How To Get Rid Of The Small Bills and Save More Money
Cutting Back On Luxuries To Save More Money
Here are some more things that we did to save more money each month.
When thinking about how much money we spent on the little things, coffee that we bought in the morning was high on the list. We went back over or credit card receipts and found that we had spent, on average, $150 a month for specialty coffee.
We started buying coffee beans, from the same company as the drive through chain, at Costco for less than twelve bucks for a large bag. We grind good quality beans and set the coffee maker to brew fresh coffee for our morning commute. Total savings, about $120 a month.
Monthly Subscriptions and Services
We took a good look at our bank statements and credit card statements to find other small bills that we were paying.
We were paying for several magazine subscriptions that we rarely read. We got rid of four of them for a savings of about six dollars a month. Much of the same content can be found for free on the magazines website.
As we mentioned on the page about telecom bills we got rid of non essential services that we were paying for like traffic updates on our GPS, internet browsing on our cell phones, etc.
Saving On Our Home Alarm System
We were paying a $45 bill each month for alarm monitoring but getting only about $15 a month in credit from our insurance company for having an alarm. Since we owned our alarm Scott had a friend who is an electronics expert re-program it to call our parents and our cell phones if there is a break in.
The alarm still sounds outside the house, except it no longer calls the police department directly. The alarm permit for our city was costing us $50 per year on top of the monitoring fees. You can find out how to re-program most home alarm systems by searching using the model number on the internet.
Other Small Bills We Saved Money On
Looking closer at our electricity bill we discovered that we were paying $6.00 a month for a security light mounted on our electric pole out on the street. This was something that the previous owner of our home had signed up for. We never really liked it, since it was so bright and because of if we could not stargaze.
We installed a lamp post at the corner of the yard, with a photo cell that turns it off each morning. Total cost for the 6x6 post and lamp fixture, along with direct bury electric line was $100. We will get payback in less than two years. Monthly savings: about $5.00 including the $1.00 of electricity the yellow bug light compact fluorescent will use in a month.
To save even more on the little things we both started packing our own lunch. While we saved quite a lot of money the savings is not listed here. We decided to take the $200 or more we were spending by eating out at work and use it to treat ourselves to a nice meal in a fancy restaurant a couple times a month. You need to treat yourself, even if it means stopping at the specialty coffee place once a week, as a reward for living more frugally.
Your own Thrifty Living Project needs to include rewards and treats every now and then or you will ultimately fail for living too frugally and being unhappy about it. Living in a more thrifty manner doesn't mean getting rid of all the things you enjoy. Look forward to spending some of the money you save in one area on something you really enjoy, such as an evening out. Just try to bank more of the savings and don't fall into the trap of saving in one area and spending all of your gains in another.
For example we still enjoy lots of movies, just now by mail and not on demand as we did with cable. In addition to the little treats we give ourselves, we expect to be retired early as a result of our thrifty living practices, and that is an incentive to continue as well.
Total savings from things mentioned on this page, about $180
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