Finding ways to cut monthly costs is often a tedious task, but if you take the time to make a few calls you can find significant savings. This article will focus on 5 ways that you can save money on your smaller monthly bills:
Get Rid of your Home Phone
If you’re not using it, it’s not worth keeping. Now a days, everyone in the family has their own cell phone, if this is the case in your household then you really don’t need that home phone. Cutting your land line can save you up to $400 annually.
If you are really set on keeping a home phone, you can also look at internet based alternatives such as Skype, Vonage, magicjack or Google Voice. These alternatives are significantly less expensive than traditional lines and some will even let you keep your current phone number.
Keep reading for more ways to save
Cut your Cable
How much TV do you watch? Are you only watching certain channels or TV series? If this is the case there may be some better alternatives for you. Switching to a service like Netflix, or setting up a Roku can save you over $100 per month depending on how much you are spending on cable TV.
If you just can’t say good-bye to your cable subscription, take a look at what you actually watch and call your cable provider to find out of there is a less costly plan that could work for you.
Bundle your Insurance
If you are paying for your auto, home, life and homeowner’s insurance through different companies you should call around and get quotes to find out how much money you can save by only having one provider.
Reduce Water Usage
If you put some effort into it you can greatly reduce the cost of your monthly water bill. Here are some ideas:
- Put a quart sized water bottle full of rocks in your toilet tank
- Only run full loads of laundry and dishes
- Delay wash cycles on your laundry and dishwasher so they run late at night or early in the morning
- Shorten shower times
- Use a rain barrel to gather rain water for your lawn and gardens
Reduce Energy Use
If you put some effort into it you can greatly reduce the cost of your monthly electricity bill. Here are some ideas:
- Get a programmable thermostat, raise your temperature to 78F/25C in the summer and lower it to 68F/20C in the winter.
- Inspect your doors and windows for drafts and seal/repair them as needed
- Peak into your attic, if you can see the floor it’s time to upgrade your insulation
- Schedule an energy audit with your provider to get a customized list
It’s not too hard to maximize your savings and once you do this frees up some of your finances so that you can enjoy, invest or save your new found money.
