Crunching The Numbers
Hi fellow Hiveians,
Today I wanted to talk about taking a dive into the financial numbers, and what some of the results could be!

Crunching The Numbers
Crunching the numbers should be a routine task!
Every so often we need to get in the habit of doing some things that are good for us overall. One of those things is trying to take a look at the numbers in terms of money in, expenses and where to make some improvements!
I'm incredibly fortunate in that for most of my adult life, I've worked enough and had decent jobs where I could spend a little less attention on the things I bought. Sure I've always been one to bargain shop and stuff, where I would refuse to get something for full price but would spend days or weeks trying to find something similar at a bargain store like TJ Max or Burlington Coat Factory. Those things have helped me save a decent amount of money over the years!
With that ability, knowing that I am able to save a little bit of money every month while covering all expenses has been a really good thing for a lot of reasons. Back to what I said earlier, I know that for sure I am one of the lucky ones. I don't make massive amounts of money, but I make enough that we can live comfortably and save some here and there.
One of the important things that we need to do though, every so often, is to take a HARD look at the numbers. Not to nickel and dime all over the place, but look at the money coming in, and where the hell is it going out in terms of expenses. It's always important to be able to do this, even once a year depending on your situation!
Taking a deep dive into the numbers has been an interesting experience to say the least! Thankfully there are some areas where things could improve, while at the same time, there are other areas where expenses could be cut as they are unnecessary and sadly the result of laziness.
Buying takeout food is one of the biggest expenses, and that is likely the case for most people in the US, and likely the Canada, Australia and European groups as well. Sure it's nice to go out to eat every once in a while but when we end up getting lazy, buying less food at the grocery store and more food from a drive through, then there ends up being some problems. The most important one is our health suffers.
Takeout food is okay in a pinch, and it works for giving you calories, but sadly it's got a lot of issues besides that. One of the challenges living in America is the food is unfortunately and sadly poison, in many senses of the word. It is filled with pesticides, chemicals, artificial hormones and lots of other nasty things. Sure, the food we get at the grocery store, depending what we get, has a lot of the same things but buying the raw ingredients to make things like salads, meats and others where you combine them yourself, is going to give you a much better bang for your buck, financially and health wise.
Seeing the amount of money being spent on takeout food was pretty eye opening. It is one of the first and foremost areas where we are going to be cutting spending, and that will translate well into other areas such as health and losing a few pounds!
I did take a look at some other minor things, and found some discrepancies that I need to also close but it was great to be able to spend some serious time coming up with some crunched numbers.
What about you, do you try and periodically take a look at your budget in terms of income and expenses, to make improvements? Let me know in the comments what you found if you did!

-CmplXty. Real human written content, never AI. All pictures are mine unless otherwise stated

Do you want to get paid, in crypto, for searching the internet? Try using and signing up for Presearch to earn some crypto! Join Presearch to break Google's stranglehold on the internet searches.
I have multiple spreadsheets that I go over after each pay. It's probably a bit overkill, but it works for me.
Oh man, yeah that's too intense for me lol. I am really good with bills and the finances but if I looked at it every time I got paid, I would go nuts haha. Whatever works for you man!
The funny thing is, now that most of my debt is gone, I often forget when we get paid. We will be halfway through the next week and I say oh crap, we got paid.
Hahah yeah that's a good way to live man! I only mainly focus on the pay cycles because we put 99% of the expenses we can on the credit card unless we go to a farm stand or something. Paying it off 2x a month has done a great boost to the credit score!
That's awesome. I try to do that too to maximize my rewards. Unfortunately some places don't allow you to do that. Our power company just stopped allowing payment with a credit card. So stupid.
Great insights! 💰 It’s amazing how eye-opening a budget review can be—takeout really does sneak up fast. Glad you’re turning it into better health and savings! 👏📊
Yeah takeout food is good because it's convenient.. but that might be where the goodness ends for it! Lol
Oh man! It's so funny that you just made this post -- I was literally getting anxious today, thinking about our spending and budget 😅
In fact, takeout, yes, I had the exact same thoughts as you! I was thinking to myself, man, we spent a bit today, but that $50 could have been spent on takeout, so we're doing okay! 😂"
But obviously it is fine to splurge sometimes, but within your limit. Our province lottery slogan is, know your limit; play within it!!
Yeah it's really important to know the limits and stay under it! The tricky part with takeout is when it gets to be a habit and routine. We have to be careful we don't fall into a laziness rut!
I'm glad you're keeping some thoughts on the finances. It's important to stretch the dollars we can these days!
I also think looking hard at the numbers objectively can be very eye opening in a lot of ways. Sometimes, we keep doing the obvious because we fail to identify a gap that needs to be filled or entirely discarded. I usually do mine every month, seems the traditional way so might as well keep it going. Didn't know this much on takeout foods, especially the expensive part. I thought it was the other way round lol, that's why it was easier to do than cooking at home.
Yeah takeout is pricey that's for sure! Home cooked things are the way to go in a lot of ways unless there's a real situation for the more convenient option.
I have rough ideas on it every few weeks because I pay the bills but taking a dive into it all isn't something I do routinely. Looking at all of the expenses can be tricky!
Haha I have been crunching/tracking my expenses since 2010! Over time I have simplified the process as my expenses were quite routine and predictable, and as my savings and income grew, I also felt that I didn't have to be so tight on myself down to every dollar. Hehe.
Yeah for sure man that's what it's about. It's important to develop a good system and do it early then gradually ease up on it but keep an idea on the numbers!
30% of my expenses are rent. 30% is buying groceries. I can save a little on groceries when I go to the store less often and in the summer when I bring 2 baskets of produce from my garden. Yesterday I brought delicious new potatoes, onions, garlic, zucchini, cucumbers, berries and greens. I bought champignons and my wife cooked delicious stewed zucchini with mushrooms.