A Balanced Approach to Cutting Back

February 22, 2023

As a financial planner, I enjoy listening to other financial planners. I love when they discuss strategies to help people get out of debt and better manage their money. Although I agree with many of the money management strategies, it strikes me that some approaches are extreme. Additionally, many common strategies have little room for a more balanced approach.

For those knee-deep in a financial crisis, I agree that drastic financial cutbacks are needed to climb out of an emergency. There may be a better approach for others not in crisis but need ways to save and pay off debt. I always tell people to gauge what strategy will keep them consistent in paying off debts and saving more. The more extreme you cut back, the quicker you will reach your goals. However, you can still reach your goals and enjoy some of the extras in life with a little modification:

Cable and Streaming Services

I do agree that cable is a want, not a need. However, perhaps watching football or the Real Housewives of “insert city here” is one of the joys in your life. In that case, consider reducing your cable plan to a cheaper streaming service covering your most watched channels. Better yet, look at cable alternatives such as Sling TV or Playstation Vue, where you can watch your favorite cable channel shows in real time. Or rotate your “extra” streaming services so you’re constantly binging the hottest show.

Eating out

Again, if you are in a financial crisis and are seriously behind on your bills, you may have to eliminate eating out. However, if this isn’t the case, and you can’t seem to stop eating out, consider simply cutting back. If you spend an average of $20 eating out and cut it 2x weekly, that’s $40 a week, $160 a month that can go towards saving for emergencies or paying down debt. If you have a typical weekday at work that you work longer or a day where your kids have a lot of after-school activities, you could make those eating-out days (give yourself a budget) and still save towards your financial goals.

Entertainment

Consider some modifications if you are single and going out is your main social activity. For example, you can order an appetizer or a small salad if you eat before going out with friends. Your wallet will thank you. Better yet, skipping drinks with your meal or having only one cocktail with your friends can save even more money.

If you enjoy going to movies, check to see if your employer offers movie ticket discounts. Look for deals using websites like Groupon or Living Social, or search for dollar movies in your area. If you go to a big event, consider either not buying food since it is so expensive or getting the kids’ options, which are cheaper but still give you your food fix.

Cutting back doesn’t have to mean extreme deprivation. As you can see, you can still enjoy your life and save money. The key is looking for certain areas to cut back in and modifying the areas that matter most to you so you can save money with a more balanced approach.

The Secret Financial Power of Home Cooking

December 12, 2016

If you could save an extra $500 per month or more by doing just one thing differently, would you do it? Think about what you could do with that $500: pay off your student loans or credit cards, save for a home purchase or home renovation, power up your retirement account or even take a fabulous vacation. If you’re like many Americans who are feeling squeezed for cash to apply to your big goals, there is one simple thing you can do to save a lot more money – cook and eat at home.

I’m as guilty as the rest of us. While I love to cook, I am the first one to order a pizza when the time crunch of work, kids and activities gets crazy. Plus, as an extrovert who works from home most of the time, I enjoy taking my computer to a café so I can see some actual humans.

The keys are 1) moderation – set an “eating out” maximum for the month and 2) preparation – plan to eat at home and shop in advance for ingredients. Need motivation? Here’s how much you could save:

Save money on breakfast

Let’s take a typical breakfast on the go: a ham, egg and cheese sandwich on an English muffin with a cup of gourmet coffee for $5. Eat that every day and you’ll spend $35 per week. How to cut this down?

Cook your eggs. Making your egg sandwich at home could cost you as little as $1.00 if you kept all the ingredients on hand and cooked from scratch (not to mention that it might taste a lot better). Your savings per week? $28 or $1,456 per year.

Brew your own coffee. You don’t have to sacrifice coffee quality. My serious Nespresso habit costs me about a dollar per day and I save the pricier coffee shop brew for when I’m out meeting friends.

Buy prepared in bulk. Even reheating a breakfast sandwich in the microwave and brewing a coffee pod would only cost about $2.50 or less per meal. Your savings per week: $17.50 or $910 per year.

Save money on dinner

Unplanned take-out food is the easiest place to fall off the wagon when it comes to your meal budget. For a single person, take-out Chinese food or a pizza dinner would cost about $15-$20 depending on where you live, and you’ll get two meals out of it. For a family of four, a take-out meal costs about $40.

Stock your pantry and fridge for easy meals. Having a well-stocked pantry and fridge is like having money in the bank because you’ll always have ingredients on hand to pull together a quick and easy meal. See the Food Network’s list of essentials to keep on hand and these suggestions from Real Simple magazine for easy meals you can make in a hurry.

Making dinner at home can save you about $7 to $15 per person. Replace just one person’s meal out per week with a home-cooked version and you’ll save $364 to $780 annually. That’s $1,456 to $3,120 for a family of four.

Use your slow cooker. My slow cooker is my favorite piece of equipment in my kitchen. I load it up with ingredients in the morning, turn it on, and presto! There’s dinner at 5 pm.  See this list of easy recipes from Cooking Light.

Save money on lunch

A typical lunch on the go costs $10-$15. Sure, you’ll want to eat out occasionally with co-workers in order to connect and have a change of scenery, but you don’t have to do it every day. How much can you save from bringing your lunch?

Bring leftovers. What better thing to bring for lunch than last night’s yummy leftovers? Bring a hot lunch of leftovers just once a week and save $520 to $780 per year.

Stock sandwich ingredients at home. You can make 5 tuna subs at home for the cost of buying a single one at the sub shop. Your savings? About $28 per week or $1,456 per year.

Save money on snacks

That mid-afternoon latte and muffin or trip to the smoothie shop can cost you $3 to $7 per day easily. Buy snacks you like in bulk and keep them in the office to save $520 to $1,300 per year. If you’ve got kids, you’ll save even more by keeping a cooler in your car stocked with healthy snacks to keep the hungry hoard at bay.

It doesn’t have to be all or nothing

I’m not suggesting that you should never eat out again. Rather, be mindful of how much you are spending on food out and set some limits. If you’re saving for a big goal or trying to pay down debts, this is an easy and almost painless place to cut back on your spending. Your return on your investment for preparation and cooking – or even just reheating — is high. That’s the secret financial power of home cooking.

 

Do you have a question you’d like answered on the blog? Please email me at [email protected]. You can follow me on the blog by signing up here, and on Twitter @cynthiameyer_FF.

 

How Not to Eat Your Retirement

September 27, 2016

“I am eating my retirement.”  This was my friend’s reaction finding out that she was spending about $1,000 a month eating out by organizing transactions in her online account. She told me that she wants to eat at home but struggles to grocery shop and meal plan. I told her that with a few online tools and kitchen gadgets, we can come up with a plan to get her to eat at home more.

If your cooking skills involve menus as opposed to recipes, use online tools to create recipes. If you are fine buying the food but need help with organizing recipes online, tools like Big Oven can help. If you need help coming up with recipes, tools like Emeals will deliver recipes for all types of cooking and food preferences. If you struggle with recipes and food shopping, websites like Blue Apron not only provide the food and recipes. You can also make enough so part of your dinner can be the next day’s lunch.

Slow cookers are awesome for making easy healthy, meals. Crockpot.com has a ton of recipes on their website. You can prep, freeze and dump the ingredients in the night before, turn on the Crockpot and come home to a great meal.

Indoor grills are a lifesaver. I can cook delicious grilled chicken, turkey burgers and fish in a few minutes. It is also almost fool proof. You simply turn on the grill, spray oil, sprinkle a few spices, slap the chicken on the grill and in about 10 minutes, you have restaurant quality chicken breasts. Many are no stick so the cleanup is a breeze.

Spices can make or break a meal. If you are not sure what spices to use, websites like Cooksmart offer great guides to picking spices. Check out your local spice store (mine is Penzey) for blended spices and even guidance on what to choose.

Are you eating your retirement? Thankfully, saving money on food doesn’t have to cost a lot of time anymore. In this day and age, technology, a few kitchen tools and spices can make planning and cooking meals at home easy.

How to Spend Less On Eating Out

June 28, 2016

We all know eating out less can save us money. It sounds easy but at times, it can be hard to execute, especially with late work days, kids’ activities and frankly, days where I would rather have a root canal than step foot in my kitchen to cook. If this sounds like you, here are ways you can have your budgeting cake and eat it too:

1. Set an “eating out” budget. I find eating out is such a big budget buster because like with a diet, most people have good intentions but cheat. Just accept the fact that you will eat out occasionally and budget an amount of money you will spend on it. It may be $10 for breakfast, $10 for lunch and $10-20 for dinner as a starting point. Consider committing to brown bagging it four days out of the week and eat out with friends on Friday and/or on the weekend.

2. Come up with strategies to reduce your eating out costs. If you are the group organizer, you have the home court advantage. Choose a place that costs less. Even better, consider using websites like Groupon or Living Social to scope out coupons.

If you have a spouse or significant other, consider splitting a plate. You wallet and your waist line will thank you. Save money on drinks by drinking water. At $2 each, that is an $8 saving for a family of four and $416 over a year.

If you have kids, take advantage of kids eat free programs. If you have a family with hungry little ones, consider using websites like MyKidsEatFree.com or FrugalLivingTV to find programs. Plan out your day and look for places where kids can eat for free near you. Alternatively, this may be hard, but if you can get your kids to agree on the same meal, you can also have them split an adult meal.

3. Use grocery store prepared meals as a compromise.  You are technically eating at home with a prepared meal.  Stores like Whole Foods and Publix have fully prepared meals that you can heat up for a few minutes and have a meal with minimum kitchen time.

Yes, you can have your cake and eat it too. Just remember that your cake has limits. Budget the amounts, plan your eating out days and enjoy!

 

5 Ways to Make the Most of Eating Out

February 25, 2016

Over the last few weeks, I’ve written about ways to save money on “fixed” expenses as well as discretionary expenses like travel. Another big discretionary expense for many people (me included) is dining out. Yes, we can prepare food at home more often (which is also healthier) but what about for those times that we want to eat out? Here are some ways to reduce the cost and make the most of the money you do spend: Continue reading “5 Ways to Make the Most of Eating Out”

How I Got My Teenage Niece to Save

July 28, 2015

Have you ever tried talking to a 19 year old about financially preparing for her future, especially one that considers shopping to be a way to serve her country? I was talking to my niece about getting her financial house in order. She actually tried to rationalize to me that shopping was really helping the economy out. Continue reading “How I Got My Teenage Niece to Save”

Simple Ways to Save Money and Lose Weight at the Same Time

July 31, 2014

We’re a little past halfway through the year so now’s as good a time as any to check in on how those New Year’s Resolutions are going. If you’re like most people, there’s a good chance your resolutions involved losing weight, saving money, or both. Well, here are some simple ways to do both at the same time. Continue reading “Simple Ways to Save Money and Lose Weight at the Same Time”

Eating Out Can Take a Big Bite Out of the Budget

November 26, 2013

I took a call last week from a frazzled father of two young kids who was stressing over his budget. He made good money but was living paycheck to paycheck and still coming up short some months, which meant charging some things on his credit card.  After reviewing his monthly expenses, what jumped out was the fact that his family was spending over $500 a month on eating out,  and many of these meals ended up on his Visa card.  His wife worked part-time and felt like between working and dealing with the kids, she had no time to make dinner, so they’d head out to a restaurant at least four times a week.  Not only is this expensive, but eating out is usually not good for our health either.  Continue reading “Eating Out Can Take a Big Bite Out of the Budget”

Even a 14-Year Old Can Understand Dollars and Sense

May 29, 2013

This week’s blog post comes from a very special author: my 14-year old daughter.  As a parent, you always wonder if your children are listening and as my pediatrician would always reassure my wife and I, they hear us just fine.  Proof of this can sometimes come in the most unexpected of ways.  Continue reading “Even a 14-Year Old Can Understand Dollars and Sense”

4 Ways to Save Money on Valentine’s Day

February 13, 2013

Although it may seem like we just rang in the new year, Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. You and your loved one always deserve to celebrate, but the last thing you want to do this early in the year is fall into credit card debt. So if your checkbook suffered a setback over Christmas, you may want to rethink your spending strategy on this day of love. Continue reading “4 Ways to Save Money on Valentine’s Day”

Get Rid of Your “Monopoly Iron”

February 08, 2013

I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve played the game Monopoly. It’s such a classic, and I had no idea that they eventually get rid of (OK, “retire…”) game pieces. They are retiring the iron now and replacing it with a cat! I’m a dog person and have been known to wear some wrinkled clothing, so I really prefer the iron to a cat…but it wasn’t my decision! And it did take me down a different thought path. Continue reading “Get Rid of Your “Monopoly Iron””

Are Your Brackets AND Your Budget Busted?

March 23, 2012

Last weekend, Lehigh beat Duke in the NCAA basketball tournament.  Norfolk State beat Missouri.  Ohio University (a small school), not Ohio State (the behemoth), beat the University of Michigan.  Several serious underdogs beat overwhelming favorites.  These were all David vs. Goliath games and 3 of the little Davids won.  That made a lot of alumni at those schools very happy.  Is there any downside?  Only if you are one of the tens of millions of people in this country who, for entertainment purposes only, fill out an NCAA Tournament bracket.  These games are what basketball fans, and non-basketball fans, who fill out NCAA brackets (for those who are unfamiliar, your bracket picks winners of each game up through and including the championship game) call “bracket busters.”  For example, if you had Duke vs. Missouri in the championship game, your bracket is essentially finished before the action has started.  I had Missouri as a team in my Final Four, so my bracket is toast.  Oh well, there’s always next year…. Continue reading “Are Your Brackets AND Your Budget Busted?”

Why Adults Need Allowances Too

September 01, 2011

In previous blog posts, I covered each of the “fixed” expenses and how you can cut back on them to save more for your goals.  This leaves discretionary expenses like food, entertainment, and shopping that you have more control over on a day-to-day basis.  The problem here is that because the amount we spend on these items tends to change so much from month to month, they can actually be harder to manage.

There are lots of tips out there for how you can save money in these areas.   Continue reading “Why Adults Need Allowances Too”