How To Cut Down Your Monthly Expenses

The vast majority of your monthly bills hit you at the start of the month.

If you don’t plan accordingly, you might be in for a surprise.

In fact, even if you do plan your expenses, you may still be loathing that huge chunk of cash that comes out of your bank account each month.

It is next to impossible to cut out all of your expenses.

We don’t have any secret formula for that.

What we can do, however, is to give you tips on slashing the expenses that you don’t really need to incur.

Transportation Costs

According to RealSimple, there are many different ways in which you can cut your monthly transportation costs.

The highlights of their list are:

• Drive sensibly
• Use the right type of gas for your vehicle. There is no sense using higher quality gas if it is not required for your car.
• If you use public transportation, see if there is a ‘season pass’ or something similar you can purchase. There will be a higher upfront cost, but in the long run, you will be saving money.
• Make a note of where the cheapest gas station in your area is.

Slash Your Mobile Bills

A lot of savings can be done here.

Sadly, if you are locked into a contract, then there is very little that you can do.

You will have to check out the plan.

However, that does not give you an excuse to rest on your laurels and do nothing.

It is better to check out different plans and see where you’ll be able to save in the future.

Remember, try to steer clear of the major cell phone companies.

They tend to have far higher prices.

There are many cheaper options out there.

In fact, unless you really need it, try to steer clear of the newer cell phones on the market.

They tend to command higher prices.

As you can see from this graph, the cost of phones in the US has risen sharply over the past few years.

This means that you really do have an incentive to shop around for the best possible deal.

Disconnect Your Land-line phone

Chances are, you don’t need a land-line in your home nowadays.

You already have a mobile phone, so why have something which is going to get hardly any use?

You can just start handing out your cell phone number to people.

You won’t save all that much money when you cut out your land-line, but every little saving is going to help!

TV- The Idiot box is not good for your monthly bills

If you can, you may want to get rid of your cable package.

There are plenty of options out there for those who really do not want to pay huge sums of cash for a service each month.

The other services, such as Netflix, are far more flexible while having far lower prices.

Most people suggest that you try to cut back on the following:

• Sports channels, at least during ‘off season’ if you are a real lover of sport.
• Movie channels. There are plenty of cheaper alternatives.
• Channels which you don’t really watch. You will be surprised at how many premium channels you are paying for which take a good chunk of your paycheck but are not offering value for money.

As you can see from the following graph, the cost of cable has risen sharply from 1998 to 2011, every year.

You are now paying vast sums of cash for something which you really do not need.

Why not join the legion of cable cutters out there?

You could, potentially, save a good hundred dollars or so each month.
Cut Your Energy Consumption

As you can see from the following graph, energy prices around the United Kingdom have risen drastically in recent years.

This means that you need to do your best to cut them down as much as possible.

This information is also applicable to the United States, where there has been a sharp increase.

However, it is much harder to collect that data.

The Survival at Home website has a substantial number of tips that you can use for trimming down your monthly bill each month.

However, for the most part, it will boil down to the following:

• Install a programmable thermostat
• Look for methods to eliminate drafts in your home.
• Insulate your attic
• Regularly clean the coils on your refrigerator to make it more efficient.
• Swap your bulbs for energy-efficient alternatives

Even if you just do those things, you will still be shaving a lot off your energy bill each month.

There are still other options to choose from!