4 Ways I Hacked $1300 From Our Budget
It’s no secret that with everything going up that I’ve needed to find ways to save money. I abhor paying more than I need to for the very basics in life. Over the last few weeks I’ve tried to figure out where we can cut back to save more money. The key? Asking. Asking for what I want has saved us a great deal of money during the month of October.
Cell Phone
We’re with AT&T and have an iPhone and Palm PDA on a family plan. Well that family plan while on a base price of $170/month came out to $437 at the end of October. Can you see the steam coming from my ears? After a long merry go round with different reps, lodging a complaint against one and evangelizing the merits of having a corporate presence on Twitter to another, I reduced our monthly plan and even got $70 in credits to our account. We had a family plan for 2100 minutes, but used on average 1000 minutes and had 9000 roll-over minutes in the bank.
The rep recommended that we go with the 1400 minute plan (alternative is 900 min plan), added the international plan to our account and had his manager adjust our account so that our roll over minutes wouldn’t expire. Sweet!!! Why was the bill $437? I am selling a home overseas so I check in with the lawyers and buyer weekly to keep on top of things being that I am stateside. If not, then things go to hell real fast. I also did A LOT of texting over the summer which resulted in a $200 overage charge. I’m just glad Im not friends with that person anymore, it was getting expensive as you can see LOL!
I also found out that we were somehow subscribed to a ring tone subscription and I almost lost it. My husband while I love him dearly is a tree hugging nature guy, he’s simply not into ring tones or any of that teeny bopper crap. Then they also tried to say that we were on a pay per use Internet plan which was an out right lie. As much as we use the Internet on our phones, she had to be out of her cotton picking mind. So they adjusted everything and all is well. We now have a monthly bill of $120 and will use our remaining roll-over minutes for overages
Savings: $200-$300
Paid Off Retail Account, Sold Beater Car And Bought A New Car
I wasn’t really sure how this would work out but it did. To make a long drawn out story short, we were still paying off one retail account but needed a new car. I was concerned about adding one more car note when we were paying down debt. But it so happens that we were on schedule to pay off one account so we went ahead and bought the new 09 Camry with no real plans for the 99 Solara. She started giving me problems and hubby just didn’t want to deal with it anymore. When I got back from Blogworld in September, he’d picked up the new car.
The repairs associated with the MD inspection for the Solara were over $1200 and we owed $1700. We sold it for $1700, paid it off and so everything evened out. Both payments from the retail account and the Solara payment equals the new car payment amount. So instead of dealing with two car payments and insurance we are down to one.
Savings: $250
Shut Off Electricity On Main Level Turn Off All Lights
Last year we were on the budget plan because gas and electric were out of control at $200 and $300+ respectively. But we’ve since paid off the balance from the budget plan and just pay it off every month. Our bills have been around $100 for each since we don’t cook everyday and I cut the electricity off on the main level when we are out of the house. We have a switch in the family room that cuts everything off except the alarm and this works out great!
This winter I may get a space heater and warm pajamas. Im from the islands and I like to run around in shorts and a tank top in the house, hubby thinks this is the funniest thing to do in the winter. So you know that means I have the heat on 85 right? Yea Imma have to cut that out.
Savings: $350
Groceries
I found out about the discount grocery Aldi last weekend and OH THE JOY!! My hope? Spend no more than $300 a month on groceries. I’ve yet to look at Yodlee to see how we did in October but I think it’s no better than September as far as groveries are concerned. At least now we have a real option to save more on groceries. I’d like to spend $200 at Aldi and then $100 at the other stores. We’ll see how that works out.
Savings: $400
Total Savings: $1300
Areas in Progress?
Shopaholic
I still like to bargain hunt on Ebay and I can’t even say that Im working on it because I’ll scope something out on Bluefly and then find it for half the price on Ebay. but as Lynn Richardson likes to say, if it aint free them it aint on sale! Tis true.
Eating out
This has proven hard because we like to try new restaurants and have quite the social calendar. It’s hard to say no because well, we like to be social and hang out with friends when we get the chance. So this needs some work but perhaps we’ll cut back to twice a month.
Question: What areas can you hack your monthly budget? Where can you cut back?
So funny! BF and I also had a chat with AT&T about our $500 phone bill (I have an iPhone, he has one of those PDA’s and we are on a family plan). Yeah, you know what they had done? Somehow tacked on an extra $300 by saying I signed up for the pay per use internet. What’s the point of having an iPhone? Thank goodness they credited it back to my account because I would have thrown a fit.
I wish we could cut back on groceries, but it is just so difficult with all the price increases. I hate it!
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I’ve canceled my cable altogether. Well, I still have the cable modem, but getting rid of the tube saves me about $100 a month. Drastic, perhaps, but I watch the few shows I really “need” online. Plus, with the TVs and cable boxes no longer plugged in and running much (all the time for the boxes) of the time, it’s actually cut down on my electric, too.
I also recheck my car insurance rates yearly. I do have points on my license, though, so the average driver may or may not find savings there. They do have online driving safety classes that will reduce the points you have – something I really need to get on and do.
I also just heard about Aldi this weekend. I’m not sure if there are any near me? Bummer – no, looks like they’re just in FL? Anyway, if you’ve heard of “the grocery game” that may be a help. Both that and the drug store game look so fascinating to me, I just need to make the time to learn and start utilizing them.
We have two cars, and we try not to drive much to keep gas costs down. But as soon as we even think about going to one car, a series of events happen that make us realize we need both.
We already have a fairly pared down lifestyle, but if something else has to go, I think it will be cable. My son loves his Disney in the mornings, so I’m hoping we don’t have to go that route.
Meredith I can understand that but do you live near a zip car or other car sharing service? The few times that my husband and I have had conflicts we used a Zipcar and his company pays for it which is a nice perk.
But you have children so this may be more of an issue in case of an emergency.
My comcast internet promotion rose in Oct. from $20 to $45. I called to cancel and they gave me the $25. I searched around and got a verizon special for 6 mos free and $20 for mos 7-13 (1 yr contract). I took it. Well I called to cancel my comcast internet and they told me that if I cancel the internet service that my cable tv goes up $20 mos. So now it looks like I will be canceling cable tv too. Guess I’m saving big money now. LOL I’m working with a comcast rep on Twitter to see if they can get help me keep my cable rate from rising.
I shop less. Don’t even go to the mall. I went last week and proved to myself why I should stay out. I save A.LOT!
I’m with you on the heat, not that it ever gets very cold in LA. I can’t deal with it below 70, and don’t tell me to grab a blanket cause that is 70 with a blanket. No blanket, then I need it warmer.
I keep a pretty lean budget, I just paid off a car loan and my plan is to transfer that over to savings. That was $700 a month. I’m going to check into cutting back our cell plan, we’re not using as much lately. That might save $30 a month. I already cut back on the grocery bill, we hardly ever go out to eat, don’t have cable…
My savings plan isn’t going so well, expensive problems keep cropping up.
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$700 a month on a car loan? Wow, that’s 3 car payments LOL
@ Ginger – the actual loan payment was only $480, still pretty high. Then to pay it off early I had another $220 a month I was putting towards the car loan. For $700 a month I better be getting a beamer or something!
Miss M’s last blog post..Rise in Crime a Sign of the Times?
Oh ok, LOL! I was saying to myself that would need to be the current year of my dream car LOL
Anyhoo, that $700 should be put to good use.
I think we will do something similar for one of our credit cards.
Seems like we’re all doing something like this. I got into the spirit thanks to Ramit’s save $1000 in 30 days. (Which you apparently have more than accomplished. If I were you, I’d write in an brag! Free publicity!)
Our budget is already pretty lean. But, despite Ramit’s tips being redundant for most frugal folks, it was still a good kick in the pants to see what else I can do. I’m selling off a few things from around the house; I’m trying to earn a few extra dollars from Cash Crate, etc; I’m calling around to get better deals on the basics. I won’t save anywhere close to $1000 or $1300 — that’s about half our income each month, at the moment — but even a couple of hundred dollars would be pretty darn exciting!
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I feel like I’ve almost cut my budget to the bone. So, I’m trying to focus more on variable expenses.
I’ve been contemplating cancelling my subscription to Audible and Netflix. I rarely listen to audiobooks in their entirety, and I’ve been too lazy to take a DVD I rented a month ago down to the mailbox. Audiobooks can be downloaded for free from many libraries’ website. Recently, I visited the MLK branch of DC Public Library and was amazed at the diverse DVD selection.
Mint.com has allowed me to monitor my spending. I felt a sense of shame when I realized I visited Popeyes 9 times during the month of October. And not just for financial reasons.
FareCompare.com has allowed me to save on flights. I told a friend about it, and she found a flight that was $124 less than the cheapest flight she found using other sites. I also discovered a website called RentalCodes.com. I managed to save $20 on a rental car using a promotional code from the site.
What I have done is eliminated the cost of my Health and Beauty items completely from my budget by getting them for free from Walgreens and CVS. This includes toothpaste, deodorant, make-up, shampoo, body wash, even smell good stuff like Glade candles, and basically anything that drug stores sell. I don’t buy expensive shampoo and make-up so that makes it easier. Basically, you can use Walgreens REgister Rewards and CVS’ Extra Care Bucks programs, plus coupons, and actually get this stuff for free. Sometimes they pay you to take the stuff. This week I am getting a stash of about 100 Duracell batteries and I am going to make $10 off the deal. There are lots of blogs that tell you the items each week that are free or moneymakers so you don’t have to read through the ad and figure it out yourself. If anyone wants more info, let me know. It has saved a lot of money on the little stuff, as I know now that if I need something from a drug store, I am most likely get it for free or really cheap. I even got a new blender and humidifier from Walgreens the other day for free.
Wow, awesome tips, will try a few of these.
Hope you managed to sell that property. If not, you can cut WAY down on your overseas cell charges by getting an online calling card like pingo.com, put $10 on it, then you just dial their 800 number from your cellphone, it accesses your pingo account, and you enter the number (overseas) that you want to connect to at like 4 cents per minute for calls to europe. You will end up using cell minutes for a domestic call, plus the Pingo per-minute charge, and it will add up to a LOT LESS than using your cell plan to call out of the country.
My husband and I have continued to cut back, especially since his job — our main source of income — is now not as certain as it used to be. Therefore we're trying to build our emergency fund as best as we can. Our attitude right now is "What would we do if we had no income?" Then we try to do that (with the exception of a last few hurrahs). Yeah, it's getting to be survival mode.
Between cutting cable and lowering my phone plan to 500 minutes per month, my husband and I are spending $100 less each month. The rest of the phone bill is almost entirely covered by my husband's work — at least so long as they're in business. And I get plenty of stuff to watch from the library or from online.
Our grocery bill is down to about $50 or so a week for the two of us — though it varies. That's buying mostly fresh, non-processed food from our locally-owned grocery store without coupons, so that's not bad at all. Working on lowering that, though, by growing my own sprouts and eating more beans. Fortunately, chili is yummy. And maybe we'll get out to a farmers market some time. Trying to avoid sacrificing health and ideals for a few cents here and there. We plan to eat out on the 19th because that's our 7th wedding anniversary, but we're trying to not eat out much at all otherwise.
Fortunately, the one car we share is still running even though we've talked for years about replacing it. It has 177k miles on it and it's been in a few accidents, and even flipped, but it still runs well enough. I look forward to when we can replace it, though.
Our roommate is moving out, but we have another lined up. My husband is her boss till the end of the month, then she's laid off. That was tough news for him to give her, but at least he was able to find out and tell her sooner rather than later.
Also, we've talked to friends and family about not giving Christmas presents. The response was good, so that's one less thing to worry about. I'd rather just spend time with people right now than waste time scurrying around stores.