One of my favourite ways to cut our costs is to phone our cable provider and ask if there’s any promotions right now. Seems like for a while they were happy to give a deal but lately I’ve been hearing that they are no longer doing that – a few people phoned to get it lowered and ended up cancelling all but basic. I phoned a few months ago and got 3 months of Movie Central for free, once this runs out if there are no deals I think we are going to basic too, Netflix can fill in the gaps. Has anyone had luck lately getting their cable, internet, cell phone bills lowered? I’ve found that it sometimes takes a few calls – and make sure to ask for the customer loyalty department if you don’t get a deal at first.
Another good one is insurance costs (home,car etc.) – shop around and make sure you’re getting the best deal possible for your needs. For the car there are many things that can be switched around to fit your lifestyle – deductible, liability amount etc. All these factor into what you pay.
Other costs that can easily be lowered are clothing, personal care stuff, food etc. – I always wait for the big sales at Gymboree and use a coupon, usually won’t pay more than 5$ per piece. For our own clothing I shop online at Old Navy, the Gap when they have big promos. Food and personal care you can quickly reduce by using coupons, shopping on 10% off, accumulating airmiles or Shoppers Drugmart points etc. Check the clearance sections, discount bins and stock up when you find those amazing deals. Having a garden has really lowered our food costs this summer, and I’ve learned to be creative with zucchini! 🙂
For outings and meals out we’ve been using a lot of Team Buy and Groupon deals – really helps out when your outing is half price. We’ve tried out a lot of fun places – and if it’s somewhere we already know we like I will get their daily limit is the expiration date is far enough away. I printed them all out and put them in a folder, makes it a lot easier to just grab one and go.
What are your best ways to lower your household costs? Any good tricks or tips? What are the costs you’ve found you just can’t lowered?
My husband and I used to have fantastic luck getting MTS to extend our promos. That all came to a screeching hault last fall. After giving us who knows how many extensions, they said no. So we switched so Shaw cause they would give us a better rate, and guarantee it for a year. We’ll see what happens in Dec when that runs out this year. Maybe MTS will want us back and offer us a longer term promo again, or Shaw will be willing to persuade us to stay with them.
For clothes, I love shopping on Kijiji, espcecially for the boys. Jammies and things rarely
actualy wear out before the kids outgrow them so it’s a great way to save a few bucks. And I find costoco has really well priced clothing, and a fantastic return policy for everything they sell.
Yup, not sure what’s up with mts. Seems like they’re totally ok with losing customers now, or customers cutting a lot of their services. One thing I never understood that they did was combine everything into one bill – it’s a huge reminder every month of how expensive it really is. We did a lot of kijiji and garage sales when my daughter was younger – especially for toys.
I would have to say I am really enjoying swagbucks. I have never bought anything on amazon before but have twice now with my swagbucks and am saving up for my next couple of rounds. Am also saving up my paypal gc for a new spiderman tie for my husband (they are a great conversation piece at christmas functions!). For me Swagbucks is worth the effort as I am just at home with my children anyways.
If you are looking to sign up then I know Nadine is using swagbucks as well or here is my link: http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/thegirlsandme
Speaking of MTS, We had a great deal for 1 year – once that year was over my bill went up $25 a month! Plus we just didn’t really like their tv. So we went to Bell Expressvu. Anyway, MTS called last night and offered me a free PVR & 6 months at $30 – I told them no, because when I first had this deal it was great, but when I called back about extending it they wouldn’t do anything for me. I said loyalty didn’t mean a whole lot until your gone. I do plan on calling later to find out if I can lower my internet and get better speed. We’ve got the lite speed and it sucks, but we don’t use it for much more than paying bills these days, but it sucks when my 6 year old wants to play computer games. For internet & phone with MTS only, it’s costing me $72 a month! Way too high if you ask me. I’d be interested if anyone has any reviews from Roger’s or the new ComWave
I don’t recommend ComWave at all. So so bad experience. It is better to stay away from them.
Our biggest savings was selling our house last month on Kijiji! It sold in less than 24 hrs and saved us over $20,000 in commission! Then we’ve been clearing stuff out of the house in prep for the move, also on Kijiji; such a great way to get rid of stuff that won’t work at the new house, and we can use the money for the new house!
Hi Laurel- that’s amazing! Could you explain how you did that?
When I travel, I use Groupon. Saved me $$ for when I dine out. It’s great and the businesses love it when you tell them where you’re from and that you’re trying out because of Groupon. It’s great new business for places and there’s one place in Minneapolis that I go for coffee when I’m there, all because of Groupon.
Ever in Minneapolis, visit The Buzz Coffee in Burnsville. Great little local coffee shop and the food is amazing!