Cutting to the bone
Brent and I sat down and reviewed all of our bills last week, to see if there was anywhere we could make some more cuts. In the end, we downgraded our cell phone plan and are saving $25 per month as a result.
There are many, many other things we could be doing, but we're not. Maybe we're lazy, maybe we're spoiled - who knows. But it's nice to know if something were to happen, we could really cut back and save even more.
1. We could get dial-up. *shudder* - that was horrible even to type. As Brent says, "I would rather go without food, than high-speed internet." So, maybe we could just get DSL instead of cable internet. We're paying $55/mo for cable and frankly, I think it is a huge ripoff. We could switch to DSL for $40 per month, but we'd have to pay $50 up front to install a phone line (we're a cell phone only family). So it would take 4 months before we started saving money with this option.
2. We could get rid of one or both of our cell phones and get a land line. I'm not sure how much this would actually save since it has been so long since we had a land line. I'm guessing that a phone would cost about $30 per month, so that would save us $70 (yeah we pay a lot for our cell phones). The problem with that is Brent uses his phone for work all the time. He doesn't have a phone in his office, and he frequently works from home. So he would at least have to keep his cell phone. So if I got rid of mine and we had a landline and one cell phone, we probably would save $20 per month. Not worth it.
3. We could sell our car and get a cheaper one. Brent will probably have my head for even suggesting this, so it's pretty much out of the question. We already only have one car so we want something reliable and nice. And I think Brent is actually in love with it. But, if we had to, we would save probably $250 per month in car payments, and $300 per year in insurance. (Not to mention the gas savings, since the poor car need premium gas to run well)
4. We could get rid of our weekly allowance but then we'd have to pay for marriage counseling.
5. We could stop going out to eat on Sundays. We have discussed this, but not willing to go that route. Sunday dinner is pretty much our only social time, and the only time we ever go out to eat. $20 per week on our only entertainment is not that bad.
6. We could drop our renter's insurance, but that would be just plain stupid.
7. I could get a second job, or apply for full time hours at my job. That's not something I really want to do, plus I think Brent enjoys having me around to wait on him hand and foot. Right now we use my income to pay off debt and nothing else, so it's not even part of our budget and we wouldn't really be changing our situation much.
That's about all I can think of right now. I'm sure if we lived in a van down by the river, we could really pay off our debt, but that's not a thought I'm willing to entertain.
There are many, many other things we could be doing, but we're not. Maybe we're lazy, maybe we're spoiled - who knows. But it's nice to know if something were to happen, we could really cut back and save even more.
1. We could get dial-up. *shudder* - that was horrible even to type. As Brent says, "I would rather go without food, than high-speed internet." So, maybe we could just get DSL instead of cable internet. We're paying $55/mo for cable and frankly, I think it is a huge ripoff. We could switch to DSL for $40 per month, but we'd have to pay $50 up front to install a phone line (we're a cell phone only family). So it would take 4 months before we started saving money with this option.
2. We could get rid of one or both of our cell phones and get a land line. I'm not sure how much this would actually save since it has been so long since we had a land line. I'm guessing that a phone would cost about $30 per month, so that would save us $70 (yeah we pay a lot for our cell phones). The problem with that is Brent uses his phone for work all the time. He doesn't have a phone in his office, and he frequently works from home. So he would at least have to keep his cell phone. So if I got rid of mine and we had a landline and one cell phone, we probably would save $20 per month. Not worth it.
3. We could sell our car and get a cheaper one. Brent will probably have my head for even suggesting this, so it's pretty much out of the question. We already only have one car so we want something reliable and nice. And I think Brent is actually in love with it. But, if we had to, we would save probably $250 per month in car payments, and $300 per year in insurance. (Not to mention the gas savings, since the poor car need premium gas to run well)
4. We could get rid of our weekly allowance but then we'd have to pay for marriage counseling.
5. We could stop going out to eat on Sundays. We have discussed this, but not willing to go that route. Sunday dinner is pretty much our only social time, and the only time we ever go out to eat. $20 per week on our only entertainment is not that bad.
6. We could drop our renter's insurance, but that would be just plain stupid.
7. I could get a second job, or apply for full time hours at my job. That's not something I really want to do, plus I think Brent enjoys having me around to wait on him hand and foot. Right now we use my income to pay off debt and nothing else, so it's not even part of our budget and we wouldn't really be changing our situation much.
That's about all I can think of right now. I'm sure if we lived in a van down by the river, we could really pay off our debt, but that's not a thought I'm willing to entertain.
Labels: Saving Money
posted by Tracy at 5:41 AM
2 Comments:
nice blog! if you have verizon in your area you could get the cheap dsl that is 14.99 a month with the first month free. i am married to an it guy who would freak! if i even mentioned dial up LOL...had this for a week and its not bad at all...
Yeah, I called them and they are not available in our area. :( Also I think we'd have to have a landline for that too.
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