563 – Reducing Household Expenses
Roland: If we want to save enough money to buy a house, we need to get serious about our finances and do some financial planning. I think the first step is to create a household budget.
Ginger: Okay by me. You know that I’m all about the bottom line.
Roland: Yeah, right. I think we have a pretty good idea of our spending patterns, so it shouldn’t be too hard to come up with a budget that we can both live with.
Ginger: Right.
Roland: Okay, one thing we need to keep in mind is that we tend to underestimate our monthly expenses. If you look at our discretionary spending on this spreadsheet I created, you’ll be surprised at how much money we spend on nonessentials.
Ginger: Okay, I can cut back on nonessentials.
Roland: You can?
Ginger: Sure, instead of getting my nails done every week, I’ll get them done only three times a month.
Roland: Well, that’s a start…
Ginger: And instead of buying a new 60-inch TV, we can get a 52-inch one instead. That should save us a lot of money.
Roland: I think you need to do the math. If we don’t cut back much more drastically, we’ll be ready for retirement by the time we can afford a house!