I am back at it with Part 2 of our “New Year, New You” 30-Day Challenge: Tracking Your Spending!

By now, I hope you’ve been mulling over your spending and are possibly facing a little sticker shock. That’s not a bad thing – because it’s better to catch it now than feel the pain later! 

The next challenge (now that you’re tracking your spending) is to reduce your costs. 

Of course, I’ve got a few simple tips for that. 

Food, glorious food! You may have started to notice you spend a lot of money on food. You’re not alone, and in 2022 food prices are expected to be higher than ever before, thanks to inflation. 

You can save on food prices by eating out less, getting into meal planning and prepping, and really keeping an eye on sales. You can save a ton by planning your meals around what’s in the flyer of your favorite grocery stores.  

Home, sweet home. What was the biggest home-related expense this month? The water bill, electricity bill, or just the mortgage payment? There are many ways to save on your housing costs, but it’s best to work on the biggest expense first. If it happens to be the mortgage, consider making extra payments to knock down the interest and principal. 

Use your data. Once you’ve been tracking your spending for some time, you can start refining your budget (more on that in an upcoming email!). 

The biggest hit to your wallet is likely to come from eating out or housing. Focusing on those areas first will give you the most significant wins now. 

Today, I challenge you to either commit to reducing your food spending or to reducing just one of your utility expenses. 

Knowing how you spend is the easiest way to change where and why you spend.

This wraps up our tips for our “New Year, New You” 30-Day Challenge: Tracking Your Spending!

I look forward to sharing our next exciting challenge with you in our coming email – all about cutting spending meaningfully!

In the meantime, give my office a shout at 513-563-PLAN (7526) or head to my online calendar online and book a 15 minute consult. I will review your current financial goals and offer the best ways to keep you on track today and in the future!