How to curb household spending

Many households are now having to cut expenses and are living paycheck to paycheck. Whether the cause is the credit crunch, or it is a new addition to the family, there are ways in which you can curb your household expenses in order to have some money left at the end of the month.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Get receipts for everything everyone in your family is purchasing. Did you subscribe to HBO and still go to Blockbuster or Netflix to rent a movie? Do you go to the movies 4 times a month on top of that? Now you're paying for the same service 3 times. You could either cut HBO and the number of family outings and stick to renting, or keep HBO, stop renting and only go to the movies twice a month. This does not require a lot of sacrifice, and is not too harsh. But you have to remember that in tough financial times, you have to allocate resources to where they need to go.
   Remember that movies are coming out on DVD soon after they're gone from the movies, and they are premiering on HBO and Cinemax very soon as well.

2. Have you been paying for services you don't really need or could do yourself? A lot of times, you subscribe to services like caller ID, call forwarding, call waiting that you do not really use or need. The money you save on that (and I know, $10 doesn't seem like much) could be saved. If you cut even only $10 a month, you are saving $120 a year.
   Also, are you paying for someone to take care of your lawn? Are you paying for a car wash? These are things you could do yourself and save during tough times.

3. Try and cut on the essentials as well. Devise a budget for your groceries, for your electricity and gas and stick to it. Is there somewhere that you usually drive, but you could be walking or cycling there? This will save you some gas money. When doing groceries, buy items that are on sale, and sometimes switch to the supermarket brand.
   Try getting by doing laundry only once or twice per week (if your family size allows for that), and maximize the number of times a piece of clothing is worn before it needs to be washed. Do not turn the AC on until you just can't take it anymore, use curtains and blinds to your advantage, by keeping the sun out of the house, you keep the excess heat out.

4. Make sure you know where every penny is being spent. If you know exactly where your money is going, it is harder spending it on the wrong things.