Cheap Living is your start to eliminating long-held spending habits and maintaining new habits over months and years.This is a
Lifestyle Change
Write down every fee you pay for every service. Make sure you are getting the best deal there is. Are you paying for more than you use? Are you getting less channels for more money? Are you getting rollover minutes? Is you Internet low speed for high speed prices?
Never buy bundles. They are not as cheap as buying services individually and if you want to price check, you can only compare with other bundle packages.
I check prices about every 3-6 months. I have saved myself $200.00 a month.
- $70.00 for cable with more show channels than I was getting before.
- My cell costs me about $10.00 a month
- my land line now costs $18.00.
- And my electric went down from 9.9 cents per kw to 7cents per kw.
- Unfortunately the internet never changes at $40.00.
- My liability for the car is now $37.00
I went from $400 a month to $230 a month. I literally cut my bills in half!
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Cheap Living means never having to buy retail.
Why would you pay $200.00 for a for something you can purchase for $75.00? You are not practicing Cheap Living if you are throwing your money away!
You probably don't even need it now. If you wait, I promise you that you will get it for less.
Everything eventually gets discounted.
Look for sales and promotions. If you wait for a sale, you can get up to 80% off the already discounted item.
There are nationwide stores like Ross, TJ Maxx, Burlington Coat Factory and Tuesday Morning, just to name a few.
There is also local discount shopping. Discount stores include clothes, shoes, house wares, furniture, and more. You just have to look for them in your area.
Stores have 3-4 promotions every year. Make a note of when they are and wait to shop during the promotion.
Buy Online
I bet you did not know that you always get better prices if you shop online.
You can buy just about anything on line for less even adding in the shipment charges.
This is a fact even with services such as phones, cable or internet.
Never pay interest!
If you can't pay for it, don't buy it was my mothers rule. To this day my mother has a credit card but pays it right away. She refuses to pay interest.
Negotiate a payment plan.
You can negotiate better prices and payment plans. Whether it is your doctor, dentist, vet or corner store, you can negotiate a better prices and a payment plan.
All you have to do is ask! You would be surprised how people will work with you.
Don't make a plan you cannot keep or the opportunity won't be there in an emergency when you may really need it.
Never buy a new Car.
When you buy new you are losing $5,00 as soon as you leave the lot.
That's not Cheap Living!
If you buy a 3 year old car with good mileage, you don't lose the $5,000 and when you sell you will get the cars full value.
You will save a ton of interest and you can pay the car off faster. You can then save a lot of money getting liability insurance instead of full coverage.
The same goes for leasing a vehicle. You lose so much money on a lease. Put a pencil to it and you will see. The only reason people lease is either for business or they don't have a down payment.
Cheap Living doesn't mean you have to buy inferior products. You just have to be smart about the way you buy.
Take advantage of opportunities.
You don't want to miss sales or promotions, that is really the only time you should be making purchases if you want cheap living.
Always use Coupons
Don't throw free money away with the trash. Coupons are everywhere! Think about it for a minute.
You are at the grocery store or hamburger place. You just paid the full price on your item. Let's say you paid $5.00, but in the mailbox you were sent a coupon for that item offering $2.00 off, but you through it away with the trash. Not Cheap Living!
If someone handed you $2.00 would you throw it into the trash? Need I say more?
See
I Love Coupons
and
How to Save on Groceries
for links to cheap living.
Start Eating Out LESS.
This is one of the biggest money saving tips for Cheap Living!
Do you have any idea what eating out regularly costs you? It will eat your lunch.
Every time you want to eat out write down what it will cost you. Add this up at the end of the month and it will blow your mind.
Eat out no more than twice a month. The savings will pay for your electric bill for a month.
Community Services are free.
It is too long to list so go to the community services page and you will find free services that you are now paying for. If you are a Senior or Disabled, there are so many services available to you.
Take advantage of these resources. They are there for you.They understand that you need ways to cheap living.
Always have $100.00 on hand.
Before you do anything else with the money your are saving, put $100.00 aside and when you use it,replenish it immediately.
Why? There are always big promotions and sales.Cheap Living experts are always prepared for that surprise promotion or grocery store sale.
You can pay less and buy more! Or you can pay more and buy less! It's your choice.
Always sign up for bank and store reward and point cards.
I never used to buy at a particular drug store because it is expensive compared to other drugstores. But now I get extra bucks for my purchases and at the end of the day there prices become cheaper than most by using my points card.
Everyone offers points cards now.
If you read Lifestyle Changes I don't have to tell you how ridiculous it is to throw money away with the trash.
Who Pays For Long Distance Anymore?
Most people use cell phones instead of land lines, but if you want a land line, go to Vonage. For $20.00 a month you get unlimited long distance and you have all the perks.
This is less than your cell phone plan or any land line.
To get a free month from Vonage email me claudia@living-on-social-security.com
Negotiate prices and payment plans.
Whether it be a doctor, dentist, veterinarian or other If you need time to pay or you feel a service is too high people will work with you. I always ask my vet for a payment plan until my pet insurance pays me.
DO NOT make a plan you cannot adhere to or people will not work with you the next time. It is like building credit. People will always work with you if you can be trusted.
Never, ever get a payday loan or title loan.
This is loan sharking. You will end up paying double for the loan very quickly.
It is so easy to put paying these loans off by paying just the interest.
People who do this can never get out from under a loan and in the mean time other bills are suffering which is why you took out the loan in the first place.
It is never ending and it ends up costing more than what you needed in the first place. This is an absolute Cheap Living no-no.
These loans put you in debt!!! Stay away from them!
If you need help get
Financial Help
with no payback.
Or if you are disabled, the organization representing you like The Ms Society will help with an emergency.
Don't use attorneys unless necessary.
Today there is no reason to use a lawyer unless you have a serious situation. Legal Zoom.com can do wills, contracts, setting up a corporation and so many other things for 1/4 of the price of an attorney.
Don't pay for something you can get for free.
There are so many things offered for free today. That's right absolutely free! Go to I love coupons for listings.
Savings on Gas!
Check for
lower gas prices
in your area regularly.
TIP-Miss as many traffic lights as you can and don't rush to a stop sign or light and then come to a quick halt. This takes up a lot of gas.
Pick up coins on the ground.
You might think this is silly, but it helps you change your thinking about the way you value money.
For fun look up your coins to see what they may be worth. You might have just spent a nickel that was worth $10.00.
And last of all, share what you find with others. Your sharing will come back to you three fold.
Cheap Living will become natural to you, and you will see how easy it really is.
You will be asking yourself why you have been missing out on all the extra money you could have had all these years.
In the following sections we will get more specific and share many sources to get you on your way to a Living Cheap.
