In the past when I wanted to save money, I would cut a few non-essential monthly bills, like subscriptions and make enough breathing room to put towards the credit cards. That isn't working. I have cut the subscriptions. I noticed I spend a decent amount each week on things we "need", but I never actually go through to look at each item to see if we really "need" it. I get my pay on Thursdays. It's not much. I get anywhere from $100 to $120 a week. After paypal, because I get paid through paypal, gets it's fees it's $95 to $115. So right there, I know I am bleeding about $5 a week which totals about two weeks pay over a year.
From there, I typically buy groceries, hygene items, and pay a bill. This week's bill is personal taxes. That will be $50. Next week it will be registering my car for about $58. Anyway, sticking to this week, $50 on taxes. I had $50 left. I went tot he grocery store and purchased the follwing.
Bread $1.89
Pads $3.95
Milk $4.89
poptarts $1.00
Q-tips $1.00
Sugar $2.39
Cheese $2.99
Wipes $2.89
Soda $1.67
Soda $1.67
Soda $1.67
Subtotal $29.20
Tax $1.59
Total $30.79
It's an interesting exercise that shows me that not only do I not "need" everything that I think I do, but also that almost $5 of all purchases were spent on tax. We grabbed some fast food which is another non-need. So I spend $5 a week to get my paycheck, another $5 on taxes, and then I spent roughly $15 on fast food we don't need, and then another $6 at least on the grocery budget for non-needs. All totaled $31 sent on non-necessities from a $100 paycheck. I am literally frittering away 31% of my money for non-essential items.
Eye opening...I do recommend writing down purchases. That was enough for a seed order!
February 5th, 2022 at 02:29 pm 1644071383
February 6th, 2022 at 08:35 pm 1644179734
So, are you considering what are needs and what are wants? I see you purchased soda. Are you buying it individually or buying it by the 6 pack? Is there a savings if you buy it in the 6 pack? Or, have you even considered giving it up to save money?
February 6th, 2022 at 09:33 pm 1644183224
February 7th, 2022 at 06:23 am 1644214980
Buy 12 pack of sode instead of 1L bottles? Or is $1.67 a 2L soda?
I write down general spending like $55 at grocery store. I know I spent $120 on groceries that was basically 1 meal on friday at the asian market. UGH. That kills my budget for the month.
February 7th, 2022 at 07:41 pm 1644262906
February 8th, 2022 at 04:38 pm 1644338281
What I plan to do in an effort to only get what I need whenever I go shopping, is to ensure I have 'basic needs' list of everything I need to survive. This will help my focus to remain on the essentials, and not on what I *think* I need. I will also only walk with just enough money to cover the essentials so I am not tempted to go off track. Whatever money I save from eliminating my unnecessary spending will be divided into a 70/30 percentage. The majority will go to savings or back into needs, and the minority will become an allowance for a few wants. This strategy might help you as well. Good luck to us on our 'writing down our every purchase' journey. Thank you again for this post, I will recommend it to a few of my colleagues. It is too eye-opening to keep for myself!