Now that we have already talked about how to pay down your debt, it is time to find a little extra money that you can add to your debt as well. Remember, the more you can pay towards them, the faster you will get out of debt and be in such a better position!
Here are a few ways you can find extra money. And I’m sure you can probably come up with even more once you get going:
- Watch your bills! Electricity is one thing that people pay a lot for. Anything from lights left on to even appliances plugged in when you aren’t using them uses Electricity. And that is more money put on your monthly bill. For one month, have your entire family be extra careful with leaving lights and other electronics off when they aren’t using them. At the end of the month, compare how much you saved. You can take that extra money you would have spent and apply it to your debt payment that month!
- Watching your bills also includes your Cable TV! How much do you pay for your DirecTV, Comcast or Dish service each month? What types of “Fees” do they add in on top of your monthly charge? On average, people pay anywhere from $25- $75 a month for Cable! That adds up to being $300- $900 of money you could use towards other things. There are a lot of options that have come out recently you can use for a lot cheaper, and still get your TV fix! A good option is Hulu Plus. For $7.99 a month, you can get unlimited access to all of the Hottest Shows on TV right now like Grey’s Anatomy, Modern Family and more. You can watch them through your gaming consoles, Smart TVs, Smartphones, Tablets, Smart Blu-Ray Players and more! ***If you want to try out Hulu Plus before you actually cancel your Cable Provider, you can get 1 Free Week right here. Just cancel before the week is up, or keep going if you love it!!
- Check with your Car Insurance Company for a “Safe-Driver” discount. Or consider combining all of your Insurance policies, (house, car….) into one plan. Insurance companies will usually give you a discount if you let them bundle it all together.
- Check your Cell Phone Bill! How much are you paying? Do you have more minutes than you need? Could you go down to a cheaper plan and still make it work? Cell phone companies come out with promotions all of the time. You just need to log-in online and see what they are, or give them a call letting them know that your bill is too expensive. They are usually willing to work with you so they can keep your business.
- If you have good credit, you will also want to check how much you are paying for your Car Payments each month. People with good credit can refinance their car loans to as low as 2%! And depending on how much your interest rate is at now, it could save you a bundle!
- What other extras do you pay for? Take a look at all of your bills and see which things your family could live without for a bit. Remember, the faster you get out of debt, the faster you can use that money to do fun things instead!
Another tip I think is really important is to possibly refinance your Mortgage. Being a wife of someone who does mortgages for a living, I’ve learned so much about them and a lot of the ins and outs. If you are able to refinance your mortgage into a lower interest rate, your monthly payment not only drops- but you get to skip one month’s payment!! I wouldn’t recommend going crazy with that extra money and buying a bunch of things. But, I would reccomend using the money you would have used towards the mortgage payment and put it towards debt. It could easily pay off one or two of your debts completely and get you that much closer to being debt free!
Interest rates and all of that jazz obviously depends on your credit score. However, there are a few different plans out that will let you still refinance your home without having to do an appraisal. And since appraisal values are so low lately, that is a good thing! Not everyone will be able to do a no-appraisal loan, but it is definitely something to look into!
If you know someone who does Mortgage loans, I would call them up and see what they can do for you. If you don’t have someone you trust or know, you are more than welcome to contact my husband, Brady. Over the past few years he has helped a lot of Freebies2Deals readers out. Just email me at melea@freebies2deals.com and I can get you his contact info or if you are ready to go, you can just fill out a Pre-Approval Form here.
These are just a few ideas to save some money in your Monthly Budget and apply it towards your debt instead. What other ideas do you have for finding extra money??
Laura
Thanks !
Elle
I was talking to my friend who just got married and is already up to her eyeballs in debt but got pregnant right away anyway. The thing is, the debt is totally from making bad choices and now they’re saying they don’t know how they’ll afford the baby. I suggested she cancel cable. I also suggested she use a very basic cell phone rather then her iphone 5 with a full package. She couldn’t even believe I made those recommendations. She was astounded that I thought she could live without cable and without a smart phone. But, she will never get ahead. I’m not saying it’s fun or easy. But it is DO-ABLE! And, it will probably put you in a position to afford these types of things in the future rather then always trying to climb your way out of debt.
Tysi
We recently found out that Verizon gives discounts on your bill if you work for certain companies! We saved 22% on our bill just by letting them know what company my husband works for! Yay!
T.K.
Finding alternative ways to get to work is huge for us. My husbands work just had him move to a different office while they redo the other office, and it is further away. So now a couple of times a week he takes bus and train to work. We figured it only costs him $5 for a daily ticket and it would cost him over $10 in gas for one day. He is on it for a grand total of over 3 hours, but he listens to books, scriptures and studies for his classes while he is on it and it is saving us on paying an arm and leg in gas. Also look at what kind of car you are driving, is it a gas guzzler can you do without v8, there are a lot of cars now that have 7 seats that are v6, that can help a whole lot, we went from a suburban to a v6 for that reason. We also don’t pay for preschool for my little girl instead we opted in to a preschool coop where I teach in a rotation with other friends, this saves on cost of preschool every month.
Annie McIlravy
I recommend looking around for new car and home insurance. I recently switch my car, scooter and house (which were and still are bundled) from a well known company to another well known company and saved more than $1000. Same coverage, same benefits. All three combined are now cheaper than just my car insurance before!
Ashley C
First of all where are people only paying $25 for cable? Also, stop eating out. Make PB and J for lunch and take it to work or make dinner for your family. To make dinner cost less, if I’m making a casserole I add extra of the cheapest ingredient like rice to make it stretch farther. Also, think if you even need a data plan. If you are a stay at home mom and have the internet on your desk, do you need it on your phone if you are always home?
Tiffany
We recently got rid of our Dish Network contract and installed an antenna that we bought on Amazon. It works like a charm. We were paying $40 a month for dish, we bought the antenna for $45 and now we pay absolutely nothing for TV. If we miss one of our shows when it airs we watch it for free within the next few days on Hulu (we don’t use Hulu Plus). It was such a great switch for us.
maly
I save money on my electricity bill by hang drying my clothes in the garage. I do this because on rainy days I can still dry my clothes without waiting for the weather to clear up. I put up a few clotheslines and I’m all set. I stay at home with the kids so I have a little bit of extra time to do that. It usually takes about a whole day to dry but once its dry I fluff it in the dryer for about 10-15 mins and the clothes are soft again. I have been doing this for 3 months now and saved an average of $30. Every little bit helps especially on one income.
I cut the cable about 4 months ago and that has saved us at least $60/month. We paid $39/yr (about $3/mo) for Amazon prime Student so my kids can watch their favorite cartoon shows without shelling out a ton of money for channels we don’t watch anyways. This has worked out great for us and we don’t even miss the cable. Wish we would have done it a lot sooner.
We have 4 months left on our phone contract and have decided to move from T-mobile to Virgin mobile. In doing so we will be able to save at least $75/mo. They have good phones but even better phone plans and it runs off the Sprint network. Would be a good switch if your area gets good Sprint coverage.
Heather
We use Virgin and have for about a year…we love it! The coverage has been great, except in a few of the storms we’ve had and in traveling but other than that we love it! (We’re in Utah, Davis County)
Elizabeth
Where do you get cheap high speed internet?
Nicole
I suggest being smart about your coupon and online shopping. Just because it’s a great price doesn’t mean you have to buy it! I also limit how often I go to the store… if you’re not there, you can’t spend! Now, using what I save toward debt is a task I am still working on perfecting. 🙂
Rebecca
I would have to disagree with the advice to refinance your mortgage. I learned in RE school that people who refinance are statistically much more likely to default and lose their house than those who simply just pay it off. And the quicker you pay it off, the more money you will have sooner. It might be a little delayed, but in the long run, you’re better off. And you haven’t lost your house.
BTW, Walmart offers good, inexpensive cell service that uses the T-Mobile network. We have bundled with my mom and aunt and get an amazing rate for unlimited text and minutes, and my husband has the full data plan. Even if we weren’t bundled with my mom, it would still be cheaper than what we were paying just for my husband alone on Verizon.