Money Question Of The Day
December 30, 2008 – 5:15 am
If you had to save $25 per week what would you do? That would be $1300 per year, and would be a nice start to an emergency fund or a Roth IRA investment.
I’m always looking for low hanging fruit in my household budget, meaning that I look at the largest categories first. I also look at the variable accounts rather than “fixed” accounts. By “variable” I mean accounts that are easy to change. An example of a fixed account is my mortgage payment. I could reduce my mortgage payment, but not without moving to a less expensive house or refinancing my mortgage. Variable expense might include clothing, dining out, entertainment, books, groceries, etc. These are expenses that can be (somewhat) easily changed.
Groceries always top the list, followed by dining out and entertainment. Our weekly budget for dining out and entertainment is about $35/month, so we could cut out most of that if necessary. We have separate categories for Netflix, books, and some other items so we wouldn’t have to sit and watch the grass grow for fun.
After my “easy” three I would have to dig a little deeper and probably look at my utility bill. I could probably reduce my usage of the dryer by air-drying my towels and workout clothes. That change probably wouldn’t add up to $25/month because I only do 2-3 loads of laundry a week right now. But it would be a start.
What would you cut? Is it worth it to you to make that change now, and pay off debt, save more, or invest more?
Image Credit: purpleslog
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