#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.

#ToSiLog for #dinner and fruits for #dessert. #asianCuisine #tocino #sinangag #itlog #friedRice #egg #curedPork #fruits #homeCookedMeals #mango #kiwi #avocado #orange

A post shared by Chubskulit Rose (@chubskulitrose) on Feb 6, 2018 at 2:33pm PST

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.