Trimming Necessary Expenses

There are some things you must spend money on - food, clothing, and healthcare for example. But you don't necessarily have to spend as much as you have been. In fact, there are considerable personal finance management techniques you've probably not yet considered for trimming the "fat" in even the most vital of your regular expenses.

Food:

When possible, resist the temptation to stop at convenience stores. Buy in bulk from grocery stores and warehouses.  Often, the prices are comparably the same, but the selection is wide and you don't pay convenience fees like you would at a convenience store.

Keep in mind that grocery stores are intentionally laid out to keep you there, stocking up on impulse items, as long as they possibly can. From the placement of items with appetizing scents to the market-research dictated music chiming over the speakers, everything about the grocery store is designed to keep you there shopping longer. Stay alert to this consumerist ploy designed to get you to spend more.

When examining items that are sold by weight, compare the per-unit cost, not the total cost. The difference in quality between two cuts of meat may be minimal, while the difference in per-unit cost could be exorbitant.

Whenever available, buy the store brand version of the products you buy. The ingredients may be exactly the same and the difference in cost the result of nothing but brand name recognition and packaging. Food product manufacturers rely on consumers' ignorance and/or snobbery to get them to buy brand name products when the cheaper store brand version is identical. It's just like buying generic drugs instead of brand name drugs. Same composition,: different cost.

Health:

As we just mentioned, buying generic prescription drugs whenever possible instead of the brand name equivalent is smart personal finance management that can save you an incredible amount of money in health-related expenses. People often don't realize that, since the federal government regulates generic prescription drugs just like their brand-name counterparts, there's really no difference in quality - just cost.

Different pharmacies charge different prices for the same drugs too, so shop around. And for certain ongoing, long-term medical expenses (like insulin for a diabetic, for example), investigate mail ordering your medicines. Often you can get discounted prices on getting several months' worth of your medicines shipped to you at once.

And the fact that you get your meds delivered this way doesn't only lower the prescription medications line item in your personal finance software, but saves you on gas ordinarily expended on the commute to and from the pharmacy. Now that's twofold personal finance management.

If you smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol, be sure those costs are accounted for in your expense tracking. One of the quickest ways to slash your monthly expenses is to quit or cut back on smoking and drinking. Not only do you get to cut down (or cut out completely) that line item in your expense tracking, but your insurance costs will be lowered tooas well.

Any steps you take like these that affect more than one area of your personal finance management should be properly accounted for in  your personal finance software. The differences reflected in the bottom line will be so impressive it will only encourage you and motivate you to keep up the good work. And that kind of positive feedback is one of the best health-enhancers of all.

Lastly, the obvious - eating healthy and exercising are two ways to trim necessary expenses when you're expense tracking, as improved overall health requires fewer visits to the doctor, fewer medical emergencies, lower insurance premiums, and more energy and vitality to put towards earning a greater income.

This mode of diligent expense tracking, along with cutting down on discretionary expenses in manageable amounts, is a realistic and completely doable way of creating a surplus of money to save and spend smartly.

Kenneth C. Kelly is the President of Strativia, a financial management software development and services company specializing in applications for personal and business use.  Strativia is the developer of Budget Forecaster, a sophisticated home budget and personal finance management software package.  Website: www.strativia.com. Contact: info@strativia.com.

Budgeting & Personal Finance

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