The 1-2-3 Money Plan: The Three Most Important Steps to Saving and Spending Smart

Chapter 3Get FIT (Food, Insurance, Telecommunications)

In Living Rich by Spending Smart, I talked about becoming financially FIT, which stands for food, insurance, and telecommunications. These are perfect areas to start a spending makeover because they involve tremendous spending and waste for the average household. An American family of four spends about $14,000 a year in these three areas alone.

These areas are also great for spending cuts because you can save money painlessly. It’s not about deprivation. It’s about spending smarter, so you can redirect money to things you truly care about. They are the best examples of spending smart.

These are also areas of repeat spending. That means you’ll be spending in these areas—food, insurance, ...