Can you believe it’s been 4-weeks since we made the first 2% cut from our budgets? We know, time flies! We hope that the first cut and the last several works working on making that cut has been fruitful and beneficial so far!
Know that it is only the beginning and great things are going to happen when we all learn to cut back a little more each month. We hope you found your cut easily and was able to implement that change.
So now it’s time for the next task and challenge and… you guessed it… it’s another 2% cut!
Last time, we really encouraged you to find the 2% cut in your grocery budget. This is often the easiest way for many households to cut first. In fact, for many households, this area of spending alone can often yield several months of 2% cuts with how many possible ways it is to save money (and eat healthy) on the grocery budget. So really, revisit last month’s 2% spending decrease article and re-read through the ideas and links regarding saving on groceries and see if you can find the second month’s cut in those ideas.
If you feel like you can’t squeeze anything else out of your grocery budget, it’s time to look at the other areas of your budget and see if there are any unnecessary bills that you really don’t need. Services, fees, other payments on things you are not using, etc. Many often think “I don’t have anywhere to cut in this area” but once they actually evaluate this, they find that they indeed had one or more bills that could be eliminated or reduced!
Anyway, that is this week’s task! Find that 2% spending decrease and implement the change!
At this point, between the 2% cut 4 weeks ago and the 2% increase last week, you should start seeing an extra 4% in your budget and this week’s task will give you even that much extra with ease and baby steps!
Resources Needed for This Week’s Challenge
You will need to find and gather the following resources to help you complete part of the challenge this week:
- Budget Sheets from Week #3
- 12-Month Monthly Summary Budget Planner from Week #7
- Calculator
- Pen
- Thinking Cap
How to Figure What 2% Cut Is?
What you need to do is figure out what this month’s 2% cut will be. It probably will not be the same as last month as you figure your 2% off your actual spending. However, it will be close to last months.
Just revisit and re-calculate for this month.
As review, we are going to use our sample calculations based on the sample budget sheets from Week #3. Referring back to these sheets – there were 3 kinds: Bills, living expenses and debts. Exclude the debts form at this point. Add up your Bills and Living Expenses Monthly total.
In our samples, we have $1265 in living expenses and $1825 in bills. This is a total of $3,090. Then you will calculate what 2% of this is by taking 3,090 x .02 = $61.80. This is showing the same example as last month, but theoretically, there may be less living expenses or bills this month after last month’s 2% cut.
But in any regard, $61.80 is our target spending decrease goal for this month using these examples! Write this on this month’s Budget Summary Printables from week #7 (again only on the current month as you are going to refigure this goal number each month).
So now that you know your target goal, evaluate where you can make this cut, based on last month’s grocery tips first and then the extra tips above to help you find a focus point!
Have fun as you see your spending drop little-by-little and goals being reached by leaps and bounds because of it.
Need to catch up? Come join us on this challenge from the very beginning by clicking on the 52-Week Take Back Your Finances Challenge and sign up to start receiving your automated challenge from the very beginning!
One final thing…we also have a Facebook Group where you can engage in discussions, receive encouragement and talk to others that are participating in the challenges too for more ideas! Head to the Be Intentional with The Thrifty Couple Facebook Page HERE and ask to join us there! You can also invite friends and spouses too!
Disclaimer: We are not licenses financial planners. We are only a couple that have been just a hair-breadth away from bankruptcy and found our way out of debt with a goal to now help others. Please make sure to consider any advice given on our site and in this challenge as tips we have used ourselves; they may not work for everyone. If you have questions please make sure to contact a licensed professional.
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