Cutting Back

I promise, this is my last post about financial stuff until next Monday! I mean it's January...So I can't get enough of this little graphic.

I have big financial goals.  Currently, my big one is to pay off my car completely as quickly as possible. I don't want to pay a bazillion dollars in interest.  Makes sense right?  Well, I've been thinking about a few ways that I can make it easier to make bigger car payments and get that taken care of sooner rather than later.

In an effort to cut back on some of my expenses, I'm thinking that come March when my phone contract is up, I might ditch the iPhone, get a simple little phone without data and use social media only when I'm on the computer.  It would definitely change the way I do a lot of my blogging, but phone bills can really add up.  And for what? To be on Facebook all the time? No thanks. Ditching the iPhone could potentially mean $1400 in savings each year...But that's with no phone at all.
 

There are several things that I'm cutting out in an effort to save money.  Some of them, I must admit, I'm sort of sad about.

1) Spotify Premium. 

     I spend $10 a month on my premium Spotify.  There are no commercials, I get basically unlimted music, and I can play it on my phone when I'm offline.  It rocks, but if there is one thing I've learned from all my research it's that living below your means is a great way to save and Spotify Premium is definitely a luxury.  Getting read of it will save me $120 per year.  Out it goes.

2) Hulu Plus

      Hulu Plus costs $7.99 every month.  Big Whoop, right? Well that's around $100 per year that I can never get back...and for what? To watch the Mindy Project & Grey's Anatomy instead of doing my homework?  Not a good idea.  Bye Bye Hulu Plus.

3)  My Gym Membership

     Would you believe me if I told you I've been paying $22 every month for a gym membership I can't use because I live in a different state (I also have a free gym on campus walking distance from my home) and I'm too cheap to pay the $100 bucks to cancel it? Well, you should, because it's true.  For this one, I have to pay $100 up front, but it will save me $164  ($264 next year after I pay the $100 to cancel) per year! That's huge! See ya useless gym membership.

4) Eating Out

     If you ask Travis what my favorite thing to do is, he'd probably tell you that I love to eat out.  This is partially due to the fact that I lack a kitchen and partially due to the fact that eating in the Dining Commons gets very old very fast.  Well, I pay for that meal plan, so I may as well use it, right? I can't tell you exactly how much I'd save by not eating out, but I can say it would without a doubt be around $100 each month (if not more).

If I do all of those things it will save approximately $190 per month equaling $1180 per year.

 This isn't including the cell phone because I don't have any hard numbers and there a few downsides to getting rid of the phone such as none of the money saving apps like Cartwheel or Ibotta, but it could be a worthwhile trade off.  I've also considered getting a pre-paid phone simply because they're cheaper.  I've considered buying a TV to get rid of the Hulu temptation (School has a cable package with the rooms).  Basically, I waste a lot of money on the silliest things.  By making all of my purchases for only essential things, I'll have a lot more left over and be able to make extra car payments, student loan payments, and maybe even have dinner out once a month. With a shared entree. 

How do you cut your expenses to meet your financial goals?