With many Americans having to stretch their money even farther than before, many people have been looking for ways to cut back on their expenses. Cutting your household expenses back can be easier than you think and can save you quite a bit each month. Here are three practical tips for cutting back on your household expenses.
Bundle Your Services and Cut Back on Extras
Many companies offer steep discounts for bundling services together. You can easily bundle your home phone service, Internet service, cell phone service, and/or cable service with many companies now. If you don’t already have these services bundled now is the time to try to get it done. While you are looking at these services now is the time to look at exactly what you are getting and what you need. Is call waiting really a necessity? What about those extra movie channels on your cable bill? In fact do you really need cable at all? With the low cost of Netflix and Hulu streaming plans many people are forgoing cable all together and turning to these streaming plans instead.
Insurance Premiums
Insurance is one of those things that are a necessity and can’t really be cut out. However, you should look at your policies to make sure that you are getting the best deal possible. Comparison shopping for insurance is easy and can be done online now. If you aren’t interested in changing insurance companies you should call your insurance company to make sure that you are getting all of the discounts that are available to you. Are you getting a multi-car discount, a multi-line discount, good student discount, or even a good driver discount? Also if your vehicle is paid off you may be spending more in full coverage than the vehicle is worth and you might want to consider dropping your insurance coverage down to liability only.
Be Energy Smart
Utility bills are a huge expense for many families each month and are something that can easily be cut back. Weatherizing your home isn’t just for the winter at the beginning of each season you should weatherize your home for the new season. A programmable thermostat is a lifesaver when it comes to saving money on energy, as your system can be set to run less when no one is home. In the summer set your thermostat high to keep your air from running too much, and in the winter set your thermostat low to keep your furnace from running too much as well. Also in the summer consider only running your air conditioner on extremely hot days, for example when temperatures spike into the 90’s. Other energy saving tweaks can include washing your clothes in cold water, and lowering the temperature of your water heater.
