Plugging the leaks in the budget
Our income has decreased, so I've been busy trimming a few corners from our monthly expenses. The changes below are not painful cuts, but small leaks that didn't seem to warrant attention until the change in income motivated me. Once I started, I was surprised at how the savings added up.
- $10 - Reduced the texting package on hubby's cell phone. After a brief period of heavy texting, his usage has decreased enough to make the bigger package unnecessary.
- $5 - Dropped the texting entirely from my own phone. I very rarely send or receive text messages, so it makes sense for me to pay $.25 on those rare occasions.
- $10 - Reduced our cell phone minutes to a smaller package. After carefully examining our monthly usage, we think we can easily stay within the guidelines of the smaller package. We will keep an eye on this and upgrade again if it becomes necessary.
- $3 - Cancelled an unused monthly service on our bank account.
- $9 - Cancelled our Netflix account when we send back the current title. We have fallen out of the habit of using Netflix, and kept the last title for over a month.
- $2 - Downgraded our webhost package. There is no need for us to pay for the level we have now.
- $10 - Discontinued a separate webhost package. We initially planned to move all our sites over to this host but didn't, so why keep the account open?
- $2 - Cut our Covenant Eyes from 2 accounts to one, since we all use the same account at home.
- $6 - Switched to a less expensive internet provider.
That's a savings of $57/month or nearly $700/year without changing our lifestyle a bit! What leaks can you find and plug in your budget?
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3 Responses to “Plugging the leaks in the budget”
August 19th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
We blocked text messaging on our phones, so we are not tempted and other people don’t run up our bill. Starting using the free checks from our credit union instead of paying for checks. Started meal planning school lunches so that the kids know what they are eating and I don’t run into the need to pay for hotlunches unexpectatly.
August 20th, 2010 at 10:51 am
I tink this is a wonderful idea. I’ve been considering some of these same types of things to see if I can trim around $50 per month. I think every penny counts in this day and age.
August 21st, 2010 at 9:20 am
I called my cell phone company and talked to them about my cell phone plan. I was averaging about 80-90 dollars a month!!
I asked about cheaper plans, and I ended up witha super savvy worker who found a way to give me everything I already had (plus more) for 30$ cheaper.
YES, PLEASE!!!
Never hurts to ask
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