Lower your Cable or Satellite subscription package. I have done this in the past and it can easily reduce your bill by $10 to $15 a month. Do you really need Hallmark Channel and Discovery Channel Kids?- Vending Machines. Don’t use them. Habit of a drink and snack at work everyday from the vending machine can cost you up to $2.50 a day or $50 a month. Instead, buy what you like at Costco and bring some in every week and leave them in your desk for your snack.
- Memberships. Do you have a gym membership or DVD membership that you don’t use regularly. If so, analyze them to determine if you are getting your money’s worth, if not, give them the axe.
- Coffee. Do you drive through your local Starbucks or Dutch Bros. every morning or your way to work to grab a Non-Fat Vanilla Venti Latte, with a sprinkle of nutmeg? At about $3.50 a drink, that will cost you around $70 per month. Instead, brew your own and use a stainless steel travelers mug to take it with you. But make sure to treat yourself to Starbucks on occasion!
- Eat In. Eating meals out either for lunch while at work or for dinner are significantly more expensive than cooking your own dinner or brown bagging it to work. Consider only eating out once or twice a week and see if you notice a difference on your credit card statement or bank balance.
- Don’t Grocery Shop Hungry. Your stomach can talk you into buying a bunch of food you don’t need. Be careful!
- Ask For a Lower Credit Card Interest Rate. If you have no late payments and a steady payment record many credit card companies will lower your interest rate if you call and ask them. They have done this for me on several different occasions. The worst thing that can happen is they say no. Try it!
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Tags: Frugal Living6 Comments
6 responses so far ↓
My favourites are:
1- Lower your Cable or Satellite subscription package. ——— I gave TV up completely, even before I started living out of a suitcase. I found I never even missed it…… I could watch the episodes on YouTube.com or at friends’ houses. Now, in hotel rooms where I get free TV, it’s not even appealing to me any more.
2- Vending Machines. ——- I don’t have free cash on me at any time to tempt me to use them. But even if I did, I normally just drink water, and I bring cereal, fruit or yoghurt to snack on… cereal works the best
4- Coffee. ——– I used to drink a Chai latte every day ($5 each).. but now I just drink cold tap water, kept in my Starbucks mug to trick me into thinking it’s a special drink rather than just plain ol’ water. Bonus - keeps it cold. I haven’t had a Starbucks in months….. Maybe in the winter time
5- Eat In. ——- Yup. I bring my lunch to work every day, and get some peace and quiet to read the paper. The client I’m at pays for my meals anyway, but I still bring a lunch - it’s tiring to keep walking out for a lunch, spending an hour and a half at a restaurant then walking back. This way, I have more cash for breakfast/dinner.. YUM!
Great tips. Wow, gave up TV, good for you! I still need my college football fix not to mention the Discovery Channel, Dirty Jobs and Mythbusters in particular….
I think I’ll try the credit card interest rate thing. I have an unbelievably high vet bill hanging over my head, and I’d love to get the interest rate reduced so I could make a bigger dent in the bill each month!
For those who go to Blockbuster or some other local rental place, consider switching to Netflix. I pay $18.65 per month (including taxes) for Netflix, and I watch a LOT of movies. Rentals are about $5 each at Blockbuster!
I completely agree - and another one to add to the list is COUPONS!
You can find a dozen online right now that would save on your trip to the grocery store!
I tried the credit card thing. They said No. And I even have good credit.
We haven’t tried lately, but in the past when we wanted to “negotiate” with our credit card company, we found it helpful to let them know we were considering applying for a different card with another company. We have (only because we’ve worked VERY hard at it) perfect credit. We’ve had yearly fees dropped, and interest rates lowered pretty much every time we ask (again, using the “we’re looking at another credit card” ploy). Now that we’re a couple of years away from paying off our mortgage, we’re getting some amazing offers from credit card companies and mortgage companies. I guess they smell blood in the water already. But it won’t be ours. The one good decision we consistently make is to not have multiple credit cards - we have a gas card, a visa, and one dept. store card. Our goal is to pay off the balances every month. The gas card and dept. store cards are always paid off - but sometimes when emergencies arise (plumbing disaster, etc.) the visa comes in handy. If we can’t pay it off, we’re not paying a huge interest rate….