Satellite Television
The average satellite bill is almost $100 a month. That price does not even include all the special sport packages that so many people get. Your bill might, in fact, be much higher.
Compare the price of satellite or even cable to the price of a streaming service like Hulu or Netflix. They are less than $10 a piece.
Ditch that satellite contract and replace it with one or even both of those streaming products. It takes a bit of getting used to but soon you will come to enjoy your streaming. No more worrying if you set the DVR, everything is available when you want to watch it. Plus, you can get introduced for the wonderful world of binging. Watch an entire season of a show in a single night, can’t beat it.
You get all of this and can save an easy 80 to 90 dollars a month. That is over 1000 dollars a year
Books & DVD’s
Are you a voracious reader? It is a great hobby to have nut it is one that you can waste a lot of money on. Sure it is not a huge expense but every penny adds up when you are trying to be frugal.
If you buy in print and read two to three books a month, you could be spending 40 to 60 dollars a month. It is a bit cheaper if you prefer eBooks but that can still add up to a good 20 dollars a month. Why pay money for this stuff when you can get all of this free at your local library. Remember them, they still exist.
Save an easy $200 to $500 a year by getting free books from your library.
Fast Food
Fast food is obviously not good for you. Just about everything is fried and the portion size is out of whack with the calories that the average person needs.
Besides all of that, it is expensive and you can eat for much cheaper at home or by bringing food with you.
If you eat fast food every day at work, you spend an easy $8 a day, if not more. That is $40 a week when you could eat very well for just $10. That is a savings of over 30 dollars each and every week which translates into over 100 dollars a month. Huge savings.
Fast food dinners are just as bad coming in at around $40 for the average family. Food that could be replaced with a much healthier meal with $10 in groceries. Replace just one fast food meal a week with a home cooked meal and save another $100 a month.
If you do not have time to cook, freezing meals works very well. You can, for example, cook all of your meat on a Sunday, freeze it and thaw it out as needed. Huge time savings.
Extended Warranties
They wouldn’t sell them if they did not make money on them.
The worst offenders are the warrantied on electronics. They already come with a one year manufacturers warranty and anything beyond that is a waste because of how fast electronics depreciate.
Take that $600 smart watch for example. It comes with a one year warranty which covers it for when it is actually worth money. After the first year, that watch is probably only going to be worth about $200. Why would you want to spend $100 to warranty it for another year. That is half of its value.
Automobile warranties are just as bad but some people get a warm, fuzzy feeling by having them. If that is you, at least do yourself a favor and do not buy it when the vehicle is new, especially if you are financing. You won’t need that warranty until the factory warranty expires, so why pay interest on it for three years.
Name Brand Groceries
Are you a slave to the label? Don’t be embarrassed, most people are.
About the only name brand that is worth the money is for diapers. Never skimp on diapers, besides that, there is room to save.
Most store brands are made by the same companies that make the major labels anyway. Don’t believe me? Next time there is a major product recall by someone like Tyson, see how many store brands are also in the recall. That is because the major companies make the generics too, they just don’t package them as nicely.
If you want to take the no name brand to the extreme, check out Aldi. They sell almost exclusively store brands and will save you a fortune. Don’t have one in your area, you soon will. They are the hottest new thing, to the US, grocery concept and are expanding rapidly.
Coffee
If you are making your own coffee at home, good for you, brew on.
This is for those people that are in the line at Starbucks every morning. Not only are you wasting time, an easy 20 minutes a day, you are wasting a ton of money. With a very basic “gourmet” coffee drink costing $5, if you indulge yourself every work day, you are spending $25 a week or $100 a month.
Brew your own coffee at home and save both time and money.
This is not to say that you have to skimp on quality. If you are used to the good stuff, invest in a coffee grinder and a high end coffee brewer or even a french press. You might even find that you like your beverage better and the savings will taste great.
Food Delivery
I get it, the convenience of food delivery is tempting but it will cost you.
Take the humble pizza for example. If you have it delivered, you will pay a delivery fee of around $3 that goes to the store and then you still have to tip the driver. That is an easy $6 to $8 that you did not have to spend if you just got up to go get your food.
Other delivery services are just as bad about ‘nickel and diming’ you to death.
Skip the delivery and go pick up your own food. You will save money, get your food faster and your food will have been in less hands, always a good thing.
