By the time you get your paycheck deposited, pay the monthly bills, there probably isn’t much leftover after that, probably so much in fact that you may even be wondering what does ira stand for when you hear it mentioned. If you are looking to free up extra money every month so that you can actually save money for your retirement when you do eventually want to walk away from work and have money to live off to continue to enjoy life’s experiences, look to lower monthly bills so that you can put your hard-earned money to good use: your future.
Cable
The old saying of 100 channels with nothing on is still true, but you could even throw in 300 channels and there is still not much to pick from besides plenty of commercials and taking you for more money then ever before. Besides reality and cooking shows on cable TV, the best actual shows are on HBO and Netflix, so instead of paying for the full cable package, then cut the cord and get a couple of streaming services for around $10 each and you can get rid of channel surfing and just enjoy the quality shows. For those still needing local channels, you can buy an HD antenna to pick those up for around $20.
Gym Membership
This time last year I wanted to get into shape, so I bought a gym membership. I used it regularly for a few months, slowly reduced the amount of times I go, and now it still comes out of my checking account every month and I haven’t gone since probably the beginning of summer. To save yourself some wasted money, just cancel the gym membership and fight the cold and take the dog for a walk every day to get some walking around at least.
Credit Cards
If you are unable to pay the credit card statement balance by the due date and carryover over a balance then interest hits, and depending on the card you have, you could be looking at 16% APR that gets added. While that may not be a big deal for carrying over a few bucks but as you start to get into the thousands, then that can add a significant amount to the payment and just by making the minimum payment it will do little to the balance and may take years to finally get rid of the debt.
Going Out to Eat
While sure, it’s nice to have someone serve, cook, and cleanup after you when you go out for a meal, but that comes at a premium price. By slowing down on picking up lunch at work, taking the family out for dinner, and even grabbing coffee on the way to work and opt to going grocery shopping to prepare all of your meals at home, you can instantly see the savings start to pile up, and will probably see the pounds start to come off as well if you’re eating healthier at home instead of out.