Monday, January 5, 2015

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?

8 comments:

Jen said...

Sounds like you have a great plan! :)

Lex Loves M said...

I love your plans on saving money! I recently canceled my Netflix subscription because I realized I was wasting a lot of time on there when I could be doing something proactive. I'm also stopping eating out, this one is going to be extremely hard for me because I love eating out, we have that in common! So, I will be working on that!
I wish you the best with your finances!

Life with Lolo said...

Good luck! I really need to get my spending in check but it's so hard to find things to cut... I don't think I could do without Spotify! haha is that lame or what?

Ashley said...

That's a great plan for saving. I could totally do everything but cutting out my smart phone! Not right now at least. Maybe in the future?

Unknown said...

What gym makes you pay $100 to cancel?! That's crazy! I should def use some of these tips though. Love this post.

Anonymous said...

Love it! I can't part with my Hulu, I just can't!! I'm never home when shows are on, I agree with the gym membership tho. Get rid of it quick!! Eating out is a problem for us too..

JG said...

Awesome! Way to be dedicated. I'm pretty proud that I didn't let SoldierMan talk me into a gym membership when we moved here. I barely have time to work out at home, and I've tried the whole "If I'm paying for it I'll HAVE TO use it" approach. Doesn't work.

Alejandra said...

Great Post, I just recently graduated and Iv'e been concerned with students loans and finding a new job hasn't been going the way I planned! these are some neat ideas to cut cost and save more <3
www.milleismy.com

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