How Can You Cut Expenses?

We've all got our guilty pleasures -- monthly manicures, daily Starbucks runs, HBO, unlimited data plans on our cell phones... But, do we really need all these extras? How much money would we save monthly and yearly if we cut down on some of these expenses?

• Manicures/Pedicures. If you must indulge, skip the acrylics and have your natural nails professionally painted. This could easily save you $20/month or $240/year. If you manicured your own nails altogether, that's an extra $30-$45 in your pocket each month, or $540 a year!
• Starbucks coffee. We know it's overpriced, but we buy coffee from "Bigbucks" anyway. Instead of ordering your favorite grande skinny latte for $4, opt for a $2 double espresso. If you buy Starbucks three times a week, you will save $24/month, or almost $300/year.
• Get basic cable. Most TV is trash TV these days. Even basic cable subjects you to mind-numbing "reality" TV shows that grasp your attention and distract you from actually doing something productive with your time. If you have a deluxe cable package but do not watch TV often, save yourself $20 a month by downgrading to basic cable. This equates to at least $240 a year in savings.
• Downgrade your mobile data packages. If you have a BlackBerry phone with an unlimited data plan among other picture messaging/text messaging extras, at least downgrade to a 10mb data plan to save money. This way, you can still check Google maps and get your emails without paying $20 extra a month. This means saving $240 a year.

Adding up the total savings from this list only, you could bank an extra $1320 a year. Add to this your remaining discretionary spending and we're talking about having saved enough to have your rent or mortgage for a couple months. Not bad!

How can you cut your own expenses?