Major expenses – Photo by Dylan Gillis on Unsplash

Do you sometimes look at your paycheck and think, “I don’t make enough money”? You know you’re in trouble financially when your expenses are higher than your income, your spending is out of control, or you just can’t get a break with bills.

While it’s perfectly normal to consider job hunting or starting a side hustle, there are other steps you can take to give your finances a much-needed boost. Allow us to take you through five savvy strategies to help you cut down on major expenses.

Turn Health Into Wealth

One of the easiest ways to reduce your major expenses is to look for cheaper insurance options. If you take good care of your health and live responsibly, there’s no need to pay a lot of money for health insurance.

Something as simple as paying attention to your dental health will make it easier to find a cheaper insurance policy with reduced dental costs and fees. It’s also important to ensure that cheap doesn’t mean poor or ineffective. See if you can downscale without compromising your cover.

Cook For The Week

Instead of getting takeout all the time, why not cook a week’s worth of meals in one day? That way, anytime you want some dinner, you can crack out the meal of your choice and defrost it. You’ll always have fresh, healthy food on hand and you’ll reduce your energy bill by not cooking so often.

While you’re meal prepping, why not make a few meals for work too? There’s no need to waste money on fast food when you have a pre-packed lunch.

Photo by Conscious Design on Unsplash

Carpool

Not only is ride-sharing good for the environment, but it’s good for your wallet too. Why spend so much for one person to go to work?

See if you can find someone to share gas costs with. If you have colleagues in the same neighborhood as you, find out if they’re interested in carpooling.

The best part is that you won’t have to worry about delays or getting late to work because they want to keep their jobs just as much as you do!

Switch It Off

Make it a habit to switch things off when they’re not in use to conserve energy. Some appliances use a surprising amount of standby power, so make it a habit to unplug anything non-essential before you head to bed every night.

The moment you leave a room, switch off the light. If you share a living space with others, remind them to do this as well. You’ll be surprised by how much you can save on your power bill just by putting this tip into action.

Keep It Cash

In the age of online shopping and convenience, it’s hard to track every credit card swipe. Financial transactions happen so fast that we barely register having spent the money (though your bank account certainly notices).

Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels

An effective way to reduce spending and major expenses is to use envelope budgeting. This involves allocating specific amounts of cash to particular expenses and sticking to your budget.

Keep your credit cards in the deepest parts of the freezer or in a secret compartment of your house, and only take them out for financial emergencies. If you have a shopping addiction and an inability to control yourself with credit cards, it may be an idea to wean yourself off them altogether.

The most important financial lesson you can learn to cut down on major expenses is to live within your means. All of the above tips are geared towards helping you to do just that.