Check out these ten simple ways to start saving on your monthly bills…
1) Cancel your cable (or satellite) TV. Visit Amazon.com and look at “powered indoor antennas.” These antennas are easy to set up yourself and work from inside your house rather than externally. I paid a little extra and bought the antenna we use at home from Antennas Direct. Even after paying more, the total cost of the antenna was still less than one month of cable service.
Antennas Direct Micron-XG ClearStream UHF Indoor DTV Antenna with Amplifier and Reflector Screen
(Sponsored Amazon Link)
The antenna sits on a shelf near our main TV and picks up dozens of local stations. On major networks, sports programming comes through in crystal clear HD quality. Yes, switching to broadcast TV will limit your channel options a bit. But, if you really need to see that big game on ESPN, go watch it at Buffalo Wild Wings with some of the money you have saved.
Estimated monthly savings $75 -$125.
2) Cancel your landline phone. Most people today use a cell phone as their primary telephone device. We held onto our old landline phone for far too long. People who know me – especially friends and relatives – call my cell. Our home phone was so little used, it essentially became a paid message box for telemarketers. When I finally cancelled the landline, we ended up dropping corresponding phone number completely. If you really feel attached to your landline number, learn about “porting” it to a cell phone line.
Estimated monthly savings $50 – $75.
Notes on ideas 1 and 2: Sign up for an Internet-only plan.
You generally don’t have to keep phone service or paid TV programming to purchase an Internet-only plan. Both the cable and phone companies in my area offer standalone Internet plans for around $40 a month. Be sure to check out “on-demand” or “streaming TV” options such as HBO Now, Netflix, and Hulu Plus. These services can provide a lot of content for a very reasonable cost when compared to premium channels.
3) Make a Friday night grocery date. Awhile back, my wife looked through our expenses and noticed we were spending far too much eating out. The biggest cause for this was lack of planning; specifically, a lack of menu planning. You know the drill. You arrive home late, you are tired from a long day, there is nothing “good” to eat around the house, or you are in a hurry, etc. With no plan and no idea what to make for dinner, the default becomes, “Let’s just eat out.” By shopping for the weekend on Friday night, it is easy to nail down the menu for the weekend. Later, we expanded our menu planning to weekdays and have since really saved ourselves a bundle.
Estimated monthly savings $300 – $700.
4) Use store coupons. Almost every store that puts weekly coupons in the local newspaper also puts their coupons online. Last year for a variety of reasons, we cancelled our subscription to the local paper. After doing so, I created a web page on my personal website called “Sunday Ads.” The page links to the coupon pages of most of the major vendors in our area. Use vendor websites to download and print local store coupons. If you couple what’s on sale with the menus you plan, you can make some serious headway on monthly savings.
Estimated monthly savings $80.
5) Go back to your “old fashioned” coffee maker. Been-there-done-that with the disposable cup-by-cup coffee fad. It doesn’t really taste that much better (if it does at all) than what can be brewed in a regular old coffee maker. We recently replaced our trendy single-cup machine at home with a Hamilton Beach Flex Brew coffee maker. The new machine makes both single-cup servings as well as a full pot (though I have not made a single-cup serving with it yet).
Hamilton Beach Single Serve Coffee Brewer and Full Pot Coffee Maker, FlexBrew (49983A)
(Sponsored Amazon Link)
Depending how much coffee you drink, making coffee the old-fashioned way will likely be cheaper. Also, you may want to treat yourself to a nice “to go” cup or travel mug to cut down on the Starbucks visits.
Reusable To Go Hot & Cold Beverage Tumbler – Double Wall with Sip Lid – 20oz. Capacity – White
(Sponsored Amazon Link)
Estimated monthly savings $60 – $100.
6) Split dinner with your date. It helps a lot that my wife and I are on the same page when it comes to the priority of saving money. Years ago, we got in the habit of splitting the main-course at “semi-fast” food restaurants like Cracker Barrel, Cheesecake Factory, El Rancho Grande, and Longhorn. In today’s super-size world, this is good for our health, our budget, and gives us an extra element of togetherness when we are out. Think about it, if you can eat the same menu selection when you are at home, why not give it a try on the road?
Estimated savings $60 – $100/month.
7) “Split” chicken breasts. OK, you may think this is going a little overboard, but boneless chicken breasts from the grocery store are often thicker than you really need them to be. Get twice as many meals out of the same package by cutting chicken breasts in half. Use generic zip-bags to freeze what you don’t need to use right away. These “split” breasts can be better for you (i.e. because you are eating smaller portions), faster to cook, and end up saving you money.
Estimated monthly savings $25 – $30.
8) Invest in a water filter pitcher. Paying for bottled water is just so unnecessary. If you really need water on the go, get yourself a 16 oz. refillable Nalgene bottle.
Nalgene BPA Free Tritan Wide Mouth Water Bottle, 16 Oz, Orange
(Sponsored Amazon Link)
For everyday use, purchase a water filter pitcher you can leave on your kitchen counter or in your fridge, like a Brita or other similar brand.
Brita 10-Cup Everyday Water Filter Pitcher
(Sponsored Amazon Link)
Don’t be the person in the house who always forgets to refill the pitcher! If this simple idea gets your family drinking less expensive and cleaner water more regularly, then kudos!
Estimated montly savings $15- $20.
9) Get out of debt. If you haven’t done so yet, take a “Financial Peace” seminar from Dave Ramsey or read his book, The Total Money Makeover.
The The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness
(Sponsored Amazon/Book)
No time to read? Try listening to the audiobook on your way to and from work. Even better, listen to it several times on your way to and from work. It is less than four hours long and can transform your life.
The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness
(Sponsored Amazon/Audiobook)
Dave is a master at motivating people to change their ways and begin improving their financial health. As he says, “Learn to live like no other, so later, you can live like no other!” Learn about how to create a “debt snowball” and start eliminating your debt today. Get “gazelle intense” and join the many who have celebrated their success with a “debt-free scream.”
Estimated savings ???
10) Buy an individual dental plan. If you DON’T currently have dental insurance at work and are in need of some, you should have saved enough money implementing the ideas above to afford a basic dental plan. A good provider in the Cincinnati, OH area is Dental Care Plus. Rather than go it alone at the dentist for the cost of cleanings and basic services, get some help. If having an individual dental plan gets you in the habit of regular check-ups, it can mean both healthier teeth and large savings on dental expenses over time.
Bonus idea…
11) Buy some level term-life insurance. Assumimg that you actually need the coverage, consider using some of the savings you achieved above to pick up a level-term life insurance plan. Explore ten and twenty year level-term options and stay away from high-cost cash value plans. If you are relatively healthy, and for less than you probably think, you should be able to assure that your family is taken care of in the event something unforseen happens to you. If you live in the Cincinnati, OH area, feel free to contact our agency for help.
I hope you found some value in this article! If you did, please consider sharing it with others on Facebook and via email using the share buttons provided.
Regards,
Ted Stevenot
Partner
McCarthy Stevenot Agency, Inc.
Cincinnati, OH
513-891-9888
www.mccarthystevenot.com
