I probably know what you're thinking. I can't believe she's jumping on the “how to save money because we're in a recession” bandwagon.

Every day I am faced with the challenge of spending wisely, both for the company and for my family. Recession or not, that's my job. A lot of times, usually at work, that makes me the Grinch. Luckily I also make sure everyone gets paid, so hopefully it works itself out and no one is tampering with my morning coffee.

Since I do this every day, there are a few things I've learned. Let's think about some basic tips that we should all be doing to keep from throwing our money away, even if the times are more bull than bear. To make this exercise a little more fun, feel free to sing along to my pop music references.

All the Small Things

If your operating budget is large–particularly in relation to your personal checking account–it can be tempting to constantly be approving or overlooking the small things. Guess what? Small things add up and much quicker than you think! Question everything before you knee-jerk a yes. Do we absolutely have to have it? Very few things have “yes” as the answer. Electricity? Toilet paper? Um, yes, probably so. Software upgrade? Now it gets a little fuzzier. Don't fall into the “it’s just $20” trap. If you don't have to have it to survive, figure out the main motivation behind the purchase and what it will do for your company. Before you say yes, ask questions like:

• “Will this just be used once or will we be able to reuse it for multiple things?”
• “Does it have a long shelf life or are we looking at replacing it soon? When?”
• “Will it save us time?”
• “Will it save us aggravation?”
• “Is the requestor asking for selfish reasons or for reasons that will benefit the company?”
• “What other potential costs are involved in this purchase that haven't been mentioned?”

Sometimes the only reason for a purchase may be that it will boost morale and that's fine. You have to weigh the benefits versus the costs in each situation and you can't rely on the good nature of your employees to have already done this. If you're a manager, like me, who reports to the owner, don't assume anything about their own spending because, well, “it's his/her company.” He or she is paying YOU to think about these things so that they can focus on the bigger picture.

Don't Need No Credit Card to Ride This Train

Have a large credit card bill each month? A lot of businesses are in the habit of “putting it on the card.” Not because they don't have the funds, but because of convenience (and for the airline miles, duh!). As the poor sucker in our office in charge of paying the American Express bill each month, I can attest to the effort involved in pouring over that statement. But don't become so jaded or busy you don't give it the proper attention before writing that big check. It would be easier for me to assume that $29.95 to Golf Digest was the boss renewing his subscription. Who am I to judge? If I dug a little deeper I'd discover that we accidentally got signed up for a "free" year back in 2005 and since then they've been doing us a big favor and automatically renewing our annual subscription (gee, thanks). With charges like that occuring once a year, repetition won't be enough to catch your eye so you have to be diligent each month.

Want an even more likely and better camouflaged example? That employee who moved away last summer had signed your company up for a monthly conferencing service for a specific client. Now, your internal team has either moved on to a better service or simply never uses it anymore, but no one told you. That monthly charge continues to masquerade itself as a valid business expense on your statement, tucked quietly in between Office Depot and Amazon.com, and nobody is the wiser. If you don't catch it, no one will. Spend the time to do it right.

Papa Don't Preach

I'm going to turn it around here and tell you where not to be stingy. I'm sure you're going to think I'm only making this point to further our own interests, but we actually practice what we preach around here. Seriously. Even when you're tightening your belt and slashing budgets, freezing your marketing budget is a big no-no. It might help for a month or two, but by doing so you've essentially holed yourself up for the winter, living off what you have in stock, and refused to plant any seeds. This is the one area, in addition to obvious necessities*, where thoughtful spending is a necessary investment to your future financial health.

*And by "necessities," I obviously mean coffee. Whatever happens, never ever take away your team's lifeline to sanity. Although now might be a good time to switch from Starbucks to Folgers.

by Julie Stevenson

Julie handles human resources, facilities management, and billing for Cre8tive Group. With over 12 years of business management experience, her strengths keep Cre8tive Group functioning efficiently.