Bills are a common part of life. While we know everyone has bills to pay, it’s still easy to get overwhelmed by them. If you’re not careful, your monthly expenses can get pretty ridiculous.
This may cause stress as you try to figure out how to pay for everything. Or let’s say you just don’t like paying bills and would rather find a way to spend less on them. You’re not alone.
Monthly bills don’t have to dominate your finances. Here are some easy ways to save money on your everyday bills and stretch your dollar.
Don’t Use More Water Than you Need
Growing up your mom probably told you, don’t leave the water running while brushing your teeth. This is something that you should be telling your children as well as practicing what you preach.
We don’t need nearly as much water as we use. Having your water running during the whole process is a waste of resources and money. Same with your laundry. Why do multiple small loads throughout the week when you can have one designated wash day and pack your washer to a comfortable level and use less water. With the correct detergent and fabric softener, your clothes will come out just as fresh and clean as if you did two smaller loads.
Service Your Air Conditioner
At least once a year, make sure your air conditioner is running the best it can be done by doing your own light maintenance. Make sure the filter in the house is changed regularly. That way, you don’t have the dust from the old one in your house anymore. Plus, the performance of the unit will be better with a clean filter.
You can also spray down your AC unit outside of your home. The cleaner the unit the cooler your house should be. Lightly spraying the unit with water and cleaning it of any dirt, debris or leaves can make your home so much more comfortable and cooler during a hot day. This is if you’re comfortable doing this yourself.
Some homeowner warranty companies will come service your unit for you but they may want these things done in order to do the work. So not only can you make your AC cooler, but you can also save on a maintenance person having to come to your home. The key to the energy bill saving on this one is being willing to do some light maintenance! Why pay all that money for your central air to be running, if it isn’t even working properly in the first place due to lack of proper service?
Shop Around For Car Insurance
Car insurance is a requirement and all drivers need it. The thing about insurance is you don’t have to stick with any one company if you feel the bill is getting to high. Sometimes rates just go up, for a variety of factors.
Ultimately, you should always go for the plan that offers you the best coverage for the least amount. You can shop around for different quotes using a comparison site like Quotacy.
Some car insurance carriers allow you to also have life or house insurance with them as well. Since you bundle them together you maybe able to get a better premium. Some companies monitor your driving with an app that keeps track of your habits. Not only can you save by driving safe, but just by having the app you can have a percent of your bill as well.
Delay Turning on Your Heat For as Long as Possible
Running the heat can grt expensive quickly. This is why we try to delay turning it on for as long as possible in our home. We don’t truly need to run our heat until December or January.
When it gets chilly before then, we just wear sweaters and socks around the house to keep warm. It’s comfy and save us money so we can have a more flexible budget for the holidays.
I also view it as a game to see how long we can keep it going for.
(Here are some other ways to lower your utility bills without lowering your usage.)
Use WiFi To Lower Your Data Usage
When you’re out and about or even at home, use connect to WiFi with your phone so you don’t waste your data when browsing and using apps. Depending on your phone plan, purchasing additional data or exceeding your limit can be pretty expensive.
If you use less data then you wouldn’t need to have an expensive 10GB data plan. Your phone should automatically connect to your WiFi network when you are at home, but sometimes it doesn’t so just double check so you aren’t using unnecessary data.
The same goes with updating apps. Set your phone to only update when it’s connected to WIFI. You can also set it to only be able to manually update it as well. Try to use free WiFi networks when you’re out or ask for the password to the guest WiFi. Either way, you can save data by doing this and also keep your phone up to date which usually leads to maximum performance and speed.
Try Budget Billing
You don’t have to have your energy bill skyrocket in the winter months and have no option to get around it. Energy companies do have a budget billing system where you are locked into the same rate each month regardless of how much energy you used the previous month.
The companies get this rate by what how much energy you used the year before and get a accurate rate to use on a month to month basis. Depending on where you live winter gets really cold so knowing that you can use the heat and not have to worry about how you’re going to pay the bill is a huge plus.
Watch T.V. For Free
You’ve probably heard that cutting cable can save you so much money. However, you can also cut out streaming services too if you really wanted to.
I got rid of cable several years ago but purchased a subscription to Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon TV. It also tried out Sling TV. Over time, I realized I was spending almost as much as I was on cable for all my streaming services.
I cut out Amazon Prime and didn’t keep Sling TV after the free trial. Recently, I realized we weren’t watching Hulu as much after one of my favorite Hulu series ended so we decided to cut it. Now, we just have Netflix and I’d advise just choosing one or two streaming services if you’re going to use it to replace cable.
However, if you want to lower your bill you can possibly even eliminate it in this area by watching T.V. for free. YouTube is a great free source for video content and they also have some YouTube original T.V. shows. You can watch free movies online on safe sites or rent T.V. series from your local library.
(You can also make money watching TV. Find out how here.)
Summary
Saving money on your monthly expenses can open the door for other savings opportunities. A1 Credit is one of those that can help you sort out your saving problems We all deserve a break and time away from work. Freeing up some money by saving on bills can be a way to do some of the thing you’ve always wanted to instead of overworking yourself. You’d be taking a step to that financial freedom that you’ve always wanted so why not give it a try?
