9 Radical Cost-Cutting Tips To Reduce the Tightest Budget

You’ve cut the budget to the bone, but now you need to cut it even further. Try these 9 radical cost cutting tips when the belt needs to be tightened a little bit more.

Are you having serious financial trouble?

Buried so deep that you can’t see your way out?

Then it’s time for some radical cost cutting tips. Use these tips to make every dollar you have go farther.

9 Radical Cost Cutting Tips

You might think you can’t cut the budget any further. But have you really cut all non-essentials? These are the radical cost cuts my family made after I thought our budget was about as tight as it could get.

1. Go over every bill with a fine tooth comb.

See exactly what you are paying for and why. Eliminate the extra mortgage products (life insurance, disability, etc.). If you don’t understand what a certain charge is, call the company. In my experience, they have been more than happy to explain their billing.

2. Take a hard look at streaming services and other subscriptions.

Streaming services are not that expensive on their own. But if you have three or four, it can add up. Consider cutting a few until your finances improve. You may just find that you don’t miss them all that much anyway. (See also: 7 Simple Ways To Save on Streaming Services.)

3. Compare the costs of your internet access.

These days, home internet access is more of a need than a want. If you don’t need the internet to work from home or for your kids’ school, consider cancelling your home access and get by with using your phone data until your budget is in better shape. Even if you need to update your phone data plan to an unlimited plan, that might be cheaper than paying for a phone data plan and home internet access.

If you do need to keep home access, see if you can get a better deal by switching companies. If you find a better price from someone else, see if your current service provider will match the price. No need to go through the hassle of switching if you don’t need to.

4. Put vacations on hold.

Until your finances improve, plan staycations rather than vacations. To have something to look forward to, start planning a trip for some undesignated future date. Vacation planning can be almost as enjoyable as the trip itself.

5. Comparison shop.

Take a Saturday and compare the prices of paper, plastic and personal hygiene items at a discount store, grocery store and dollar store. Use the cheapest one you can get that has the quality that is acceptable to you.

Related:

• Reducing the Cost of Disposables
• Top 3 Ways To Lower Your Food Bills

6. Get control of meal costs.

Figure out how many meals you will need to make from payday to payday, accounting for what is going on with your calendar.

For instance, I need eight to nine meals between each payday. I don’t like to cook on Sundays after church. We also have church on Wednesday night, and hubby has softball on Tuesdays and Thursdays. For those days, I plan a super easy meal so that we will not need to grab fast food. A Sunday meal may be a crockpot meal that I assemble the night before and plug in before church. Our Wednesday night meal may be baked potatoes, and on softball night, I broil frozen chicken patties and make them into sandwiches in a few minutes.

Related: Super Frugal Weekly Meal Plans (+ Tips for Cutting Food Costs)

7. Do you have more pets than you really can afford to feed?

I know this may hit a giant nerve, but pets cost money to feed and keep. The people I know who are in the worst financial situation have two large dogs and three cats. Yet, they have almost lost their house twice and are constantly behind on their power bill and threatening shut off.

Related: Simple Ways To Find Extra Money To Spend on Your Pet

8. Cut snack and beverage costs.

Soda, beer, alcohol, smokes and candy add up fast, especially when paying gas station prices. By the way, a gas station owner once told me that he makes little to no profit on the sale of gas. The vast majority of his profit is from candy, soda, beer, cigarettes and other impulse sales in the store. Cutting these things out will not only make your wallet smile, but also your body will thank you.

9. Stay positive.

When you have to radically cost cut, turn it into a positive. Instead of “we have to cut back because we don’t have the money,” make it “we are choosing to make positive changes for our family.”

What Other Radical Cost Cutting Tips Could You Try?

These radical costs cutting tips helped my family make it through a rough financial period and I hope they can help yours as well. But don’t stop with these. Get creative and get real. Are there a few more little luxuries you could slay to improve your financial situation? Could you tighten that financial belt just a bit more?

• Living on a Tight Budget…Successfully
• Radical Cost Cutting for Surviving Financially Tough Times
• Bare Bones Budgeting Tactics
• Cutting Your Burn Rate During Tough Financial Times
• How Retirees Can Live On a Tight Budget
• The Upside of Forced Frugality

Reviewed July 2023