Everybody would love to get rid of their bills. In fact, it would be ideal to get rid of all of your bills ? but that just isn?t going to happen. What you can do, however, is reduce the number of bills you have to pay each month in order to lessen the total expenses that you carry. Even by eliminating a few small bills you can wind up saving thousands of dollars over the course of a year.
Here is a list of six bills that you might be able to cut and to save you money every month.
#1 ? Gym Membership
When was the last time you used that gym membership? If your gym ID card is gathering dust in your wallet, you probably don?t need to keep paying dues each month. However, that doesn?t mean that you need to give up on physical fitness at the same time. There are plenty of ways to exercise for free that can help you stay in shape while saving you money along the way. Seeing as the average American wastes $39 per month on gym memberships?this is an easy bill to cut.
#2 ? Redundant Entertainment
Everyone enjoys having some form of entertainment available to them, but there is no sense in paying for the same thing from different providers. For example, if you have cable service in your home but also pay for a streaming service like Netflix, you are spending more money than you need to each month. Take a close look at the services and decide which one can be cut back or eliminated. Chances are it’s the cable bill that needs to go. When you combine services like Netflix or the [easyazon_link identifier=”B00GDQ0RMG” locale=”US” nw=”y” tag=”wisedollar-20″ cart=”y” popups=”y”]Amazon Fire TV Stick[/easyazon_link] you can likely save a significant amount of money each month.
#3 ? Grocery Bill
Obviously you can?t eliminate your grocery bill, but you can certainly go a long way toward reducing it. A large portion of your monthly budget is directed toward food, so shopping smarter and saving 10-15% could reduce your total expenditure dramatically. Shop for sales and don?t waste food and you will quickly find that your grocery costs have come down.
#4 ? Subscription Services
The Internet has led to a boom in subscription services, whether it is information such as a digital magazine or physical goods that are sent to your house each month. While they might sound like a good idea when you sign up, these subscription services almost always cost you more money than they are worth. Cancel your subscriptions and only buy things when you need them ? that is the best way to control your budget.
#5 ? Cell Phone Bills
This is another expense that you probably can?t get rid of because cell phones have become an integral part of modern life. However, you should be able to lower your cell phone bill by shopping for a plan that is suited to your needs. More and more providers are offering customized plans, so look around for a deal that meets your demands for minutes and data while also fitting your budget. You can even get service for as low as $5 per month with Republic Wireless – that’s tough to beat!
#6 ? Utilities
Are you good about turning off lights when you leave a room? How about setting the furnace so that you are only heating the house when you actually need to? Simply by optimizing your use of utilities, you can save a relatively good amount off those expenses every month. It might not seem like a lot at first, but you will be surprised at how much of an effect these good habits can have in the long run.
Have you already cut these bills? How did you cut them? What are some other bills you think can simply be cut each month?
Photo courtesy of: Will Luo
Wise Dollar
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Yes! These are great. We’ve done most of these. My favorite was switching from transit to biking to work. I saved on a transit pass but also saved on a gym membership. Now I get prenty of exercise and it’s built right into my routine.
Very nice Thomas – 2 birds, 1 stone! Can’t beat that.
My wife and I have cut many of these bills. We cancelled gym memberships since we were no longer going, we found cheaper cell phone plans, etc. There are many choices out there in just about every category and odds are you don’t have the lowest price service that is best for you. Take the time to do some research and save some money!
We’ve done many, if not most, of these things as well Jon. There is serious money to be saved if you do a little homework.
Great list of areas where almost anyone can cut back on! I cut back on my prepaid cell minutes and Skype subscriptions and went from spending more than $50 a month to about $5 per month. I use Wi-Fi as much as possible, only buy minutes when I need them (which is almost never because I use Whatsapp and Facebook messages and free calls). Since I’m currently living in El Salvador, I still needed to have a U.S. number for friends, family, and clients to reach me, but I reduced my Skype subscription to the lowest plan ($1.09/mo. for 60 minutes and $4.02/mo. for the U.S. number). When people call me, I am not using any minutes, so that’s how I make it work without going over my plan.
Wow, sounds like an awesome deal Monica!
I’m glad that I didn’t renew my gym membership! I saved for about $20 every month, it’s a big amount for me, especially not that I’m saving every penny.
I’m glad we got rid of ours as well. I seem to remember being around $40ish per month. I’ll take the $500/year and enjoy it much more in our savings account.
I use YouTube videos on the rare occasions I work out. Hopefully, those will be getting less rare in the future. There tend to be some pretty cheap exercise DVDs on Amazon and the like.
We are home all day, so we don’t need cell phones. Instead, we cut our landline bill by switching to Ooma from Vonage. Last month’s bill was $3.85 compared to the $37 Vonage bill we’d get.
I use YouTube videos as well to work out. There’s no sense in paying for a gym membership when you can do it for free from home.
We have cut all the bills except for the food. I can’t seem to stop going over budget by double the amount.Yikes! August will be a fresh start and I’m going to watch our budget even more.
Good luck on the switch next month. Cutting food costs can be a challenge, but it can definitely be done.
I cut my gym member ship 6 months ago. It’s hard at first but I’ve got used it later on. I just do the exercise at home and bought some gym equipment such as dumbbells, kettlebell, and exercise mat.
We do all our exercising at home as well – love saving the money!