living | Online Savings Blog

5 Easy Ways to Cut Your Living Expenses
01.30.08 | Money | 0 Comments | by junger
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Most financial advice says that, when you're saving, you should look to cut out your extra expenses: the latte factor, eating out every night, and services you pay for but don't use (like the gym).

It's true: you absolutely should.

But at some point, you're going to cut out everything you don't use. Where do you go from there?

In reality, we spend a lot of money just living: paying for a mortgage/rent, running water, electricity, heat, air conditioning and more.

They're all crucial to living a comfortable life and they all cost money. Here are 5 easy ways to cut your living expenses.
- Turn Stuff Off When You're Not Using It
  Right now, I've got the TV on in the other room and no one is watching it. That's a complete waste of electricity. I'm going to go turn it off. Okay, I turned it off. If you don't like turning everything off all the time, consider timers for your lights and setting your computer to hibernate after 20 minutes.
- Take Shorter Showers
  It may sound like a PSA for when a drought has hit, but do you really need to take such long showers? Again, I'm guilty of this, too — especially when I need to wake up in the morning — but I've found that a good cup of coffee can make up for a shorter shower.
- Use Real Plates and Utensils
  Paper plates and plastic utensils are super convenient, but they're one-time use items (unless you wash them, which I've known people to do). If you've got real dishware and utensils, use them.
- Open Your Windows to Cool Down
  Fresh air is so much better than air conditioning, isn't it? It's also a lot cheaper. Use nature's AC the next time your house is hot and you need to cool down.
- Plan Your Meals Out in Advance
  We find we have the most success in deciding what to buy at the supermarket when we know what we're going to be eating in advance. Just like going to the supermarket hungry is a bad idea, going without knowing what you're buying is a bad idea. If you decide in advance what you're going to be eating, you'll buy exactly what you need.
What easy things are you doing to cut your living expenses?

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