Home Sweet Savings: A Frugal Guide to Household Expenses
Home Sweet Savings: A Frugal Guide to Household Expenses
Planning your expenses ahead of time will help you organize your monthly budget in the right way. At least, that is the ideal scenario. However, you might end up spending more of your monthly budget on several unexpected costs besides the fixed monthly expenses like bills, subscriptions, etc. It’s important to control your spending habits to avoid increasing your average monthly expenses. This guide to household expenses can guide you towards savings you might not have otherwise considered.
Analyzing what potential costs will come up early will help you rearrange your budget better. In this guide to household expenses post, we will cover what areas of your household expenses you can adjust to save considerable money. Let’s read on for more home expense tips.
Cut back on unnecessary subscriptions.
Subscriptions today make up a major section of people’s average monthly cost. Not to mention, in most households, these subscriptions typically cover content coming from more than one streaming platform. It is worth noting that people subscribe to streaming services for varying content types, too. Examples of these often forgotten about and sometimes hidden home expenses include:
TV or video streaming services
Music streaming
Gym memberships
Paid apps
Food delivery app subscription
Grocery/meal box subscription services
Credit monitoring services
When you add up the total payments to different streaming services, your expected average monthly spending will automatically increase. In such a situation, the best solution is to decrease the number of subscriptions you are actively using.
If you are paying for more than one video streaming service provider, keep the one you regularly watch content on. Cancel the subscription to the other one.
Plus, if there are some active subscriptions that you do not use at all, cancel them immediately.
Cancel the premium subscription plan if you are getting enough content in the basic version.
Switch to a free streaming service for casual entertainment.
Use a programmable thermostat.
One of the fixed monthly expenses a lot of people deal with is energy bills. According to recent reports, US households spent, on average,$137 on their electricity billper month in 2022. Using smart devices like smart thermostats can help you decrease your average monthly bills.
With smart thermostats, people can save a significant amount of their household expenses compared to regular HVAC appliances. Statistically, people cansave 12% and 15% of their heating and cooling bills, respectively, using a programmable thermostat.
Plus, adjusting the smart thermostats in specific ways can also reduce your average home expenses. When you are not at home, keeping the thermostat on will keep adding up your average living expenses. So, adjust it by some degrees before going out to save on the electricity bill.
Switch to smart appliances.
For saving money, consider upgrading your current appliances to smart appliances. Not only will you save a portion of your household expenses this way, but you will also lead a healthier, environment-friendly lifestyle.
For example, gas consumption makes up a huge percentage of utility bills. Statistically,38% of US householdsutilize gas stoves, which run on natural gas for fuel. Compared to that, appliances like electric stoves are more energy-efficient and less costly. While electric stoves cost higher than gas stoves, you will save money in the long run with the former.
Similarly, lighting usage costs also fall under household expenses. So, you should switch to less costly appliances here, too. LED bulbs are comparatively less expensive than regular lighting fixtures. Plus, they have a longer lifespan, which means you can save money on re-buying bulbs frequently.
Save water consumption bills.
You can save a lot of your monthly budget by changing your showering and water usage habits, too.
Instead of waiting for the water to heat up, you can switch to using cold water for showering. This way, you can reduce the total cost of heating bills. You can also change your water heater to a more energy-efficient alternative if your current one consumes more energy.
Plus, in terms of laundry, you can try dry cleaning your clothes to save more energy. When you have to wash clothes in the conventional washing machine, make sure to run full loads. You will save money and power in this manner.
Adjust the home insulation.
One of the things that most people forget to pay close attention to is the insulation in their homes. However, this is another aspect that can increase utility bills, so review this seriously.
Check that the insulation material in your ceilings, walls, and floors is well sealed. You can also add natural insulation to your home decor in the form of indoor plants.
Maintain the HVAC products.
Americans spend around$1,346 of their averageelectricity and gas expenses on air conditioning and space heaters. While investing in these products is useful, continuous maintenance is necessary to get the most out of them.
For example, if used constantly, small leakages are possible in HVAC products. A lot of the gas will leak from these cracks in the burner or pipe. Not only will your gas bills increase, but also potentially cause an accident.
So, contact proper HVAC experts for complete maintenance and repair support regularly. On your own, change your HVAC system filters on time. Read the specific instructions for your HVAC equipment to do this correctly and follow the other pertinent tips in this guide to household expenses to see where else you can save money!
Decrease your due mortgage or rent payments.
In most cases, a big part of people’s monthly expenses goes towards paying for their home. So, naturally, it becomes hard to focus on savings when you have rent or mortgage payments to pay off per month.
Therefore, plan the rest of your household expenses around this. Make sure that you are using only 25% of your monthly income on rent or mortgage payment dues so that you have enough for savings. Here are some tricks to try:
You can browse options and then apply for a mortgage loan with better rates.
Save up a lot of money for an early down payment before applying for a home loan if you are newly looking for a house.
If you have mortgage insurance with your deal, cancel this to save some amount from your mortgage payment each month.
Apply for less expensive insurance.
For higher-cost purchases, like houses and cars, the expenses continue even afterward. You have to access the funds in your savings account for their continuous maintenance needs, and these service costs are typically high. So, getting a home or car insurance is the better choice. These policies cover additional costs in case of damages, theft, etc.
However, insurance companies offer different types of car or homeowners insurance with varying rates, terms, requirements, etc. To meet your savings goals, you need to choose an insurance plan that provides suitable coverage at an affordable cost:
Take time to check different offers from multiple insurance companies and carefully review them.
Compare the schemes carefully to check what types of events they cover for insurance at the lowest rates.
After selecting the best three deals, measure how much you can save when you make your car payment with each one.
If you are not satisfied with one, browse more until you find a satisfactory insurance plan with good coverage and a low monthly premium.
Decrease your phone bills.
Phone bills are another type of cost that falls under monthly household expenses. To save money on phone bills, you can switch to a less expensive carrier or change your data plan. If your current plan includes a bundle of different benefits, you can browse other less-costly options.
Plus, you can also switch to a family data plan option that covers WiFi and talk-time costs for multiple family members. This way, you would need to only pay one bill instead of phone bills for each person.
Automate your bills.
Many people nowadays find it difficult to keep their payments on track, especially if they have a busy schedule. So, when you miss your monthly payment, you will likely incur a late fee. This can throw off the monthly budget and interfere with your savings goals.
The best solution is automating your bill payments. You can set up automated transfers for different utility bills, phone bills, gym/club memberships, and credit card payments from your bank account. You can use a second budgeting or expense tracker app to track your payments and organize the bills. This way, you can avoid additional late fees and pay off most dues on time.
Change credit cards.
Speaking of credit card payments, you should carefully check the benefits available with your current credit card. Many credit card companies offer specific rewards, coupons, and features with certain credit cards. Browse according to your needs and switch to a credit card that gives you rewards you can use.
For example, if you travel by air often, you can benefit more if you use a credit card that gives discounts on airline tickets for frequent flyers.
Strategies to Save Thousands on Costs that Indirectly Impact Household Expenses
There are certain things that people often overlook when considering living expenses. However, many of us spend a chunk of our monthly income on these things, albeit occasionally. You should adjust your spending in these aspects as well to save money. How much money? This tips in this guide to household expenses is only useful if spending changes are made but you would be surprised how much savings are available with a little effort.
Reduce spending on clothes.
While buying clothes is more of an “occasional” expense, it can also add to your household expenses indirectly. So, that is another thing you should readjust.
Reuse old clothes multiple times and buy new ones only when they are beyond repair.
You can also prepare a capsule wardrobe. Buy certain base items, like neutral, black, and white-colored alternatives for tops, pants, and shoes. Wear them in different combinations instead of buying new items.
Sell your old clothes to increase your wardrobe space and get extra income indirectly.
Donate old clothes instead of throwing them away.
Decrease transportation costs.
An average person spends a major portion of their monthly expenses on transportation costs. Statistically, people spend approximately $745 on transportation costs each month. These include costs like gas bills and travel expenses.
Such costs can increase to high amounts, so that is another area where you must cut down. Even using one less tank of gas each month can save you $200-$500 from your total gas-related expenses per year. So, you should switch to public transportation to travel to nearby locations or carpool with friends and family.
Get more home-cooked meals.
If you eat out or order takeout often, you should reduce that as well since it contributes to your monthly expenses. Instead, shop for ingredients from your local market and prepare meals at home.
You can buy the ingredients in bulk and dedicate one day to meal prepping. Cook the dish in larger quantities and make meal boxes for multiple days. This way, you can save energy bills since you will cook a lot in one go.
Lifestyle Tips to Adopt to Increase Savings Naturally
To achieve your savings goals, you need to earn more while reducing your household expenses. When you prioritize both, you can increase the overall savings in your bank account.
Here are some steps you can take to save money besides cutting down on current fixed expenses.
Plan a budget using a budgeting app or spreadsheet to avoid unnecessary overspending.
Get a secondary job or business venture to earn additional income, like selling handmade items.
Sell rarely used household items for extra income.
Consider the dietary needs of all family members and plan full meals- buy products accordingly.
Switch off power-consuming appliances like fans and lights when not in the room to reduce utility bills.
Search for available coupons and get cost-saving coupon browser extensions to reduce your online shopping bill a little.
Shop for more reusable items to avoid overspending.
Go out for walks or runs and eat healthy instead of expensive gym memberships.
Repurpose the old pieces of furniture you have to create new products instead of buying new things for decor.
Instead of purchasing cleaning products, make them at home with natural ingredients like baking soda and warm water.
Household Expense Final Thoughts
Different aspects like power consumption, phone bills, and even food costs contribute to overall monthly household bills. You should know all your fixed and variable expenses to spend money in the correct manner.
Firstly, you should look at your bills carefully to understand your common monthly expenses. Then, rearrange your budget to cut out unnecessary payments and only cover essential bills. If you have loan payments due, you should dedicate a chunk of your income towards these debt payments.
When you prioritize paying off pending expenses and growing your income at the same time, you will save thousands over time.
If you found this guide to household expenses helpful, please share the article so more consumers can benefit from the information provided.
