While it may be fine to inquire about a aaa membership cost if it will save you money, depending on the costs and benefits, but in order to really save money and free up extra money each month, you may need to take a look at your full financial picture. For starters, you can get a good idea of exactly how much money is going out monthly by taking a look at your last credit or debit card statement and really going line by line and looking at every purchase in detail.
Grocery Bill
When you see ‘grocery bill’ you may think you’re already in good shape because you don’t grocery shop, but actually if you add up all of the money you spent on going out to eat, whether that is going out to lunch, dinner, getting carryout, even picking up coffee in the morning. By opting for going grocery shopping instead and preparing meals at home, you can save hundreds of dollars a month right off the bat, a significant amount of money, especially if you are in need of extra money to pay down debt, build an emergency fund, or increase contributions for retirement.
Cut the Cable Cord
The popular trend you may hear a lot is ‘cutting the cord’ when it comes to cable. Sure, that could be a huge adjustment compared to what you’re used to, especially if you have always grown up with cable around, but if you actually think about how much time you do watch live cable TV, and now many of the channels you watch, is it really worth it anymore, when you probably only watch DVR anyways, or utilize your streaming service that you pay for anyways. If you are worried about the local channels you can get an HD antenna to still keep up with your shows, in addition to the huge library on the streaming service.
Credit Card Interest
If you are unable to pay the full statement balance by the due date, you will begin to pay interest, and depending on the interest rate and the balance, could be adding a couple hundred-dollar monthly payment to your already high bills, even more if you can put together a payment plan to get rid of that debt. Credit cards can provide benefits, such as rewards, just by making the purchases you were going to make anyways, but if paying interest, any reward advantages wouldn’t be worth anything anymore.
Shop Around
While shopping for the lowest price before you make a purchase isn’t anything new and has been around forever, fortunately we live in a time now where you can flip back and forth between websites in a matter of seconds, whereas before we would have to drive from store to store, wasting time and gas, in order to try and save a few bucks. By looking for the best price online you can be sure you got a good deal, not to mention there will probably be free shipping with the purchase anyways, not costing you anything to not leave the house.