When you think about buying a home, and paying for it, you probably envision a mortgage check that you’ll have to write and send every month. That’s likely to be the biggest expense associated with your home, of course, but it’s far from the only one.
That’s important to remember because all those other little costs can add up, especially if you aren’t keeping an eye on them. In fact, most homeowners could save hundreds or more each and every month if they just knew where to cut items from the budget.
Today, we want to share with you seven “hidden” home expenses that you can get rid of today:
#1: Late Fees
Late fees – on everything from credit card payments to utility bills – usually seem like a minor annoyance. That’s because they rarely add up to much on a monthly basis. Pay a few of them again and again, though, and you’ll find yourself shelling out hundreds of extra dollars each and every year that could easily be saved by putting a little more time and money into bookkeeping and budgeting.
#2: Unnecessary Subscriptions
Lots of Alberta families are paying for memberships and subscriptions that they aren’t even using. These can include gym dues, entertainment packages, magazine subscriptions, and other ongoing expenses that aren’t really giving anything of value in return. In addition to looking for items that you no longer need, you should take a hard look at all your subscriptions to see if there are some you could easily live without.
#3: Overlapping Insurance Coverage
Good insurance coverage is important to have. However, it’s not unusual for homeowners to have overlapping policies, meaning that they are paying for certain types of coverage on more than one policy (even if they can’t make claims on both of them). A simple one-hour meeting with a good insurance agent could be all that you need to save a sizable chunk of money every pay period.
#4: Wasted Utility Bills
Leaving the lights on, or the water running, isn’t something that’s going to drain your checking account in an instant. Usually, it’s a matter of wasting a few pennies an hour. The only problem with that (besides the fact that it’s wasteful in an environmental sense) is that there are a lot of hours in a year. As with everything else on this list, the money wasted on utilities bills adds up faster than you might think.
#5: Monthly Storage
If you’ve moved into your home and haven’t found a place for items you’ve been keeping in storage, it might be a good idea to consider whether you are using those items often enough to justify holding on to them in the first place. If you simply can’t do without them, look at a shed or other storage option that can be used on your property; buying one will likely be cheaper than paying for storage rental unit month after month.
#6: Replacement Goods
In a way, saving money can be the easiest way to waste money. That’s because some items, even though they cost less, will break down and have to be replaced a lot more quickly than they’ve would if you would simply paid for a quality brand in the first place. Frugal people don’t just save money by spending less – they also know when it’s smart to pay for quality so they won’t have to replace an expensive item again later.
#7: Convenience Purchases
It’s no secret that corner stores and convenience markets charge a lot more for everyday products than grocery stores and bulk retailers do. The farther you can plan ahead, and the more you can buy in volume, the less you spend on things like fuel and groceries. Buying in bulk costs more up front, but can lead to big savings over the course of several months.
How many of these unnecessary costs are you paying for regularly? And more importantly, how much could you save if you were to stop spending money on all of them at once? Pay down debts, save for a rainy day, or even save to upgrade to a beautiful new home!
