Saving money on your own bills

One of the easiest ways to save money is to look at your own current bills ans see where you can reduce them. For example are you paying for duplicate insurance? Say you have an accidental death insurance policy that you pay for out of your own pocket but your employer offers one that is free to you. The same thing for term insurance, health insurance and other types of insurance.

Next look at that home protection plan, the one that covers items that break around the house. I had one for 2 years when we first moved and it cost $800 a year. I had one thing fixed, a leaky toilet and the hassle of finding someone that was under the protection plan was a PITA. It took 2 days of calling people since the plan did not have a provider list for me but said the people that they contracted with would be able to tell me if they were on the plan. After the repair was done and even approved by the repair person via phone to the protection plan, the plan refused to pay. Their reason was that I could have found someone closer to me!!!! After 3 months they finally paid up and then I dropped them. The repair cost $150 and the deductible for me was $35 so for that year I still paid $835 for a $150 repair. Was it worth it? NO

Another bill to look at is your electric bill. I saved $20 to $30 off of that every month. I switched to those florescent bulbs all over the house. I use to think that they did not give out enough light, until I realized that the light has to be left on for at least a minute for it to warm up. After that first minute the light was as bright (if not brighter) than the original incandescent bulb. Of course the incandescent bulb will be phased out in the near future all together.

Lastly you can bundle services for money off your bills. Internet, phone and TV service is the first one that comes to mind but there are others. Insurance can be bundled too. Having your home, auto and health insurance through the same company will often get you a discount off of your premiums. Banks will often offer great discounts on having your mortgage, CD's and loans all tied into one checking account.

Look over your bills, you can reduce them.