How to spend less money? Ideas?

Question

I'm 17 weeks pregnant. Because I'm 17 weeks pregnant I quit smoking, drinking, and drinking energy drinks. My husband also quit smoking. Because of this we should have an extra 500 dollars a month or more! We are trying to get a better place that we will spend like 500 dollars more on and I know we should be able to afford it but we are spending our exact paychecks monthly (we have other money saved to move from before) and I just dont understand how we are spending that much??? Any ideas how to lessen our spending or set a budget? I dont necessary need to save but we need to be able to afford A LOT more a month. I think we just got used to cheap living. We used to make waaaaay less and now we make so much more but pay the same for rent... but somehow still spending all our money.

Answer

Lay out a budget, assign your dollars to things. 
I assign each dollar to a bill, whatevers left over I keep track of what I spent it on so I can do better and be better.
Balance your check book by tracking every purchase you make.

Answer

I keep a separate spending account. I set a certain amount aside for frivolous spending and put it in there. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. That’s where I find most unaccounted for money goes. Those random stops at the store, going out to eat, etc.. it all adds up. Having the separate account I feel makes it easier to track and limit.

Answer

Make a budget. Eat at home. Only grocery shop once a week or every other week. Give yourselves an "allowance" for extras. Have a set amount go from your checking to a savings on payday and then after bills put anything extra in the savings too

Answer

Set a monthly budget, and dont use a credit card to purchase anything. Take out a set amount of cash each week for extras, gas, food etc.

Answer

Make a budget for sure! We start with showing our incomes and then list out each expense. We subtract all the expenses from our income to see how much we are left over with. That will show you what you could be saving but instead are spending on random items. We automatically put money in a savings each paycheck so we know we can’t spend it. If you were spending $500 a month on smoking and drinking, etc, put that money in a separate account right away so you aren’t tempted to spend it. If you and your husband each get paid twice a month, then just take $125 from each paycheck and that will add to the $500 for the month. Hope that helps at all! My husband and I do this and it has helped us a lot!

Answer

so I know with my banks mobile app, there is a budget feature. that you can plug in how much you spend on certain things, or how much you want to spend. and it will track it and tell you if you reach the limit before the end of the month

Answer

Thanks everybody for the advice! I think we are just spending and not looking. We make way more than we did when we moved into where we live now and stopped some nasty habits like smoking (10 dollars a pack for cigarettes in california and we each were buying a pack at least everyb2 days if not more) so we should have extra money for sure! And poof it's gone! I'm definitely gonna use a lot of your advice and try to use pay attention to what were buying.

Answer

First thing I would do is go through your bank and credit card statements to see what you’ve actually spent that money on since quitting. Did you spend it on food eating out or more groceries? Entertainment like movies or concerts?

Answer

Well, remember that every single dollar counts, because it adds up quickly. 
Sit down with him and make a budget. Add together your total incomes first. Round down so that you aren't counting on $2500 every single month if sometimes you only make $2300. Next add up your total monthly set bills like rent, utilities, car payment, ect (round up if it's not a set amount each month. So if your electric bill is between $60 and $80 a month, allot $100 for it) Subtract your bills from your income. Next, it's time to set a limit on how much you want your non set bills (like groceries) to cost each month. Subract that from your monthly income as well. Now that your normal bills are subtracted, everything that's left can be divided into categories. Decide what categories you want (like a savings account, a travel fund, a baby fund, free spending, ect) and divide it between them. If you have 3 categories, you can divide it by 3. Or you can decide to to put half in one account, and split the other half between 2 other accounts, or whatever you want. At the end of the month, if your set bills come in lower than expected, or your paycheck was larger than what you added up, you can put the extra you didn't spend on them directly into savings.
Now, it's time to be smart about your monthly bills. For groceries, get in the habit of buying store brands and sale items. Meal plan weekly and make a grocery list based on your bills and only go shopping once a week. This will help cut down on random or impulse buys, because you have a plan going into the store and know exactly what you're getting. For utilities, make sure you're turning off lights when they're not needed, make sure you're keeping your heat reasonable and wearing layers instead. Make sure you aren't eating out often, aren't buying things you don't need (or if you can't do that, make sure you create a free spending category mentioned above so that you know what your limit for unnecessary buying or eating out/dates is. Any unnecessary spending falls into the free spending category) 
There's the envelope system if you need help keeping tabs on your money. I also know that some people do better using cash vs card because then they can't spend money that they don't have, and it stops them from overspending. It's also important to always be aware of your spending, and be responsible

How to spend less money? Ideas?

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