Reducing Expenses

Controlling expenses to maintain the standard of living is the chief challenge faced by those trying to exit the rate race. A few life choices aimed at reducing monthly expenses can make the overall task of attaining financial independence less onerous:

a) Choosing To Own As Opposed To Rent:

Any item used on a daily basis is a candidate for owning as opposed to renting. Examples include the house one occupies and automobiles. Normally regarded as the major outlays of money one might ever make, home ownership is a special case that merits special attention. We have explored the issues associated with home ownership through a series of articles (click to read them).

A variation on the same theme is to reduce/eliminate subscription style expenses. Cable TV, DSL, Movie Rentals, Cellular Phones, Club Memberships, etc fall in this category. Your best bet is to always choose life time membership without monthly charges, if such a choice exists.

b) Frugal Living:

Frugal living is a life choice that allows people to spend less money for the same standard of living that they are used to. In exchange of spending less money, the practitioner spends a little bit of extra time and energy looking for “better deals”. We have looked at our experience practicing frugal living through a series of articles (click to read).


Related Posts:

1. Exiting the Rat Race - Definition.
2. Rat Race Exit Strategies. 
3. Passive Income - Part 1 - Network Marketing.
4. Passive Income - Part 2 - Royalties. 
5. Passive Income - Part 3 - Rental Income. 
6. Passive Income - Part 4 - Dividends.
7. Passive Income - Part 5 - Pension Plans. 
8. Passive Income - Part 6 - Employer Plans. 
9. Strategies to Beat Inflation.
10. Strategies to Reduce Expenses.
11. Frugal Living - A Definition to go by. 

Last Updated: 06/2011.