{"id":5046,"date":"2010-12-26T22:40:50","date_gmt":"2010-12-27T06:40:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=5046"},"modified":"2013-08-29T11:22:37","modified_gmt":"2013-08-29T19:22:37","slug":"reduce-your-spending-or-increase-your-income-what-should-you-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/reduce-your-spending-or-increase-your-income-what-should-you-do\/","title":{"rendered":"Reduce Your Spending or Increase Your Income: What Should You Do?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Whether you’re deep in debt or just having a few financial hiccups, it’s almost certainly the case that you’re spending<\/em> more than you’re making<\/em>.<\/p>\n

A lot of personal finance writers will advise you to cut your expenditure. Eat out less often, downgrade your cable package, stop buying pricy coffees, and so on. There’s a strong focus on getting rid of unnecessary, day-to-day spending \u2013 sometimes dubbed “the Latte Factor” (a term coined by financial adviser David Bach). Wise Geek explains it like this<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Latte<\/a> Factor\u00ae is a euphemistic label for all that extra money we spend daily on nonessentials such as candy, bottled water, doughnuts,\u00a0muffins<\/a>, soda, cigarettes, magazines, newspapers, and yes, lattes.<\/p>\n

It’s good advice, as far as it goes. Daily amounts do add up fast, and by cutting out a regular “nonessential” you could probably save at least $50 each month.<\/p>\n

But however much you cut out the fat of your spending, you’re going to pretty quickly hit a wall…<\/p>\n

You Can’t Go That Low<\/h2>\n

All of us have certain fixed expenses. Typically, these will include:<\/p>\n