You might think you’re saving a lot of money and not spending much, but on closer examination, you’ll find that there are a lot of things you could do without or downgrade a little to save extra cash.
This could be anything, from your electricity usage to how often you buy furniture for the house.
This article will present you with several tips and tricks to save money and lower your bills in the process. That way, you’ll start building up real savings that could come in handy later. Let’s begin!
1. Examine Your Energy Bills, Food Expenses, and Tax Rates:
Every household has a certain monthly budget that they stick to 90% of the time. This is dependent on the job you have, how large your family is, and what kind of expenses you tend to accumulate throughout the month.
The first thing you should do is see whether you’re wasting water and electricity. Maybe there are schemes/benefits/offers that you could apply to and cut down on energy bills.
If so, make sure you use that to your advantage. On average, these kinds of offers are announced in advance by government officials, and there are often certain requirements before you can benefit from these offers (i.e., low-income households).
If no such help is provided in your country, then you need to do things the old-fashioned way. Do away with excess electricity usage. Don’t mow the lawn every day, don’t wash your car every 3 hours, and certainly don’t keep any faucets open and forget about them.
This takes care of energy bills. Now, let’s discuss actual everyday expenses. Families usually decide whether they’re going to spend 1,000$ on food or just $200. Again, this depends on where you live.
However, if your children are used to eating out, it might help if you cut down on fast food and persuade them to eat home-cooked meals. Fast food becomes expensive when we’re talking about a household of three members or more.
Finally, there are taxes. Taxes pile up quickly. You need to sit down every month and examine your tax bill. In general, the lower your income, the less taxable it is.
However, that’s not really sustainable. You can’t make ends meet with a low income. That’s why you have to come up with ways to reduce taxes as much as possible.
You can start by directly contributing to your pension. Without going into technicalities, when you pay for your pension, your money becomes tax-free. There are many pension plans out there, and it’s your job to understand which one is best for you.
Another great way to reduce taxes is through gifts to charity. In the UK, giving taxed money to charity gives you tax relief. Of course, you have to donate only to qualified non-profit organisations to benefit from this.
At the end of the month, you should have a good idea of what your monthly budget is and how you can best lower your daily expenses by following what we outlined here.
2. Cut Down On Transportation Costs:
While this is not a solution for everyone, if you can go somewhere without the need to use your car, do it. Unnecessary driving costs you a lot of money, and it can be hard to decide when it’s necessary to use transport.
Try to use public transportation as much as possible. Your average bus ride costs way less than having to use your own car. If public transportation isn’t available, learn how to ride a bicycle. If you’re not interested in that, simply walk as much as you can.
When it comes to actually lowering costs when using your car, keep the following in mind:
- Use insurance. This doesn’t mean blindly accepting any deal that insurance companies offer. Rather, you should compare prices and decide what’s best for you, depending on your budget.
- Don’t speed too much. Not only does it open you up to getting penalised, but it also eats up gas super fast. Driving fast also increases the risk of getting into accidents, so it’s a bad practice no matter how you look at it.
- Keep your car in good condition. This builds up on the previous idea. Taking care of car maintenance now lowers costs later on.
That said, some people living in rural areas or in places where it’s difficult to move without a vehicle might not be able to use these suggestions.
In such a case, take into account your monthly costs for transportation and stick to your budget.
3. Use Technology:
This one might be new for a lot of people, but it’s effective. In this day and age, technology is used in every area of life, and when it comes to lowering your bills, it’s a valid method to achieve that.
How do you use technology for such a purpose? You can download apps that help you keep track of daily expenses. Some apps are so advanced that they can literally negotiate expenses on your behalf.
For starters, you don’t need anything sophisticated. Download an app to keep track of monthly subscriptions (i.e., Netflix, Hulu, Amazon). This will help you understand how much you’re paying by giving you the ability to monitor recurring bills.
Other apps help you set financial goals and reach them. These can be used to hit a monthly savings goal and cut down on excessive spending in areas you might not notice.
Technology is immensely useful, but it’s not a crutch. You can use it to supplement the strategies you already have, but on its own, it won’t help much. You still need to set measurable goals and commit to saving money and lowering bills.
4. Spend Less When Going Out:
Less movies, less restaurants, and less going out. It’s totally okay to go gung-ho every now and then, but when you’re always meeting with friends in cafes and restaurants, you start bleeding money quickly.
If there’s a cheaper option where you can meet people, try to rely on that. There are also various places offering discounts, so this is one option you can consider.
The best way to meet with your friends and close contacts is at home. Leave space where you can all sit together and enjoy your time. This gives you more freedom, too, when it comes to the activities that you want to do.
You can play video games, watch a movie, or play some poker. These all save you a lot of money compared to going out and doing the same activities in public spaces.
If you’re doing things solo, you can try cutting down on any expenses that you might not need. For example, if you’re a heavy drinker, set aside a single day per week where you can binge to your heart’s content, and for the rest of the week, be more economical.
In Conclusion:
This article has presented you with the most important things you need to keep in mind when deciding to lower your bills. There’s a lot more to discuss, way outside the scope of this little overview, but it’s a start.
To sum up, you need to understand what your monthly expenses are, what your budget is, how your income can best support that, and find cost-effective ways to save money as much as you can.
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