Squeezing a Little More out of our Budget

March 19, 2025

Economic conditions are increasingly volatile and stressful, and that is the perfect time to take a deep dive into our budget, look for leaks, cut where we can, and build our financial defenses.

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OK, that’s $25/month saved by cutting one streaming service and changing another to the plan with ads. Then $2 more/month by paying my car and home insurance in full rather than monthly. Spent $100 on exercise equipment but will be saving $40/month by cancelling that rarely used gym membership. That’s about $67/month, not much but…wait a minute, that comes out to over $800/year! If we sell a few things that are gathering dust, we can raise a couple hundred more…

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Sorry, you caught me taking the family spending plan out behind the woodshed. I review my budget regularly, but this time I did it with a bit more urgency and concentration because 1) we are trying to carve out funds to put toward the next family vacation 2) food prices are moving again and 3) that uneasy feeling about the economy is hard to ignore.

I’ve been known to yammer about the connections between personal finance and economics…maybe even offering a few posts in this blog on the subject.

And it seems that econ is actively pounding on our collective doors, proclaiming its relevance and demanding to be heard. Yes, the phrase, “…in these uncertain economic times” has been beat to dust, overused and misused until it’s completely ignorable. But this time…well, it’s hard to ignore the numbers, in writing, plastered on the wall.

Is a recession imminent? It seems likely, but I’ll also say that at the beginning of 2024 most economists said we’d see a recession by the middle of last year, and that did not even come close to happening. So, right now, we don’t know.

What we do know is that we consumers are getting hit from all sides with rising prices, stock market slumps, and threats to the employment picture, both from the private and public sectors. Add it all up and GDP is likely to take a hit this year, and sooner rather than later.

So, as I always say, “when economics makes you fidget, it’s time to tighten the budget.” Honestly, I just made that up, but it’s true!

Goldilock$ Budgeting

Other than the bottom line – spend less than you make – there is not really one approach to budgeting that fits everyone. Age, income, lifestyle, stage of life, and the reasons for reviewing/adjusting a budget are all a part of deciding how to get it just right.

Let’s start with the why. Defining the problem (or opportunity) leads to best steps to get the most out of our budget. This is not a comprehensive list, but it does cover several classic situations. It’s also possible that a combination of these is a match.

• Trying to make ends meet, must make cuts and shift priorities right away
• Need to build emergency fund
• Want to begin saving/investing
• Want to increase or redirect saving/investing
• Not happy with where money is going, want to make trades

After identifying the reason for examining your spending plan, you can then take steps towards your goal(s).

There are always choices when it comes to trimming a budget. The question is whether we want to make those choices and will we change our behavior to match our goals.

Tips on squeezing a few bucks from that budget:

• Quick savings can often be found with streaming services. I recently told one provider that I was cancelling because it wasn’t worth $24/month. They said, “How about our $8/month plan? There are a few ads.” Deal. $16/month savings.
• Food: I’ve recently started grilling pineapple as an occasional meat substitute. Great taste and about half the price/pound of meat. What changes can you make?
• Gas: when tough choices must be made, cutting down on driving should be at the top of the list. Look into shorter drives, local tourism, more walking, etc.
• There is out of pocket risk by raising insurance deductibles, but if your emergency fund is in place, you can save hundreds/year with higher auto and home deductibles.
• Side gig$ & yard $ales: a friend recently told me about his four hour/week job at a local gym. He originally did it to use the gym, but after the first month he got a charge when he realized he made an extra $250 by using time that he probably would have spent watching TV.
• Stop a budget leak and immediately redirect the money into automated savings or investment account – financial and psychological benefits abound.
• Connecting to my Goldilock$ budgeting comment above, this video by Ramit Sethi is interesting in that it looks at financial strategies by income level.

Finally, feel the power in small changes.

• Make five small changes that save you an average of $7 each. That is $35/month, which can also be expressed as $420/year.
• Sell a handful of items for $75.
• Find a side gig, at 10 hours per month, that’s about $1800/year.
• Redirect that $2000/year to what you want or what you need. 

Most of us cannot affect the economic wheels spinning around us. However, most of us can affect our own mini economy, and that in turn can make a not-so-mini difference.