saving money Archives — Beating Broke

Start the New Year by Finding Money

December 26, 2022 By MelissaB 1 Comment

The last few years have been difficult for most people. First, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down much of the country, causing many people to lose their incomes and livelihoods. Then, when the country opened up again, inflation took hold. The United States, and much of the world, battled inflation in 2022. As a result, money is tight for most people. If this is the case for you, I invite you to join me; I plan to start the new year by finding money.

Why Find Money in the New Year?

Like many Americans, I am struggling to stay within our grocery budget. Looking at the USDA’s cost of food, I see why I’m struggling. Grocery prices increased sharply in 2022.

In addition, fuel costs and interest rates on loans are up. Everything is expensive.

To give our family a little breathing room, I plan to start the new year by finding money.

How to Find Money?

You can find or reclaim money in your budget in various ways. For example, I found money in these ways:

Cell Phone Expenses

My husband and I use Ting to keep our cell phone expenses down. The monthly bill for the two of us combined averaged $40 to $45. Then we added our teenage son to the plan, and suddenly our bill shot up to $100 to $120 a month. After some sleuthing, I discovered I could limit how much data he uses a month. Once I added that limit, our bill dropped to our average amount, saving us $50 to $75 a month.

Cutting Streaming Services

We have several streaming services including Hulu, Paramount+, Disney+, Netflix, Peacock, and Discovery+. I have ended or paused them all except Netflix and Hulu, which I’m temporarily keeping to watch Kindred. When we finish that, I’m pausing it again. With this action, I save $35 a month.

In the new year, we’ll only have one streaming service at a time. So, after we watch every show we want on Netflix, we’ll end the subscription and subscribe to a different one for a few weeks or months. By rotating streaming services, we’ll pay no more than $6 to $18 a month.

Pausing Services

I have a monthly Audible subscription that costs $14.99. I have several books I haven’t listened to yet, and I have nine credits. Therefore, I’m going to redeem my credits and pause my subscription. I have plenty to listen to for the next few months, so why keep paying? I can pause the subscription for at least six months before I run out of new audiobooks to listen to, so I’ll save myself $90.

I also have a $26 monthly fee to Ancestry.com. Genealogy is one of my hobbies, but there are some months, especially in the summer and fall, when I don’t have time to warrant the expense. So, my plan going forward is to gift myself a six-month subscription in November when they go on sale. Then, at the end of the six months, I’ll cancel my membership until next November. That gives me the winter and spring months to do my research. Using this technique, I’ll save approximately $150 a year.

Evaluating Memberships

Likewise, I’m evaluating memberships to see if we should keep them or let them go, including the following:

Amazon Prime

We’ve been Amazon Prime members for years, but the price increases each year. We’ll need to pay $139 in February to renew our subscription. We’ve been members for so long I’m not sure what perks we’re benefiting from. In the new year, I will spend some time researching how much we spent on Prime, what savings we reaped (especially from Whole Foods as Prime members), and what we would miss if we let the membership go.

Life360

Life360 costs $20 per month. I like this because it’s on all of our phones, so if someone needs help, we know exactly where they are. In addition, Life360 offers emergency roadside service. I’ll likely keep this service for now.

Other Places to Find Money

There are two other places to look to find money. One applies to us, and one doesn’t:

Refinancing Our Home

I don’t know if 2023 will be the year for this, but as soon as interest rates drop, we’re refinancing our home. We bought our new home in September, and our interest rate is 5.375 percent. However, I’m not sure if 2023 will be the year. We might have to wait until 2024 to do this.

Negotiating with Credit Card Companies

My husband and I don’t have credit card debt, but if we did, I would call up the credit card company and make two requests:

Can They Drop the Annual Fee?

When I did have credit card debt, they couldn’t drop my annual fee, but they did offer to give me enough points that I could redeem them to pay the annual fee. This essentially made the annual fee free. It’s worth asking if they can waive the fee or make you a similar offer.

Can They Reduce the Interest Rate?

Interest rates are so high now that paying down the balance is difficult because so much money goes to interest. If you call the credit card company t*o ask to reduce the interest rate, remind them what a loyal customer you’ve been. They may say no, but if they say yes and drop your interest rate a few percentage points, you have more money to apply to the balance or to add to your budget.

Using Cash Back Sites

Another way to save money that a lot of people don’t consider is using cash back sites. Cash back sites are older, web 2.0 technology, but they work reliably to save money. How they work is you open an account with the site, and click through the site when you’re shopping online. If you buy something, the retailer send a commission to the site, who splits it with you. Its a reliable way to slash 1% to 3% off your budget. Good sites to check out are: www.rebatefanatic.com, www.swagbucks.com and www.dollardig.com.

Refinancing Our Home

Flip Old Comic Books

Do you watch Storage Wars? Or Antiques Roadshow? Those shows are about people vetting junk and forgotten items to hopefully find valuable collectibles to sell. You can use the same concept with comic books. There is a big market out there where collectors pay top dollar for certain comic books.

You don’t need to be a comic book expert to understand what makes comic books valuable or worth a few bucks. It should be rare, aesthetically in good condition, signed by a creator, written or drawn by specific creators, or feature fan-favorite storylines, amongst some other factors.

If you have a stash of old comic books or want to go looking for cheap ones to flip, there is a way to check their current market value online for free. Use a comic book price guide. The main idea is to check the value of your stash before you try and sell it.

Then, once you have a sense of the rough ballpark value, you just sell the comics to a dealer or you put them out on Facebook Marketplace, or eBay. Ebay is probably the best as its fee structure is lower than Amazon and you get more buyers than Facebook Marketplace.

Final Thoughts

Inflation is hitting most Americans. Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do about the high grocery prices besides altering your diet to eat cheaper foods. However, you can start the new year by finding money and eliminating services and subscriptions you no longer need or use. Doing so will give you extra cash to increase the grocery budget, pay down debt, or give yourself extra wiggle room.

Read More

Our Favorite Small Ways to Save Money

Save Money with Buy Nothing Groups

How We Save Money with Ting as Our Cell Phone Provider

4 Ways to Find Extra Money to Put on Debt

MelissaB

Melissa is a writer and virtual assistant. She earned her Master’s from Southern Illinois University, and her Bachelor’s in English from the University of Michigan. When she’s not working, you can find her homeschooling her kids, reading a good book, or cooking. She resides in New York, where she loves the natural beauty of the area.

www.momsplans.com/

4 Tips for Saving Money on Your HVAC System

August 31, 2022 By Erin H Leave a Comment

One of the most expensive costs of managing your home is related to your HVAC system. Your HVAC system (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) can gobble up energy and drive up the cost of managing your home. Cooling and heating account for about 48% of energy costs. Reducing costs associated with your HVAC system will lower your overall costs for home management. Follow these four tips for cutting costs.

Change Your Filters Regularly

Changing the filters on your HVAC system can help to reduce costs. Filters help to keep the airflow moving smoothly through your system, which helps to reduce the load on your system. In other words, changing the air filters frequently will improve your energy efficiency. This simple step can also extend the life of your system. You can expect the average furnace to have a life span of around 15-20 years. If you take care of it, you may be able to extend it beyond those years. Changing your filters at least once a month will help you to cut the cost of running your home.

Clear Away Debris

Keep outdoor units clear of debris. HVAC systems depend heavily on unobstructed airflow. Grass clippings, leaf litter, and other organic debris should regularly be removed from around your outdoor HVAC equipment. Making it a habit to clean the outside of your home and keeping bushes and other plants from becoming overgrown near your HVAC system is an easy way to cut the operating costs of your HVAC system. You should clear debris each week. You can use a water hose to clean the unit itself. Never use a high-pressure hose or you could damage the coils on the unit.

Have Professional Tune-Ups

One of the easiest ways to keep costs down on home repairs is to ensure that all your essential systems are getting the maintenance that’s needed. Your HVAC system should get annual professional maintenance. An HVAC “tune-up” can help to keep your system in top condition and help reduce the costs of operating your home. An HVAC inspection can reveal if there are any problems that need to be addressed. The service also includes cleaning up your system and making sure that all the components are in top working condition. It’s an affordable service that every homeowner should subscribe to. Taking care of the systems in your home is one of the most effective ways to keep costs down.

Make The Job Easier for Your HVAC System

About 25%-30% of heat and cooling loss occurs because of old faulty windows and doors. Sometimes, to cut home management costs and reduce the cost of your HVAC system, you must invest time and money. While replacing all of your windows right now may not be within the budget, there are other things that you can do to help your HVAC system work more efficiently. Check for drafts and use weather stripping to seal the drafts. You can also use a clear plastic sealer on your windows to help improve energy efficiency. Even small changes add up to savings on your home HVAC usage. Caulk any spaces around your window. Check your attic for areas that may need attention. If you can afford to invest in new windows, that will be a game changer for your home and for cutting costs. If you cannot do what you can to seal out the elements and reduce drafts.

A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that if they are not using a room in their home, they should close the vents. Your system is designed to work with all the registers open. Another error is constantly changing the temperature of the thermostat. Set it and forget it. Follow these tips to save money on heating and cooling costs in your home, and to extend the life of your HVAC system.

8 Tips to Stop Food Waste

May 23, 2022 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

Nearly every month, the cost of groceries seems to rise. What can you do? You need to feed your family, but the current high price of groceries is straining most families’ budgets, especially when combined with the high cost of other necessities such as gas and housing. For most families, the cost of food is the second-highest expense behind housing. (In our family, if I’m not careful, the cost of food is higher than our monthly housing costs.) While you may try to coupon or buy food when it’s at its lowest sale price, another way to save is to utilize these tips to stop food waste.

How Much Food Do Americans Waste?

According to Earth.com, the average American family “waste[s] nearly one third of the food they buy.” However, if they utilized strategies to eliminate food waste, “a family of four could save $2,000.”

If you haven’t made a conscious effort to stop food waste, now is the time.

8 Tips to Stop Food Waste

Years ago, my husband and I wasted quite a bit of food. Every week, we would have anywhere from three to six containers of leftover food that we would have to throw out. We would also sometimes waste fruits and vegetables. Now, we no longer do that; we rarely waste any food.

We used these eight tips to stop wasting food:

Don’t Eat Out Frequently

One reason we wasted so much food years ago was that we ate out three to five times a week. When you eat out that frequently, you don’t have the opportunity to eat the leftovers you already have or the ingredients you bought to make meals.

Not eating out dramatically reduced our food waste.

Make Meals You Enjoy

This seems silly to say, but make meals that you enjoy eating. I used to make casseroles because I liked making only one item for a meal that had the protein, carbs, and veggies my family needed. However, none of us liked casseroles, especially not leftover. The leftovers frequently went in the garbage.

Now, I make meals we enjoy, and they’re not wasted.

Freeze the Leftovers

We have two deep freezers, and I utilize them extensively to avoid food waste.

Freeze Leftover Meals

Sometimes I make a recipe that is supposed to serve eight, but there are enough servings for 12. We eat the meal once, and then we eat the meal leftover once later in the week.

By then, my family is tired of eating this meal, so if it freezes well, I freeze the last four servings. Then, about six to 12 weeks later, I pull it from the freezer and serve it to my family. They don’t complain because it’s been weeks since we last had that meal. I don’t complain because I get a night off from cooking, and I didn’t have to buy food at the grocery store for that meal that week.

Freeze Leftover Ingredients

You can also eliminate food waste by freezing leftover ingredients. For instance, I only use tomato paste for a beef stew recipe I have. Once I use one tablespoon, I have about two-thirds of the can left. Rather than just tossing it, I put the tomato paste in ice cube containers and freeze it. Each ice cube size of tomato paste is about one tablespoon. Now, the next four times I make beef stew, I don’t have to use a new jar of tomato paste; instead, I use one of my leftover ice cubes of tomato paste. Sure, I am only saving a little, but when I do this for many food items, the savings add up.

Create a New Meal Out of Leftovers

Luckily, my family doesn’t mind eating leftovers. If your family does, you can avoid food waste by making new meals out of the excess.

For instance, let’s save you have a pork roast for a meal and have leftover shredded pork. You could serve it just like you did the first time. Or, you could mix it with barbeque sauce and make pulled pork sandwiches. If you still had leftovers, you could use them later in the week for pork carnitas. Your family probably won’t complain about eating leftovers this way because you’ve made three different meals with the meat.

Don’t Buy More Than You Need

Don’t buy more than you need sounds simple but can be difficult. Rather than planning six meals you’ll make from scratch this week, only buy ingredients for four meals. You can serve leftovers for the other meals or make meals from what you already have on hand.

Buy Frozen Fruits and Vegetables

If you routinely have to throw away produce because it goes bad before you can cook it, consider switching from fresh to frozen. Fresh strawberries may go bad within a few days, but frozen strawberries last for months in the freezer.

We usually buy fresh fruits and veggies, but we also have several bags of frozen that we use to supplement our fresh vegetables. Frozen veggies give you more flexibility because you don’t have to use them within a few days.

Have a Pantry Challenge

We’ve all bought ingredients for a recipe, but then something comes up and we can’t make that recipe. Meanwhile, the ingredients sit on our pantry shelves. One way to avoid having miscellaneous items fill your pantry shelves is to have a pantry challenge. For one to four weeks, buy the bare minimum groceries and focus on using up the ingredients that you have on hand.

Not only is this a great way to reduce food waste because you’re using what you already have, but it’s also a good way to save money.

Final Thoughts

If you’re struggling with the high cost of food, use these 8 tips to stop food waste. Learning to not waste food could save your family thousands of dollars a year.

How to Feed Your Family on a Low Budget

5 Tips Save on Groceries This Year

MelissaB