A practical post: Actionable ways to reduce spending
Subscriptions, memberships, and services can be incredibly helpful and entertaining in our lives. Unmonitored, they can also be insidious leeches on our budget. To review how they are impacting you, go through your spending and list all the services, memberships, and subscriptions you have. If these subscriptions, memberships, and services aren’t adding value to your life, think about removing them, or substituting them. Making small changes can add to significant savings over time as well as help you live more aligned with your goals. I’ve found several alternatives and freebies that have added to large savings for us over the years.
Amazon Prime: For years, my husband and I each had our own Amazon Prime account. The only real reason for this was so that we wouldn’t see gifts we ordered for each other. When we realized that we could be on the same plan and keep our purchases separate, we canceled one membership and enjoyed significant savings. Having one account feels even better now that Amazon just hiked its price from $119 to $139 for a yearly membership (P.S., if you have Prime, be sure to account for this price increase in your budget!).
TV Services: If you still have cable, it might be time to cut the cord. Online services are significantly less expensive than most cable bills I’ve seen. Hulu, Netflix, HBO, and Discovery Plus are all great options that cover a lot of bases for entertainment. If you already have these providers instead of cable, you get a bonus if you look at your actual usage to decide you can get away with just one or two of these services. Sometimes we hang on to things unconsciously - check in on if you’re really using them.
Exercise: One of my favorite freebies is exercise. I used to have a gym membership, but I never got enough value from it. I’ve been loving a few online instructors and have found committing to exercise when I don’t have a commute to the gym added on is much easier. I love doing yoga with Adriene Mishler (Yoga With Adriene on YouTube) and have even completed 50 consecutive days on the mat so far this year! I also started doing a kettlebell workout that really kicks my butt (Juice and Toya Full Body Kettlebell Workout). I’ve also found great joy in being outside and exercising on the road, especially with the spring weather we’ve had in the southwest. I’m training for a half-marathon in April using Hal Higdon’s training plan (I started with the 5k plan a few months ago and have worked to here!). All of these exercise options are completely free and I’m exercising more than I ever did with a gym membership.
Audiobooks/E-books: My absolute favorite savings hack is utilizing our public library! Our public libraries have a great selection of audiobooks and e-books. If you enjoy services like audible, check to see if you might be able to download books or audiobooks from our wonderful public libraries.
Are there any other services, subscriptions, or memberships for which you’ve found good substitutes? Are there any that have been really draining on your account for which you might want to find alternative?