I posted a rather rambling response to a question regarding minimum payments on credit cards when ends couldn't be met, and it wound up being an exercise in ruthlessly optimizing my expenses... so cross posting over here just to see if others have done a similar analysis and what their own savings might be if the proverbial fecal matter was headed towards the air circulation device and financially cutting back and what one would gain.
Anyway cut and paste in most of it's glory below:
At some level I think everyone has to make a rational choice: *really* do a budget (and the $5 I spent at Starbucks this morning for example would get kicked to the curb if push came to shove for example, as would any drink other than water FWIW, and I don't mean the Smart Water and other pay for service, tap water where clean or the 25 cent gallons one gets elsewhere).
Other things similarly just get airstruck:
- Prime: maybe I'd still keep this, big maybe but probably not as I can walk to get basic necessities and there's cheaper ways to kill time for me. $10/month
- Kindle Unlimited: same, actually this may go anyway $10/month
- Experian: $10/month gone
- NPR donation: $10/month gone
- Netflix: $13/month gone
- AF's on credit cards: if I'm not eating out as much re-evaluate the CSR, and the extraneous CIP / Marriot both get killed immediately; I lose out on some things with that as the Marriot card more than pays for itself but ultimately it's about stopping the bleeding.
Then the big things:
- Restaurant habit: $444 spent last month; cook no matter what when at home, long as the food is safe it's edible.
- Tesla: I could probably optimize my life to the point I didn't have this expense; I don't have to go onsite that often currently and Uber for a given month would be cheaper than the nominal payment for all that I'm way ahead on the loan already. Or take the $15k I'd get back probably after sale and loan payoff and buy a beater for a few K, use the rest to shore up debt or cash reserves. Might be able to refinance the payment down too, I might go look into that if my life changes as I will need a car for most employment opportunities in LA (or elsewhere, mass transit sucks so badly in the US overall if I have to move for a gig)
- Mortgage: refinance it, rate doesn't matter just go and get that payment down by ~700/month.
- Second bedroom: rent it, yeah I've lived by myself for perhaps too long but I can deal with a roomate: extra stuff, just get rid of all of it, condense down Marie Kondo style, God knows I don't rationally need a TV anymore and if I don't need that I don't need the stand or the receiver / DVD / etc components.
That's just adjustments I can make on the back of my hand but admittedly I know my expenses well cause I've done the budgetting exercise and track all of it, and I think virtually everyone could make similar if they tried... I suspect the vast majority of consumers *really* don't ruthlessly budget to minimize expenses in order to get out of debt or back on financial track.
Admittedly even when I'm looking at this list maybe I need to pare back anyway, that small list still comes to 1186 a year approximately, and that big list well, I could cut out ~22K a year, still keep my condo, at a one time expense of around ~$3k call it to refinance the mortgage assuming I just sell the Tesla as regardless of how much I enjoy driving the car I'm driving less than 7k miles a year and no soccer refereeing would reduce that even further, I'll deal.
I suspect compared to my income my bleeding is WAY less than most people's too, but when I can slash call it 1800/month out of my expenses... well, that's a lot, and I think as soon as one of my two gigs comes to an end I'm going to implement a lot of this. Right now it's all about convenience and mental sanity and a lot of money (for probably most people TBH looking at average HHI, last month I was in the 1% income wise with 3 gigs) sloshing around and just hammering the debt... but I could be doing a lot better rationally just looking at it.
@Revelate... a sobering reality that is hard to swallow but befitting of our financial needs if the income is not there to sustain the existing way of life's expenses. Humbling to say the least ... 
@Anonymous wrote:
@VanderSnootin reference to your library not having books you desire, your library maybe linked into what is called an "inter library loan" program/system that can source other libraries and have the book(s) of choice brought to your library of choice or mailed to you at home. Something you can consider.
I think ILL only works for hard copies, no? It'd be great if it worked for ebooks and audiobooks. Alas, I think my only chance of expanding selection is to become a member of more libraries 
@VanderSnootyou got me? I can not remember if you can get ebooks and audiobooks? In the state where I live we have separate library regions but, they are interconnected so your library card while issued on one library or a regional library system could access the other libraries (used to be on the state library advisory council) and if what you wanted was elsewhere they got it for you. Before getting lot's of other library cards, inquire into if your state allows the uses that mine does. I have a card on a region and it goes to all of them (got'ta love the convenience and I have used it that way even into the college academic libraries). Well anyway food for thought 
Good luck as keeping the young students of life engaged is important!
