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12 simple ways to cut expenses today

12 simple ways to cut expenses today

Last updated on: June 26, 2018 at 7:18 am by Bob Lotich

12 simple ways to cut expenses today 2018-06-26T07:18:17-05:00 Bob Lotich

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Alright it is time to cut some expenses! I encourage you to take a long, hard look at all your expenses and ask yourself, “Do I really have to have this?”

Often times you will find that you really don’t and that giving it up for a short while (whatever it is) is well worth getting more of your debt paid off!

So if you are ready to get started saving some money, then let’s get started!!

1. Car Insurance

Believe me, if you haven’t shopped around for car insurance in a couple years, it is worth your while. I really was sure that I had the lowest rates I could get (after all I run a website about personal finance), but then I checked out Geico and found that I could save $330 a year for the same coverage. I was so blown away that they could save me $330 that I didn’t shop anywhere else.

Six months later my old insurance broker called trying to get me back and she had found another insurance company who was $200 cheaper than Geico. And again it was for the same coverage. So just to repeat – I thought I was paying a good rate, but by shopping around I was able to knock over $500 off my car insurance bill.

2. Cell Phones

Grab your most recent cell phone bills and look at them to see what you are actually paying for.

Are you paying for internet service that you are not using?
Are you paying for 1000 minutes a month, when you are only averaging about 350?
Are you paying for text messages that you are not using?

Before you call your cell phone company, check other Cellular companies to see how their rates compare. If it is still worth your while to stay with your current provider, then call them up and talk to them about the changes that you can make.

3. Save on the Internet

I am not suggesting that you get dial-up. That is just cruel and unusual punishment ;) . But, if you are paying for the premium package, should you consider one of the slower packages? Many people won’t notice a difference in how fast the web pages load.

Again, it may be worthwhile looking at the options available for high-speed internet service. I saved about $20 a month switching from one company to another.

4. Make going out to dinner something special

Not only will you save yourself a lot of money, but it will be more fun when you do go out. Have you noticed that when you do something all the time, it just isn’t as fun anymore? This is a great way to “add fun” and save money.

A couple going out to dinner just two times in a week could easily spend $300 a month. If they knock it down to just one time a week that is $150 savings.

5. Make it yourself

You really can cook. I don’t care if people told you that you were a bad cook, don’t listen to them. You aren’t bad and it is not that hard. There are tons of meals that you can make that require little more than an ability to set a timer and read directions. Start at Allrecipes.com; they have lots of cool features that I won’t get into here – just check it out.

6. Bring your lunch

This is one of those rubber-meets-the-road sacrifices. But it pays off handsomely. If you are paying $10 to go out to lunch each day, you are spending $200 a month. If you bring your lunch 3 days a week, you should easily be able to save $100 a month.

7. Eat what you have

Buy food that you are going to eat and eat what you have. I cut my grocery bill by 50% from my wasteful years by eating the food I had and not wasting any. I could not believe how much money I was wasting by letting food spoil.

Just putting a little bit of thought into your grocery list each week will be an easy way to save money.

8. Save money at the grocery store by NOT cutting coupons

Here is a strategy I learned that has helped me save tons at the grocery store:

9. Drink water

I saved myself $30 a month just by quitting my Pepsi addiction. A Starbucks addict could probably save $100 a month by switching to water.

10. Pay your bills on time!

This is obvious, but some people (like myself) need the obvious restated sometimes. ;) Late bills often incur a fee that is nothing but a waste of your precious money.

If you find yourself forgetting to pay your bills on time, set up a free Google calendar and you can put reminders of when each bill needs to be paid. You can even set it up to email you to remind you to pay it on the correct date. While this is a shorter term fix, I prefer to set up a schedule of bill payments in order to make bill paying easier.

11. Save at the bank

Grab your recent bank statements and examine them for ambiguous fees. If you see any and don’t know what they are, call your bank and ask them to explain it. I worked at a bank for years and I know how good they can be at coming up with creative names for their fees.

If you find out that you are paying fees for your basic banking needs, I recommend switching. There is no reason you should be paying fees for falling below a minimum balance or anything else. It is your money. Take it somewhere where you have control over the money, not the bank.

Most credit unions will not have many (or all) of the fees that bigger banks may have. I currently use Capital One 360 as a savings account.

12. Save on purchases

If you are working on getting out of debt, you should be thinking long and hard about any sizeable purchases. But, if you must, then make sure you are getting the best price in the world on the item. The internet has taken comparison shopping to a whole new level.

Yea, there are a million places you can buy things online, but I have found that I almost always find the best price at one of these three places:

Ebay (yes, they have new stuff too)
Amazon
or using the discount from Ebates

Craigslist and FreeCycle.org are also good tools for finding some bargains on used items.

Please share some of the ways you have cut your expenses in the comments below!

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