In my last blog How Cutting Your Household Expenses Can Help Your Business, I discussed removing unnecessary expenses in order to take the pressure off the ups and downs of cash flow in your dental practice.
Today, I’m expanding on that theme by sharing 12 favorite tips to painlessly cut expenses.
You’ll notice many things have a double benefit, like saving money and being good for your health, or saving money and helping the environment.
The best part? This list doesn’t just apply to dental professionals. Anyone can use these cash-saving tips!
Cutting Expenses by Tackling the Worst Offender: Credit Card Bills
Pull out your phone or iPad and take a scroll through your latest credit card bills.
- Look for any monthly recurring charges that you haven’t used in the last month or two. Jot a quick digital or paper note of what they are, then store it somewhere you’ll see it frequently until you can make it a point to cancel them. It can take a little time to tick them off the list and cancel each one, so make a goal for yourself, like canceling 1 per week until the list is done.
- Pay attention to the kicks in the gut – those expenses that make you cringe when you scroll through your bill. Maybe it’s the $300 dinner from last weekend, or the $500 day at the amusement park with the kids. It’s not that you didn’t love the experience, but it’s a chunk on the credit card. Mindfully start to lessen those big bills, and replace them with less expensive and just-as-fun options.
Cutting Unnecessary Food Expenses
Food can be one of your household’s biggest expenses. It may sound surprising, but run the numbers and you’ll realize it’s true.
Most of us don’t think about how much they spend at the grocery story — I certainly never did! Here are some easy tips to help you drop your monthly food bill.
- How much food do you waste? Be mindful if you find yourself throwing away a lot at the end of the week. Plan your meals better, and learn to re-purpose leftovers into something new.
- Eat at home more than you eat out (including takeout). Cooking is always less expensive than paying someone to do it for you. It’s more time consuming, but there are great ways to prepare things ahead – like crock-pot cooking – to take the pressure off hectic evenings. Partners and kids can even be involved in the process to make it a family event.
- Cooking Tip: Whole legumes such as beans, split peas and lentils are an excellent way to supplement protein in your meals and make them ahead for the week – they’re one of the cheapest foods on the planet, and delicious when cooked from scratch.
- Plan your meals. Chances are you’re going to want to eat several times every day, so why not anticipate this and plan meals better? It takes a little time up front, and some trial-and-error, but you save so much time and headache on the other end when you have good food ready that you want to eat. As a dentist, it takes a tremendous amount of pressure off the day when you know you’ll have nourishment.
- Shop for food seasonally. Buying seasonal produce and cooking meals with what’s fresh saves money, and tastes delicious.
Doing Away with Extras: Cutting Out other Costly Bills
- Be mindful of utility usage. Also something I never used to pay attention to – it can add up to real savings with a little mindfulness, and it’s usually beneficial environmentally too.
- Watch water usage. Make sure outdoor watering is efficient, no leaky Keep showering just as long, but turn the water off for half of it when you don’t need it. Never let the tap run doing dishes, or teeth-brushing.
- Watch energy usage. Be mindful of the thermostat, and make sure to adjust when away. Build a clothesline to cut down on dryer usage and keep your clothes in better shape.
- Consolidate other bills like cell phone and insurance. See if companies can give you bundled or bulk discounts. Keep an eye on the Comcast bill getting crazy – they’ll always lower it if you make the call. As a dentist business owner, you may be eligible for business rates on personal bills.
Recognize Hidden Extravagances
- Be super careful at Costco and Whole Foods. Two enormous money pits – and we all love them! Most people will shake their head in dismay when they realize how much they spend at these 2 stores alone each month. Give yourself a budget for these (and all!) stores where you shop. Aim to only buy certain things, and don’t get sucked into the trap of buying everything you see. And remember, it’s not a deal if you’re spending more money than you intended.
- Think carefully before large purchases and wait a month or two. Sometimes you might find you don’t need them as much as you think you do, or it’s fine to postpone them. We all get bugs about something new we need, but if we can just hold off a bit, the enthusiasm might pass and we’ve saved ourselves some cash.
- Watch the latte factor. David Bach is one of my favorite financial authors. He coined the popular term “the latte factor” to describe those little daily expenses we don’t think much of in the moment, but add up to a ton over time. Think of buying a $4 latte most mornings at your favorite coffee shop on your way to the dental office – how much does this add up to over months, years? What else could you have done with that money?
- Go out of your way to seek out free entertainment versus spending big. Instead of taking your kids to the zoo or an interactive museum, plan a fun hike and picnic together. Or enjoy a sport together that you already have equipment for. Instead of going with your spouse to a 5-star restaurant, make a fun date night at a food truck and yoga class.
Do Something Rewarding with the Money You’ve Saved!
As a busy dentist, getting your expenses under control is only fun and rewarding if you think carefully about what you want to do with all the money you’ve just saved.
Maybe part of it is paying off a debt or getting ahead on your savings – but make a point to reward yourself for your hard work by doing something fun as well!
Would you like to travel more? Play more golf? Remodel the kitchen? Do something joyful for yourself or your family as a direct result of cutting your expenses, so it makes you want to keep doing it.
Even better, think of your fun-goal at the outset when you decide to take control of your expenses, so it can motivate you through the process by getting excited about the reward you’re planning for all your hard work.
You work very hard running a dental business. Spend your money only on the things that reward you most in your life.
Find Out More
If you liked this list of simple tips to enhance your business success, check out our Shine Program – it’s a great way to get grounded and centered, and focus on what’s most important to you!
And as always, we’d love to hear from you. What expenses would you most like to cut from your household budget?