Monday, January 31, 2011
Cutting Expenses: Part 2
Today I went to the apartment complex office to sign my lease renewal. I was absolutely dreading it. Knowing that I'd be "agreeing" to a $75 rent hike just made me sick. I sat in the office, the property manager got out her paperwork, and then double checked her numbers. After plugging in a few numbers and adding things up, she realized there was some "wiggle room" with my rent. Instead of paying $75 more in rent, I'll only be paying $65 more. It's amazing how $10 difference made me feel. However, I'm still going to act like I'm paying $75 more in rent, but I'll just put that $10 in savings. I still need to work on dropping my cable bill and insurance. Once all that is taken care of, I can add up my total "savings" and put the difference in savings. Somehow, I know all of this isn't going to be a lot and I'll have to find a summer job. Still working on that!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Cutting Expenses: Part 1
Earlier this week I received my lease renewal notification letter from the apartment company. My rent is going up $75! Last year I got the apartment with a "March Madness Move-In Special." Now the rent is back up to "normal" which actually includes a discount for me since I'm a teacher. Part of me was hoping to keep paying the discounted rate while the other part of me knew that a rate "increase" was inevitable. How in the world was I going to find an extra $75 when I already feel like I'm living paycheck to paycheck?
First, I took a look at my bills. What services could I cut or trim back? Today I went to my cell phone company's store and changed my plan. Currently I have an "unlimited talk, text, and web" plan for $79.99. I dropped to the "unlimited talk and text" plan for $59.99. My cell phone is my primary phone and some months I use a lot of minutes and other months not so much. I didn't want to risk going to the lowest plan and then going over my minutes. I'll definitely monitor this over the next few months and readjust if necessary. I also dropped the insurance on my phone. I don't even know why I had signed up for it in the first place, but it's $6/month that just needs to go. Total savings with cell phone company: $26
After I finished at the cell phone store, I went over to the cable sales store. This is one area where I can shave a LOT of money off my bill. I removed HBO ($15/month) from the bill. I'm also looking at removing DVR (about $12) and downgrading to the most basic cable package they offer. It would be an adjustment, but I think I would survive. Growing up, we had no cable television. It was 7 channels and rabbit ears for us. My family would go on vacation and just marvel at the hotels/beach houses that had cable TV. I think I could get used to basic cable and it might actually be good for me!
Second, I'm in the process of getting an insurance quote with a different company. If I can lower my insurance bill without compromising too much on the quality, I'll definitely switch.
Finally, I realize that cutting expenses to save up for the extra I'll be paying in rent is a good idea, but I have to look towards the future. It's very probable that rent will go up again next year. I want to be in a place financially where I could move out into my own place if necessary. My plan is to teach summer school this year. OMG. I can't believe I just typed that. I've NEVER taught summer school before. This was something I was NOT planning on doing, but times are tough and I've got to make tough choices. The plan is to teach summer school this year and put that money towards a house down payment while living off my normal paycheck (I'm on a 12 month plan).
I also have my car accident insurance settlement money coming in, but I don't know when or how much that will be. When it does, it will be a nice surprise and I'm hoping to add that to my house down payment or maybe for a well-deserved vacation.
First, I took a look at my bills. What services could I cut or trim back? Today I went to my cell phone company's store and changed my plan. Currently I have an "unlimited talk, text, and web" plan for $79.99. I dropped to the "unlimited talk and text" plan for $59.99. My cell phone is my primary phone and some months I use a lot of minutes and other months not so much. I didn't want to risk going to the lowest plan and then going over my minutes. I'll definitely monitor this over the next few months and readjust if necessary. I also dropped the insurance on my phone. I don't even know why I had signed up for it in the first place, but it's $6/month that just needs to go. Total savings with cell phone company: $26
After I finished at the cell phone store, I went over to the cable sales store. This is one area where I can shave a LOT of money off my bill. I removed HBO ($15/month) from the bill. I'm also looking at removing DVR (about $12) and downgrading to the most basic cable package they offer. It would be an adjustment, but I think I would survive. Growing up, we had no cable television. It was 7 channels and rabbit ears for us. My family would go on vacation and just marvel at the hotels/beach houses that had cable TV. I think I could get used to basic cable and it might actually be good for me!
Second, I'm in the process of getting an insurance quote with a different company. If I can lower my insurance bill without compromising too much on the quality, I'll definitely switch.
Finally, I realize that cutting expenses to save up for the extra I'll be paying in rent is a good idea, but I have to look towards the future. It's very probable that rent will go up again next year. I want to be in a place financially where I could move out into my own place if necessary. My plan is to teach summer school this year. OMG. I can't believe I just typed that. I've NEVER taught summer school before. This was something I was NOT planning on doing, but times are tough and I've got to make tough choices. The plan is to teach summer school this year and put that money towards a house down payment while living off my normal paycheck (I'm on a 12 month plan).
I also have my car accident insurance settlement money coming in, but I don't know when or how much that will be. When it does, it will be a nice surprise and I'm hoping to add that to my house down payment or maybe for a well-deserved vacation.
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