Working World

We’re all trying to save money wherever we can in these tougher times. Usually we assume this means giving up things we want, but sometimes we can eliminate expenses without suffering deprivation at all. With the complexity and speed of modern life, it is easy to lose track of things we are paying for but don’t really need and would not miss. It’s just a matter of taking a little time to review our expenses and pare down in a painless way.

Make it a habit to do an audit periodically of the services you subscribe to, or recurring and automatic payments you’re making, to ensure they align with your current true needs. The following are just examples of types of expenses you may be able to cut out or reduce. There are probably other similar instances in your own life where a careful examination of your needs versus your payments will reveal opportunities to save money.
   
Once a year, shop around for auto insurance and/or ask your current company if you are getting the best possible deal.  Perhaps you’ve got a shorter commute than you used to have. Does reduced mileage get lower rates? Make sure you are taking advantage of any discounts you’re entitled to: accident-free, good driver, good student or theft device discounts. Many insurance companies offer discounts for certain professional groups such as teachers or military personnel, but it can be much broader than that.

Until recently I never paid much attention to the reduced-rate groups mentioned in the fine print of my renewal notice. I thought that I would not qualify or the savings would be too small to bother with. But a 20-minute phone call resulted in my getting a 20 percent discount offered to “degreed artists/writers.” To prove this was not a fluke, I called a competing company for a quote and the result was almost identical.

Also, while you always want to make sure you have all the insurance coverage you really need, perhaps a higher deductible and lower premium would be more practical for you. If your car is an older one, ask your insurance agent whether or not the collision coverage will be valuable to you if you get in a wreck where the cost of repairs would exceed the car’s value. This could result in the insurance company declaring your car totaled — and given the high cost of auto work, this can happen much more quickly than you might think.

Scrutinize your credit card bills for small recurring charges for services you may have signed up for at one time but no longer use. Like a leaky faucet, even small amounts add up over time. I enrolled in a $4.95-a-month information service “temporarily” to help me do some research, forgetting to cancel it when I finished the work. Such a small amount was easy to overlook for a while. However, when I realized I no longer needed it, cancelling it saved me $60 a year.

Packages from entertainment providers might be modified if you’re not using all the bells and whistles. Are you really watching all those Netflix movies you’re paying for under their unlimited plan? Could downgrading to another plan give you enough movies to keep you perfectly entertained and cost a little less? The dizzying array of products available through your cable service might be too much of a good thing. Are you using everything in your package, or is some of it unnecessary for your lifestyle? Would they let you reconfigure your package to better meet your needs and budget? 

Think about other services you don’t use or have simply outgrown — the gym membership taken on with the best of intentions but with little follow-through, prepaid lessons of any type for yourself or your children that never happen because someone always has an excuse not to go.

Just paying attention to standing and recurring charges and evaluating them periodically is a worthwhile exercise that often pays good dividends. This practice is not about giving up anything you really want, just trimming those things you don’t care about. Don’t pay for what you don’t use, don’t need and won’t miss. 

Suzanne Ridgway is a freelance writer and regular columnist/contributor for Working World and Working Nurse magazines. Suzanne also writes grant proposals for nonprofit organizations.