One thing I’ve noticed since I’ve changed jobs is, some people pay what we tell them to and NEVER question it. There are people that their homeowners insurance went up by 80% and they’ve never called to ask why.   This has opened my eyes to our own spending.   I decided to analyze some of our spending to see if we are wasting money.

I actually saved us $32 a month by looking over each bill to see what we are really paying for. Apparently, I’ve been paying $12 a month (for the past 5 years) just so I could have "Deluxe caller Id" which means if someone calls while I’m on the phone, it tells me who’s beeping in. I’ve used this a couple of times, but it’s not worth $12 a month to me.

Another thing we did was suspended the insurance on the Blazer. This is something a lot of people don’t think about.  We had liability on it, but by suspending it and just holding comprehensive on it, I saved $20 a month. Now, this does mean Josh can’t drive it. If there’s a weekend I know he’s going to be driving, I’ll bump it up then bump it back down. Comprehensive only means if  a tree falls on it or it gets stolen, it’s covered. If he drives it and hits someone, we are screwed!! So I only recommend this if you have a vehicle you NEVER drive. If you do this, lock the keys somewhere so no one will drive it. But at the same time, why pay for something you aren’t using.

With gas prices the way they are, a lot of people are more cautious of what they spend. To me, it’s sad that it takes our economy going to the crapper before people start realizing they are wasting away their money! If they had done this a long time ago, they’d be in a lot better shape. 

So I urge you to sit down and actually look at what your spending each month. Are you really using all of those cell phone minutes you pay for? Do you have a feature on your cable bill you didn’t even know you had? Are your credit card interest rates from where you first got them? If they are, and you have better credit now, call them and negotiate your interest rate! If they don’t want to help go to someone who does.   Use those coupons restaurants send in the mail. $5 is $5!!