Welcome to It All Adds Up, the podcast that saves you all the money on all the things! Every episode focuses on a different everyday item that you can modify, upgrade, or use differently in ways that will save you money. We are so excited for you to join us in this series as we explore simple strategies to put money back in your pockets! 

In addition to the mediocre entertainment that comes along with our podcast, we hope our advice can help to reduce your everyday expenses, especially now during the COVID-19 pandemic when finances can be extra tight for many!

So how do we spend our money?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that our 3 largest spending categories are housing, food, and transportation. So we decided to dig a bit deeper to see if there were any major areas of waste in these daily expenses. We found that people are spending way more than they should on housing utility bills, food that is ultimately thrown away, and fuel for their vehicles. 

Utility Bills

In the US, the average household spends $2,865* on energy and water utility bills every year! Our first chunk of episodes will focus on ways to reduce these bills, which could be particularly useful now since everyone is spending way more time at home during the pandemic and racking up their utility bills. We will cover everything from toilets to smart thermostats to powering your electronic devices. The figures below show the breakdown of how a typical US household uses energy and water.* 

Check out the About Us section to meet Lizzy and John and to see the 38% savings they have already achieved on utility bills at their parents’ house!

Wasted Food

A recent study from William and Mary estimates that the average American spends $1,300 every year on food that they ultimately throw away. We throw away about 30% of the food that we purchase, which means that the current money we spend on food for 12 months should be the amount of money we spend on food for 18 months! We will dedicate several episodes to smart food purchasing techniques at grocery stores, restaurants, and sporting events.

Vehicle Fuel

The average American driver travels about 13,500 miles per year in their personal vehicle, costing about $1,400 in gas annually for a car with a fuel economy of 25 mpg. Not only is that a heavy toll on their budgets, but it’s also a significant use of precious time – the average driver spends 55 minutes behind the wheel every day. We will explore effective tactics for reducing both the time and money you spend on traveling in your car!

Other Topics

While utilities, food, and transportation will be a strong focus of our podcast, we will also touch on ways to save on other everyday items like clothing, cleaning products, work/school supplies, and more! Please reach out to us on our Contact page with any items you would like for us to discuss!

______

We are confident that if you make the small changes to your homes, food, cars, and spending decisions that we cover in each of our episodes, you will have significantly more money to spend on things that truly matter to you!

*Based on average household size from the US Census Bureau and from energy and water data from Energy Star and the Water Research Foundation.

BACK TO ALL EPISODES >