Can you cut $1,000 from your monthly spending?

I saw a news article with the above headline.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/could-cut-spending-1-000-145150037.html


I don't normally say this, but...

This is a first world problem.

Does the writer have any knowledge about how much of the country's, and indeed, the world's population lives on less than $1,000 a month? And for him it's just "fluff"!

Don't make this political, there's enough mud to cover all parties involved. But how can an educated person thump his chest about the sacrifices he's made when they include "Firing the maid" cutting down to tv 200 channels a month, and refinancing the house?

For the record, I consider myself extremely blessed. After paying the mortgage and funding my retirement savings I LIVE on $1,000 per month.

So, not to pry but, could you cut your expenses by $1,000 per month?

Yes I could.... if I sold my house or got rid of our two vehicles. To be honest, I have been mulling over the thought of buying some rural mountain property and building my own 1000 sqft cabin on it and going off grid. I am getting sick of the establishment and,,,, to be honest.... Stupid People who think Jersey Shore and the Kardashian's are relevant and deserve to be on my TV.

yeahfairly said:

Yes I could.... if I sold my house or got rid of our two vehicles. To be honest, I have been mulling over the thought of buying some rural mountain property and building my own 1000 sqft cabin on it and going off grid. I am getting sick of the establishment and,,,, to be honest.... Stupid People who think Jersey Shore and the Kardashian's are relevant and deserve to be on my TV.

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If there was a "Love this post" button I'd be mashing it!

I could. If I cut back no the non necessities like cable, brewing stuff, eating out and other crap like that. Hell I could probably cut it closer to two thousand a month. Wow, I need to rethink my budget. I spend way to much.

yeahfairly said:

Yes I could.... if I sold my house or got rid of our two vehicles. To be honest, I have been mulling over the thought of buying some rural mountain property and building my own 1000 sqft cabin on it and going off grid. I am getting sick of the establishment and,,,, to be honest.... Stupid People who think Jersey Shore and the Kardashian's are relevant and deserve to be on my TV.

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So, uh, why ARE the Kardashians on your TV? They aren't on mine, and I am FAR from off-grid...

Rhumbline said:

I saw a news article with the above headline.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/could-cut-spending-1-000-145150037.html


I don't normally say this, but...

This is a first world problem.

Does the writer have any knowledge about how much of the country's, and indeed, the world's population lives on less than $1,000 a month? And for him it's just "fluff"!

Don't make this political, there's enough mud to cover all parties involved. But how can an educated person thump his chest about the sacrifices he's made when they include "Firing the maid" cutting down to tv 200 channels a month, and refinancing the house?

For the record, I consider myself extremely blessed. After paying the mortgage and funding my retirement savings I LIVE on $1,000 per month.

So, not to pry but, could you cut your expenses by $1,000 per month?

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FWIW, $60/mo for a "maid" isn't full time, that's coming in once a month to clean. I had that type of service for several years, and may start it up again.

The stupid thing about this article (and presumably the book too) is that of course you can cut your monthly spending by $1000; lose your job and it will happen pretty quickly, I assure you. Rice and beans are cheap, and you would eat a lot of them if you really needed to. Effectively ALL of our money is spent on "luxuries" from a survival standpoint.

I could, but then I wouldn't be able to drink, smoke, chew tobacco, buy guns, buy ammo, buy stuff to outfit my bar, you know, the important things.

I'm in my 30's and voluntarily switched jobs to one that pays $3k(take home) less. Still in the process so we'll see, but I think the hardest part is dealing with a wife who thinks the family is already making sacrifices.

Didn't read the article cause I see it's a Yahoo! article though..

No, for me there is no way I could trim $1000 a month off of my expenses.

I don't have a cell phone, dish TV/network, a car payment, a house payment, or any payments actually, besides electric, water, gas, internet. I keep the house cool, and wear a sweater. We have two homes, and pay insurance and taxes on both, and two vehicles. Those are probably our biggest expenses- to maintain two houses and utilities for them and two vehicles. We do spend the winters in South Texas, but we rent a house there and don't have expenses there except rent and groceries.

We shop at thrift stores when we need "new" clothes. I don't buy much from a grocery store as we hunt/fish/gather, and I don't eat packaged food or refined grains. Our meat, aside from venison, comes from a neighbor who raises grass-fed beef and lamb.

We live well (even have a boat), travel a bit, but we live on about $2000/month total and that includes my brewing expenses and all of our hobbies. I guess we could give up traveling to Texas each winter, and maybe save an average of $400/month over the course of the year, but I'm not willing to do that!

I think that we are more frugal than most Americans, though!

I spend about half of my time living in a mountain village in South Asia. My rent is $35. Cutting a thousand dollars would require me to spend about negative $700 a month.

The rest of the year I live in New York City. There, I could save a thousand dollars a month just by moving pretty much anywhere else.

MalFet said:

I spend about half of my time living in a mountain village in South Asia. My rent is $35. Cutting a thousand dollars would require me to spend about negative $700 a month.

The rest of the year I live in New York City. There, I could save a thousand dollars a month just by moving pretty much anywhere else.

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That sounds amazing. Can you give a little more info just out of curiosity? Are you retired? If not, what is your occupation? Do you have kids? Why Asia? Etc..

I ask because I've often considered a non traditional life, if you will...

g-love said:

That sounds amazing. Can you give a little more info just out of curiosity? Are you retired? If not, what is your occupation? Do you have kids? Why Asia? Etc..

I ask because I've often considered a non traditional life, if you will...

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I have two kids, and my costs will go up a bit now that they're getting to be school aged, especially if we decide to relocate closer to the capital. That also doesn't include my health insurance or travel to and from the US.

But, it's good clean living. I'm a linguist and my wife is a doctor. We find work pretty easily, and since there's not much to spend money on it's very easy to live *very* frugally.

I wouldn't want to derail the thread too much, but feel free to PM me if you have any questions about logistics, etc.

We live pretty frugal as it is, so the answer is no.

Not many luxury items on the monthly budget that add up to that much.

Rhumbline said:

So, not to pry but, could you cut your expenses by $1,000 per month?

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Not unless I started living in a box and eating strays for dinner.

If I sold my car, stopped eating out, stopped brewing, got rid of cable/internet, and moved to a cheaper apartment I could do it. My biggest issue is car and student loan payments. They total around $800 combined.

I didn't even look at the article because it would probably annoy me.

I'd be hard pressed to do so. No car payments, rent and utilities under $800. Other than that it's just groceries, gas, eating out maybe once a month, no TV, cell phones without data plans. Hobbies are the only thing that we really spend on, and that's bulk grain buys, etc.

yeahfairly said:

Yes I could.... if I sold my house or got rid of our two vehicles. To be honest, I have been mulling over the thought of buying some rural mountain property and building my own 1000 sqft cabin on it and going off grid. I am getting sick of the establishment and,,,, to be honest.... Stupid People who think Jersey Shore and the Kardashian's are relevant and deserve to be on my TV.

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I did sell the house and buy a rural mountainside. Not quite down to a thousand square foot cabin, I like my comforts too much. Use the TV only for rented videos.

Couldn't reduce my expenses by a grand now, but probably by $200-$300 from this starting point. Have already reduced them by over $1000 per month since leaving the city. Of course, when I retired I also reduced the income by a bit at the same time.

No. I'm self employed in agriculture. Extra goes into the business never to be seen again. Well, not for awhile anyway.

$200-$600. We're not extravagant, but we're not looking to eat cornflakes and water either.

As soon as our daughter heads to public school there's a thousand a month.

Moving out of NJ would do it for me. I'm paying just under a K a month in property tax alone.

If I switched to a strictly utilitarian lifestyle, I could easily trim 1K or more off my monthly expenses. Go to work, go home, cook meals at home every day, pack lunches, ride the bus. Pay the mortgage, utility bills, taxes. Buy just the basic clothes I need. Work, eat, sleep. No internet, no vacations, no eating out, no hobbies.

I could do it. Would I? Not a chance. Life is more than just survival.

Melana said:

As soon as our daughter heads to public school there's a thousand a month.

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Ditto! Our boy goes to a Montessori preschool. **** isn't cheap, but we believe it's worth it.

Not counting food my bills add up to 521.00 a month. That figures in ins. on my 31 yo. truck, cell phone, house payment - taxes and ins all rolled into one. The water bill, electric and N. gas. Girl friend covers internet, her cell phone and her own car insurance plus pitches in on groceries. We live pretty frugal...

That's not to say we never go out or spend money on hobbies or other entertainment because we do. I've just work my butt off making it cheap for us to live.

So no I can't trim off a grand.

I have been reading a lot of Financially Independent/Early Retirement blogs lately and it is very interesting - the idea that if you can reduce your costs, and still find enjoyment in the life you live, then you can reach financial independence sooner (saving more and needing less to live). My wife has a horse hobby which is NOT cheap, we have been focusing on reducing costs a lot and I think we actually will be right around 1k in additional savings this month! Exciting! Too bad we will have a bunch of XMas gifts to get and car insurance (paid once a year) coming up in the next two months haha

brettwasbtd said:

I have been reading a lot of Financially Independent/Early Retirement blogs lately and it is very interesting - the idea that if you can reduce your costs, and still find enjoyment in the life you live, then you can reach financial independence sooner (saving more and needing less to live). My wife has a horse hobby which is NOT cheap, we have been focusing on reducing costs a lot and I think we actually will be right around 1k in additional savings this month! Exciting! Too bad we will have a bunch of XMas gifts to get and car insurance (paid once a year) coming up in the next two months haha

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I think it's all about priorities. Too many people grab a latte', get fast food, go out for lunch, or rent a movie, everyday and don't consider that saving that (with compounding) over the years makes a big difference. I believe in always living below your means, and often lived far below my means- even when I was making $17000 a year as a young paramedic.

That's how we were able to retire young. Thinking about impulse purchases, and remembering our long-term goals back then means great freedom now. We live on less than $2000/month but have our houses paid off, two nice vehicles, a boat, 80 acres on a lake, no debt at all, and a surprising ($$$$$) sum in the bank.

I work as a "fill in" now at the hospital, but I retired at the age of 46. It really is worth it!

I could cut a thousand but it would mean cutting income by about 1200 for my wife to stay home. In 5 years I will have cut my monthly bills by approx 800 just by not having daycare and paying off debts. Combined with annual raises and the business projections for my wife and we should be looking at close to a thousand extra each month. I plan on retiring in approx 25 years if our health holds up well.

No, 'cuz it would cut into the taxes. 1K is more than the disposable income. Fathead elitists.

I hear you loud and clear Yooper. I'm 46 now and far from retirement as I've had to regroup and refocus. When I bought this dump and spent over a year of my time and income rebuilding I said I'd never get in over my head again. The only debt I have is this house which I owe half a years wages on. My ol truck has been paid for for a while now

Let's see... Dish TV about $90, internet about $60, Brewing about $40, if I scrimp on heat in the winter and a/c in the summer maybe $15, so.... NO! About $205 give or take $10. Not much else could be cut. I have already refinanced my mortgage 3 times since I bought.

Bobby_M said:

Moving out of NJ would do it for me. I'm paying just under a K a month in property tax alone.

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Move to Rhode Island and pay at least twice that for property tax.

Could, or Should?

I could easily stop my charitable donations, drop life insurance, reduce auto coverages, reduce my medical savings- all this would "save" well over $1k a month- but at what cost?

Food, brewing, clothes, kids activities, vacation savings, etc. etc. are over $1k a month (for a family of four) and I suppose we could cut back on that, but you have to get some enjoyment out of life.

I live well below my means, no credit card debt, no car loans, putting money away for retirement and if my wife can find a job in this GD economy, money away for kids college.

I have worked my butt off for decades to build the income and property I have. Despite some common views, I think it is deserved.

It isn't always about cutting- that's virtually always possible (we spend Billions in the US each year on pets and coffee). It's about balancing what you earn vs. what you spend, so that you have something left to save, to give, and to enjoy.

yeahfairly said:

Yes I could.... if I sold my house or got rid of our two vehicles. To be honest, I have been mulling over the thought of buying some rural mountain property and building my own 1000 sqft cabin on it and going off grid. I am getting sick of the establishment and,,,, to be honest.... Stupid People who think Jersey Shore and the Kardashian's are relevant and deserve to be on my TV.

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+1. True that brother!

TallDan said:

So, uh, why ARE the Kardashians on your TV? They aren't on mine, and I am FAR from off-grid...

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They're not.... It was more rhetorical... my point is we have walked over the cliff's edge as a society when it comes to morale issues and priorities. Has anyone seen the movie "Idiocracy"? Seems like the majority are all too happy to continue down this path.

The OP is dead on in the initial post. I am in Afghanistan right now and the majority of these folks are living very similar to the way people did 200 years ago... except for the cell phones (lol.... everyone has one).

There was a time, and not to long ago, that people knew how to survive on little to nothing. When I was a little guy we spent every other weekend on my uncle's farm. No running water (but the coldest well water you ever tasted), No electricity (oil lamps), an outhouse, a wood burning kitchen stove and a wood stove for heat. It wasn't just him... the majority of the community in Madison County lived that way. They raised their own beef, pigs and chickens and had a HUGE garden and a root cellar full of the best canned veggies you ever tasted. When they went to the store once a month they bought flour, sugar, salt, corn meal, coffee, Prince Albert tobacco, rolling papers and BEER!!! They needed nothing else... Heck my aunt even made lye soap from hog renderings. What they considered a good life would be camping or roughing it to the majority of Americans.

They were advanced in certain ways though... I can remember sitting out on the porch at night and seeing lantern light emitting from the green energy production facilities up the wooded holler along the creek (lol)!!!!

Yooper said:

No, for me there is no way I could trim $1000 a month off of my expenses.

I don't have a cell phone, dish TV/network, a car payment, a house payment, or any payments actually, besides electric, water, gas, internet. I keep the house cool, and wear a sweater. We have two homes, and pay insurance and taxes on both, and two vehicles. Those are probably our biggest expenses- to maintain two houses and utilities for them and two vehicles. We do spend the winters in South Texas, but we rent a house there and don't have expenses there except rent and groceries.

We shop at thrift stores when we need "new" clothes. I don't buy much from a grocery store as we hunt/fish/gather, and I don't eat packaged food or refined grains. Our meat, aside from venison, comes from a neighbor who raises grass-fed beef and lamb.

We live well (even have a boat), travel a bit, but we live on about $2000/month total and that includes my brewing expenses and all of our hobbies. I guess we could give up traveling to Texas each winter, and maybe save an average of $400/month over the course of the year, but I'm not willing to do that!

I think that we are more frugal than most Americans, though!

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You and your hubby have been added to my Hero list Yooper! Not only do you contribute a great deal here to the folks on HBT.... but you are living a lifestyle that I envy!!!!

kh54s10 said:

Move to Rhode Island and pay at least twice that for property tax.

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I can't even begin to fathom this. I have a small, comfortable home here in FL and just got my tax bill for $998.00 for the year!

I don't think anyone needs to defend or explain how they spend their money nor do they need to feel guilty about enjoying the fruits of their labor or the good fortune that has visited them.

I was just shocked that this guy was bleeding $1k worth of frivolous expenses every month and thought he was doing something noble by eliminating some of them.

For 48 weeks of the year I'm the cheapest, most penny pinching guy in the office. My passion is Italy and I spend four weeks a year there living the good life. The sacrifices are more than compensated for by that.

An interesting bit of data from the CIA Factbook. According to the latest data there are about 120 countries in the world with a median per capita annual income of less than $12,000. Half of those are below $5,000.

If I had to cut $1,000 from my monthly spending I'd be eating even more Ramen than usual. At least I don't have to pay for beer (homebrew & commercial).

My SWMBO has done an amazing job with our finances. We've made some significant cuts here and there, such as ditching cable and getting Netflix streaming.. why not, we were paying $90 a month to watch reruns of Law & Order.. so now we're paying 1/10th that to watch reruns of Law & Order..

We were able to get our mortgage payment and interest rate cut drastically, and she is able to get her student loans paid off through the NHSC (wish I could..).

One of the big money savers, believe it or not, are the "infrared" space heaters we bought a couple years ago. Electricity here is dirt cheap.. fuel oil, not so much. We have two of these space heaters running, one in the living room and one in the Pub, and there is no noticeable different in our electric bill during the winter than during the peak of summer, when we have the air conditioner running fulltime in the bedroom.

Another huge money saver has been the moose that Dad shot last year. We still have a couple hundred pounds of meat in our freezer from it, and since Dad doesn't eat as much moose as he'd like (his girlfriend is not a fan), the next time he comes up, he's going to bring another big chunk of it with him. Of course, we have a bunch of trout and partridge in our freezer as well... and the investment of the raised garden beds this past spring has already paid for itself with the veggies SWMBO has grown and canned/frozen.

Then there's homemade things.. like salsa. Believe it or not, we tend to go through so much salsa that by her making and canning it, we're saving $3 or $4 a pop vs. store bought stuff (and it tastes better and is better for us!). She also makes a TON of bread.. again, tastes better and is better for us, especially now that we've found a great source for bulk stoneground whole wheat.

Bulk.. I'm not talking about the 100-count packages of toilet paper at Sam's Club or whatever, but other stuff.. flour, Jasmine rice, oats, black beans... the basics. Well worth the 4 hour round trip to Bangor, or the 45 minute round trip to the "Amish store" in Smyrna to buy 50 or 60 pounds of goods.. still half the cost of even the local IGA including the price of gas... and we're not really ones to travel, so there's another huge savings in gas costs. Although I did get a "rewards" card from Irving so when I was commuting 180 miles a week, if I planned it just right, I'd save in the neighborhood of 10 cents a gallon... if I timed it *really* good, I'd get cheaper gas, plus the 10 cents per gallon savings, s there were times that I was saving 20 or more cents per gallon. I've probably saved a hundred bucks on gas this year.

Most of the food-related savings has stemmed from our desire to eat healthier... the savings is a nice side-effect... but we're going into winter with a pantry full of canned goods and a freezer full of meat and veggies.

Next up: we're going to invest in an electric water heater and eventually a pellet furnace, which will completely get rid of our dependency on fuel oil for heat and hot water. Come spring I will be putting in another ~100 sqft of raised garden beds. Hopefully I'll bag a deer this month. If not, no biggie. We are also going to further investigate investing in local pork and beef, which typically will run 50 or 60 cents per pound.

And, of course, drinking homebrew, now that the initial investment has been made on the brewery. A good number of ingredient kits that we get are Morebeer.com's "under 50 cents a beer" category. Even if we get a more expensive kit, we're still spending less than $1 for 12oz of good beer, instead of $10 per 6er or 4-pack. Every batch of Irish red I make saves us like $50 vs. drinking Smithwick's (if I did my math right). Granted, I need to make 30 or 40 batches to pay for the brewery, but whatever.


I've rambled. Sorry about that.

My wife could save $1k by simply stop going to work. She wouldn't even need to work if she hadn't gone to college on loans.

We've already beat our budget down into the ground.
If we ditched our Tv/internet service, that would save us a mere $60.
The rest would be misc spending totaling maybe $150.