Trim Your Expenses

For most people, cutting expenses is a lot easier than raising their incomes (although we'll talk about that too in a bit). Name an expense, and there's probably a way to trim it.

How practical those trims are and how much money you'll save depends on your individual situation and how quickly you want to achieve your goals. Someone who's bent on early retirement may be willing to get pretty frugal to leave the rat race behind; others may want to strike a more equal balance between current and future comforts. It's up to you to decide what works for you and what doesn't, but here are some areas to look at:

Housing and utilities. Moving to cheaper digs is one option; so is getting a roommate. We also discussed refinancing as ...

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