{"id":1203,"date":"2020-05-12T13:36:43","date_gmt":"2020-05-12T18:36:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.creditaid.ca\/blog\/?p=1203"},"modified":"2020-05-12T13:41:28","modified_gmt":"2020-05-12T18:41:28","slug":"how-to-cut-your-expenses-to-stretch-your-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.creditaid.ca\/blog\/2020\/05\/12\/how-to-cut-your-expenses-to-stretch-your-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Cut your Expenses to Stretch your Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Money may have become tighter for more and more families. Whether you\u2019ve gone through your savings already or you\u2019re worried about what is yet to come, it\u2019s important to know where you can cut your expenses to save money right now.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While each family has different expenses and areas they can cut, we share some of our top tips to cut your expenses below.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Trim the Entertainment<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, we are all bored sitting at home, but there\u2019s no reason to go overboard right now. Entertainment is probably one of the easiest areas to cut in your life. Consider cutting:<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Subscriptions \u2013 How many subscriptions do you have? Do you use them, especially right now? Cutting your monthly subscriptions could save you significant money right now.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Movie streaming services \u2013 How many streaming services do you need? Can you cut it down to one main service that has most of what you need?&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Shopping \u2013 While we can\u2019t go to many of our favorite stores, online shopping can be just as dangerous, if not worse. Shopping when you\u2019re bored can lead to excessive and needless spending.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n\n\n<p><strong>Cutting Food Expenses<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You have to eat, but that doesn\u2019t mean you have to overspend on it. Here are a few areas you can trim the fat:<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Eating out \u2013 Use this time to hone your cooking skills at home and stop eating out.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Make lists \u2013 Plan your meals so that you don\u2019t overspend. Once you plan your meals, make a list of all of the ingredients you need and stick to your list.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Make foods from scratch \u2013 Rather than buying processed foods, consider making some of your favorite foods from scratch. Not only will it save you money, but it will give you something to do too.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cutting Miscellaneous Expenses<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other areas you can cut your expenses include:<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Avoid using credit cards \u2013 The last thing you need right now is interest charges on your expenses. Try avoiding using credit cards at all costs.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Avoid late payments \u2013 If you can\u2019t make a payment on time, contact your creditor. Right now, many companies are letting late payments go if let them know you\u2019ve been affected by COVID-19, take advantage of this help.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Ask for mortgage assistance \u2013 If you can\u2019t get your mortgage paid, consider mortgage assistance. Many lenders are deferring payments or offering other options that help you avoid excessive late fees and penalties while keeping your home safe.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Now is the time to keep as much money as you can. The financial lives of so many families are uncertain. It\u2019s time to simplify your life, cut out all unnecessary expenses, and sacrifice for the time being. This won\u2019t last forever and before we know it, we\u2019ll be back at work and making money, but until then, it\u2019s time to be financially savvy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Money may have become tighter for more and more families. Whether you\u2019ve gone through your savings already or you\u2019re worried about what is yet to come, it\u2019s important to know where you can cut your expenses to save money right now. While each family has different expenses and areas they can cut, we share some &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.creditaid.ca\/blog\/2020\/05\/12\/how-to-cut-your-expenses-to-stretch-your-budget\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;How to Cut your Expenses to Stretch your Budget&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.creditaid.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1203"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.creditaid.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.creditaid.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.creditaid.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.creditaid.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1203"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.creditaid.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1208,"href":"https:\/\/www.creditaid.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1203\/revisions\/1208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.creditaid.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.creditaid.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.creditaid.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}