Date Night Club (August 2021): Recover Wasted Money

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No matter how financially savvy you are - we all end up unintentionally wasting money here and there. Whether it's a subscription you forgot to cancel or produce that goes bad in your fridge, it happens to the best of us. As the world slowly begins to open back up again and your spending patterns shift, now is a great time to reevaluate where your money is going so you waste as little as possible.

Take a Bite:

  • What's one way you've wasted money over the last year?

DATE NIGHT MATERIALS LIST:

  • Copy of the last month's financial transactions

  • Pen

  • Copy of your budget

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15 MINUTE SNACK: A HUNT FOR BURIED TREASURE

Have you ever had the joy of finding cash stuck between the couch cushions, stashed in a favorite pair of pants, or hidden in an old wallet? I hope today's activity brings you the same joy as you recover money that you may be wasting.

As we shift into the "new normal," take some time to reevaluate where your money is going. Do you still need all of those TV subscriptions that got you through the pandemic? Are you finally ready to let go of that online fitness subscription you never use? Can you stop paying for delivery fees to have your groceries brought to your door? Or, might you be hitting the "revenge spending" hard in this new normal world?

  1. Take a look at your financial transactions from the last month and label each with one of these letters: S for those things that spark joy for either or both of you, N for necessary purchases, and P for those places where you might possibly wasting your money. It's possible you may have some transactions that are labeled with two letters because they either spark joy or are necessary purchases but you also might possibly be overspending in that area. Try not to over think this, go with your gut reaction. Don't have a way to mark up the individual expenses on paper? Just keep a list of the "P" expenses so you can come back to them later.

  2. After you've labeled each transaction, go back to the items you labeled with a P. Are these expenses a waste of money? Might you be able to reduce the money you spend in this area? Or, are these worthwhile expenses? Circle any expenses that can be eliminated or reduced and write the monthly savings of the elimination or reduction next to the expense.

  3. Before we stop treasure hunting, are there any annual expenses that wouldn't be reflected in this month's transactions that you might be wasting money on? For instance, are there any annual subscription fees or bills that you could renegotiate, or might you decide to spend less money on your individual birthdays so you can put more money toward your joint goals?

  4. Total up all of the money you will be saving on a monthly basis by letting these monthly expenses go and be sure to add in any annual savings as well. How might you redirect this money toward other areas of your budget?

  5. Most importantly, in order to really save this wasted money you have to take the step to reduce or eliminate the expenses you've identified. Decide what you are each going to do next to make sure that money is really saved.

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If you like, you can take this month's topic deeper ...

MAKE IT A MEAL: APPLY WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED

One of the key ways that most people unintentionally waste money is by not negotiating their regular bills/expenses. Learn more about the money I've saved by renegotiating my regular expenses in this blog post. Put some time on the calendar to do a little renegotiating and see how much more money you save!

MONTHLY BUDGET CHECK-IN

Take a moment to look back at last month's budget together.

  • Did you stay on track?

  • If you got off track, what 1-2 steps can you each take to get back on track again?

  • Did any surprises come up - positive or negative?

  • Take a look over the expenses, did the way you used your money align with your values?

  • What changes will you make for next month?

  • How are we doing with the things we decided to continue doing, start doing, and stop doing?