7 expenses that destroy your budget

We are experiencing an extremely complex moment, despite the fact that we are still in a pandemic and new variants, thanks to vaccines the world is reactivating and two forces are beginning to battle in your budget: expenses and savings.

On the one hand, there is the spending devil, who tells us that we have been in our homes for a long time and we deserve to go out and enjoy ourselves, besides, life is very short; and on the other, many people realize that they managed to save a significant amount, taking into account that they did not travel, birthdays were easier and they did not spend on gasoline, and the little angel of savings shows us that we did a good job.

But we all know that it is very likely that the spending devil is going to win this fight, at least for a while, so we want to remind you not to lose control of the following 7 items in your budget:

1.- Expenses in outings to Restaurants:

In 2019 according to the U.S. Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Americans spent an average of more than $3,000 a year on meals away from home, so we could almost say that they ate one meal at home and one meal away from home. Being of course one of the first sources of expense that we have to take care of, remembering the danger zones in a restaurant:

• Alcoholic beverages and fruit juices or meringues, where an important part of the account goes.
• Desserts: where we all know that dessert is a fundamental piece of the experience of your visit to the restaurant, but it is also where we see prices above what the same dessert would cost you outside of a restaurant.

So we give two additional suggestions:

• Always have a practical solution that you have frozen at home in case you feel lazy to cook, this type of food will be cheaper than going out.
• If you are going out to a restaurant to live the experience, you can rather ask for a cheaper dish, not always ask for the loin or the most expensive dish, we know that your little devil will say that you deserve it and it is true, but you also deserve to be able to enjoy without blow your budget.

2.- Expenses in special events and vacations:

This is another of the expenses that appears again and can ruin your budget, the prices of air tickets and hotels are through the roof and it is important to plan ahead so as not to overpay.

3.- Camps and special activities for children:

Taking into account that your children have spent so much time at home and mainly in front of a computer and without seeing their other friends, it is normal that you want them to participate in as many activities as there are, but remember to stipulate a maximum amount of expenses and combine them with outings in outdoor family so they don’t cost you so much.

4.- Gasoline expenses:

Another component to take care of in your budget, this is another item that is at its highest values ​​and after having your car stopped at home for so many days, it is normal for you to think about going on a trip but remember to take into account the cost of gasoline in your budgets again.

5.- Home expenses and remodeling:

Being so long in your home, I assure you that you saw things that you would like to change or improve, or perhaps you are even thinking that the time has come to move and request a new mortgage. But before deciding you should take into account several factors:

a.-) Many people are doing the same as you and prices are through the roof,

b.-) This is the concept of greatest spending by families in the USA, reaching on average more than $20,000 per year. So it is always good to evaluate if your budget can support it.

6.- Used cars:

In the latest US inflation report for June 2021, we see that used car prices are beginning to drop a bit but are at their all-time highs, so it would be interesting to see if it is time to wait.

7.- Expenses in gifts at the last minute:

The best advice we can give you, start buying the gifts that you are going to give at Christmas as well as the birthdays that come in the coming months, going out to see what you are buying because you have to give someone a gift in a few days is not the better idea.

We hope that these ideas will be useful to you in these times of economic uncertainty and where, as Benjamin Franklin said, “A penny saved is a penny earned”

Alonso Rodríguez Segarra

Founder & CEO Advise Financial

advise-financial.com

Alonso is a “CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™” who is dedicated to increasing the Financial Well-being of nurses, physicians and successful immigrants in Florida and Texas. With more than 20 years of experience in the world of finance, always working for the best interest of his clients, under fiduciary criteria.