We are witnessing the worst recession that most of us have ever seen during our lifetimes. For those of us who aren't old enough to have experienced the great depression, let alone remember it, the recession of 2009 is probably the most frightening thing we've ever witnessed in the financial world during our lifetimes. It is also probably the one thing that has awaken us to the reality that our comfortable living situation could change for the worse at a moment's notice.
If anything good is to come out of this global recession, it will be the fact that it has clearly forced people to analyze the way by which they spend money and to re-evaluate the things we regard as necessary versus what is really essential. For those who have lost their jobs, figuring out how to reduce expenses is a matter of pure survival.
There are ways by which we can plan ahead and make sure that we are prepared for anything, and the best way to do that is by reducing expenses however we can. Here is a look at some practical ways by which to reduce expenses -
*Look at your regular daily or weekly purchases -
If you are used to stopping for specialty coffee drinks on your way to work every day, think about how much that drink is costing you. A $5 flavored latte will cost you anywhere from $25 to $35 a week. Over the course of a month, that's $100 to $140 that you are spending rather frivolously.
If you go out for lunch at work rather than bringing it, that could cost you anywhere from $5 to $10 a day. Over the course of a month, you're spending another $100 to $200. If you brought your lunch, you'd be paying a fraction of that, and you could probably be eating a healthier lunch in the process.
*Cancel the gym membership -
If you belong to a gym, chances are, you're paying a minimum of about $35 to $40 a month just to use the place. You've had to pay about $50 to join and then you pay extra if you take any type of class. For a lot less, you could get a family membership at the YMCA, or you could join a community recreation center. You wouldn't have to pay to join, you wouldn't necessarily be locked into a contract, and you could use the facilities you want to use.
Consider getting a bunch of friends together and start your own work outs. You can go walking together, work out to a video or do stuff with hand weights together. Walking won't cost you anything more than the price of a pair of decent walking shoes, and you can do it at your convenience.
*Take public transportation -
A very easy way by which to reduce car expenses is by opting to take public transportation instead of driving. This means that you will cut down on the cost of gas, parking and overall maintenance for the car. What you save in the cost of gas by reducing the frequency with which you drive each week may cover the cost of a transit pass for an entire month or more.
*Cancel premium cable subscription -
If you get the premium digital cable or satellite television package, scale down your service. Subscribe to the minimum service. If you want to watch movies, check them out from the library or join Netflix. For $10 a month, you can get all the movies you want (with a one at a time subscription) and you can take advantage of their online downloads. You'd pay $10 a month, if not more for each premium movie service, and another $20+ for all the extra cable channels.
*Turn your hot water heater down -
Turning the hot water heater down to about 90 degrees will lower your utility bill significantly. All you are doing by lowering the temperature is stopping the hot water heater from working all the time to produce hot water. As long as the tank is full of hot water, there is no need to continue to make it. By lowering the temperature, you are forcing the hot water heater to kick into action only when the water level in the tank goes down to a low enough level.
*Unplug appliances when not in use -
Many people don't realize that by keeping appliances plugged in - even when they aren't using them, that appliance is still drawing electricity. If you unplug it, it is not functioning at all, and the more appliances that you can unplug when not in use, you will find yourself not having to pay for a lot of wasted electrical usage.
*Turn the heat down -
Rather than cranking your heat up during the winter and driving your utility costs through the roof, lower the thermostat. If you regularly keep the heat at 75 or 78 degrees, consider turning it down to 70 or 68. Turn it down even lower at night. If you're worried about being cold, put an extra blanket on the bed or bundle up in some warm pajamas.
*Wash clothing in cold water -
Instead of washing all of your laundry in hot or warm water, use cold water. The use of cold water will lower your utility bill by a substantial amount simply because the machine won't use so much hot water and that in turn won't make the hot water heater have to work as hard.
*Fill loads in the washer and dishwasher -
Be sure that you fill the dishwasher as full as you can before running it, and make sure that you have enough clothing, linens or whatever, to do a full load before you go to wash the things. Also, don't use the heated dry on the dishwasher.
*Plan ahead when grocery shopping -
Plan your meals out for the week before going to the grocery store. Make sure you have a list of all the items you'll need for each meal. Stick to what you have on the list and create a budget for grocery shopping. Shop with coupons. You can save a lot of money by taking advantage of coupons when you are grocery shopping. If you can save $25 on your grocery bill and or get $25 worth of free items, you're working hard at reducing expenses.
*Avoid eating out -
If you are one of those people who eats out almost all the time, have you stopped to consider that for what you're paying to eat out for a week, you could probably buy a month's worth of groceries and prepare meals yourself? Well, it really is true, and with a bit of planning, it wouldn't be that difficult to serve some restaurant quality meals at home on a regular basis. If you don't like the thought of having to cook every night, make larger quantities on those nights when you do cook. The leftovers can be eaten for the next night's dinner.
The suggestions listed here are simple enough for anyone to do. It doesn't matter whether you live in a condo, rent an apartment or own a home. The simplest and most cost effective way to reduce expenses is to look for ways to start by doing it in your own home.
Once you get into the habit of doing these things, you will do them without even thinking about it. Take a look at your utility bills from before you began to implement changes and how much they are afterward. The difference will probably shock you.