My 3rd Toastmaster speech (Project 3 Get to the Point)

Title of My Speech: How many of you would like to cut down your living expense?
General purpose: inform the audience on ways to cut down living expense
Specific purpose:
After hearing my speech, the audience should have a list of action items that they can followup in their daily life to cut down living expenses.
Illustration on the board:
I draw a pie marked income and split it into two sections expense and saving. Using the pie chart, I illustrated to boost savings, you need to reduce expenses.
I also listed the 3 steps and 5 categories on the side. They serve as the take-home message for the audience as well as my own cheat-sheet.

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Below is the body of my script. I skipped some of them and improvised some on the fly (like the anecdote of Lehman Brother chairman Richard Fuld selling his modern art collections to make extra income.)
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Raise your hand if you think you would like to have more savings and less debt.

OK, I see quite a few of you are interested in the topic. Today I am going to share with you the 3 steps to increase your saving by cutting-back on unnecessary expenditures.

Step 1) Tracking

Use a budget spreadsheet to record how much money you spend on everything, from mortgage/rent payment to groceries. From car insurance to miscellaneous spending. Putting down those records will give you a clear picture of where you money went.

Step 2) Examining

Going through the spreadsheet to determine what is necessary and what is not.

Most people's list can be divided into the following 5 categories.

1. Food and beverage

Make your own coffee in the morning to avoid spending a dollar to two dollars a day on the way to work, which amount to $50 a month. Cooking your own meal and taking your own lunch to work can save you $400 a month. Staying away from vending machines can save you up to $60 a month.

Buy nonperishable groceries like coffee and tea on special, in bulk. Buy generic brand instead of attach to a brand. Look for items on sale. Buy fruit and vegetable in season.

Alcohol can be a major drain on the household economy. No suggestion that you eliminate it altogether, but consider cutting back.

2. Transportation

Fuel is one of the growing expenses on our day to day lives. Limiting the fuel that we use is a priority. Plan your journeys to include everything that you need. Avoid unnecessary repeat trips to the shops and rediscover the joy of walking. Learn how to drive more economically, and make sure that your tires are inflated correctly.  Learn to service your car yourself. Consider exchanging the fuel guzzling vehicle for a more economical model. Moving closer to work can save you commute time and fuel.

3. Utility

Heating and electricity bill can be very high in winter.Turn the thermometer down and wear more clothing at home. Make sure there are no leaks around windows and doors.

Health inspector say washing dishes in cold water is as effective as in hot water, so you can save heating expense by using cold water. If you are using dishwasher, you can safely lower the water heater temperature to 110 to 115 degree and stop the dishwasher before it hits the dry cycle. Shutdown the dishwasher and open the door will let the dishes dry faster.

Switch off whatever you are not using, including lights and computers. Swap your light bulb to energy efficient equivalents can save you 90% of the electricity. Put a brick in your toilet will save you a litre of water per flush.

If you are using high-speed internet, consider sharing the service with a neighbor.
Cut out or downgrade your cable TV. Borrow movies from the library instead of renting.

4. Impulse buy

Before buying a particular item, always ask yourself: Is the item something you want rather than need. If you really need the product, then the purchase can be justified. Be careful of what you put into your shopping cart, make a list before you come to the store, and then committing to the list while shopping. It not only makes your shopping more efficient, but keeps you from overspending.

Don't go grocery shopping while you're hungry. You'll end up thinking everything looks good and buy more than you need. Be careful with membership warehouse stores, researchers show that Costco and Sam's club membership make you buy more than you need.

5. Rent/mortgage payment

If all those small savings are still not enough, consider changing your accommodations. Move to a cheaper area.

Step 3) Budgeting


After examing the 5 categories, decide how much you would spend in each category per month. Minus that from your monthly income, you will find how much you can save each month. Put that money away at the beginning of each month.

If you are short on money at the end of the month, you know you are over-spending and need to adjust the budget next month.

Finally, I would like to close my speech by encouraging everyone to follow the 3 steps. It can make real difference on your own bottom line.