How To Fit Student Loan Payments Into Your 2023 Budget

The long-standing and mostly excellent financial advice about reducing spending is to find ways to cut back on your most expensive line items. For most, that’s housing, transportation, and food — I know many of these things are simply expensive and have also increased significantly in the last few years. This is also why the advice — as out of touch as it may feel — makes perfect sense. If it feels right for you to consider relocating or finding roommates to save money, look into your options because it could make a significant difference in the long run. When it comes to trying to keep rising food costs from taking a big bite out of your monthly spending plan, look for sales or try other stores that sell groceries at a discount, like Grocery Outlet or something similar. Even living in Los Angeles, I’ve noticed a significant number of people have gone from a two-car to a one-car household. While that’s not an option for everyone, it is an example of bucking trends to reduce our consumption. That’s not to say cutting back on bite-sized expenses isn’t meaningful; it’s just that unless you have lots of them, it doesn’t feel like it will make as much of a difference as saving hundreds on a car payment, for example.