Couponing My Way To The Islands!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

~Ways To Cut Down On Monthly Bills~


Cutting back

Have you really stopped and studied your monthly bills? Do you go back and compare your electric bill to last year? Have you thought about ways to cut on your monthly expenses other than couponing? Well, I have!

Let's talk about cable television....This is one thing that is important to my cute hubby. We found the best bundle deal and went with that. It cracks me up that so many people just assume that we don't have cable. Honestly, all of the shows I like to watch are on the free channels, but the football that my hubby watches is not. We do not, however, pay for movie channels. If you are currently paying for movie channels, that is roughly $24 extra dollars per month that you could cut out. Remember me telling you about our fellow Sassy Saver Tiffany and how she is watching her favorite shows now on Hulu.com? It is FREE!

Moving onto cell phones....Okay, people I'm probably getting ready to offend a large population of my readers. Seriously, does your 9 year old really need a cell phone? I highly doubt that your child is going to be in a situation where they are all alone and need to dial 911 at that age. If you need to be able to get in touch with your child, simply call the cell phone numbers of all of their 9 year old friends. They can always borrow their friends cell phone to contact you. It can easily be worked out.

I'm saying this because 10 out of 10 people that I talk to that have financial problems have cell phones. 7 out of 10 of those people are paying for multiple phone/plans, etc. for their kids. They can live without a cell phone. Believe it or not...YOU CAN LIVE WITHOUT A CELL PHONE TOO!

I'm going to give you a moment for you to get over the shock of my previous sentence. Yes, it is true. You can live without a cell phone, I promise! I live without one and LOVE IT! It is so peaceful. No texting. Nothing! It is wonderful. Remember that not that long ago we all relied on a home phone. Crazy!
Did you know that you can have your home phone for as low as $8 per month. Granted there are no bells whistles, but again you can live without caller id. An answering machine does the trick too! You can also get phone service through your internet by purchasing an adapter and only paying $20 per YEAR!
I hear the statement everyday "I canceled my home phone and now I'm saving so much money by only using my cell phone." Hmmm...You can't get much cheaper than $8 per month or $20 per year. More on that at a later date.
Now that I've totally freaked you out by the no cell phone bit....Let's talk about your electric bill. Do you keep the thermostat below 78 during the day? Do you keep it turned down when you are not even home? Are you utilizing fans & ceiling fans? Are you keeping the blinds closed during the hot parts of the day? Are you using energy saving bulbs? Are you unplugging or sleeping items that are not in use? Are you turning off lights behind you? Are you teaching your children to be energy efficient?

I'm constantly telling my cute hubby that "If we do what everyone else does, we will have the same result as everyone else and we will be BROKE!"

I encourage you to take a good look at your monthly expenses and see what you can cut out. If you are honest, you will find there are several things you can shave off of your monthly bills. We just did an this for our phone/internet/t.v. monthly service and were able to shave roughly $40 per month off. That is $480.00 annually! Just think if you dropped that $80 cell phone bill, you could save almost $1,000 in a year. Think of the debt you could pay down or the vacation you could take?! If you are serious, you can choose to experience financial freedom.

I better go for know. I'm positive that some of you are still in shock from the no cell phone statement. Email me and let me know you are okay :)

Blessings to all my Sassy savers~
SHO

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