{"id":13780,"date":"2025-04-19T05:47:54","date_gmt":"2025-04-19T05:47:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=13780"},"modified":"2025-04-19T05:47:54","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T05:47:54","slug":"asked-on-reddit-how-should-i-trim-my-monthly-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=13780","title":{"rendered":"Asked on Reddit: How Should I Trim My Monthly Budget?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. SS, Inc. does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Over on Reddit, a user recently asked for budgeting advice. After itemizing their current budget, the user was hoping to make cuts to their monthly spending and find a way to save more money. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The user said they brought in just over $3,300 in a month and spent about $2,600 on fixed costs, such as rent and insurance, along with line items for groceries and entertainment. The rest was for debt payment, leaving nothing for savings.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Applying the <\/span>50\/30\/20 budget<\/span> \u2014 which suggests that 50% of take-home pay should go toward needs, 30% toward wants and 20% toward savings and debt payments beyond the minimums \u2014 the user was right on track, except for the savings and debt payments category.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Reddit responders had some good money-saving ideas, including switching to a <\/span>cheaper cell phone plan<\/span> and cutting back on extras, like car washes, electronics and fitness classes. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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We turned to financial experts for their thoughts on the topic.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Prioritize an emergency fund<\/span><\/h2>\n
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The financial experts we interviewed agreed that a budgeter\u2019s top priority should be building an emergency fund. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s very risky to have such a tight budget if you don\u2019t have an emergency fund saved up,\u201d says Kristen Vernace, certified financial planner and founder of Pathways Financial Planning in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIf you don\u2019t have the cushion, one unexpected expense can throw everything off,\u201d she adds. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Filip Telibasa, CFP and owner of Benzina Wealth in Sarasota, Florida, agrees. He suggests pausing extra debt payments beyond the minimum to focus on setting aside at least one month\u2019s worth of emergency savings. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Then, if there is a rainy day event, it doesn\u2019t put you into a deeper hole, he says.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Once one month\u2019s worth of expenses is set aside, you can consider prioritizing high-interest debt before accumulating an even bigger savings cushion. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cYou might be increasingly motivated to add more money to the account,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Spend less, even if just temporarily<\/span><\/h2>\n
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To build up that emergency fund, we need to find a way to adjust spending to throw more into <\/span>savings<\/span> each month, Vernace says. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s hard when almost all your income is earmarked for something and you don\u2019t have any wiggle room,\u201d she says. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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To overcome that problem, she suggests combing through every single line item on your credit or debit card statements to find areas to trim.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ideas include asking your internet or cable provider for a better rate, cancelling some subscriptions and even switching to a lower-cost housing rental. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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These measures don\u2019t need to be permanent, but just until you achieve a more financially stable state, says Daniel Milks, CFP and founder of Woodmark Advisors in Greenville, South Carolina. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cMy suggestions would be to really buckle down for a short period, maybe six to 12 months, and get aggressive about cleaning this up,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Canceling all non-essential subscriptions and memberships is a good place to start, he adds.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThis doesn\u2019t have to be a forever lifestyle. It\u2019s about making short-term sacrifices now to create long-term flexibility later,\u201d Milks says. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Aggressively pay off high-interest debt<\/span><\/h2>\n
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With a basic emergency fund taken care of, high-interest debt can be a higher priority, Telibasa says. He says if the interest rate is in the double digits \u2014 which is common with credit card debt \u2014 then you\u2019ll want to prioritize paying it off as soon as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe whole idea is opportunity cost. Do we feel we could earn more than the interest rate if we put these funds elsewhere, like a 401(k) plan or a Roth IRA or a savings account?\u201d he asks. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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If the interest is in the double digits, then the answer is probably not. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Bring in more income<\/span><\/h2>\n
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While the idea of <\/span>\u00a0bringing in more income<\/span> can be daunting, Vernace says it\u2019s sometimes a relatively easy lift. One of her clients babysits dogs while she\u2019s working at home, which is work she enjoys, and brings in extra cash. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Vernace suggests looking for side jobs that allow you to retain control of your schedule, such as those you can do from home. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt can take you from a tight situation to one that\u2019s comfortable and give you more breathing room,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Get more financial clarity with SS<\/span><\/p>\n

Monitor your credit, track your spending and see all of your finances together in a single place. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Look ahead to new habits<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Establishing new saving and spending patterns can be a \u201clearning opportunity,\u201d Milks says. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cYou can take it as a wake-up call and make lasting changes to avoid falling into the same trap again,\u201d he adds. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Reddit is an online forum where users share their thoughts in \u201cthreads\u201d on various topics. The popular site includes plenty of discussion on financial subjects like saving and budgeting, so we sifted through Reddit forums to get a pulse check on how users feel about trimming spending. People post anonymously, so we cannot confirm their individual experiences or circumstances.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. SS, Inc. does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments. Over on Reddit, a user recently asked for budgeting advice. After itemizing their current budget, the user<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[195],"tags":[675,459,2688,5705,5706],"class_list":{"0":"post-13780","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-asked","9":"tag-budget","10":"tag-monthly","11":"tag-reddit","12":"tag-trim"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}