Yahoo Finance 5 'Life Audits' That Will Save You Money
Saving money doesn't have to be about hunting tirelessly for coupons or depriving yourself of small pleasures. Instead, make it about taking stock of your expenses and finding ways to lower them.
Here are five areas in your financial life where it's relatively painless to reduce your spending.
[See: 10 Financial New Year's Resolutions.]
Shop around -- and negotiate -- cheaper gym membership. Because a gym membership is a monthly expense, lowering what you pay can save you upwards of $100 a year. This is possible, even if you're trapped in a contract.
Gyms are hungry for new business, and with the influx of New Year's resolution-makers dwindling, you have bargaining power. Visit a variety of gyms and use your knowledge of other gyms' offers to negotiate a lower monthly price (or extra perks like guest passes and personal-training sessions) at your current gym. If you'd like to switch gyms but are trapped in a current membership, challenge other gyms to beat your current gym's price. If you're stuck in a contract for a few more months, mention that. The salesperson may be willing to lower your monthly cost, waive sign-up fees or throw in perks to make up for the amount left on an existing contract.
[See: 11 Ways to Save Time and Money.]
Obtain insurance quotes. It's a hassle to change insurance companies. But sticking with your current provider because it's easier could be costing you.
Shop around for auto and home insurance quotes. And don't forget to see whether consolidating your auto and home coverage under the same provider nets you a better deal. If you'd prefer to stay with your current provider, present the best quote you received from a competitor and ask for a match.
Reassess your entertainment needs. "Cord-cutting" is a buzzword among the budgeting crowd. Nix your cable subscription and pay for streaming, and you'll save, the advice goes. However, with a slew of streaming services providing different content and access to different networks, the combination you select could cost nearly as much as cable.
Hulu and Netflix both start at $7.99 per month, HBO Now costs $14.99 per month, VRV costs $9.99 per month and Sling costs $20 per month. You may have picked up subscriptions to some or all of these services over time, perhaps intending to marathon-watch a show and then cancel after the free trial.
Spend a month logging which services you use. Consider whether a subscription provides additional value and be honest about which subscriptions provide you nothing more than access to shows you intend to watch, but haven't gotten around to viewing. For example, your Amazon Prime subscription provides its well-known free-shipping benefits -- not just streaming. But your Hulu subscription may be nothing more than another entertainment option -- one you can live without.
Because these services are generally contract-free, you can also turn them off between seasons of your favorite show. For, example, you might decide to save yourself $14.99 a month for the rest of 2018 (to the tune of $164) by turning off HBO Now until "Game of Thrones" returns in 2019.
Consolidate your holiday credit card debt. If you spent more than you can pay back right away, seek out a credit card with a long 0 percent balance-transfer period. Don't use this as an excuse to procrastinate on paying off your debt. Instead, use it as an opportunity to aggressively pay it down while avoiding interest charges.
If you spent $2,000 on holiday gifts and travel and spend a year paying that off, you'd pay $166 in interest if you have the average APR of 15 percent. You could save that $166 by getting a card that offers 12 months interest-free on balance transfers. You'll be charged a fee of about $5 to transfer a balance of this size, as card companies generally charge 3 percent of the balance, or $5, whichever is greater. But that still puts your savings at about $160.
[See: 10 Money Leaks to Shut Down Now.]
Perform a gift-card audit. Do you have gift cards stashed in your wallet or drawer that you received as holiday gifts and birthday presents over the years? Bring them into the light and check the balance on each of them. You may be surprised by how much remains on partially used gift cards.
Then, challenge yourself to use up all your remaining balances this year on necessary and planned purchases. When replacing your toaster, buy it from a store where you have a gift card. When buying a wedding or baby-shower gift, hunt down that department store gift card. Want to go out to eat? Dine at a place for which you have a restaurant gift card. Before shopping for groceries, bring one of your unused or partially used American Express gift cards or Vanilla Visa or MasterCard gift cards with you. These are non-store-branded gift cards that can be used practically anywhere, making them perfect for incidental grocery purchases. How do you know you have one? Check your gift cards for the Vanilla logo, or a Visa, MasterCard or AmEx logo.
Instead of letting your gift cards collect dust while waiting for a hypothetical splurge or special occasion down the line, put them to work now on your daily expenses and save.
Companies and products mentioned in this article may be promoted on www.offers.com.
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