Last week I talked about exercising the muscles around ethics. This week let’s do a little tune-up around expenses. Yes, I can hear you….stop saying “shoot me now!”

When the going gets tough, the first thing you do is ask yourself, where can I cut? We do that at home, too. I noticed as I reviewed my credit card bills, which yes, I review line by line each month….I noticed that I was paying about $37/month to get the New York Times Sunday paper in addition to the L.A. Times.

I stopped and thought about it. I discussed it with the family. The entitled side of me says, “I want it,” and, “I can afford it”. The value conscious daughter of my depression era parents says, “Really?”, with her hands on her hips and shaking her head in disagreement.

Let’s apply that to your company. Why do we wait until profits are in a decline to tune-up our spending? If you had to cut expenses, what would be the first thing to go?  What are the “Nice to haves” that aren’t giving you much value? Could every department try to cut 2% of its expenses today? Well, if not 2%, how about 0.75%? Or “X” dollars? Smart companies cut unnecessary expenses on a regular basis. I say, let’s be smart! Work those muscles!