Cutting Expenses

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Poll on my blog is If you were in debt repayment for 2 years what would you cut FIRST AND ONLY?

groceries
cable
internet
cell phone
fun money
eating out
car payment
rent/mortgage

I find myself very surprised at the results.

[Gruntina]

1st would be cable for me. It seems really tough but its surprising how much else you get done around the house. When I did this, it also cut up my snacking drastically and my dinner portions because I was not eating infront of the telly anymore.

I am not sure if this would consider "fun money" or "eating out"? But quitting the little candy and starbuck purchases do wonders to the budget but yet still be able to put aside money for dinner out with friends once in a while to live a little (unless friends opt to a Starbuck instead of an expensive dinner).

[tabbycat31]

I'd cut eating out first. If I cancel cable, I'm paying just as much for the internet (I have no landline so dialup is not an option). My cellphone's my only phone, so I can't really cut that.

[mom-from-missouri]

I'd do a combo. Just dropping one thing would only be a drop in the bucket. Are we talking a $10 a month cable, or all the chanels for $60 a month?? I'd drop all I could as soon as I could, so my recovery time would be quicker.

RE EXAMINE groceries
DROP cable
DROP internet unless needed for work
cell phone
CUT IN HALF OR DROP fun money
DROP eating out
car payment
rent/mortgage

[LuckyRobin]

I'd drop cable and internet. Our local library has free wireless now so it wouldn't be a great loss because I could just take my laptop there. Second would be eating out, and then groceries would be third.

[Like2Plan]

groceries
cable
internet
cell phone
fun money
eating out
car payment
rent/mortgage

I would cut in the following order:
1. cable first (this is hypothetical since we don't have cable now)
2. eating out (would have to be covered under "fun money" on a cash basis)
3. reduce fun money (I wouldn't cut it out completely)
4. try to cut back on grocery expenses where practical.
5. car payment and mortgage are fixed expenses, I suppose it would depend on what kind of debt repayment I was doing. (Again, this is hypothetical since we don't have car payments and our vehicles are worth more to us than book value--ie our vehicles are well maintained and in good working order and very reliable trans., but I believe the replacement cost would be more than what the book value is.)
6. cell phone and internet would be the last things to go.

[SnoopyCool]

groceries - If possible to cut, then cut
cable - GONE
internet - Find a cheaper way if possible
cell phone - If I didn't use it that much, I'd cut it and get a prepaid
fun money - Cut considerably
eating out - Cut or eliminate
car payment - If possible, sell and get an older one until later
rent/mortgage - If need be, I'd move somewhere cheaper

Its amazing how happy you can be living bare-bones. We still enjoy life quite a lot!

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Actually since you only get to pick one, surprisingly most people would cut groceries! I was like a little stunned? For me eating out or fun money.

[PrincessPerky]

A lot of people include junk food in groceries (I do) so cutting food doesn't mean cutting out the bread...

I would cut cable, cept I don't have any

Actually if it were a ridiculous interest worse than cars, I would cut the car (it gets extra each month)

If we assume I send only the car payment (and yet still don't have cable), then yeah I fall into cutting food, or car gas...

[MonkeyMama]

groceries
fun money
eating out
car payment

These are what I would drop personally. I would have to side with your readers - hehe.

For one I am not big on car payments - have done well with VERY used cars. If I had some debt to payoff I'd drop the car for $15k and buy one for $1k. A big impact and would really have no effect on the budget. I just had a $850 repair bill on my car which is more than the average annual repair on my old car, so I don't expect it to affect the budget in the LEAST, plus my insurance would go down too.

Fun money and eating out would be the next obvious ones - those are our little luxuries.

Groceries. This one pops out because we really trimmed the budget last year and though we are happy with most everything else, we continually strive to lower the grocery bill. Our grocery bill is usually $500. So there is some considerable room for savings here. More than the cable and internet really.

In this house cable is not negotiable (hubby) but it is also one of our smallest expenses, so it doesn't really pop at the top of mind to cut it. We use our cell phones for long distance and emergencies. Not worth saving a few bucks to be without a cell phone IMO. I have kids and the weather is 100 degrees. A cell phone buys me some security I can call AAA and not melt in the car if it dies on the side of the road. I also feel much safer at night.

I would certainly cut eating out before groceries on one hand, then again we don't spend money on eating out so there isn't much to cut. IT could really be a sign that your readers have already cut the other things perhaps?

[Ima saver]

I would cut cell phone first! I would cut cable next, but we have to have cable to get just the basic stations.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Monkeymama, I'm really surprised. But then again I've been tracking our spending on groceries, before and after coupons, I don't save much but our bills have never been large. I spend more eating out than groceries. Groceries for the two of us about $200-300/month eating well, not skimping. Oh and I guess I should add another $100 for booze, guess that would be cut FIRST.

I asked what would you cut first? Not everything you would cut. I honestly believe that cutting cable, fun money, eating out is much easier, way more and faster than trying to change your grocery habit.

I mean you cut cable for most people it's $50/month, then fun money say $20/week, eating out $50/week whammo, that's say $200/month. Can you trim your groceries in 1 phone call or decision like that?

Also cutting groceries is good move long term, but so is getting rid of car payment (I don't have one), but for a lot of people they do. So you could drop your $500/month car payment for zero. Or a smaller one. Can you cut $500/month from your groceries? If you can then you spend a lot on groceries.

[FrugalFish]

I'd say cell phone, but I only have an $8/month prepaid emergency plan, so it wouldn't make a world of difference.

If I have to make serious cutbacks, it won't be internet because apparently I need that to look for a different job.

I'd probably cut the cable because we don't really have much fun money and don't eat out often- though those things would go too.

Fishy

[Hedy]

Poll on my blog is If you were in debt repayment for 2 years what would you cut FIRST AND ONLY?

groceries
cable
internet
cell phone
fun money
eating out
car payment
rent/mortgage

I find myself very surprised at the results.

Hw do you define "cut"? I send a decent chunk of change extra to my car payment each month-if I just stuck to the billed amount, I'd have a decent additional amount for other debt.
Otherwise, cable.

[disneysteve]

groceries
cable
internet
cell phone
fun money
eating out
car payment
rent/mortgage

Cable first, definitely.

Of course, it really depends on the situation. For us, for example, our cable bill is $11.11/month, so cutting it wouldn't accomplish much. If we could trim our grocery bill by just 10%, we'd save a lot more than that, so I can understand if people vote for groceries.