Little Expenses Add Up Quickly: The Savings Pledge Series!

Of course it is very important to focus on saving money on those expenses that take up the largest portions of our budget (such as rent or mortgage payments, utilities, dinning out, and groceries), but it is also vital that we not forget about all the little expenses. It is the little expenses that can creep in to a budget and ever so slowly eat up the savings that you are gaining on the “big” items.

What little items am I talking about? Here are a few:

-Dinning out a couple times each week.

-Picking up a few extra items at a garage sale that you don’t really need.

-Paying extra for a name brand item that is identical to the store brand.

-Paying for beauty treatments that you might be able to do yourself at home.

-Adding a few extra items in the grocery cart that are not necessities.

-Spending extra money on gas and putting extra mileage on your car due to poor planning.

-Waiting until the last moment and paying full price for a gift or card instead of looking for a deal beforehand.

Today, I want to encourage you all to be a little more vigilant of identifying and eliminating those “little” expenses that are hiding in the corner of your budget. Make sure that the expense is something that you really want to be spending money on. If it is, great, no problem there…but if it isn’t, take a few moments to come up with a plan to eliminate the expense going forward. It is so important that we allow ourselves some freedom to spend a little on those “wants” of life, but not if they are going to negatively impact our ability to meet the “needs” of our family.

This post is part of the Bargain Blessings Savings Pledge series. If you have not already made your savings pledge, please do so and follow along with this series for lots more tips on how you can meet that pledge. Below is a list of the topics that I have covered so far. If you have any suggestions on future topics please e-mail me or leave it in the comments section.