We had a great time on vacation! However back to reality now. I start my classes today and I’m not super excited. I’m taking 12 credits this semester for my MBA, while also working full-time of course, so I will not have much time left.
This is also a good thing because I will most likely be saving money because I won’t have time for anything.
Expenses that I’ve cut:
- I cancelled my tanning membership. I just started it a couple of months ago because I haven’t had time to go outside really, so tanning just feels nice on my skin. But I’ve really started to get worried about skin cancer, so I’ve eliminated tanning beds from my life COMPLETELY! I’m very happy about this. This also saved around $30 a month. I barely ever used it (maybe 10 times altogether).
- I cut my cable bill. I eliminated HBO and Showtime, which saves around $20 a month. We don’t watch TV much, so this doesn’t really affect us.
- I’ve increased my AC temperature in my house. We used to always keep it at around 72 degrees because the BF always claims that he’s hot. I showed him our electricity bill and it was around $250, so he finally changed his mind and we’ve increased it a little to 75-77 degrees. This should save around $50 a month.
- We also make sure that we don’t waste unnecessary electricity. If we’re not using things, then we try and make sure that they are unplugged. Such as our phone chargers, laptop charger, toaster, coffee maker, lights and so on. This might save around $5-10 a month and also helps the environment greatly.
- We trimmed our car insurance by a bit. I increased my collision and comprehensive deductible to $1,000 instead of $500. I can’t remember exactly, but I think this saved around $100 every 6 months.
- I’ve been using coupons to stock up on household items such as razors, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, toilet paper and so on. I try to get these items for free or nearly free now. I save around $75 a month on household items.
What expenses have you cut? What do you want to cut?
Related Posts
Pros And Cons Of Tiny Houses (Is It Right For You?)- Bask Bank Review: Earn Airline Miles For Saving Money
- How Much We Spent To Visit All 50 States In One Year
- How My Family of 4 Flies Free 6 Times Every Year
- How I’ve Traveled Full Time For 20 Years (And Make/Save Money)
- 24 Best Ideas To Vacation On A Budget
Stephanie says
Yikes! That is a lot of credits to take while working full-time. Although I'm not one to talk – one semester during grade school I took 9 credits while working a full-time and part-time job. No idea how I did it. :-PAnyway, we've already cut some expenses. Finally got rid of collision on my too-old-and-not-worth-very-much-money car, and cut our satellite service to the next level down. We were using the old service to have access to 26 episodes two shows a year (13 Mad Men, 13 Doctor Who), so it made more sense to downgrade our service and just buy those shows on iTunes. And we've barely been using AC this summer, mostly relying on ceiling fans and open windows at night. Our combined gas and electric bills look like they'll top out for the summer at $107 for this past month!One thing I can't believe I haven't done sooner, and DEFINITELY plan to do this week, is to drop by the AT&T store at the mall. My employer offers a discount on the plan, but I've been too lazy to follow through on getting it, even though my husband and I have used AT&T forever! Also: be better about using coupons for groceries (we don't buy much processed food, so coupons only help marginally there, but non-food grocery items would be much cheaper if we'd use coupons!), and start making my own soup (one of the few processed foods we typically buy) and freezing small batches.
Michelle Parker says
I'm jealous that you can rely on ceiling fans and open windows! It's been around 110 degrees here for the past 2 months, and it just recently has been cooling down to around 95, so fans and windows won't cut it.And I'm the same way! My BF has a discount for AT&T through his work, and we just started using the discount maybe around 4 months ago, even though he's had the discount for 5 years.
slobely838 says
I'm cutting out tanning too! And I can't cut out AC too much either (you already know this since we live close and it's soooo hot where we live)
Lisa says
Hi MichelleThose are great ideas to cut back. We have to keep our AC on almost all the time. The Florida heat AND humidity is yucky! We try to keep the thermostat at 77 to 78 degrees. Also, my husband has a discount with AT&T through his work which does help. And of course, I do use coupons. They really do help.
Shoe.Gal says
Tanning is so dangerous for your skin so good for you for cancelling it. I currently live with ym parents but am confident that if I moved out I would not even have cable but connect my tv to a computer instead. So much cheaper, plus you can get the basic channels with an antena… I know that is old shcool but it would let me watch the news, which is all I would want cable for.
Michelle Parker says
Thanks Lisa for your comment. The humidity here is absolutely horrible! When I came back from Puerto Rico the other day I was not happy with it!Thanks Shoe.Gal, I started tanning because everyone would always tell me that I looked tired or sick (and whenever I would tan people would always tell me how healthy I looked), but now I just use self tanner and it works just as well!
Shelly Brockman says
Love your blog. The younger we realize the importance of saving and spending wisely, the better off we'll be in the future. I'd love to cut the internet and DirecTV bill but my hubby has to have HBO…he loves the show Boardwalk Empire, and high speed internet (for online Xbox gaming). I guess boys never grow up.Looking forward to reading more.
Michelle Parker says
Thanks! I love yours also. My BF was not happy at all when I got rid of HBO, he loves Boardwalk also. I love it too, but I figure that I'll probably just put HBO back on while Boardwalk and other shows that we like are on, and then just take it off again.
Frugal Student says
I increased our deductable to $1000 too, it makes more sense to save up the deductable and pay less per month, then only save up $500 and pay more every month. At least I get some interest by keeping the deductable high and having the money set aside.
Michelle Parker says
I agree. I haven't ever been in an fault accident either, so I feel like I've just been wasting money these past years.
Little Lamb says
Great work! Every little bit helps. 🙂
Michelle Parker says
Thanks!
Gidget says
It's amazing how all of those little cuts add up to a big one! We recently started cutting down our cell phone bill and each thing was just a little but in the end, we ended up cutting it by about $50 a month. And, we had people questioning our choice to give up Netflix because it was less than $10 a month, but it just went into the big pile that we were saving off of everything else.Believe it or not, I don't think your power bill is that high – we keep our thermostat set on 78 in the day and 76 at night and the bill is still close to $300 in the summer (and, that's with not running lights when not needed etc…) Electricity is one of those gotta have it, but it kills me bills…..Visiting from WW – looking forward to reading more.Gidget @ Homeschooling UnscriptedRecent Post:Books Your Kids Will Love
Michelle Parker says
Wow $300 is a lot! I'm glad ours isn't that high. We have a small house though and only 2 people, so I would be traumatized if it was that high.Compared to all of the families and friends we know though, we have the highest bill out of everyone. I'm not sure why.
Aparna @ Elementum Money says
Some of the ways in which I have made substantial cuts in spending has been ditching an expensive gym for a basic FREE office gym, going for a cheaper but more tedious daily commute as well as substituting buying books with a good library membership. Small expenses have a way of adding up to big savings over time and such small changes really help.