5 effective ways to cut down your monthly budget

Inflation is skyrocketing and if you live in the UK, you have rising energy costs to worry about as well. Sadly, wages haven’t gone up to commensurate with the spike in cost of living. Surviving financially is down to one thing, cost-cutting. There are painless ways to slash your monthly expenses without sacrificing every little thing that give you pleasure.

Buy store brands

You’ve probably noticed a bump in your grocery bill. Maybe it’s time to consider swapping private-label products for generic ones as this could save you some quids at the supermarket checkout. Let’s be honest, the quality may not be the same in some products, but it’s usually identical, according to Reader’s Digest.

This is true of hundreds of items, including patent medicines, food, household items, and more.

Eating out

The average Brit spends £2,659 on dining out every year, a breakdown of 12 meals a month. The convenience and simple joy of not having to worry about cooking and doing the dishes is quite priceless. But if you are cutting cost, you might want to look at your meals out budget. You could plan to take lunch to work or school more often. And find free recipes online to spruce up for meals, according to lifehack.org

Drift to Thrift

You don’t have to break the bank to look good or keep up with fashion trends. You can get designer items for close to nothing; you can find cheap and quality items that you can upcycle. You can find current fashion in thrift stores or check out online alternatives to your local thrift store, Reader’s Digest.

Track every penny

It might not feel like it, but those £2 purchases do add up fast especially if you do it unconsciously every day. This lifehack.org article suggests:

Be mindful of where you’re spending your pennies and write down everything you spend for a month—you can then see where to cut costs in the future.

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