Food

Housing

Transportation

Student Loans

Where in the world do Americans spend 

their money?

Expanded version of chart

  Americans spend most of their money on only 3 things

Some people believe the surefire way to squirrel away enough money for a solid retirement is to cut out small but frequent expenses. Starbucks, quite commonly, is the whipping boy in this line of reasoning: Eliminate that sinful $5 daily coffee and you're on your way to financial freedom. 

These daily expenses can add up, but if you're really trying to slash your costs and get serious about saving, you'd do better to zero in on the three areas where Americans spend the bulk of their money: housing, transportation, and food. 

As Tony Robbins has written, most people don’t consider the most obvious way to save money: 

Move!

DYI:

You can thank the Federal Reserve (there are no reserves and the bank is private) over the decades of “jacking up” the costs of real estate whether buying or renting.  Unless you have a magic wand ending the Federal Reserve you are only left with the option of downsizing your housing costs.  The maximum is 25% (after taxes) to be spent on housing.  As you can see from the chart 34% is way above my maximum.  Strive for the 15% level even if this requires a move to far simpler housing.  Along with a modest car you are on your way to open up a flood gate of monies to pay off debts (student loans?) becoming completely debt free.  Build a rainy day fund equal to two years income.  Not as hard as it seems since your overall costs have dropped like a rock.  Build a second fund for a large down payment on a house in order to maintain that 15% spending level on housing.  This leaves a ton of money to save for retirement and other spending goals as well.     

 DYI