Frugal Living Mom

10 Ways to Save This Year- Drop Unused Services and Fees

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10 Ways to Save This Year- Drop Unused Services and FeesThis tip might seem like a no brainer but I think sometimes we overlook them or even forget about some of the things we pay for so hopefully this is a good reminder.

Tip #5 Save Money This Year by dropping unused services.

I think the best way to see what you are really spending a month is to take a look at your credit card bills. If you save them grab all of last years- because some of the things you pay for are yearly and others (probably most) are monthly. Find a highlighter and highlight all the services you could do with out, or cut down. Then take a look at phone bills and other monthly bills, make sure you are using everything you are paying for.

Some of these might be:
:: Cell phone and texting– This one is two sided, first if you are not using your texting service or all your cell minutes you should downgrade to a lower plan. But if you are going over you actually may save money by upgrading- this way you are not paying per minuter charges, which are more expensive.
::Home phone– are you using your home phone? We were not, but we still felt better about keeping it for emergencies so we downgraded to the lowest local plan. In the end, with all the crazy taxes and charges it is around $15 a month (vs around $40).  We only use it for 1800 numbers and incoming calls (which we get very few of)
::Security System– these are very nice and all, but if you never remember to turn it on why have it? You may have to wait until your contract ends to be able to stop this service.
::The Gym– no explanation there 🙂
::Online Memberships– have you signed up for online forums that cost and you never visit any more or other services online (that my automatically draft for a new year)?  Make sure you are getting your $$$ worth, and if not cancel.
:: Warehouse Stores– if you don’t buy much at Costco is there really much savings in that huge package of TP when membership costs $60 a year. Check how many times you went last year and how much you saved. If the savings don’t outweigh the cost of the membership fee you should cancel.

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So those are a few to get you going- what other services and fees could we drop  this year to save more money?

See the rest of the tips here.

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Comments

  1. About tip #5: We just downgraded our cell phone service. Our lifestyle had changed and so did our budget. When I called they told me only the "customer loyalty" department could downgrade or cancel service and transferred me there. Let me tell you, they cut me quite a deal! She made me an offer and then, as she set it up, kept adding other perks to it. I'll be saving over 50 dollars per month and will get to keep both phone lines and major components of our former package. We'll even be getting significantly more minutes than in the scenario I'd planned. When I called our ISP to cancel (budget crunches have reduced us to dial-up) they also had a "customer loyalty" department that tried to cut me what would have been an awesome deal if we'd been able to stretch just a bit farther. Seems like everyone is trying to hold onto customers these days so if you are thinking of downgrading or cutting services, you should definitely try to see what they'd offer you to stay.
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  2. For cell phone service, try Real Paygo from platinumtel. You basically pay for what you use and the rates are really cheap. 2 cents per text message, 5 cents per minute for calling, and 10 cents per megabyte for web use. It's also not a monthly service, the $10 plan for example is good for 90 days. More here: http://ptel.com
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  3. I've been reading through your tips, and really enjoying some of the ideas. Your home swap idea is also one that's tickled me for some time-probably since I saw the movie "The Holiday" (which also probably totally romanticized the idea)! Tip #5 though, is something I can vouch for. We canceled our home phone (use voip when necessary) and did away with the whole post paid wireless plan-my schedule was just too erratic, with some months over and some under-utilized. Switched to net10, where I have the option of going low ($15) on the months when I'm out of the country or unlimited everything ($50) on the months that I'm here, and have a lot of business calls to make-and a variety of options in between. The benefit of this, is I always know exactly how much to budget for and don't waste money on unused minutes. Also, as Jenn said too, call your customer departments on services you would like to maintain-they are usually more than happy to accommodate you. Thanks again for the great articles.
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