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.
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.
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| 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.