In our last post, we were talking about budgeting and what to do when the numbers don’t line up in the way you hoped.

Earn more or spend less.

Today we’ll look a little at spending less.

I think it’s the natural default when your finances are out of whack because you are in control of spending less. You can decide what’s necessary and what’s not, what can stand to be cut and what frugal moves you want to implement.

Let’s look at a few ways to spend less, starting with some big ticket items and working our way down.

Roommates

This might be a hard no for you and that’s fine, but rent or mortgage payments are often one of our biggest expenses. If you have a spare room and can take on a roommate, that can free up a lot of income.

If you don’t want something as permanent as a roommate, you can also look into occasionally renting out a room or even your whole home on AirBnB.

Meal Planning & Couponing

Food can also be a pretty large portion of your budget, but at least you are in control of it. You can cut down to the bare bones Ramen noodle college days to free up a few dollars. If that’s (understandably) too intense, taking the time to plan out a menu for the week can help you buy the right amounts of groceries, so nothing goes to waste.

Also, once you have a meal plan, it’s easier to make a grocery list and find some coupons to go along with it. Taking a few minutes to check the circular, look online for printable coupons, or apps like iBotta can save you a few dollars too.

If you’re short on money but long on time, you can do some coupon hunting. Signing up with the websites for brands you use a lot of like P&G will usually get you some high quality coupons. Also praising companies on social media can sometimes score you a free sample coupon too.

Utilities

If you’ve been a loyal customer for a while, you can call your utility companies to ask if there are any discounts you qualify for or anything you can do to lower your monthly bill. With some companies, like for cable and Internet, if you indicate you’ve been shopping around and are considering switching, you may be even more likely to score a discount for a few months.

DIY

If you’re willing to learn some basic skills, you can start mending your own clothing or doing very basic repairs around your house. Even learning how to change your own oil can save you some money.

A good mantra for frugality is to go back to the same one we learned as kids for saving the earth: reduce, reuse, recycle. I like that the majority of frugal moves also have real environmental benefits too.

Adding some water to a liquid soap bottle might only save you a fraction of a penny, but the idea of training yourself to fully use things up have it’s own value. And when you start by applying it in simple little ways, it can ripple forward into a full lifestyle, which can have some really awesome financial benefits.