It is crucial as an individual who is striving for financial freedom to be able to recognize the different type of expenses in our lives. It is a proven theory that it is easier to cut your expense than trying to earn more income. In order to maximize profits, a manager will try to minimize expenses before trying to gain more revenue. And we can learn from that. By recognizing our expenses and ways to handle them, we will be able to create more revenue in our lives. This article will help you to do that.



According to Rockefeller diagram, the following ten expenses are the different types of expenses that exist in our lives. Be aware that certain individuals might have more expenses in their lives. In order for us to achieve financial freedom, always bear in mind that our main goal is to minimize our expenses.

Kindly spend some time reading through the different type of expenses. (Remember them if you have to)

1. Giving

2. Self

3. Taxes

4. Shelter

5. Household

6. Auto

7. Fun & Entertainment

8. Insurance

9. Debt

10. Business expenditures

In this article, I am going to talk about the first five expenses and in my next article I will talk about the next five.

Expense Category #1: Giving

Most people do not consider this as an expense. Some will even completely eliminate this and not have anything to do with it. In the bible, Christians are encouraged to allocate ten percent of their income as a tiding. Most successful people actually allocate ten percent of their income to benefit others. If you were to think about it, it is making sense! We have to agree that there is some “force” providing blessing of money for all of us. If that “force” were to choose who should he/she provides the money to, the “force” would rather provide the money to people that are generous. Beside, there is no point in being a rich scourge.

Expense Category #2: Self

Bear in mind that successful people save a part of their income first and live on what is left over.

If we practice that, it will make a huge difference in the way we handle our money. By saving a part of our income first (try to save at least 10% every month), we will be more careful on the way we spend our money. With a proper budgeting system, eventually you will be able to save enough to invest your money to make more money.

Expense Category #3: Taxes

This is an expense that we can't avoid. There are different ways certain individuals are able to minimize their tax expense. Consult an expert to learn more.

Expense Category #4: Shelter

Shelter expense ranges for every individual. Some people rent a room, some rent the whole apartment, and others got their own monthly finance payment plan. A lot of prosperous people start out financing a house and while they are doing that, they will be renting out the rooms that they do not use. Some will even build extra rooms to create more revenue. Not only they are minimizing their shelter expense, some are even able to totally eliminate this expense. Bear in mind that in order for us to achieve financial freedom, we ought to minimize our expenses.

Expense Category #5: Household

This ought to be your largest category expense. Household includes food, clothing, bills, etc.

One ought to try to allocate the most budget in this category. Being the largest category, household expense has got the most potential to be minimized. For example, instead of subscribing to the expensive cellular phone plan, one can choose to apply for the cheaper plan and try to limit their cellular phone usage.

Always take note of the day that the bills arrived. Write it down in your calendar. This way, you are able to see your budget clearly. For example, I realized that for my electricity bill, I always receive the online bill on the 26th of every month. In my planner, I will highlight the 26th and write “electric expense”. At the beginning of the month, always browse through your previous month expense and try to find ways to minimize it.

Take some time to sit down and look at your expense and spend some time trying to minimize it and with a constant practice and more knowledge, you will be amazed at how much money you are able to save every month. I will meet you in my next article for the next five expenses. Cheers!

Working together with you toward financial freedom,

Henry Tanaka