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Tips to Reduce Monthly Expenses:
We've gathered tips that we all can use to reduce monthly expenses in various areas. If you have tips to share, send them to us using our Feedback Form and we will consider them for including in our list!
Reduce Grocery Expenses:
- Stop eating out -- Dinners you prepare at home are significantly less expensive than meals you pay someone else to prepare.
- Don't buy frozen meals -- If you empty the contents of a frozen dinner onto a plate you will quickly realize that you are getting very little food for what you are paying. Do you realize you are paying $300 a pound for that tiny bit of veggies on the side? If you lead a busy lifestyle, set aside a weekend afternoon to make your own frozen dinners and meals prepared from scratch.
- Don't buy pre-cut meats -- You are paying a premium for the supermarket to cut up your meat and chicken for you. Doing the cutting yourself will save you about $1 per pound or $223 per year for the average family of four.
- Compare supermarkets -- Don't shop at the closest supermarket just because it's more convenient. Driving a mile or two down the road can save you as much as $50 per week on groceries. You might find that products you routinely buy at one supermarket are priced as much as $1 or $2 less than they are at another supermarket. One should also compare the unit prices on the store shelves to find the better bargain. For example, many people assume you get a better deal if you buy more product, but often the unit price reveals that buying the 8 oz. instead of the 12 oz. is more economical.
- Buy generic -- Generic and store-brand products are often processed at the same plants as name brand products, but they are much cheaper because they aren't advertised. A significant portion of the price you pay for a name brand product is to cover the high cost of advertising it in the various media. This is why name brand breakfast cereals cost $1 or $2 more than the generic brand and why Tylenol or Bayer pain relievers cost $3 or $4 more than the generic brand that isn't advertised. Stop paying for all those television commercials and print ads and you will save more than $500 per year.
- Buy day-old bread -- The bread at the day-old bakery is almost as good as the bread in the supermarket, yet it is half the price of fresh. Visit a day-old bakery and stock up on bread and other products you can freeze and use later. How much you can save depends on how much bread you consume.
- Buy in season -- There are times when the supermarket is practically giving away fruits and vegetables and other times when they cost a fortune. Buy fruits and vegetables in season and only if they are reasonably priced. Learn to enjoy fruits and vegetables that are available year-round at a low cost, such as bananas and carrots. If you have the time, you can buy when produce is cheap and prepare and freeze it for later use.
- Use more nonfat dry milk -- Nonfat dry milk is cheaper than regular milk. Use it in place of or combine it with regular milk to reduce the cost of your overall milk consumption. Your savings will be significant if your family consumes a lot of milk each week.
- Pick your own fruits and vegetables -- Find out if there is a food co-op in your area at www.localharvest.org and pick your own fruits and vegetables, which can be purchased at a fraction of what you pay at the supermarket.
- Don't eat meat every night -- Fixing vegetarian casseroles and such several times a week can save the typical family of four about $3.00 per meal or $15.00 per week or about $800 a year. Vegetarian-based casseroles, stews, soups, bean / rice dishes, and omelets are good substitutes for meat-based meals.
- Brown bag it at work -- This is one of the easiest ways to save money, as brown bagging it is about one-third the cost of eating lunch at an inexpensive restaurant.
- Don't buy what you don't really need -- There are many products we buy because we love them, but don't really need them. Good examples are soft drinks, sugary snacks and other sweets. Giving them up will improve your health, reduce your medical and dental-related expenses and fatten your wallet.
- Avoid vending machines and bring your own snacks/drinks to work: You pay significantly less for the candy bars and soda pop you buy at the grocery store than from a vending machine.
- Use coupons -- Coupons can save you money, but too many people buy products they don't really need or use just because they have a coupon. You might be able to find coupons for products you do use online by visiting Yahoo.com and typing "coupons" in the search form. Of course, the down side about finding coupons online is that you must register and disclose your name and contact information in order to get the coupon and free sample. (For this reason, you shouldn't give them your real e-mail address unless you want to receive dozens of spam e-mails every day. Use a free Yahoo e-mail account to register. Also, take into consideration what they might do with your telephone number before you register, perhaps sell it to telemarketers). Good coupon websites: CoolSavings.com -- Coupons.com -- StartSampling.com. There are literally dozens of websites you can visit and register to receive coupons. Often, you can register to receive coupons and free samples just by typing the name of the product in the URL locator, such as www.tide.com; www.dole.com; www.pepsi.com, www.pampers.com, etc.
- Leave the kids at home -- Caving in to pressure from crying children begging for certain cereals, snacks and toys adds, on average $6 to $20 to the weekly grocery bill. Leave them at home and buy only what your family needs.
Reduce Utility Expenses:
- Lower Your Heating Bills -- Turning your thermostat down three degrees can save you about 3% on your heating bills. Turn it down even lower when your in bed at night and during the day when you're at work to save even more. Close off rooms you don't use to conserve more energy. Weatherstrip doors and windows and insulate the attic.
- Improve appliance efficiency -- The three biggest consumers of energy in your home are the heating system, hot water heater and refrigerator. You can improve the efficiency of these appliances by making sure they are maintained. Give your furnace a tune-up once a year. Wrap the water heater to insulate it and clean the refrigerator coils at least twice a year. Contact your utility company and find out if a reduced rate is offered during certain times of the day. If so, use a timer to set your water heater so that it cycles during this period.
- Lower long distance charges -- Calling friends and relatives at night and on weekends can significantly lower your long distance telephone bill. In addition, shop around and compare long distance packages to get an even lower rate. Of course, you can save a bundle by communicating via e-mail rather than making a telephone call.
- Lower Your Water Bill -- Fix all water leaks and install water saving showerheads. You can also place a container filled with water, a brick or other heavy object in the toilet tank to conserve water.
- Do full loads of dishes and laundry. Your water heater is the second biggest consumer of energy in your home. Dishwashers use a lot of hot water -- it might be a better idea to just wash the dishes the old-fashioned way. Washing a full load of clothing is the most economical way to use your washing machine. Use cold water whenever possible. Washing your clothes and dishes when the machines are just half full costs the average American household $700 to $900 in added utility fees each year.
- Dryer. Your dryer uses less energy if you dry groups of clothing one immediately after another. You save energy because your dryer is already hot.
Reduce Auto Expenses:
- Maintain your vehicles -- A little preventative maintenance can save you a fortune in repair costs. Spending $50 to maintain your vehicle can save you $800 or more per year in repairs. Follow your vehicle manual's recommended maintenance schedule religiously. If you learn how to do as much maintenance yourself as you possibly can, such as changing your own oil, filters and antifreeze, you will save even more.
- Buy a car with a high residual value -- Most cars depreciate significantly after they are purchased, losing almost half of their value within two years. Buying a car with a high residual value (35% or more) means you might get significantly more when you sell it or trade it in five years from now. Find out your car's residual value at www.edmunds.com. As of early 2005, cars with the highest residual value are the Nissan Altima, Ford F-150, Toyota Camry Solara and Toyota 4Runner.
- Check out insurance rates before you buy -- Find out what it's going to cost you to insure a specific vehicle before you buy it, as different models have different rates.
- Improve your credit score -- Insurance studies have found a correlation between insurance claims and credit scores; therefore, most states allow auto insurers to charge premiums three times higher for those with low credit scores. Improve your credit score and lower your insurance premiums.
- Don't buy a gas guzzler -- If you can't afford to drive a big SUV, then don't. The amount of money the owner of a small economy car has to spend on gasoline each month is significantly less than what the owner of a gas guzzling SUV has to spend.
- Wash your own car -- This can save you as little as $10 per month or as much as $30 per month.
- Empty your trunk -- If you habitually carry around heavy objects in your trunk or back seat, you're adding about $200 to your annual fuel costs.
Reduce Miscellaneous Expenses:
- Cell phone contracts -- Sign-up for a one year contract with a cell phone company instead of two or more years since the odds of your being happy with or wanting to stay with that particular carrier for more than one year are not that high. If you do this, you can avoid the $200+ penalty you will be required to pay for cancelling early. If you hardly ever use your cell phone and have it mainly for emergencies, consider using a pay as you go service, such as Cingular's Go phone, which would only cost about $10 per month.
- Credit cards -- With hundreds of card offers out there, there's no reason to pay an annual fee of $50 to $100 for the privilege of using a credit card when you are also saddled with an interest rate as well. Call your credit card issuer and ask that the annual fee be waived. If they refuse to waive the annual, switch to another card.
- Prescription drugs -- If your household income is below median (about $48,000 for a family of four), you may qualify to receive discounts on generic versions of 50 prescripton drugs for about $30 each. More information is at www.rxoutreach.com.
- Ask for a lower credit card interest rate -- All your credit card issuer can say is "no"; therefore, you have nothing to lose by asking for a lower credit card interest rate.
- Gifts -- Learn to get over the feeling of being obligated to give gifts. Be frank with your relatives, friends and co-workers if you have to. Inform others that you cannot participate in gift giving during the holiday season, etc. Many families and offices adopt a system of name-drawing so that everyone has to buy only one gift. If you feel obligated to give a gift, consider making inexpensive ones yourself. Also, learn to say no to friends, family and co-workers who want to sell you Tupperware, Avon, Girl Scout cookies, etc.
- Charitable contributions -- Although you might not like doing it or feel bad about doing it, giving up charitable contributions is one way of reducing your expenses.
- Checks -- Your bank typically charges you $20 or more for the box of 200 checks it has printed up for you. However, you can get the same number of checks for less than half the price by ordering through a check printing company. Website:
- Get a free checking account -- A free account will save you the $10, $15 or $20 monthly fee. Banks offer free accounts because they tend to attract those who bounce alot of checks and earn the bank a fortune in bad check fees. But if you don't bounce checks, they are a great bargain.
- Magazines and books -- Don't renew your current magazine subscriptions. If you like to read, check out books from the public library rather than purchasing them.
- Swap services -- Trade and barter services with your neighbors, relatives and friends. You can swap services, such as child care, pet sitting, house sitting and the like. You can also borrow equipment, tools and appliances from each other rather than purchasing them.
- Haircuts -- You can cut your own children's hair and perhaps even your spouse's between professional cuttings. Adopt a no fuss hairstyle that can go longer between professional cuttings.
- Manicures / Massages -- You don't really need these luxuries. Give them up in order to get out of debt.
- Cable television -- This can be tough to give up, but might be necessary if you're having trouble paying your debts. If you can't give up cable, at least get rid of the premium movie channels.
- Phone extras -- Do you really need caller I.D.? Or an unlisted phone number? Take off all the extra phone services, such as call waiting, the answering service and such, and you might find your monthly phone bill lightened by as little as $5 or as much as $50 every month.
- Movie rentals -- Although movie rentals are inexpensive, you can rent movies free with at your local public library. Of course, the selection isn't going to be nearly as good as it is at Blockbuster.
- Dry cleaning -- Dry clean clothes less often and purchase more washable clothing. It is estimated that about 25% of clothing tags that recommend dry cleaning can actually be hand or machine washed -- so ask your dry cleaner.
- Alcohol and tobacco products -- Here are two luxury items that tend to be on the expensive side. If you smoke, now would be a good time to quit.
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