In a time when foreclosures are on the rise and the cost of living is on the increase having a little extra doe is well sometimes, hard to come by. Many people are looking for ways to save more money without feeling like they have to change all of there habits or worse make a complete lifestyle change just to deal with the financial pressures.
So here are a few ideas you can do around your home to save a few buck and lighten the financial load a bit.
1. Combine you phone, Internet, and cable TV in to one package. I found this to save me about $15 a month. When I switched my stuff over to a combined plan at first I thought it wasn’t saving me much but before I had switched I had to pay for long distance calls, I only had dial up Internet, and my cable channels were very limited.
But once I switched I no longer had to deal with any long distance bills, I had high speed cable Internet, and I had all the movie channels added to my cable along with a DVR (Digital Video Recorder). Not to mention I had three bills combined into one and paying less all together.
Now, that don’t sound like much but add it up once over a whole year and you save $180.
2. Review your car and homeowners insurance. This simple little idea can save a ton of money. I recently did this myself just last year. A neighbor of mine happened to give me a call and ask if he could stop by and show me a few ways to save on my insurance.
Now, most poeple would be hesitant at this point. Who really likes to talk to insurance agents. Although I have a different view that just taking a look sometimes can save some serious bucks. Now, if your comfortable with another agent that’s ok you can check out his rates too.
By changing those two things around I freed up $25 a month. With an annual savings of $300.
Not only did I save $300 a year but I was also able to have extra coverage on my vehicles, and home.
Not Bad.
I recommend shopping your car and homeowners insurance every 3 to 5 years. You never know if new benifits are avalable or if rates have dropped.
3. Don’t buy gas until you need it. With all the fuss about gas prices going up this little idea saves me the most right here. I simply don’t buy gas until my tank hits “E.”
Sounds odd, right?
But, what I have found is that instead of refilling my tank every week it’s more efficient to wait until my tank is empty. The reason being it saves a lot more money just because your not playing on the impulses of the market constantly fluctuating up and down.
Think of it this way. If you had an extra $100 cash on you for the weekend what would you do? My guess is most would spend it. Face it when you have extra money to play around with most of us will tend to buy things we don’t need. I’m sure you can think of a few things to splurge on.
Well, what I have found out is that the same holds true with gas too. If you fill up on the weekend it will tempt you to drive more simply because you have the gas to do it.
What I recommend to do is fill up on a Monday or Tuesday not Friday and run your vehicles till it is on “E.” This way your tank is not full on the weekend and it doesn’t temp you to drive more.
For example I drive a Chevy 1500 half ton with a V-8 engine.
What a gas hog!
When I was filling up every week I was paying around $60. That was before the price of gas went over $3 a gallon. Today with higher gas prices I drive my vehicle only when necessary to work and back. Doing that I can go 3 weeks before I have to fill up again. Now a tank of gas cost me around $80 and I only fill up on average every three weeks.
Doing this I save $33 a week or $1716 a year.
WOW!
Finally, lets find out what would happen if we would save the difference on this new found money. After the first year you would save a whopping $183 a month or $2196 a year. This could be a good start to an emergency fund, used to pay down your debt, or start that part time business. Whatever you do it’s money you were already spending which you are now saving.
Have more ideas?
Please let me know I would be glad to hear about them.
