This is the Ways to Save Series Number 6.
We're living the American Dream which typically consists of sending a huge chunk of our paycheck to our everyday bills and mortgage. I love the commercial where this guy is driving around on his brand new ride on lawnmower and says "I'm up to my eyeballs in debt".
After having kids we realized that we can still enjoy the American Dream but we have to be smart about how we spend our money. I'll start with the basics and discuss smart ways to reduce your everyday household bills so that you have more money to put towards savings and rainy day funds.
Shop Around
Compare prices and ask for information from your suppliers and make sure you only buy from reputable companies
Pay by Direct Debit
Many companies offer discounts of up to 13% on services if you pay by direct debit. Direct debits are an automatic payment from your bank account and usually spread the cost of goods or services over the year, and you can often pay a standard amount each month, making it easier to budget.
Double up on Products
Most suppliers of utilities or insurance offer a discount if you purchase more than one of their products, like both house contents and car insurance, or gas and electricity (often called dual fuel). If you are interested in switching to Verizon then check out my post here in which Verizon has a referral program where you can score a $100 cash card by using the referral link!
Use Less
It may sound simple, but using less of your gas, electricity and water can really help you save. This doesn't just mean turning off the lights when you leave a room, but also by making sure your home and appliances are efficient. We switched all of our lamp light bulbs to the CFL light bulbs - I got the bulbs all for free by finding $1/1 coupons a while back and pairing them up with a $1/1 sale. Now need to find a deal for all the can lights in the ceiling.
Stockpile
Whenever a freebie deal comes up I try to stockpile as much as I can - so this means gathering up as many coupon inserts from friends and family or asking family and friends to print as many coupons as possible for freebie deals. For the months of August and September I was super busy with work and we were away on vacation and I was not able to freebie shop as much as I had the previous months. However, we managed to live off our stockpile and only went out to buy the necessities such as fruit, milk and bread during those months.
Free Products
The most obvious way to get free products is find free coupons in the Sunday inserts or magazines although these are far and few in between these days, the most popular is to pair a coupon up with a sale or do rebates which require some work. However, I spell it all out on my blog so sign up for my alerts via email, google friend connect, facebook (Addictedtofreebies) or twitter (Freebiealerts) and you can get up to the minute freebie deals especially since there are many time sensitive freebies out there. My favorite and quickest way to get free coupons is to write complimentary letters directly to the manufacturer - yes thats totally true. With the age of internet its free to request free coupons too and no postage is required, I just find the contact us section and email them my compliments and my last sentence comprises of "Any coupons that you may send would be received well". Note, not all companies send free coupons, some send money off coupons and others none whatsoever. But if you have some time, send 1 or more emails a day and you'll soon find how addictive it is when you open up your mail box daily and voila is your nice letter from Mr Company saying how nice your compliments or ideas were and here is a coupon to enjoy their product for free.
Click below for a nice list of companies to email that will mail out free coupons.....
Stockpile
Whenever a freebie deal comes up I try to stockpile as much as I can - so this means gathering up as many coupon inserts from friends and family or asking family and friends to print as many coupons as possible for freebie deals. For the months of August and September I was super busy with work and we were away on vacation and I was not able to freebie shop as much as I had the previous months. However, we managed to live off our stockpile and only went out to buy the necessities such as fruit, milk and bread during those months.
Free Products
The most obvious way to get free products is find free coupons in the Sunday inserts or magazines although these are far and few in between these days, the most popular is to pair a coupon up with a sale or do rebates which require some work. However, I spell it all out on my blog so sign up for my alerts via email, google friend connect, facebook (Addictedtofreebies) or twitter (Freebiealerts) and you can get up to the minute freebie deals especially since there are many time sensitive freebies out there. My favorite and quickest way to get free coupons is to write complimentary letters directly to the manufacturer - yes thats totally true. With the age of internet its free to request free coupons too and no postage is required, I just find the contact us section and email them my compliments and my last sentence comprises of "Any coupons that you may send would be received well". Note, not all companies send free coupons, some send money off coupons and others none whatsoever. But if you have some time, send 1 or more emails a day and you'll soon find how addictive it is when you open up your mail box daily and voila is your nice letter from Mr Company saying how nice your compliments or ideas were and here is a coupon to enjoy their product for free.
Click below for a nice list of companies to email that will mail out free coupons.....
