Alright it is time to cut some expenses! I encourage you to take a long, hard look at all your expenses and ask yourself, “Do I really have to have this?” Often times you will find that you really don’t and that giving it up for a short while (whatever it is) is well worth getting more of your debt paid off!
1. Car Insurance
Believe me, if you haven’t shopped around for car insurance in a couple years, it is worth your while. I really was sure that I had the lowest rates I could get (after all I run a website about personal finance), but then I checked out Islamic Takaful and found that I could save RM330 a year for the same coverage. I was so blown away that they could save me RM330 that I didn’t shop anywhere else.
Remember, going through broker you are paying the brokers's fee and the higher the insurance premium, the more the commission the broker recieved. As an advise, pastikan;
1. coverage insurance kereta anda tidak melebihi harga semasa
2. Shop around including browsing internet
3. Get advise from friends who knew about insurance.
2. Save money on petrol/gas
While everyone wants gas prices to go down, you can cut your monthly gas bill by taking some pro-active steps. Check out these 75 gas saving tips, grab a few of them and start working them into your driving. And for some more advanced techniques you can learn how to hypermile as well.
Save Money on Phone
3. Cell Phones
Grab your most recent cell phone bills and look at them to see what you are actually paying for.
Are you paying for internet service that you are not using?
Are you paying for 1000 minutes a month, when you are only averaging about 350?
Are you paying for text messages that you are not using?
Before you call your cell phone company, check other Cellular companies to see how their rates compare. If it is still worth your while to stay with your current provider, then call them up and talk to them about the changes that you can make.
4. Home phone lines
Ask yourself a tough question, “Do I really need a fixed line? Would it be possible to use my cell phone for all calls?”
If you have a fixed line solely for the purpose of having a DSL internet connection, I would recommend calling the phone company to adjust your phone plan. here are may packages now that offer competitive rates - both from cell companies or Telekom.
If you can get by without a land line, call and cancel it. This will probably save you RM100 or more a month just by making a phone call.
5. Save on the Internet
I am not suggesting that you get dial-up. That is just cruel and unusual punishment . But, if you are paying for the premium package, should you consider one of the slower packages? Many people won’t notice a difference in how fast the web pages load.
Again, it may be worthwhile looking at the options available for high-speed internet service. I saved about $20 a month switching from one company to another.
Save money on Food
This is one of the easiest fixes for most people. I know I am saving hundreds of dollars a month by not doing what I used to do with my food purchases.
6. Make going out to dinner something special
Not only will you save yourself a lot of money, but it will be more fun when you do go out. Have you noticed that when you do something all the time, it just isn’t as fun anymore? This is a great way to “add fun” and save money.
A couple going out to dinner just two times in a week could easily spend $300 a month. If they knock it down to just one time a week that is $150 savings.
7. Make it yourself
You really can cook. I don’t care if people told you that you were a bad cook, don’t listen to them. You aren’t bad and it is not that hard. There are tons of meals that you can make that require little more than an ability to set a timer and read directions. Start at Allrecipes.com; they have lots of cool features that I won’t get into here – just check it out.
8. Bring your lunch
This is one of those rubber-meets-the-road sacrifices. But it pays off handsomely. If you are paying $10 to go out to lunch each day, you are spending $200 a month. If you bring your lunch 3 days a week, you should easily be able to save $100 a month.
9. Eat what you have
Buy food that you are going to eat and eat what you have. I cut my grocery bill by 50% from my wasteful years by eating the food I had and not wasting any. I could not believe how much money I was wasting by letting food spoil. Just putting a little bit of thought into your grocery list each week will be an easy way to save money.
10. Clip coupons
Most of the food we buy doesn’t have coupons, so this has never been too much help for me. But, there are some people who take pride in buying a grocery cart full of food for $25 and 100 coupons. Even if you aren’t a pro, beginners can save $50 a month without much difficulty.
11. Drink water
Adakah Starbuck atau Coke itu minum keperluan. Minum seperti ini mahal tetapi memudaratkan kepada kesihatan. Memang badan kita memerlukan gula tetapi bukanlah melalui konsumpsi minuman yang mahal.Tinggalkan minuman seperti ini dan ambil minuman yag lebih berkhasiat atau air mineral, saksikan berapa anda akan jimat?
12. Save on your energy bills
Lampu mungkin tidak banyak menjejaskan konsumsi bill eletrik tetapi membudayakan menutup lampu atau pint yang tidak relevan adalah paling baik.
That being said you can check out these 10 ways to conserve energy and save money and these winter energy saving tips.
13. Pay your bills on time!
Ambil semua bil yang terakhir dan sila semak bayaran-bayarn yang tidak sepatutnya ada, seperti caj lambat bayar yang pastinya membazirkan wang anda yang amat berharga.
Kalau anda sering terlupa membayar bil-bil utiliti, sila gunakan Google Calendar atau senarai bayaran bill. Lebih mudah lagi buat bayaran online secara otomatik atau 'standing instruction'. Cara ini akan memudahkan kerja anda.
14. Save at the bank
Grab your recent bank statements and examine them for ambiguous fees. If you see any and don’t know what they are, call your bank and ask them to explain it. I worked at a bank for years and I know how good they can be at coming up with creative names for their fees.
If you find out that you are paying fees for your basic banking needs, I recommend switching. There is no reason you should be paying fees for falling below a minimum balance or anything else. It is your money. Take it somewhere where you have control over the money, not the bank.
Most credit unions will not have many (or all) of the fees that bigger banks may have. I currently use Capital One 360 as a savings account.
15. Save on purchases
Kalau tengah berkira-kira untuk menyelesaikan hutang-piutang, anda sepatutnya berusaha keras berfikir tentang belian yang berskala besar lagi boros. Tetapi jika perlu membeli, pastikan anda membeli dengan harga yang terbaik. Sila semak melalui internet jika perlu.