating home-cooked food is still a better financial decision for you and your family.
Check out these budget-friendly recipes from Cape Town Magazine for some inspiration for home-cooked meals.
- Before going to a grocery store, always make a shopping list and try to stick to it.
- Keep an eye out for supermarket deals, discount vouchers, and special offers and avoid impulse buying
- If possible, opt to buy a generic or the store brand as these items are usually cheaper.
- A good idea here is to also do some research into a price comparison amongst the popular retailers. You could find that the milk is cheaper at one store, but that the meat is cheaper at a different store.
4. Watch out for how much you’re spending on airtime and data
- Yes, we all need to be able to contact people and to be contactable, but consistently topping up your airtime and data can end up costing you quite a bit.
- It’s important to track how often you buy airtime and data. If you don’t want to consider reducing your airtime and data usage, would it be cheaper to get an unlimited data plan, for example?
5. Gym membership
You know those fitness goals you set at the beginning of the year? Have you been sticking to them and going to the gym? Even if you have, instead of having a gym membership, can you do your workouts at home instead?
Working out at home will not only save you money with the gym membership costs, it will also save you money on fuel and not having to drive there.
6. Get rid of your debt
There’s only so much you can cut down on if you have an overwhelming amount of debt. One of the best ways to improve your cash flow is to reduce or get rid of your debt.
The first step to getting rid of your debt is to list all of your debt. This includes credit card debt, personal loans, store cards etc.
