Cutting Back – The wants

Posted on | March 2, 2009 | No Comments

O.K., we covered a little bit on cutting back on some of the necessities, now comes the hard part. Giving up some of the things you have that you don’t really need. It won’t be as hard as you think, we can work through it together.

Many people facing hard times in this economy are people who haven’t been there before. It’s a lot harder for you to cut back and realize you are paying for things you don’t need. The first thing to do is distinguish between a want and a need and they vary for different people.

For instance Internet access is a want for many people. You can use wi-fi at many locations and the library offers free Internet access every day. Plus many people get online at work as well. Do you really need the expensive fast access plan at home or can you get by with cheap dial up? See where I am going? You can do this with lots of different things. You have to figure out the difference between your wants and your needs.

Some great places to cut back are your phone bills, both land-line and cell, cable, alarm, and any kind of service you may have (like lawn or pool). Now don’t despair yet, I’m not saying you have to eliminate your wants. I just want you to see what they are and where you can cut back.

Cable or direct TV can be very expensive, do you really need all the channels you are getting? We used to have the big fancy package with all the channels. When we moved basic cable was included in our Home Owners Association fees. I had the intention of ordering the expensive package, but was so busy I didn’t get around to it. You know what, after a week or so we didn’t even miss it and it has saved us about $50 a month. Can you cut back on some channels?

We rarely use our home phone so do we really need it? If we do, can we cut back anywhere? What about our cell phones? They change plans and offers all the time so even if you can’t give something up altogether, can you negotiate a better deal? The answer is probably yes.

If you have any services, make sure you negotiate them as well. If you have a lawn service for $100 a month, can they go down to $75? If not can you use someone else? These are just some examples to get you started so you can look at your own situation and get ideas for where you can save.

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