A tool from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) about how to cut costs and reduce expenses to help you cover daily necessities or save for your goals.

Finding ways to reduce your expenses can help you better afford the necessities you can’t live without. It can also give you more money every month to save for your goals.

You may still find yourself short on money to pay your bills even after tracking your expenses and cutting back. This is even more likely to happen if your hours at work get cut or you’re temporarily out of work.

Here are some tips and suggestions that can help you try to match what’s going out with what’s coming in. They focus on ways to decrease spending or uses of income and other financial resources. Not all of these may apply to you.

What to do

• Read through the list of expenses and the strategies for how to reduce them (see pages 2 & 3).
• Check the ideas that may be possible for you. Use this as a plan for getting more information or resources.
• Share options you’ve identified with others in your household and start implementing the strategies as soon as possible.