Bills, bills, bills. They never go away. They are always there, waiting for us to pay them. Want to know how to save money on your bills?
It seems the older we get the more bills we accumulate. I love when I go to the mailbox and the kids anxiously ask what I got in the mail. You see, they get fun mail. They WANT to get mail. Every day I don’t get mail is a good day because more than likely if I received something in my mailbox it’s a bill.
I’m always, always looking for ways to on how to save money on bills. It’s amazing the little savings you can find on your bills. Of course, we only have so much control on them, but even little savings add up to big savings when there is enough of them. Learning how to reduce expenses and save money will greatly help your budget in the end.
You should always monitor your bills closely. Sometimes people get so overwhelmed with their bills and their debt that they stop opening them when they come. This is a fast way to get into financial peril. No matter how bad the situation, you NEED to open your bills. The problem will not go away by avoiding it, but it will only get worse.
Monitoring your bills will help you keep track of what you owe and help you pay on time, avoiding late fees. Late fees are added expenses that should be avoided as much as possible. Your bills are high enough without extra fees tacked on. Do up a budget and make sure you are living in your means so that you can pay your bills on time.
But the other reason you should monitor your bills is that sometimes you get charged for things you shouldn’t have. For example, we got a bill for a toll route you can take with your car. We’ve had toll route bills before, so it wasn’t out of the ordinary…except that we hadn’t gone on the toll route in months!
We called the number on the bill and discovered that somehow we got the bill of someone with a similar license plate.
Another reason it is wise to always monitor your bills is that sometimes companies start charging you more without letting you know. We had this happen with our phone bills for the longest time. A local company is known for slowly adding charges on to your bill for the service. Before we knew it we were paying significantly more than when we originally signed up.
Sometimes billing companies can be sneaky, so you want to make sure you are keeping track of your bills and your charges.
Now let’s talk about how to cut expenses on the family budget. Below is a list of easy ways to save money on bills.
HOW TO SAVE MONEY ON BILLS
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Phone
Since I was just talking about phone bills, let’s start with this one. If you have a land line and cell phones, it may be time to get rid of your land line. We had a land line for the longest time, and while I preferred it, it was cheaper for us to have cell phones.
Whether it be a land line or a cell phone, if you are finding your bill is too high, call the company and ask if there is any way to cut your bill down. They may find another service plan that is better for you.
Heating
Buy a programmable thermostat and set your temperature of your home a few degrees lower when you sleep. You are under a bunch of warm blankets anyways, so you won’t even notice it. You can have it set for the temperature to increase an hour or so before you wake up.
You can also decrease the temperature when you are gone, especially if you work out of the home every day. Why heat a house to full capacity when no one is there?
If your heating is costing you too much you can also look into a different heating system. We recently switched from oil heat to propane because propane is considerably cheaper in our area, as well as oil heating bringing down the value of our home. If you are going to be in your home for the long-term consider changing the heating system for something more efficient.
Electricity
Turn lights off when you leave a room. Hang clothes to dry instead of using the dryer. Check to see if your area has different charges for using electricity during certain parts of the day and then do laundry during those times if possible.
If you really want to save money in the long term, you can consider going off-grid with solar power.
You also may be able to get a home energy audit for free or for a small fee. A home energy audit is when someone comes to your home and finds out where you can improve your energy savings.
Grocery
If there is any bill you can make changes to save on, it’s most likely your grocery bill. I talk a lot on this site about saving on groceries, but that’s because it’s the easiest place to save.
Shop in season, and shop the sales. Meal plan. Shop at the budget grocery stores. Make more food from scratch. Grow your own food in your garden. Use cash-back apps that give you money back when you buy groceries like Checkout51, or Ibotta.
Use coupons that you can find over at Redplum and Coupons.com.
Car and home insurance
Just over a year ago now we decided to shop around for our house and car insurance. We had been with the same company for our entire marriage, but we started to wonder if maybe we were overpaying.
Turns out, we were. Significantly.
Shop around for car and home insurance and consider switching if you find a better rate. I’m not going to lie, it’s a bit of a hassle switching, but it’s worth it and I’m so glad we got through all the paperwork and made it happen.
TV
Do you have cable or satellite? Have you considered cancelling it? No, I’m not suggesting you stop watching tv. There are a ton of great streaming services online now that you can pay for that are considerably cheaper than cable or satellite. Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime Video are just a few of the options you can pick from. My family watches more than enough TV with Netflix alone. There is no shortage of shows to watch. If you want to cut down your TV bill, consider ditching the satellite or cable and going with an online streaming service.
Gas
All that driving can really bring up your gas bill. There are a few ways you can save on gas. First, and the most painful but most effective would be to downsize your vehicle if you own a real gas guzzler.
However, that may not make sense for everyone, so there are other ways to save on gas. When you are driving around doing errands, plan your trips strategically so you aren’t driving back and forth. Hit all your stops in order so you are driving less.
Combine activities and errands so you don’t have to drive unnecessarily. So if you have to drive to the store which is 15 minutes away, consider adding a trip to the library in there too if it’s close by instead of taking a separate trip.
Don’t let your vehicle idle too long and save on gas that way too.
Find the cheapest gas prices before you go by searching on GasBuddy. Gas prices are known to rise as the week goes on, so gas up earlier in the week, like Monday or Tuesday.
SAVE MONEY ON YOUR BILLS AND GIVE YOUR BUDGET MORE WIGGLE ROOM
Saving money on your bills will allow yourself more room in your budget. Life always feels a little easier when we have a bit of space in our budgets, as opposed to being so tight we feel like we can’t get ahead. If money is extremely tight, finding ways to save on your bills can help with your finances. Actually, even if money isn’t tight, why not save money on your bills anyways because who wants to pay more than they have to?
