6 Creative Ways to Lower Your Monthly Expenses and Grow Your Savings
But money-saving strategies can always be used in combination to increase the benefits you enjoy on a daily and monthly basis. Even if you have some basic cost-cutting and savings habits in place, there are always creative ways to cut back even further. Here are six savvy strategies to lower your monthly expenses.
1. Consolidate your debt.
Debt consolidation can reduce your interest rate and your monthly payment, giving you a clearer path to debt repayment that reduces your monthly expenses while improving your long-term financial planning.
There are several different methods of debt consolidation, such as folding debt into a mortgage or taking out a personal loan. You might also take advantage of a promotional balance transfer to move credit card debt to accounts offering a limited-time APR reduction—or even an interest-free period during which you can pay off your debts gradually.
2. Unplug electrical devices when not in use.
By unplugging these devices, you can reduce your home’s energy consumption, saving money on utilities while reducing your overall environmental impact.
3. Get into meal-planning for lunch and dinner.
The simple solution? Embrace meal-planning as a strategy for mapping out meals, cooking ahead, packing homemade lunches, and stocking the ingredients you need to make meals at home. With a little foresight, you can replace costly takeout with cost-effective home-cooked meals.
4. Split cell phone service with friends and/or family.
Most cell phone plans are structured to feature a base cost that is fixed regardless of how many people are on the account. If a $100 base fee is split among four people instead of one, each person’s share of the fixed cost drops from $100 per month to just $25. This can be a win-win for you and everyone joining your plan.
5. Cancel recurring subscriptions and bills.
Maybe you have a streaming service you rarely watch, or a home delivery service you haven’t gotten much value out of lately. Cutting these costs can add up to big savings over the course of a year.
6. Embrace thrifting as a hobby.
Many people get into thrifting as a way to save money but end up enjoying it as a hobby. As a cost-conscious way of shopping and a cheap form of entertainment, thrifting might be the creative solution you need to cut spending across multiple categories.
No matter your incentive for improving your savings habits, small changes and lifestyle tweaks can add up to make a big impact over time. As you focus on big-picture changes that will increase your ability to save, remember that a little creative problem-solving can also put more money in your savings account.