Saving 101: Cutting Out the Non-Essentials

The key to a healthy monthly budget is cutting out the relatively inane and nonessential items that claw away at your bank account. Now of course defining nonessential may mean something quite different to you, your wife, your friends, your weird neighbors and so on, but suffice to say it's determining similar trends in your spending habits that fall under the category of luxuries or wants versus needs. So here's a little experiment you can undertake to see how much you're truly spending on a day-to-day basis, and how much is actually spent on necessity.

• Take a notepad and pen with you for two weeks. For every purchase you make, jot it down on the notepad.
• Keep all receipts as a backup.
• Don't pick and choose what you track, literally write down every purchase, even if it's a stop at the vending machine to grab a late afternoon snack.
• Crunch the numbers at the end of the two weeks and compare to your monthly budget for bills.

Now, If you're like me, you'll probably throw up in your mouth a little bit when you realize that you're blowing more than $100 each month on eating out in addition to the grocery bill. Food for thought?