We recently scaled back our spending because we have decided we wanted to get serious about getting financially free. Then a short time later we BOTH lost our jobs so that decision turned out to be not only a wise one but a necessary one as well!

Anyway, we created an excel sheet and calculated all our spendings in different categories, and then calculated what percentage they were of the total. There we saw that our pretty lavish supermarket spendings were about 8% of our total expenses. As we both love to eat well, we decided to cut our restaurant meals, but not the supermarket. We're spending a lot less money but still feel we haven't had to give up our lifestyle.

We also minimized spending on insurances/cable/cell phone (we still have the necessary stuff, just did a lot of research on the cheapest options) and on clothing. For Doodad's (those who've read Rich Dad, Poor Dad know what I mean) we decide just how happy is it going to make us - and how many hours we need to work to make the money for the doodah - and half the time we decide it's really not worth it!

Hi Everyone,

These are all great tips. My favorite was keep it simple - spend less than you earn.

That's tough for most people though, as at the end of the month they have no money, but have no idea where it went. That's why we - and many of you - advocate developing a comprehensive, but manageable budget.

We have a pretty good tool here if you'd like to check it out. It's free.

I totally agree with all these tips. Like several people said, in a nutshell, the best thing to do is to live below your means.

Pinpoint the level at which you can live comfortably given your current finances, and then make sure that you live well below that. Of course, this doesn't not mean in any way that you should deprive yourself of some comforts or luxuries that you can actually afford. The key is just to keep a firm grip on your spending.

A really good tip is to make sure that you have a good budgeting plan in the first place. Really, "spending less" isn't a concrete budgeting strategy, I'm afraid. For example, if you opt to buy a certain generic product over a brand-name one in the store, but you make no move to lessen your monthly cable bill, then you will definitely not be able to save as much as you actually can. If you do not apply saving to all the aspects in your life, then you aren't really saving at all.

This is where a concrete budgeting strategy comes into play. Having a concrete guide will really help you get in the right track towards saving.

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Adam Randall

http://www.fifteenyearplan.com - My personal finance blog dedicated to helping people take control of their finances.

I was able to save a lot of money weekly just by getting food from the truck at work instead of buying from store.

I spend $3 for breakfast (full plate of rice, and either a chicken burrito or some egg/bacon) and $4 for lunch (full plate of lomein, egg roll, and sweet and sour chicken).

I was spending a lot more making sandwhiches and still be hungry afterwards. Or if I went to buy this stuff from a chinese place or spanish place directly, I'd be paying 2-3 dollars more. Been doing this for 2 years and no problems with their food.

Our company offers free bottled water, tea, or coffee so I save small fortune on beverages.

Throw out your TV? Yes! I didn't even realize it, but since I got rid of television 3 years ago, I've wanted less stuff. I rarely even go shopping. When I do, I'm astonished at all the stuff. I start to want it. Advertising really does work, huh?

When something breaks fix it.

People don't realize the power of the Internet for such things. Google and YouTube are your friends here. You'll often find people on the net who have had the same thing break and how they fixed it. You can also find many service manuals for various products.

For instance, my square LCD monitor blew up on me a month ago. I checked the Internet and found a service manual, which explained how to pull it apart, and then I found people who had the same problem. The problem was that a capacitor blew on the internal power board, all I had to do was remove the old one and re-solder a new one on. Cost of fix, $3 for the capacitor (already had the soldering equipment).

This saved me about $270 as a new square LCD monitor are hard to come by these days and I really enjoy the square ones for reading the net.

prioritize your spending (also known as spending thoughtfully or purposefully.)

Spend your money where you will get the most enjoyment. Don't save money by making yourself miserable. If you really really hate changing your oil, then pay someone to do it. Just make sure you are saving the difference on something you don't mind doing.

We save alot by having a 9 per month netflix subscription instead of cable, and renting dvds, video games and books from the library instead of buying. But I also pay for an ultrafast internet connection, since I often work from home and need to use a lot of bandwith for my work which often involves video conferencing and downloading large files.

I save alot of money on groceries now by eating alot of dried beans and homemade pasta. But I spend alot on our pasture-fed dairy products. Because high quality milk makes a huge difference to me, whereas i honestly like beans and pasta just as much as meat and potatoes.

I save alot by having only one tiny fuel-efficient ancient car. I also hate driving and spend alot to live where it's fairly easy to get by 3/4 of the time without a vehicle at all. If they ever introduce a car sharing service closer than the current 23 miles away, we may go that route (although with our paid off cheap car, it may be cheaper just to keep it.)

You get the point. You may or may not spend less in the end, but you will feel as though you are living richly when you have enough for the things that genuinely bring you happiness or make your every day life pleasant.