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If you and your spouse want to cut your spending, you’ll get the best results by working as a team. That means finding ways to save money together so you’ll have more cash to reach your financial goals.
To help you do this, GOBankingRates asked personal finance and money-saving experts for ways they cut costs and boost savings with their spouse.
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These 25 tips will help you save money on everything from everyday expenses to nights out and get your finances aligned so you can set aside more for your future.
Have Savings Competitions
1. Have Savings Competitions
Saving money can actually be fun for couples, if you turn it into a friendly competition. That’s what Grayson Bell, creator of the Debt Roundup blog, and his wife do to keep their spending in check.
“We will see who can save the most money for 30 days, and the loser has to treat for dinner at the end,” Bell said. “We base this off a percentage of income earned, not total amount saved because of the differences in income. We’ve found the competition brings out the best and pushes us to find new ways to save money.”
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Set Common Goals
2. Set Common Goals
It’s hard to save money if you and your partner don’t have the same priorities when it comes to finances. That’s why you need to discuss your goals so you can decide together where you want to allocate your funds, said Regina Conway, consumer expert for Slickdeals.
“It makes it a lot easier to skip a meal out when you know the money is going toward something … you are both on board (with),” she said.
Create a Budget
3. Create a Budget
“It’s extremely difficult to save if you have no idea where your money is going,” said Barry Choi, a personal finance expert with MoneyWeHave.com. So both partners should track their spending for a month or two by logging every purchase and expense, he said.
“Now that you know your spending habits, you can make adjustments to your spending and increase your savings,” he said. You don’t have to think of it as budgeting, but rather as creating a spending plan that makes saving a priority.
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