{"id":1067,"date":"2019-01-06T10:39:02","date_gmt":"2019-01-06T10:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/?p=1067"},"modified":"2019-01-18T18:03:17","modified_gmt":"2019-01-18T18:03:17","slug":"how-to-live-below-your-means","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Live Below Your Means The Right Way"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/How-To-Live-Below-Your-Means-The-Right-Way-pinterest-683x1024.webp 683w,https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/How-To-Live-Below-Your-Means-The-Right-Way-pinterest-200x300.webp 200w,https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/How-To-Live-Below-Your-Means-The-Right-Way-pinterest-13x20.webp 13w,https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/How-To-Live-Below-Your-Means-The-Right-Way-pinterest.webp 735w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" type=\"image\/webp\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/How-To-Live-Below-Your-Means-The-Right-Way-pinterest-683x1024.png\" height=\"1024\" width=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/How-To-Live-Below-Your-Means-The-Right-Way-pinterest-683x1024.png 683w, https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/How-To-Live-Below-Your-Means-The-Right-Way-pinterest-200x300.png 200w, https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/How-To-Live-Below-Your-Means-The-Right-Way-pinterest-13x20.png 13w, https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/How-To-Live-Below-Your-Means-The-Right-Way-pinterest.png 735w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" class=\"wp-image-1084 sp-no-webp\" alt=\"how-to-live-below-your-means\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  > <\/picture><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"\/manage-money\/managingliving\/\">Living below your means<\/a> is definitely possible. Often, it&#8217;s just a matter of making different choices.<br><br>Most of us spend a significant amount of money on everyday items killing the possibility of achieving financial freedom. Here are some suggested ways to get started.<br><strong><br><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Take_Control_Of_Your_Money\"><\/span><strong>Take&nbsp;Control&nbsp;Of&nbsp;Your&nbsp;Money<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_65 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-662cb8abde557\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #3d3d3d;color:#3d3d3d\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #3d3d3d;color:#3d3d3d\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-662cb8abde557\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/#Take_Control_Of_Your_Money\" title=\"Take&nbsp;Control&nbsp;Of&nbsp;Your&nbsp;Money\">Take&nbsp;Control&nbsp;Of&nbsp;Your&nbsp;Money<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/#Money_Ying-Yang\" title=\"Money Ying-Yang\">Money Ying-Yang<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/#Simplified_Money_Tracking\" title=\"Simplified Money Tracking\">Simplified Money Tracking<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/#Start_Saving_Today\" title=\"Start Saving Today\">Start Saving Today<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/#Separate_Your_Medical_Insurance_Plans\" title=\"Separate Your Medical Insurance Plans\">Separate Your Medical Insurance Plans<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/#Live_Off_One_Income\" title=\"Live Off One Income\">Live Off One Income<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/#Benefits_Of_Living_Off_One_Income\" title=\"Benefits Of Living Off One Income\">Benefits Of Living Off One Income<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/#Steps_To_Living_Off_Of_One_Income\" title=\"Steps To Living Off Of One Income\">Steps To Living Off Of One Income<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/#Reduce_Subscriptions\" title=\"Reduce Subscriptions\">Reduce Subscriptions<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/#Reduce_Mandatory_Expenses\" title=\"Reduce Mandatory Expenses\">Reduce Mandatory Expenses<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/#Reduce_or_Eliminate_Optional_Expenses\" title=\"Reduce or Eliminate Optional Expenses\">Reduce or Eliminate Optional Expenses<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/#Transportation\" title=\"Transportation\">Transportation<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/#Pick_The_Home_You_Need_Not_What_You_Want\" title=\"Pick The Home You Need, Not What You Want\">Pick The Home You Need, Not What You Want<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/#Get_Your_Car_Detailed\" title=\"Get Your Car Detailed\">Get Your Car Detailed<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-15\" href=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/#Reduce_Interest_Charges\" title=\"Reduce Interest Charges\">Reduce Interest Charges<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-16\" href=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/#Car_Loan_Interest\" title=\"Car Loan Interest\">Car Loan Interest<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-17\" href=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/#Credit_Card_Interest\" title=\"Credit Card Interest\">Credit Card Interest<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-18\" href=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/#Mortgage_Interest\" title=\"Mortgage Interest\">Mortgage Interest<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-19\" href=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/#Increase_Your_Credit_Score\" title=\"Increase Your Credit Score\">Increase Your Credit Score<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-20\" href=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/#Get_A_Costco_Membership\" title=\"Get A Costco Membership\">Get A Costco Membership<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-21\" href=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/#You_May_Also_Like_These_Posts\" title=\"You May Also Like These Posts\">You May Also Like These Posts<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-22\" href=\"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/manage-money\/how-to-live-below-your-means\/#Back_To_You\" title=\"Back To You\">Back To You<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<p>The key to living below your means is gaining control of your own money. What I mean by this is knowing your take-home pay and how much you spend every month. That&#8217;s it. Nothing more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;re not talking about doing a super detailed analysis of every expense you make, logging everytime you spend $5 on a Starbucks coffee, or feeling guilty every time you decide to have a nice steak dinner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Money_Ying-Yang\"><\/span>Money Ying-Yang<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>I believe in balance, you know, the ying-yang concept where everything should live in harmony while not over-emphasizing one thing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the big reason I&#8217;m not a fan of tracking every expense. It&#8217;s like going on a diet, weighing and noting every calorie. Yes, it can and will work, but is it something you can do now and forever? There&#8217;s a reason why diet fails, its because the changes and work involved to implement them disrupt your everyday life too much, you eventually give up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ve done it. I used to be a huge fan of Microsoft Money, a personal finance software like Intuit Quicken, that allowed me to connect all my bank, credit union, credit card, car loan, and any other financial accounts I had. At the end of the month, I&#8217;d sync everything up in MS Money, re-classify the transactions that got put into the wrong bucket (it was frequent and often with others reporting about 60% of transactions requiring re-categorization!), balance my checking, and reconcile every transaction with every receipt I got that month. Whew! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the end, it painted a nice pretty chart of how much I was spending in each category (Ie Utilities, rent, car, etc). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I actually did this for the first 9 or 10 years when I got serious and took charge of my money. Once I got a kid, re-married, I had expenses going out from both of us and tracking it all got to be impossible. Doing my monthly analysis used to take about an hour, afterward, it was taking up half of a Saturday! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So guess what I did, I gave up! I couldn&#8217;t do it any more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Simplified_Money_Tracking\"><\/span>Simplified Money Tracking<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>What&#8217;s been working for me the past 20 or so years now has been a simplified money tracker. It requires:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>I deposit all my paychecks into 1 checking account<\/li><li>I have a saving accounts at the same bank as my checking account<\/li><li>I consolidated all my spending and my wife&#8217;s spending on 1 credit card. Two actually since we also have a Costco credit card we use for Costco purchases.  <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>&lt;&lt;short video on money movement&gt;&gt;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the start of a month, I gather every bank statement and credit card bill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the top of my Checking statement I log on a spreadsheet:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Total Amount Of Deposits Made <\/li><li>Total Amount Of Debits Paid <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><em>*verbiage will vary, but they all sum it up like this<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the top of my credit card statements I log on the same spreadsheet only 1 thing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>New Purchases<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>My spreadsheet looks something like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<table class=\"wp-block-table aligncenter\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>SIMPLIFIED BUDGET TRACKER<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Nov 2018<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Dec 2018<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Jan 2019<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Mar 2019<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Apr 2019<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Checking Acct &#8211; Deposits<\/strong><\/td><td>$1,230.00<\/td><td>$1,230.00<\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Checking Acct &#8211; Debits<\/strong><\/td><td>$743.32<\/td><td>$755.58<\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Credit Card &#8211; New Purchases<\/strong><\/td><td>$459.93<\/td><td>$474.87<\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>TOTAL SURPLUS:<\/strong><\/td><td>$26.75<\/td><td>-0.45<\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n<p>I can do all of that within 30 minutes now. It&#8217;s that simple to take conquer your money and understand what you have at the end of every month. This is the first and most important step in living beneath your means. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you make this a habit, you can start to make self-imposed adjustments to your daily habits. Again, no need to dig in and analyze every purchase you make and every purchase your spouse makes. If you feel you can reduce or eliminate a purchase decision, do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Start_Saving_Today\"><\/span>Start Saving Today<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>No matter your situation or how much debt you have, start saving today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>How can I start saving money when I spend more than I make?<br><br><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>So with friends that I&#8217;ve helped, this is a common roadblock. They are adding to their credit card debt every month. So they feel there is no possible way they can start saving money. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My advice is that the <em><strong>habit of saving money<\/strong><\/em><strong> <\/strong>is more important than the quantity you save when you are in an over-spending situation. You&#8217;re not going to change your over-spending overnight, but the habit is great for morale no matter the size of the nest egg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As an example, if you&#8217;re currently over-spending every month, we need to work on that&#8230;later. The finance guru&#8217;s would tell you, <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Step 1, pay off all your debt.<\/p><p>Step 2, start building an emergency fund<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>In the perfect world, yes, that would be the ideal steps to take. But we want success and don&#8217;t want this to be like the next fad diet you try. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if you&#8217;re over-spending, start small with your saving account. Being able to save money in this situation is a morale victory. Take these steps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>At the bank or credit <g class=\"gr_ gr_13 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep\" id=\"13\" data-gr-id=\"13\">union<\/g> you&#8217;re currently depositing your paycheck <g class=\"gr_ gr_14 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace\" id=\"14\" data-gr-id=\"14\">to<\/g>, open a savings account<\/li><li>Get online access to your accounts<\/li><li>Setup a monthly transfer of $5.00 (if paid monthly) from your checking to your savings account, and have it occur the day after you normally get your paycheck. If you get paid weekly or bi-weekly, setup an auto-transfer of $2.00 after every paycheck. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s as simple as that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can now add a new line to track in the Simplified Budget Tracker spreadsheet to follow our growing savings account. We can that completely separate from our budget tracker though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<table class=\"wp-block-table aligncenter\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>SIMPLIFIED BUDGET TRACKER<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Nov 2018<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Dec 2018<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Jan 2019<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Mar 2019<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Apr 2019<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Checking Acct &#8211; Deposits<\/strong><\/td><td>$1,230.00<\/td><td>$1,230.00<\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Checking Acct &#8211; Debits<\/strong><\/td><td>$743.32<\/td><td>$755.58<\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Credit Card &#8211; New Purchases<\/strong><\/td><td>$459.93<\/td><td>$474.87<\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>TOTAL SURPLUS:<\/strong><\/td><td>$26.75<\/td><td>-0.45<\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>SAVINGS TRACKER<\/strong><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Savings Acct &#8211; Balance<\/strong><\/td><td>$335.00<\/td><td>$340.00<\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Separate_Your_Medical_Insurance_Plans\"><\/span>Separate Your Medical Insurance Plans<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are married and both are working, it&#8217;s common to see one spouse carrying a family medical plan and the other not using their medical insurance benefits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If that&#8217;s you, I&#8217;ve got great news! You can immediately lower your expenses with one simple hack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most employers will pay for a portion of your medical insurance for the employee. But many will pay nothing towards your spouse or children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So the hack is take advantage of the generous offer your employer is offering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One spouse has their own medical insurance plan. The other has their own. If you have kids, put them on the medical insurance plan that is better or cheaper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&lt;&lt;short video showing employer contributions savings&gt;&gt;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Live_Off_One_Income\"><\/span>Live Off One Income<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have a significant other and are living together, lucky you! Two incomes are always better than one! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, this is an unpopular subject, but hear me out. Rather than being stuck on that rat-wheel of life where you&#8217;re constantly running and running and running going absolutely nowhere. Try something radical. And this is very radical thinking for most couples. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You may not be able to do it from day one, but the goal would be to live off of one income. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Later in my career, I made significantly more than my wife. With the debt we amassed, mainly in our house, it would have been too costly to cut that expense to get us living just on her income (yes, we over spent on a house we couldn&#8217;t afford, which is another mistake I wish I could go back in time and fix!). So I never achieved that nirvana, but we decided a nice compromise was to pay for the mortgage on my income and live on her income for everything else. That was a simple plan we could easily implement which put us on the path to financial freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Benefits_Of_Living_Off_One_Income\"><\/span>Benefits Of Living Off One Income<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Your stress will go down dramatically, promise. <\/li><li>If one of you get laid off or have to quit unexpectedly due to illness, everything will be OK!<\/li><li>You won&#8217;t be in fear of getting fired. You are free to do what&#8217;s right in your job rather than what won&#8217;t get you fired.<\/li><li>If you are fortunate to get pregnant, you have a choice. The choice I mean here is to have one of you stay home full-time to raise the baby. You don&#8217;t have to do that, but you&#8217;ll have the choice, which is true freedom.<\/li><li>And there are many other benefits!<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Steps_To_Living_Off_Of_One_Income\"><\/span>Steps To Living Off Of One Income<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Assuming you are in an over-spending situation every month, you&#8217;ll have to make adjustments over time. It may take you 1 or 2 years to achieve living off of one income, but at least you have a plan to get there.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>GOAL 1: Follow our steps to get to where you&#8217;re living within your means (you&#8217;re income and expenses are equal)<\/li><li>GOAL 2: Then aim to be living beneath your means (your income is great than your expenses)<\/li><li>GOAL 3: You&#8217;ve come a long way and have achieved success. You can stop here but I encourage you to take it one step further and get to where you can live off of the person with the largest paycheck.<\/li><li>GOAL 4: The final step is to align your expenses to where you can live off the person with the smallest paycheck.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Reduce_Subscriptions\"><\/span>Reduce Subscriptions<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;re probably thinking I&#8217;m talking about reducing that magazine subscription of yours. Yes, that is sort of true, what I&#8217;m really looking at here is reducing anything you have a subscription for. A subscription is something that you&#8217;re signed up to pay every month and it happens automatically. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The danger to a subscription is that you may end up paying for something, every month, and not getting any value out of it. Hint, hint, that $20 per month you&#8217;re spending at the gym. I&#8217;m a big fan of Crossfit, so for <g class=\"gr_ gr_151 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep\" id=\"151\" data-gr-id=\"151\">me<\/g> I put my monthly Crossfit membership into the Mandatory category, and I use it 4-5 times a week. So I&#8217;m getting great value out of it. I&#8217;d greatly prefer you keep that gym membership, use it, and get value out of it. It&#8217;s all part of that work, life, health balance we should all try to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is one time we&#8217;ll ask you to list out every item you currently have on a subscription. Some common ones are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Cell phone bill<\/li><li>Gym membership<\/li><li>Car insurance<\/li><li>Timeshare<\/li><li>Credit Card fee (many reward credit cards charge an annual fee such as $45\/yr, $99\/yr or more)<\/li><li>AAA membership fee<\/li><li>Netflix<\/li><li>Cable TV<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Now decide if each of these are Mandatory (ie vehicle insurance), Optional, or a Want type of expense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Reduce_Mandatory_Expenses\"><\/span>Reduce Mandatory Expenses<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You can&#8217;t get rid of these, but you might be able to reduce the monthly cost. Maybe you have to switch insurance carriers. Or perhaps if you&#8217;re a safe driver, consider raising your deductibles. There are choices and it&#8217;s worth a look to see if you can shave some money here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Reduce_or_Eliminate_Optional_Expenses\"><\/span>Reduce or Eliminate Optional Expenses<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>So you have these Optional Expenses to work on. Common ones are food, clothing, and transportation. Here are some food tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Food<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Avoid eating out. Even at a fast-food restaurant, you&#8217;ll pay<em>&nbsp;three to seven times<\/em>&nbsp;more for a meal than you would if you cooked at home.<\/li><li>Shop at large grocery stores or food warehouses. Avoid high-priced convenience stores and smaller &#8220;boutique&#8221; grocery stores.<\/li><li>Buy store brands. They are usually less expensive than nationally advertised brands but the quality is often just as good.<\/li><li>Make a shopping list\u2014and stick to it. Avoid buying food on an impulse and don&#8217;t shop on an empty stomach or you may come home with more than you planned to buy.<\/li><li>Pack a lunch for work or school instead of going out.<\/li><li>Use coupons or &#8220;membership&#8221; cards at grocery stores\u2014but only buy the item if it&#8217;s something you use anyway.<\/li><li>Compare the unit prices of products. Buy whichever product is less expensive per ounce, per pound, per pint, and so on.<\/li><li>Take advantage of two-for-one sales if the items are things you use anyway.<\/li><li>As much as possible, avoid purchasing junk food such as potato chips, pretzels, soda, and candy. Junk food is usually quite expensive, especially when you consider that it offers little nutritional value.<\/li><li>Stock up on sales of items you use regularly such as paper products and canned food.<\/li><li>In some instances, you may qualify for emergency food stamps, which will help cover your grocery bill during a money crisis. Although it usually takes about a month to qualify for food stamps, emergency approvals may be given in about seven days.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Clothing is an easy one to cut back on (if you&#8217;re a dude). But either way, here are some things to try:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Clothing<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Garage sales and flea markets can be fantastic sources of quality clothes at great prices. If you&#8217;re willing to try this route.<\/li><li>Set up a clothing exchange with friends or neighbors to trade your adult and children\u2019s clothes. What&#8217;s old to you will be new and exciting to someone else.<\/li><li>Regularly visit thrift stores. The inventory usually changes frequently.<\/li><li>Check out clothing sales sponsored by local churches or service groups.<\/li><li>Some stores accept used clothing, price it, sell it, and give you some money back on the items you bring in. These are called &#8220;consignment stores.&#8221; Look into consignment stores for clothing for both kids and adults. You can earn a little money on clothes you consign and either apply the credit toward another purchase in the store or take the cash someplace else.<\/li><li>Stick with classics whenever possible. They stay in style longer than the latest trends.<\/li><li>It may be hard to find good used shoes for children. Look for sales, but don&#8217;t let a sale convince your child that he or she needs $80 running shoes. Instead, help them distinguish between&nbsp;wants and needs.<\/li><li>Our preference is to buy new clothes. I&#8217;ll frequent Ross and Marshalls. They are new but may be slightly out of date or have a slight manufacturing defect. I&#8217;ve found great deals over the years from both of these store brands that are in practically every city.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>A car is a huge expense for most people, as it&#8217;s common for people to lease or have a monthly loan payment. I&#8217;m a car nut, specifically a sports car nut. Looking back, I probably could have attained financial freedom 10 years earlier had I not been so dumb in my attitude toward my car!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some tips, many of which I didn&#8217;t follow, but wish I had:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Transportation\"><\/span>Transportation<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>If your community offers a carpool matching service, try to find someone to share rides to work.<\/li><li>If you live close to school or work, try walking, in-line skating, or biking. You&#8217;ll get exercise and save money on transportation.<\/li><li>Take advantage of public transportation if it&#8217;s available and delivers you to your destination in a reasonable time.<\/li><li>Perform regular maintenance on your car \u2014such as changing the oil and coolant\u2014 as well as keeping the tires properly inflated. Your car will run more efficiently and you\u2019ll save money every month.<\/li><li>Refill your tank at gas stations that regularly have the lowest prices on gasoline and try to avoid more expensive stations.<\/li><li>If you&#8217;re buying a car, consider a good used model instead of a new one.<\/li><li>Purchase the vehicle with the best gas mileage rating that will serve your needs.<\/li><li>Every two years, shop around to be sure you have the best deal on vehicle insurance.<\/li><li>Before you purchase a car, call your insurance company and get an estimate. Some models may have high-theft rates or be popular with teenagers, which could make it an expensive car to <g class=\"gr_ gr_22 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_disable_anim_appear ContextualSpelling ins-del\" id=\"22\" data-gr-id=\"22\">insure<\/g> regardless of your stellar driving record.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Pick_The_Home_You_Need_Not_What_You_Want\"><\/span>Pick The Home You Need, Not What You Want<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s another very hot topic that will definitely bring strife with couples. I like a nice house, but if I were broke, I could easily live in an apartment with four walls. All I need is for it to be clean, quiet, with a good parking situation. My wife on the other hand&#8230;&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I watch on TV&#8217;s show House Hunters International where the couple is looking to move abroad. And they&#8217;re moving to Paris. They want to live in the city center, close to the subway and all the shops and restaurants. Basically, where EVERYONE wants to live. And their requirements are always, and I mean, always, 2 bedrooms. They want that second bedroom for visitors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So my point is, if you&#8217;re in an over-spending situation with finances, housing is the biggest expense you have in your life. Prioritize what matters most. Some suggestions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Safe neighborhood<\/li><li>Good schools (if you have kids)<\/li><li>Convenient to work<\/li><li>Large enough (do you&#8217;re two babies really need their own bedrooms right now?)<\/li><li>&#8230;and everything else after that is optional priorities<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Get_Your_Car_Detailed\"><\/span>Get Your Car Detailed<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This is some advice I wish I could tell my younger self! I got in the habit of buying and selling a car about once a year. Some were new, some were used, but it was a very bad habit I had. I wasn&#8217;t broke, in fact I was doing exceptionally well on my financial independence plan and felt I could afford that luxury. And most of the time I paid cash for the vehicles so it didn&#8217;t really hurt to do this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How dumb I was! I was paying about 6% in sales tax every time I bought a car. I was also buying retail and trading in my car at wholesale. I lost money on every car I sold and there was no way around paying retail prices for a car. I was out thousands of dollars every time I did this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How did I get out of this habit? I splurged on my existing car once a year. I took it to a really good car detailer and had them steam wash the engine, clean the interior, and clay bar or buff the paint, with a full polish and wax. I had them PDR (paintless dent repair) all the door dings and fix the wheel scrapes. Basically, I had the car cleaned up as if I had bought a car from a dealer&#8217;s lot. In the end it cost me about $350 every year, but it was WAY CHEAPER than buying and trading in a car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The car felt like a new car to me and I was finally able to rid myself of the terrible buying cycle of cars. I hope you don&#8217;t have to go to this extreme <g class=\"gr_ gr_5 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace\" id=\"5\" data-gr-id=\"5\">like<\/g> I did. You may simply get away with a nice car detail for about $150. If that&#8217;s what it takes to convince yourself to keep that car, it&#8217;s money well spent. Try it when you get that bad urge to buy a different vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Reduce_Interest_Charges\"><\/span>Reduce Interest Charges<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re like most people, you have a car loan, multiple credit cards, and maybe a mortgage. All debt related items each with their own interest rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Car_Loan_Interest\"><\/span>Car Loan Interest<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>For a car loan, it&#8217;s worth checking with a local credit union if you can reduce your interest rate and moving your car loan there. But follow these tips if you do that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Move your car loan if you can get 1% or more lower interest<\/li><li>If you do move your car loan, try to match your remaining months of payments. For example, it&#8217;s common to have a 9% interest rate car loan with say 22 months left. Your credit union is offering 6% interest, so you decide to move it, but you end up getting a 36 month loan. You&#8217;ve effectively lowered your interest rate, but extended the number of payments (you&#8217;d have to do the math to see if you&#8217;re actually saving money since there are more payments). If you do this, see if they&#8217;ll do a 22 month or a 24 month loan instead of 36. The goal here is you&#8217;re not trying to lower your monthly payment, you&#8217;re trying to lower how much interest you end up paying for the car.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Credit_Card_Interest\"><\/span>Credit Card Interest<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>For credit cards, you may have one with 19.6% interest and another with 9.9% interest. Read the fine print that nobody reads and see what your rate is today. Don&#8217;t assume what it was when you signed up is the same as it is today! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you end up with this situation, call your credit company with the lowest rate and tell them you&#8217;re consolidating all your credit cards down to 1 card. Ask if they can:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Assist with transferring the balances from your other cards<\/li><li>If needed, increase your credit line (to match the credit line you&#8217;re eliminating from the other cards)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Mortgage_Interest\"><\/span>Mortgage Interest<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This may not be worth pursuing, especially with all the regulation changes that have happened since the 2008 housing crash, but it may be worth looking at the interest rate on your mortgage and seeing if you can refinance it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like refinancing a car loan, don&#8217;t get more months to your mortgage with a refinance. Ask if they can match the remaining months you currently have or get close to what you have remaining. 30 year mortgage isn&#8217;t the only option! 25 year, 20 year, 15 year, and even 10 year mortgages are available from different lenders. But you have to ask. They would love for you to refinance for 30 years with them and pay them interest on that money for the next 30 years!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Increase_Your_Credit_Score\"><\/span>Increase Your Credit Score<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The last tip I have for you is to increase your credit rating. It&#8217;s a <g class=\"gr_ gr_4 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace\" id=\"4\" data-gr-id=\"4\">little known<\/g> fact, but your credit rating is used in all sorts of ways to judge you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Employers may look at your credit grade to see if you&#8217;re an eligible employee or ready for that promotion<\/li><li>nsurance companies may use your credit number as a factor in how high your payments are<\/li><li>Your mortgage interest rate is definitely impacted by your credit rating<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Increasing your credit rating not only will help how others judge you as a responsible human being, but it can also lower your monthly expenses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;re a big fan of a service called Identity Guard. They have all sorts of services to help you increase your credit profile, but the only one we&#8217;ve used and found useful are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Monthly credit reports (it&#8217;s a close approximation) from Experian, Equifax, and Transunion. The big 3 credit bureau&#8217;s everyone uses.<\/li><li>Monthly credit reports. You can see what is in your credit report from all 3 credit <g class=\"gr_ gr_9 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace\" id=\"9\" data-gr-id=\"9\">bureau&#8217;s<\/g>. Positive and Negative factors are things I focus on.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Get_A_Costco_Membership\"><\/span>Get A Costco Membership<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>OK, this may sound contrary to what I said earlier about lowering your subscription costs. But if used wisely, shifting your purchases to Costco can definitely lower you overall costs. Think of things like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Toilet paper<\/li><li>Paper towels<\/li><li>Meats<\/li><li>Drinks, liquor, bottled water<\/li><li>And all sorts of other consumables you use in your everyday household life<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>A trick to shopping is to look at the &#8220;per unit cost&#8221;. You may buy a pack of water at Safeway for $5.99 and a pack of water at Costco is $10.99. But when you do the math to figure out that the a bottle at Safeway costs you $0.30 each and the one at Costco costs you $0.10 each, you see that the initial cost may be higher, but the per unit cost is lower. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&lt;&lt;short video showing cost per unit math&gt;&gt;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-uagb-section uagb-section__wrap uagb-section__background-undefined\" id=\"uagb-section-a8a824fd-5f07-4765-9676-a66a837827a3\"><div class=\"uagb-section__overlay\"><\/div><div class=\"uagb-section__inner-wrap\">\n<section class=\"wp-block-uagb-section uagb-section__wrap uagb-section__background-undefined uagb-block-98a53e68\"><div class=\"uagb-section__overlay\"><\/div><div class=\"uagb-section__inner-wrap\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"You_May_Also_Like_These_Posts\"><\/span>You May Also Like These Posts<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n<p>[wp_show_posts id=&#8221;1827&#8243;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Back_To_You\"><\/span>Back To You<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Wow, this was a long article. If you made it this far, thank you! <g class=\"gr_ gr_5 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep\" id=\"5\" data-gr-id=\"5\">Hopefully<\/g> it means you found enough useful stuff in here toward achieving financial freedom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have any questions or have any suggestions on how to live beneath your means the right way, let me know below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How Can I Do It?&nbsp;Living within your means is definitely possible. Often, it&#8217;s just a matter of making different choices. Most of us spend a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"How To Live Below Your Means The Right Way | ManagingMyMoney","_seopress_titles_desc":"Looking to get your finances under control but now sure where to start? 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Often, it&#8217;s just a matter of making different choices. Most of us spend a [&hellip;]","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1067"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.managingmymoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}