Strategies for Reducing Your Spending.
Last week we talked about credit card debt & how to get organized to pay it off in the most efficient way. If you missed that discussion and you’d like to catch up, you can find that post one click back on the lower left of this page.
All up to speed? Great, let’s get serious-ish & talk about reducing that spending. There’s a lot of experts who will tell you that you can’t spend money on anything extra when you’re trying to get out of debt, but we think that’s bullshit. As we say here at Missoula Boookkeeper, “plan for the future, but buy the damn shoes''. Life is too short, ya know?
Here we go…
So many bills can be negotiated. Cable, cell, internet, insurance, gym memberships…basically anything that’s super easy to drop or switch providers. A quick google search will show you a thousand scripts for asking for a lower price. Personally, I’d rather sit on a hot waffle iron than be on the phone with customer service all day negotiating. I prefer to use a negotiation service. You provide your account details & they do the work. You pay them a one time fee (calculated as a percentage of the discount they negotiate) and no charge if they aren’t. Personally, I have had a lot of success with Trim, but there are several good ones out there.
A couple years ago, I began to track my discretionary spending & I noticed patterns. More often than not, my larger unnecessary spending was happening towards the beginning of the month, and often on Fridays (what’s THAT about?). Maybe it’s the phase of the moon, maybe it’s the tides, maybe it’s deep psychological trauma, but something influences our buying patterns. Identifying when those bursts of spending occur can help you avoid triggers that cause you to overspend. Again, we aren’t saying don’t have fun. Go to brunch, see a movie, do a little shopping–the key is moderation.
Try not to fall asleep here, but we are going to talk about insurance. So many of us “set it and forget it” when it comes to our insurance policies. Once we set it up, we rarely shop around for rates again and we just keep blindly renewing. Check out some other companies to see if you can get a better rate. Conversely, you can ask for a discount if you have been a policyholder for a number of years. Raising your deductible or bundling policies can also significantly reduce your premium.
A big trend right now is having “no spend” days each month. Not only does this save you money, but there’s a positive environmental benefit. When you commit to not spending, you will find new uses and renewed excitement for things you already have, like *ahem* all those clothes in your closet.
The point of this whole exercise is to save for a rainy day and pay off debt. This absolutely isn’t the time to beat yourself up or feel guilty about finances. Just do the best you can every day. Progress, not perfection.
What strategies have you used to help save money? What worked, and what will you NEVER do again? Let us know in the comments, especially if it’s something crazy or weird, because we live for that shit.
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