All over the world, people are struggling to make ends meet financially. If you are struggling to stretch your hard-earned money further, you need to find creative ways to cut your expenses, and in many cases you need to cut those expenses rather quickly. Here are the top five ways to save money in tough economic times.
1. Lose the cable or satellite television service. Even if you have cut your paid television service down to the bare minimum, these services are still expensive and unnecessary in today’s world. If you have Internet service, you can watch television shows from the major networks online free. You can also sign up for less expensive services online, such as NetFlix or Hulu. Another option is to purchase an antenna to pick up digital broadcast stations within a radius of 50 miles or more. By ditching these paid services, you can easily cut your monthly budget by $100 or more.
2. Turn the home phone service off. If you have a cellphone, you do not need a home phone. This is just an extra bill that will bleed you dry, especially if you have to pay for long distance. However, if you need your home phone for another reason, such as the ability to connect to the internet, call your telephone service provider and cut down on the extra features you are paying for, such as call waiting, caller ID, and call forwarding.
3. Reduce your grocery bill. There are many options for lowering your grocery bill. You can shop at big box stores to buy in bulk, which reduces the overall cost. You can purchase off-brand products instead of brand name products. You can make use of coupons and double coupon days at your local grocery stores. You can watch sales papers and stock up on sale items. Many grocery retailers are now offering online services, which allow you to shop online, then either pick up your order at the store, or have the order delivered. If you use one of these services, you can save a great deal of money because impulse buying will no longer be an issue. On the other hand, if you have the order delivered, there may be delivery fees that will cancel out any savings you may have realized.
4. Sign up for average billing on your utilities. Most utility companies offer average billing, although they may refer to it by another name, such as levelized billing. This does not actually save you any money, but it will make it easier to pay your monthly bill, and it will also make it easier to budget these expenses since you will know how much your bill will be each month moving forward. You will not have to worry about higher electrical bills during the summer or higher heating bills in the winter.
5. Reduce the cost of your home. Regardless of whether you rent your home, or you are purchasing your home, you can reduce the amount you are paying each month. If you are a renter, you will probably have to move to reduce your rent payments. In some cases, you may be able to exchange work for a reduction in the rent, such as taking over the lawn maintenance or making repairs to the home. If you are buying your home, you should check into refinancing the home, which will give you the option of finding a lower interest rate. If you have already paid down the principle of the home, you should be able to get a lower monthly payment.
There are numerous other ways you can reduce your monthly expenses. Take a long, hard look at your budget, and be realistic about the expenses you can reduce. When you are looking at that budget, remember that survival only requires basic things, which include air, water, food, and shelter. Everything else is icing on the cake.