This month's target for reducing bills? NetFlix.
I am a movie addict and don't want to give up my NetFlix account! But I thought I'd look at what I could do to save some money on it. I was paying $9.68/mo and I hadn't changed any of the options, but the price went up to $10.76. That didn't seem fair.
I thought I was on the lowest plan possible - 1 movie mailed to my house at a time, and unlimited online movie viewing. Turns out there is a plan even less expensive than that, and that is no movies mailed to my house, but it still includes unlimited movies online. That would bring my monthly bill down to $8.60, so even less that it was before the price went up.
I was reluctant to go to the lower service because there are so many movies they don't yet have on streaming video. But when I looked at my movie list, I realized that more than 100 of the movies I have in my queue are viewable online. I figure I could just focus on watching those movies (which should keep me occupied for quite some time!). When I finish that list, I could then up my subscription level to include movies mailed to my house. However, by the time I make my way though that list, I imagine that many of the movies in my regular queue would also be available online.
So I have downgraded my NetFlix subscription.
Another thing I did is check with a friend of mine who also has online move watching only. We decided to share my account and drop hers. So not only will the subscription cost less money, on top of that the price will be cut in half since we are sharing.
That brings a $10.76 bill down to $4.30. It's not like that saves a LOT of money, but it's something and over time (and with the same thing done with other bills too) it will add up.
Another success!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Reducing Bills: Cell Phone
One idea I have is to go through all of my monthly bills and each month look at what I can do to reduce at least one of them.
The first one I've chosen is my cell phone. I got rid of my land line years ago, so all I have is my cell phone. (That has saved a BUNCH of money!) I like the company I'm with and I am on a plan that works well for me. So I wasn't sure what I could do that would save money.
I compared other plans and verified that I am on the best one for my current level of cell phone use. But then I remembered the employee discounts through my work. I checked there to see what some of the discounts were. Lo and behold, my cell phone company was listed! I called up my cell phone company, told them about the employee discount mentioned at my work, and from now on I get 15% off of my cell phone bill!
Success! I'm looking forward to seeing what other creative things I can do to reduce my bills in the upcoming month.
The first one I've chosen is my cell phone. I got rid of my land line years ago, so all I have is my cell phone. (That has saved a BUNCH of money!) I like the company I'm with and I am on a plan that works well for me. So I wasn't sure what I could do that would save money.
I compared other plans and verified that I am on the best one for my current level of cell phone use. But then I remembered the employee discounts through my work. I checked there to see what some of the discounts were. Lo and behold, my cell phone company was listed! I called up my cell phone company, told them about the employee discount mentioned at my work, and from now on I get 15% off of my cell phone bill!
Success! I'm looking forward to seeing what other creative things I can do to reduce my bills in the upcoming month.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Late Fees and Finance Charges
One thing I noticed when going over my bills lately is I have been wasting money on late fees and finance charges. This is a basic thing that many resources tell us to watch out for. Well, as money savvy as I'd like to think I am, I've still fallen victim to this.
Generally I pay things on time, but sometimes I slip. As a result I have been sending money out into the ether. *GIVING* money to the mortgage company, credit card company, utilities, etc. I'm not getting anything out of this money. It's just a charge I am paying for not being more on top of my finances and paying them on time.
What I did to remedy this is to write down all my regular bills for each month along with the due dates and amount due. I then went onto my online bank account and set up automatic payments for those amounts. For things that vary each month, I set up auto-payments through those payees.
For example, my credit card balance varies. So I set up an auto deduct payment plan with my credit card for the minimum amount due each month. I fully plan on paying more than the minimum each month, but I want to have control each month of how much I pay and will send the overpayment amount in separately. Setting up auto-pay for the minimum amount will ensure that even if I forget a payment, I won't get charged a late fee.
Generally I pay things on time, but sometimes I slip. As a result I have been sending money out into the ether. *GIVING* money to the mortgage company, credit card company, utilities, etc. I'm not getting anything out of this money. It's just a charge I am paying for not being more on top of my finances and paying them on time.
What I did to remedy this is to write down all my regular bills for each month along with the due dates and amount due. I then went onto my online bank account and set up automatic payments for those amounts. For things that vary each month, I set up auto-payments through those payees.
For example, my credit card balance varies. So I set up an auto deduct payment plan with my credit card for the minimum amount due each month. I fully plan on paying more than the minimum each month, but I want to have control each month of how much I pay and will send the overpayment amount in separately. Setting up auto-pay for the minimum amount will ensure that even if I forget a payment, I won't get charged a late fee.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Starting again
I am starting up this old blog that I had stopped updating years ago. Once again I am focusing on getting my financial house in order and thought it would be good to note my tips and tricks in a place to share with others in case others may get some benefit out of this too.
One thing that had come of my earlier financial frugality is that it also turned into simplifying and being more green. Those things all pretty much go hand in hand. There are exceptions, but in general all these concepts are very compatible.
One thing that had come of my earlier financial frugality is that it also turned into simplifying and being more green. Those things all pretty much go hand in hand. There are exceptions, but in general all these concepts are very compatible.
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