I declared it the year of financial optimization. I’m analyzing every line item in the budget and figuring out how we can save money, with the purpose of putting more into our retirement investments. Here’s what I’m doing to save money on utilities and wireless bills.
Photo by Katie Harp on Unsplash
Internet/Cable
We actually don’t have cable and don’t miss it at all. We do have a bundled home security/internet with Xfinity (formerly Comcast). I’ve been a Comcast customer for over a decade with no issues. I didn’t want to move so I made a simple phone call. I got our monthly bill down to $90 from $130.
That phone call took 5 minutes and was extremely pleasant. If you’re a good customer who pays on time, companies don’t want to lose you. So they’re usually happy to extend a new customer discount for a time. In this case, a full year!
Net savings: $40 a month.
p.s. I did sign up for DisneyPlus, at $7 a month. I feel strongly this will end up being a wash. The kids are loving it and even hubby and I can enjoy National Geographic documentaries (and for him, all things Star Wars). We end up spending at least this month renting movies on Amazon. Checking out DVDs at the library makes me nervous. My little kids are awful handsy with those.
Energy and Gas
I asked our current natural gas provider how much we’re paying per therm. (Sadly, I have no idea what a therm is or how much we pay!) But I got a postcard in the mail from a competing company offering a 12-month fixed rate on $0.35 per therm. So, I contacted our current company
To lower our electric bill, I set our thermostat to 78F. It was mildly unpleasant on the hottest of days, but very pleasant most of the time. Now that it’s finally cold here in Georgia, the thermostat is at a level where people actually have to put on winter clothing inside. (Shocking!)
I also asked our energy company for an audit. Did you know they do this for free? I had an energy audit done in our last house. We didn’t own that one, and weren’t going to make any changes to the structure to save money. But this house we do own.
Net savings: t.b.a.
Save Money on Wireless
I signed up with Mint Mobile several months ago. At $20/month, or even less if you purchase a year’s service at a time, it’s a steal. I was paying $50 a month with another provider and my service was terrible.
Switching to Mint was only somewhat hard because I had a Sprint phone. They’re infamous for making the process difficult! (I needed a new phone anyway, so I finally let my 18 year old son convince me to switch to an iPhone, which he got me used for around $100.) So far I’m extremely happy with Mint Mobile and could kick myself for not signing up with them ages ago. Click HERE to see their latest deals (disclosure: affiliate link) AND a cute pic of a bearded Ryan Reynolds, one of their new owners. You’re welcome.
Still working on getting hubby to switch from his obscenely overpriced Verizon wireless.
Net savings: at least $30/month
What about you? Any ideas for how to save money on utilities and wireless bills?
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