How I Cut Costs by $500 per Month

By Tamara Monosoff of Entrepreneur.com



There's no escaping it: The economy is officially dismal. Many companies are being forced to increase sales and/or decrease costs in order to remain competitive or, in some cases, survive.

That's why we decided to do a little cost-cutting experiment last month at my business. Our goal: to shave $500 from our monthly business expenses. We made a game out of it, and it was really quite fun. Instead of just canceling services or slashing inventory, our strategy was to cut nothing essential.

In other words, we didn't reduce manufacturing, cut our health insurance or stop backing up our data. Instead, we set out to cut costs in ways we'd never even noticed -- by continuing to get the same essential services or products for less.

We approached it like a game, kind of like a scavenger hunt for savings, and we succeeded in cutting about $470 per month. That's $5,640 per year, which could cover a few mortgage payments or about four new laptop computers.

I'm sharing this information because these strategies can apply to any business. Most of our cuts were to core services that almost every business or household requires. Keep in mind, your suppliers and their competitors are also fighting for your business.

Start by looking at your check register or online bill-pay records for a couple of months. You may be surprised by what you find. Some costs will have increased, and some may even be for services you no longer require. Here are some areas where we found savings: