5 good ways to reduce excess spending

At Super-Advice we are about all things financial, but more importantly, helping people understand so they can get ahead financially.

In a time of inflation, in a cost of living crisis, when mortgage payments are going up and rents are going up, the groceries are going up and everything’s getting a little bit scary. You need to reduce your expenses

In today’s blog post, we share with you five ways to reduce excess spending.

Create a budget

Our number one and our most talked about tip is to create a budget.

You need to know.

So start tracking your income and your expenses so you can get an accurate picture of your financial situation, get your partner involved. Then create a budget with your partner involved that takes into account your income and your fixed expenses like rent, utilities, and your debt payments. And we always want to get those debt payments GONE eventually. And set aside a specific amount for variable expenses like groceries and entertainment, transportation, and stick to your budget as closely as possible.

Cut unnecessary expenses

I mean, this is pretty obvious, but when you’re reviewing your expenses, you identify areas where you can cut back, cancel your subscriptions that you no longer use, or that you hardly ever use, get rid of them, eat out less, or use my little trick where you share a main at a restaurant like a Thai restaurant or an Indian restaurant where it’s easier to do,

Reduce your energy consumption

Get your discipline pumping and your habits forming. Flick those lights off, you know, open a door, don’t turn the aircon on. Things like that.

Switch to cheaper brands

This is something that you need discipline for.Don’t worry about grocery shopping with value brands overflowing your shopping trolley. Don’t care what other people think.

So switch to cheaper brands.

Don’t let what other people think keep you buying things you shouldn’t, and only buy what you need.

Shop around for better deals

I mean, all this stuff seems quite obvious, but I’m just reiterating it for you. When it comes to services, like insurance, phone plans, pay tv, and streaming services, it pays to shop around for better deals. Research different providers. It’s so easy to do with your phone or your laptop, check their rates.

There’s even comparison websites everywhere for things like power and phone and all that. So just spend some time having a look, you’ll definitely benefit from it. And you should be able to find cheaper options. It’s actually really easy if you can motivate yourself just to do it.

Negotiate with the people who you owe money to

If you have debt, you may be able to negotiate with your creditors to reduce the interest rates or the payment amounts. All you’ve gotta do is ask. The worst they can say is, no!! So reach out, and explain your situation.

I’ve given a lot of people this advice and it works and ask if they will work with you to find a solution. Really, what you’re asking for is to bring your prices down. Remember, you are the customer!!! They want you as a customer so negotiate!

Increase your income

Another way to reduce your expenses is to go to the other side of the equation and increase your income.

Look for ways to earn more money, such as maybe trying a side hustle, maybe some freelancing, hopefully, there’s always the option to work overtime or to go and learn something new so that you are better, and your employer will happily pay you more money because you’re worth more. The more money you have coming in, the easier it is to cover your expenses.

No more debt

As you go through your working life and you get a pay rise, don’t just allocate it to debt.

No debt means that you’ll never have problems in a recession unless you lose your job.

That’s always a possibility. When you are in a high-interest rate environment, the reserve bank puts interest rates up as they want to stop you spending.

The more debt you have, your debt payments grow as interest rates rise, less money for you.

So no debt. Makes life a lot easier. Hope that helps.