Thursday, February 8, 2018

#CarLoanPaidOff and #FinancialStrategies this Year


2016 was critically hard for us financially because we bought a new house and  we were still paying the mortgage of the old house.  It was really tight, I was stressed out but when we  sold our  old house, we were okay.  2017  was a better  year,   I was able to  save all of my blogging  income and also  set aside some amount  from hubby's  salary.  He did not know that I have saved  almost 10 grand so before the end of the  year last year, we paid off the car loan we had for his sports car.  The interest on that car loan was 6.99% and it kills me  paying the interest every month.  I am so glad  we were able to pay it off before 2018 started.

This year, we have made some changes so that we can cut cost and save some money for emergencies and rainy days.  I was  encouraging my husband that we should cut our cable off last year but he did not buy the idea of  not having TV but I am so glad that this year, he finally got on board with me.  It's nice having cable but the cost is getting so expensive  and we don't even use it all the time.  With all the garbage  shows you see on TV these days, I  lost  interest in watching.  We were paying $233 every month for a bundle of phone, cable and internet every month last year  and for me that was too much.  So we decided to cut our  landline phone and cable which saves us $130  each month.  We also bought our own modem for the internet which also saves $11 a month.

We cut our contract with  AT&T for the cellphones and switched to Metro PCS.  For 4 lines, we only pay $106 every month and  there's no contract.  We decided to get our children  cellphones  because they are at the age where they go places and we  would love to be able to keep track on them when they are not with us.   However, I made them signed a contract that  cellphones are not free, therefore, they will have to be  responsible in taking care of it and that they have to do their part to  regularly  help around the house when they are not in school.  It works great because, I don't have to  tell them to do things now, they do it voluntarily without buts or ifs.  With the switch, we were able to  get new phones for the 4 of us for less than what it  would cost if we added  two  new lines with our former contract with AT&T.

Another saving strategy that we incorporated this year is  selling  unwanted  things that are just laying around the house.  So far, I have rid of  a lot of things and  put that money into  our savings for the kids  school tuition  next school year.

The following strategies works for us and it might work for you.
Pulling the plug on cable and landline phone.  If you want to  watch movies on TV, you can  subscribe to Netflix, that's what we did.  They gave us  a month free and  I think we are going to keep it.  It only cost $7.99 a month, a lot better than cable cost.
 If you want to watch  local news, you can buy an indoor HDTV antenna that you can  connect to your TV, that's what we did, it only cost $19.99.

Buying your own internet modem.  Comcast charges $11 a month for  modem, if you buy your own, it cost $50 and you don't have to keep paying for something that isn't your own.

Sell things that you no longer use, I know a lot of us has a lot of these things laying around the house.  Gifts that we received but never used are common things.

Cook your own food at home rather than going to  a fast food chain.  It is healthier and it is cheaper plus you  spend quality time together in the dinner table, it's a great bonding  time with the family. We still go out once in a while  but it is just on special occasion.  I cook almost everyday  and we eat together and get to  have time to catch up and  communicate with each other.

Instead of Paying for a Gym Membership, try to  set up a home gym.  You will save in the long run doing this and the whole family can benefit and use it  anytime of the day.  Staying active  helps  the family to stay healthy and away from sickness.
Our HomeGym
Our goal is to  pay  extra hundred dollars with our mortgage payment every month  so that we can pay it off early.  Hopefully, we can achieve this sooner so that my husband can retire and we can be debt-free.  I know that's a  long shot but  every little  changes we  do  can help achieve that.

21 valuable thoughts they wrote, what's yours?:

Joy Ogah said...

Beautiful pictures, quality post and that food looks very yummy!

Nova said...

I'd like your ideas about saving money at the same time you enjoy what you have in alternative of what you have planned.

Kweni said...

I am trying hard with the cable as well but I live in a flat share and I'm outvoted with the cable decision. So I save money in other ways like prepping my own food rather than buying.

Leigh said...

Great tips, we use a home gym and home workouts to save money as well. Thank you for sharing, keep spreading the good word!

Stacie said...

We really need to do a few of these things. We're also in the same boat with out cable prices. I need to start thinking of ways to pare down.

Jeannette said...

I would love to attain the goal of being debt-free. Right now I still have a car payment and a house payment. I am working on trying to get both of those paid off as quickly as I can and I'm hoping in the next couple years I can pay off the car at least.

Miss Angie said...

These are some really great tips. I really need to get my debt under control... And I really need to cancel my gym membership.

Unknown said...

Congratulations!! That is amazing that you were able to pull that off. You sound very driven and the tips that you have shared are so helpful!

Lisa said...

I think that antenna is absolutely brilliant. I still remember old-school bunny-ear antennas but this one seems like it would have great reception.

Destany said...

I always try to meal plan, but sometimes I run out of things to eat. I get tired of making the same thing over and over, so I always need new things! I'm a big fan of exercising at home. I don't think I could ever join a gym.

Unknown said...

Excellent strategies for saving big bucks! Congrats on getting the car paid off! I would love to switch my cell service from AT&T I really do think they are way too expensive but I am under contract so I have to find a place that would buy out my contract! I know some phone companies will do that. I need to get on it!

Terri Steffes said...

we cut cable four years ago. It was so hard, because we do watch TV. It was worth it, though, because we purchased Apple TV and now we stream what we watch via Amazon and Apple.

Cosmetic Sanctuary said...

We're constantly pinching pennies over here. We cut out cable entirely and only do Netflix now, plus cutting back on a few other things. We cancelled our gym membership as well and found some amazing online videos for exercise
!

Kathy said...

I think it's great trying to be able to save money. We never had cable, but we just go with Nexflix. It's really all we need since we don't watch t.v. much.

ricci said...

I love your ideas for saving money! I too dropped my super expensive cable and have saved a bundle!!

Amy said...

Hubby is not on board with getting rid of cable. He has to have the HBO and Showtime and those channels. I typically can deal with just catching things on hulu or Netflix...

Ckrusch said...

These are great tips! We paid our car off and I have a home gym, so I think we're on the right track!

Lynndee said...

Our car is paid so no problem with it. I am fine with just Netflix too, but Hubby can't live without cable because of his fave sports and talk shows. So yeah, that's something that still gets a big chunk out of our monthly expenses.

Anonymous said...

These are such great ways to save money. We've been cooking at home a lot more lately.

Katrina said...

I love these ideas for saving money. My husband and I just had a conversation about really buckling down and getting our finances in order.

Mommy Anna said...

Same here we have a target savings for this year so we limit our expenses and life style

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