How We Saved $17,000

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Previously I talked about gathering all your financial info so you know where you are starting. I call this digging your head out of the sand.

When I started digging my head out of the sand the first thing I did was wrote down everything we spend money on in a typical month, and everything we owed. Ouch, not a fun number to look at.

Next, I started reading about budgeting, and trying to get a handle on our budget. The first month I cut some easy expenses, and over the last 4 months I have diligently gone through every expense and figured out any way I could possibly cut it or get rid of it completely.

Here’s a breakdown of what we are projected to save this year based on all our spending cuts.

Expenses cut:

Mortgage Savings:
Refi Savings $4200/year

Insurance Savings:
Auto: $672/year (see my insurance post here)
Life: $60/year (by setting up automatic BillPay monthly)

Utility Savings:
Gas/Electric: $360/yr (using power strips and being more energy conscious)*
Water: $60/year (running the water less, fixing drips)

Cable internet and phone package:
Cut cable : $921/year

Groceries
Shopping with a list: $2400-$3600/year (let’s average that and say $3000)

I’ve also been stocking up on items we use frequently when they are on sale, as well as eating more seasonally to avoid expensive out of season foods.

Fees
finance charges and late or overdraft fees (saved by automating and creating a cushion in our main accounts) $3600/year

Other expenses cut:
cancel gym membership    $1080/year
packing lunches                    $1000/year
cut back on eating out          $2400/year

Total Savings: $17,593!

*=we put 2 areas on power strips, make a conscious effort to turn off lights, unplug power cords, and unplug our small kitchen appliances.

These are not all of our expenses, as some were unable to be changed. This should prove to anyone who is disbelieving that small and big changes can be combined for a big win.

The savings we had is fairly high, and the majority of that savings is going towards living beneath our means, and paying down existing debts.
It took approximately 10 hours of work. Well worth it!

Have you cut expenses? If so, where? And more importantly why?

Kelly

About Kelly

Kelly Whalen is the founder of The Centsible Life, a blog where motherhood and money meet. Her goal is to help readers live well on less. Kelly is a mom to 4, and loves that she can stay at home with her kids, and still pursue her passions for writing, personal finance, and social media. You can often find her on twitter and Facebook talking money and motherhood.

Tagged as: budget, budgeting, Money, save, saving money

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wow, that is a lot o fmoney saved. has me inspired to see what we can do with our household budget.
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http://lookinggoodmom.blogspot.com Liz

We did cut expenses this year. I just renegotiated our insurance rates without switching companies. That saved $500 on our home insurance over what I was billed for our renewal, and about $400 on our auto rates annually. Great savings!

I also started keeping a monthly budget, and it has absolutely helped with making us more concious about what we are spending for things that we don’t NEED right now.

I paid early for summer camp, getting a $10 discount per week (so that’s $120 over the camp duration) and paid a $60 camp membership fee that will save me another $30 per week over the non-member rates ($10 on the weekly rate and $20 for after-care). Of course, I had to put down a hefty deposit of over $550, but that’s where that savings account comes in handy.

Eating healthy has a side benefit – savings from packing lunches! By not spending $3-$6 per day on lunch here at work 3-4 times per week, I’m saving about $800 per year. And I’m just eating more of the groceries I already buy (so less goes to waste). In fact, I spend LESS on groceries now that I did last year, thanks to cutting out so much expensive processed/prepackaged foods.
- Kelly
  
  Liz, those are great examples of ways to save! I wonder how much it would add up to if you calculated all the savings you have found?
  
  I love that you saved so much by registering early for summer camp, that’s a great tip!
http://lookinggoodmom.blogspot.com/ Liz

We did cut expenses this year. I just renegotiated our insurance rates without switching companies. That saved $500 on our home insurance over what I was billed for our renewal, and about $400 on our auto rates annually. Great savings!

I also started keeping a monthly budget, and it has absolutely helped with making us more concious about what we are spending for things that we don’t NEED right now.

I paid early for summer camp, getting a $10 discount per week (so that’s $120 over the camp duration) and paid a $60 camp membership fee that will save me another $30 per week over the non-member rates ($10 on the weekly rate and $20 for after-care). Of course, I had to put down a hefty deposit of over $550, but that’s where that savings account comes in handy.

Eating healthy has a side benefit – savings from packing lunches! By not spending $3-$6 per day on lunch here at work 3-4 times per week, I’m saving about $800 per year. And I’m just eating more of the groceries I already buy (so less goes to waste). In fact, I spend LESS on groceries now that I did last year, thanks to cutting out so much expensive processed/prepackaged foods.
- Kelly
  
  Liz, those are great examples of ways to save! I wonder how much it would add up to if you calculated all the savings you have found?
  
  I love that you saved so much by registering early for summer camp, that’s a great tip!