Resigned for cable with a promo rate $39.99. Originally wanted to drop it entirely, since we only really watch netflix... but 40/mo isn't bad.
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In spite of a small pay raise, we are taking matters into our own hands to give us a little more available cash every month.
We don't have cable, so it is OTA and Netflix/hulu for viewing.
For phone, we're dropping the landline for ~$35/mo and switching to NetTalk for $30/year.
We switched insurance companies and save about $1180 a year (3 vehicles, boat, 1 property).
With the phone and insurance changes, we'll save around 390 + 1180 = 1570/yr or $130/month. Not a ton, but it feels a little like a raise. That cash will be squirreled away toward other things we need to save up for (carpeting, paint, truck repair) so we don't have to hit the credit card, and can get them sooner.
What are you doing, if anything, to cut costs?
I redid my insurances on 2 houses and three cars and saved $3200/yr ($266/mo.)
Sweet Jeebus...from what company to what company?
You kill two birds with one stone that way. Less mouths to feed + extra food. Just get a good chest freezer.
I'm hoping rates are still low next summer. I'm at 4.5% now, but I'll have an extra 40K to put down by next summer. Combine that with a refinance down to 3.5% and I'd knock like $700/month off my mortgage payment.
Similar situation for me, but going from Amica to Liberty Mutual. I can't believe we were paying those high premiums for so long. :\All AAA to Liberty Mutual on the 2 houses and 2 of the cars and Leeland West for the Z28.
Yearly:
My house $1200 -> $800
Rental house $1000 -> $500
'08 Prius $1200 -> $800
'98 F150 $800 -> $500
Z28 $1800 -> $300 Collector car insurance
AAA must have seen the SUCKER I had printed on my forehead
Buy a Sunday paper and cut coupons. You'll recoup the cost of the paper after 2-4 coupons and have essentially free Sunday morning reading.
Why don't you just refi now and throw in whatever cash you have saved now, and put the extra savings towards your mortgage each month?
this! this is huge. clip coupons and shop the sale adds at the grocery. you can save a TON of money. when we do it right we can get 2 weeks of groceries for 6 people for ~$150 or less.
I've thought of this, but nothing I buy at the grocery store is ever on coupons. Usually its just the prepackaged preprocessed stuff that has coupons. I mostly get fresh meats and fruits/veggies.
The biggest thing I've found at the store is to go shopping mid to late week instead of the weekend. That's usually when the fresh food is starting to approach it's sell by date and they start marking it down drastically.
I go and get prime cuts of beef for half price.
Even though processed goods are cheap, one can still buy somewhat healthy items for a reasonable cost. Things like dry beans, lentils, barley, whole wheat pasta, and brown rice can all be had for cheap. Some frozen veggies are very cheap as well, and then there's not the loss of money like when fresh veggies go bad. My main expensive healthy food is fruit. Bananas are cheap, but most other fruit is pretty expensive.
Eggs are pretty cheap as well, about 12-13 cents each.
We had to make cuts due to my wife leaving her job for health reasons. We went down a package level on Dish Network, dropped a smart phone from our family plan, refinanced our car to half the interest rate, started buying generic brands and buying fresh foods from farmers markets instead of stores, skipped the family vacation, and started driving less.
We saved $2000 in two months, then thought "HOLY CRAP! I'M LIVING LIKE THIS FROM NOW ON!"
A $500 scooter? Im basing it on an actual motorcycle that can get on the highway without me getting run off the road for going 40mph. If that was an option I'd just get on my mountain bike and ride that instead.
Motorcycles get better mileage but the high maintenance costs far outweigh the gas savings. And that's not even including the initial purchase price of the motorcycle.
meats the biggest expense. buy on sale and stock up. if freezes for a long time.
we buy plenty of fresh veggies and fruits. we plow through it pretty quick. And yea, most of whats on sale is processed goods, but thats life. im not all about the organic 100% natural stuff. But im also not buying my kids poptarts and hohos. Lots of cheese, yogurt, frozen veggies, canned veggies (barf, but my family like them), pasta, sauces... you get the idea.
If hit the theater; no food and use a rewards card - 10% off