Have you ever seen those posts over on my friend J$’s blog where he suggests that you should “challenge everything“? That idea has really hit home for me lately as I continue to look for ways to close the gap between my online income from freelancing and my monthly budget needs.
You see, I want to quit my job in the very near future as I simply don’t enjoy it anymore. Everyday that passes I find myself caring less and less about my full-time job and more and more about my online business instead. I like my online business because I get to do what I want to do when I want to do it.
I’ve thought a lot about the ramifications of quitting my job to work for myself full-time and I can’t wait to make it a reality. So I’ve been working hard, putting in extra hours, and trying to “challenge everything” in my budget. Here are 3 things that didn’t make the cut this last round of examination.
My TV Subscription
Just last week I cut the cord on my TV subscription. It was costing me between $48 and $65/month (depending on how often I called and obtained a discount on my bill) and while that’s not astronomical, every little bit helps. Now I can put that money toward better things, like debt payments or building my emergency fund, so I can quit my job that much sooner. Plus, I don’t really have time to watch TV anyway.
My Gym Membership
For a long time I was a gym membership holdout. Most personal finance blogs recommend the gym membership as one of the first things to cut from your budget so you can reallocate that money toward getting out of debt, but I was a hold out for a long time. (Good thing this isn’t a typical frugality blog then, huh?) I LOVED going to my gym 3 times/week to work out my frustrations and shut my brain off for a while. That 45 minutes was about the only time my brain wasn’t working out a problem or thinking of new business ideas.
I finally had to cut my gym membership, not because I stopped enjoying going but because I didn’t have time to go – literally.
I absolutely hate the “I don’t have time” excuse, but unlike most who use that one, I finally reached that point for real. I do hope to add this back into my budget in the future. But for now I’m putting that money toward debt and savings too.
My Entertainment and Eating Out Spending
Remember when I told you I’m not going to give up going out to eat? Well it still holds true. I still like eating out with friends and family.
It’s basically my main form of “entertainment” and while I’m not cutting it out completely, I did decide to really get serious about keeping it reasonable again. Luckily, or unluckily depending on how you look at it, my bestie S is moving away this week. While I’ll miss her like crazy, it will inevitably be good for my budget and it came just in time for me to crack down so I can quit my job soon.
There you have it folks, the 3 things I’ve cut from my budget lately.
Have you made any budget cuts lately? What are doing with that money instead of spending it? I won’t tell if you use it for shoes savings instead. 😉
