My primary goal for March is decreasing my expenditure. If you read my February Summary, you know I spent about 45.5% of my total monthly income. You would probably say I’m lucky, that I can add more than 50% of my monthly income to savings. Yes, I’m very happy because of that. But how it is possible?
• I really do have a well paid regular job,
• I have a solid income from investing on stock market,
• I still live with my parents, thus I have very low cost of living,
• I don’t have any debts,
• I’m tracking my expenses.
Anyway, there is still a lot of place for improvement. If I will go below 40% - I would say – well done. Cutting my expenses to 33.3% I would treat as a great success
What is my plan? After reviewing my expenses from February, I quite quickly found, where I can improve. I also advice you this method – track your expenses for a month. Then, at the end of the period, make a summary and try to improve at least at one thing.
I decided to set following habits for March:
No alcohol.
I’m no trying to convince anybody or even myself to stop drinking at all. I will avoid alcohol only for a month. Carnival passed; there would be fewer parties, so it looks like a good moment for this step. Mind, body and especially liver would be very happy, as well as funds.
Eat more fruit.
This one is great. I will spend less on lunch and buy more fruit. It would be cheaper, than big dishes I used to enjoy during lunch, it would be also healthier to put more fruit into my diet and instead of one big meal, eat two smaller. My fruit of choice are: bananas, kiwi and especially polish apples. I love them. What is your favorite one?
No unnecessary shopping.
I like random shopping at different media stores and shopping centers. Usually, about 2 times per month, I go and buy some unnecessary stuff. DVD’s, CDs, books, magazines, clothing, exotic food etc. These are cheap things, but I can live without them. I think it is worth to turn off this habit for at least one month.
According to my calculations, above points should be enough for me to reach my goal. I will post my results on the very beginning of April.
If you have any other simple and effective ways to reduce expenses, feel free to post them in comments. I will appreciate any feedback.
April 1st, 2008 at 7:38 pm
[...] was a peaceful month. I was focused on decreasing expenditures. According to my saving plan, I ate a lot of fruit, especially at work (I will continue with this great habit) and I avoided [...]