It’s easy to stop pulling out the wallet every once in a while and declare triumph, but don’t kid yourself – we know it’s the recurring expenses that really drown us into debt. The monthly expenses are what most people neglect because they are subconsciously trained to ignore it after seeing the same line item month after month after month. Let me tell you the truth. It’s the area that’s most beneficial to look into because you work on eliminating it once and you are saving money every month. Want to know where to start? Here’s the tip of the iceberg.
The Usual and Important Bills to Cut Every Month
- Cell Phone – Remember me getting a few hundred dollars for switching cell phone carriers? What I didn’t mention is that many people are starting to look into prepaid plans as well. The per minute cost may be high but if you never experienced having your ears burn because you talk too much on the phone, you probably can save some money by paying as you go.
- Home Phone – I don’t have a home phone and I have no idea why the business model still exists. Do you have one still? That’s so 1980s…
- Internet – Have you looked into the different technology (and thus, options) available to you? Could you actually buy an Internet capable phone and hook it up to a PC (a feature known as tethering) to get essentially the same service for a fraction of the cost?
- TV – The case is made countless times but I bet many of you still pay way too much for your favorite shows. There are many legal ways to watch TV online like hulu.com and if you are a movie buff, there’s always the idea of using a Netflix coupon to get some free service.
- Gym Membership – Gym? Do you actually go? Most people are going after a healthy and fit body instead of becoming a muscle man (or lady). The fittest people are always the ones who go out to jog every day. They run on the road, on the beach and in the parks. You don’t need to smell other people’s sweat and pay a bunch of money just to stay fit right?
- Clubs, Newsletters, Subscriptions – Enough said. Unless they provide real value, stop paying for it!
- Electricity – Many tricks we know, but in order to save money every month, we have to change our habits! Turn off the lights and electronics whenever it’s not needed, dial down the water heater to 112 degrees, open the windows instead of using A/C are all simple ways to not only save but to put less strain on the overall environment.
- Pills – It’s easy to switch your subscriptions to generic brands and best of all, it’s almost always cheaper. (Stole this tip from Frugal Dad. Check out his list at the bottom of the post)
- Cars – Oil changes and regular maintenance may be out of your league but wash your own cars. Please!
- Insurance Companies – Call the representatives regularly and see if there is a better deal (remember their competition as well). If everyone does this, it may even create more jobs!
Activities You Should Try
- Stop Bringing Your Credit Card Out for a Month – At first, you will feel very restricted but you will slowly realize where you are spending money on. It’s amazing that we remember our purchases so much better when we pay in cash!
- Try Paying All Your Bills by Check for 3 Months – Stop all the automation for 3 months and see what happens. When you have to spend time to handle payments, you will find a way to cut out the ones that aren’t absolutely necessary.
- Pretend You are Broke for 2 Months – The ramen days are over but that doesn’t mean the hard earned money that we have should go to waste. Try it. It’s quite fun (I lived with $34.01 a week once and learned a few things)
- Add Up All Your Monthly Recurring Subscription Cost for the Year – It’s amazing how pricing strategy works. $37 a month is actually closer to $450 a year. It’s not that cheap after all.
- Check Your Credit Card Statements – One of the worst money suckers are the ones that automatically charge our credit cards. It’s no wonder why my credit card balance is 4 digits every month and I left the card in the freezer!
What Do You Do to Save Money Every Month?
I know you have some great tips and tricks. Share with others!
Further Savings Every Month:
- 11 Effortless Ways to Save Money Each Month – Frugal Dad
- 11 Ways to Save Money This Month – My Dollar Plan
- 10 Practical Ways to Save Money and Increase Your Net Worth – Bible Money Matters
- 25 Ways to Save Money – Cash Money Life
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{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Regarding a home phone… my wife is home during the day with our 3 little kids. We maintain a corded, non-fancy telephone plugged into our landline for the sole purpose of being able to dial 911 in case of emergency and not having to worry about coverage/dropped calls/low battery/can’t find the cell phone/etc… Another nice benefit is that the 911 operator would be able to see our home address instantly, rather than having to rely on the GPS or whatever.
On the flip side, our landline plan includes unlimited long distance, and we don’t pay for a monthly cell plan either. I have a work-owned mobile phone, and she has a prepaid mobile for when she’s out and about. (So our monthly “mobile” bill is near nonexistent; we pay maybe $100/year for service that matches our usage pattern.)
911 service is the same reason we haven’t switched to a VOIP phone setup, either. Perhaps I’m over-cautious, but in case of emergency I would hate to think that there might be any sort of delay at all in communicating and getting help.
it’s actually better for the environment for you to take your car to the car wash. it may cost $10 but they can recycle and reuse the water and waste water is treated before it flows into open water sources like rivers, lakes, and the ocean.
In our small rural area, we are ‘forced’ into having a land line phone if we want cheap internet. I cannot get the internet from my local provider without the landline (basic with no long distance)…. it’s a major pain, but that’s how it is. I could go to satellite internet, but it is more expensive than the phone and internet combined. My employer covers my cell phone, so I have no personal expense there. The business phone also hooks to the fax machine – not everyone wants to send via email or internet. (nor has the capability) Plus around here, during stormy times, the cell towers go out in windstorms – no cell service for a week last winter. It’s best to have a back up plan!
Basically, to save money, I stay out of the stores and off-line. No temptations allowed! ie, Don’t spend any money and you save a lot
Basically free food is available almost all over if one wants to put the time into finding and harvesting it. Fishing and clamming provide most of the meat – and the garden provides most of the veggies and fruits. Trading excesses with friends also helps fill in the gaps of what I don’t grow/harvest. I trade meat cutting and wrapping for free deer, elk, and beef. Freeze, can, dehydrate, and use up everything! For clothing, home decor, and gifts, go garage saling. All those things enable me to get by on very very little actual cash out of pocket, and still live great!
Wow, great post. Two useful things I’ll do:
1. Cut my premium gym membership (used to be able to take my gf, but she never really goes)
2. Try not to pull out wallet for a month (this is going to be painful)
Thanks for these tips! I personally let go of credit cards–they’re just trouble. I find I save more by being frugal and by using pure cash rather than plastic.
Hey David,
You are soooo right about the last statement “Check Your Credit Statements” as recurrent charges are extremely sneaking. I once signed up for Major League Baseball internet tv package that allowed me to watch all the games of my favorite baseball team online.
After the baseball season was over I assumed the monthly charges for the services would stop as well. Well 2 months later I realized that they were still charging my credit card the recurrent fee!
Some people have found that when they buy a product online or through infomercials that they may have unknowingly signed up for some sort of newsletter or internet subscription as part of the ordering process. They may not realize this until they see the recurrent charges on their credit card.
Finally checking your credit card statement allows you to quickly spot and report credit card fraud. This happens more frequently than you think. I recently checked my credit card statement and notice that it had been charged $300 for gas in Texas the day before even though I live in Illinois and the credit card was still in my wallet.
I’ve stopped watching television altogether – I just don’t have time anymore (too much time spent online). One thing I’ve noticed though – I’ve become calmer since I stopped watching TV news. Reading stuff online just doesn’t have the same emotional impact, so you can react to news more objectively.
The other recurring expense to watch is buying too much food and then throwing it out at the end of the week because it’s gone bad before you could eat it. This particularly applies to vegetables.
i was about to get a gym membership at costco – but then i realized i’d never go – and the smell of a sweaty room with no ventilation is definitely disgusting.
thanks for the link!
Great ideas for cutting your “normal” expenses – some people don’t even consider those things because they seem so normal, and something you just have to live with.
Love what you are doing here so much. I must follow this steps to see how my life can get better.
Thanks for these tips! People must learn to let go of credit cards–they’re just trouble. I find I save more by being frugal and by using pure cash rather than plastic.
Great post! Many ways to save. The generic medicine tip is a no brainer.
A great way to save money is by budgeting your wireless phone minutes through a prepaid wireless carrier. I use Tracfone as it is the best value prepaid service out there. Tracfone also has grerat reception which is important to me as i am a farmer. With my prepaid phone service i am not stuck paying for alot of minutes i really don’t need or even want.
Woow..these are very good tips, especially the no credit card at all. I mean why do i need a credit card? Are they giving me free money? No, instead they are lending you trouble. I have never used a credit card, but i have my debit car with me all the time… at least i don’t get crazy interest rates.
Add another one to the list. Just don’t bring the wallet and see what happens. Those essential purchases may not be so essential after all!
Bring lunch to work. It cost like $2 to make lunch. Buying lunch costs $7 easily. I save $25/wk. It adds up to $1000/yr. If I bring lunch 1/2 the time, I save $500/yr.
I love that suggestion!! BRING LUNCH TO WORK!!! Also you can save money by planning for a “left over night”. Make extra every night for dinner and then one night a week eat some leftovers. This also helps when you are in a hurry for lunch options in the morning.
I have learned that I can save money by not looking at all those Sunday ads…when I see things on sale, I think I NEED them. If I don’t see the ads, I don’t know what is on sale and then I only go to the store when I really NEED something.
hello,
a simple tip (maybe time consuming if you consider 2 minutes as a lot of time) is logging into the credit card online account atleast once a day. By doing that, it is easier to ensure that there are no extra fees charged to your account. In addition to that, i use a excel sheet where i log all my expenses (by all i mean ALL even $0.44 for postage stamps). Compare it with a budget that is built beforehand at the end of the month. You will always see that the MISC is way above expected. These are all steps i follow. But, i need some help with the MISC expenses (how to reduce them). Thanks in advance.
I have switched to a pay as you go cell phone plan. I don’t use the cell phone that much, mostly when traveling, so instead of $600 a year, I by $100 of minutes that last a year. I added minutes at the end of the year and carried over $30 dollars of minutes. The phone purchase was only $30 and came with $10 of minutes. So year one savings $560. I maintain a land line for something called ‘reverse 911′ because I’m in a fire area and it’s the most reliable way to get those calls.
I have also reduced spending in a significantly by having first cleaning out every cabinet, closet, drawer and storage bin. I realized how much stuff I accumulated and hadn’t or no longer use. Now, I really question whether I really actually need something or if it’s just a passing whim. Another benefit is I can find everything I have now and don’t buy duplicates. The house is much easier to clean, so that happens regularly without grumbling.
I’ve been able to save $50 a month by switching cell phone carriers from a traditional to a prepaid company. I found the ultimate bargain at Walmart with Straight Talk and I never thought I would such a great experience with a prepaid company. I am currently on their unlimited plan ($45 a month) and I no longer worry about overage fees – I have totally unlimited calls, texting, and data. The phones are dependable and affordable – I was finally able to purchase a Smart phone at a fraction of the normal price and without the extra contract issues or monthly fees. Best of all, I am now on the Verizon network and I don’t worry about dropping calls.
I figured that over the next two years, Straight Talk will be saving me nearly $1,200 over my previous carrier. Without a contract or worries about overage fees, Straight Talk really is the best bang for the buck.
Great Article! Here’s some of my own:
You need credit.. duh.. BUT you don’t need to over use it.
Years ago I would purchase expensive thinge for my spouse as a “nice gesture” or to make him smile (and he would do the same for me).. we didn’t keep that smile when the card bill came in. Then I began some “rules for the household” and put all the cards in a bank safe deposit box. If we saw something we wanted on credit we had to go to the bank and get out the card, go to the store and purchase the item, then immediately go back to the bank and place the card back in the box. That “cooling off period” prevented us from purchasing a lot of things we really didn’t need. Now, we don’t use the safe deposit box anymore. I do put a piece of scotch tape around the cards I don’t usually use. If I need to use it I can remove the tape but just feeling that tape reminds me to consider if I really need the item. I put a rubber band around the ONE card I use the most (the one with the lowest rate and gives the best points I use to pay for my AAA dues). While shopping I keep that card on my hand. It gets a little annoying but it has really forced me to stay aware of everything going into that cart!
At retirement, we sold our properties back east and moved to the midwest. The cost of living is approx 1/2! Our propane, telephone, internet, auto insurance and electric are all co-ops. The propane (for our heat and cooking) can be pre paid giving yet another discount. They even track the usage! I budget the amount I will probably need so that in 6 months I have my yearly budget amount. Then I put that money into a 6 month CD that will mature about the time I need to pre-pay. So I have the money (which helps my credit and I can access it immediately in the event of an emergency), am not tempted to use it for something frivolous, is insured by FDIC and I get a little interest money to boot! (don’t forget that that interest has to have taxes paid on it at tax time). I also do that for my property taxes and my homeowners insurance. Those things that happen once or twice a year that you have to budget for but is kinda silly to just keep in a savings account (or your checking account) to get no interest.
I also review my coverages from my providers to be certain they are giving me the best deals and they often have promotions that are helpful. For instance, I contacted my telephone company to be certain my internet speed was up to snuff and the gal reminded me that if I committed to a year of service my rate would be arount $15/mo less! Well, I have no need to change from them so I said “yes” and when my husband got home I got a Great Big Kiss! It really pays to pinch pennies!