Cost of living is ever rising, and sometimes it takes a lot out of us just to make ends meet. Keeping your personal cost of living low is essential to financial health. Here are some ways that you can reduce your recurring expenses that you may not have tried before, I bet you’ll find at least one that you can implement in your life today!
13 Ways to Decrease Your Monthly Expenses:
- Cancel cable for Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime if you’re already paying for it. Often, the shows you watch most are available for cheaper through one of these services rather than paying for a whole cable package. You might also be paying for a phone line you don’t use anymore, better check.
- Look for recurring expenses in your bank accounts and/or credit cards and. Even $9/month at Dollar Shave Club adds up quick if you’re not using it! Cancel that stuff, it’s just adding clutter to your life. If you want to get really hard core about it, get a new card so you have to go and intentionally change your payment method on the things you want to keep. Things you don’t want will usually just cancel themselves when your card doesn’t work anymore.
- Check for promotions on your phone and internet companies, and see if you can combine them and save money every month. Do a quick google search for promotions in your area, and if you find something you’re considering switching to, call your current company and see if they’re willing to match it to keep you.
- Compare phone plans. Unlimited data may not be worth the expense if you already have wifi at home and most of the places you visit, maybe your cellular company has a package that is cheaper, or you can check any other companies that are in your area. Sometimes the smaller companies are owned by the larger companies and still have great coverage because of that connection.
- Refinance your loans if it will be to your benefit This works great if you have better credit now than you had when you got the loan, and if you’ve been making all your payments on time, you probably do have better credit. Refinancing will essentially pay off your old loan with a new one. You’re usually trading a longer payoff time for a lower interest rate and minimum payment. This may be helpful if you need the cashflow elsewhere right now.
- Consolidate your loans if you have multiple loans or cards. Similar to refinancing, this would essentially replace your credit cards with a loan to lower your interest rate and the amount you have to pay every month, and also help with variable minimum payments on credit cards. This is ONLY a good idea if you haven’t used your credit cards in a long time and you know you wont use them again when they’re empty because of the loan. Check out this article if you are considering a consolidation loan.
- Balance Transfer. Another option if you have credit card balances would be to look for a balance transfer card option to save you on interest and get those debts paid back faster. They typically offer 12-15 months earning 0% interest, the the transfer balance is usually charged at a flat 3% when you make the transfer. If you are considering this option, calculate the total balance you’d need on the card, and what you would need to pay every month to get it paid off within the timeframe that it wont be earning interest.
- Renting a room out would bring you in some money every month. This can be touchy for plenty of reasons, such as home security, but if you have a space that would work for a roommate or renter or airbnb, it’s a very low-maintenance way to bring in some income every month. Technically not lowering your expenses, but if you are able to make some passive income by allowing unused space to be paid for, this could help your overall budget. You could also consider renting out storage space, garage or driveway space, or even garden space. It just depends on what the market is like in your area.
- Changing the types of foods you eat, cutting back on meat in favor of rice, vegetables, etc. This really depends on your area and if veggies can actually be purchased cheaper there. Sometimes a little meat goes a long way. Instead of serving a chicken breast to each person, make chicken fried rice with one or two chicken breasts total. Stir fry, pasta, fried rice, curry, gumbo, jambalaya, are all really cheap to make in large batches and even if your kids wont do the leftovers, you could enjoy them for lunches every day for a whole week. Meal prepping saves a ton of money in your weekly budget. Even if you only prep a single meal every day, it’ll make a huge difference.
- Buy your usual snacks in bulk. Cant bring yourself to cook? Buy your usual vending machine temptations at the grocery store and just bring them to work instead of purchasing it there. If you are a religious coke drinker or granola bar snacker or if you have to have your coffee every day, see if you can prepare it at home and bring it, save yourself a few bucks every day.
- Change your commute route. Do you find yourself grabbing snacks on the way to or from work? Try taking a different route so that you don’t pass the typical temptations. Can’t buy Starbucks if you don’t go anywhere near it!
- Check for emergency options. Some loans and bills have the ability to make allowances for low income. Student loans for example may be suspended for 6 months due to unemployment, so it might be worth checking if something like that exists for any loans you might have.
- Negotiate your car insurance again. Insurance companies have a lot of leeway with what they charge you. There are many little add-ons that might be default that you could possibly remove to lower your bill. Some car insurance companies also offer discounts if you combine services, like car and renters insurance. If you haven’t negotiated your car insurance lately, give them a call and see what they can do for you or if you should consider switching companies
What did I miss? Leave a comment below on ways you’ve lowered your monthly expenses!
If you would like to work through some of these in more detail or figure out which might be best for you, book a free consultation with me!