Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So in the other thread, someone posted about a phone plan with Metro PCS at $70 for two people at 2.5 gb a month. It got me wondering what everyone did on here to keep costs down as far as phone bills, other bills, groceries, etc.
What are some things you do to save money on bills in the house, on phone bills, maybe even home phone/tv/Internet package?
My wife loves ID but if we get Optimum iO and get that show, it would be $120 before tax for phone, cable and internet. But if we don't get ID or HBO, etc (we don't plan on getting the movie channels anyway), then it's $60-$80 before taxes.
Things like that, I'm curious on how others have saved money, what they could have done to maybe have paid more, and what they are doing to pay less and get similar to same quality.
For us we don't make much, so to know our options and to have a thread where others can have options on what to do to try to keep costs down on things, would be ideal.
We don't eat meat nor much dairy, so that will save us in the supermarket. We were thinking of becoming BJ's customers and buying in bulk certain things like pasta, etc.
if you currently have a cell phone contract with one of the bigger carriers, most likely you received a "free" phone, which you actually paid for with an increased monthly fee. After you have the phone for two years, instead of getting an upgraded phone, keep the one you currently have , and ask your provider for a discounted fee. we saved $15 monthly per phone and the old phones work just fine.
Ask your current cable provider if there are any special promotions. If you have been with them for a while, mention your loyalty and the fact that you don't want to switch, but think there are better deals elsewhere. Just did that and cable came down $15/month. Doesn't sound like much but between the cell phones and cable bill I saved almost $800 a year.
Get an external antenna so you get the free over the air channels. Subscribe to Netflix for around $8 a month. Get sufficient broadband (25/2 is more than enough) so you can stream Netflix + a cheap VoIP service as your home phone. Look at Ooma which is around $100 up front plus a few dollars a month going forward. You can also make WiFi calls on your cell phones.
With your kind of income you can't afford to be picky or to pick "premium" anything.
Get an external antenna so you get the free over the air channels. Subscribe to Netflix for around $8 a month. Get sufficient broadband (25/2 is more than enough) so you can stream Netflix + a cheap VoIP service as your home phone. Look at Ooma which is around $100 up front plus a few dollars a month going forward. You can also make WiFi calls on your cell phones.
With your kind of income you can't afford to be picky or to pick "premium" anything.
So what is the budgeted total a month for all you listed?
Cakculated for two people what our breakfast lunch and dinner with leftovers would be at Stop and Shop and frugally we can keep it at $60. With added things here and there $80 a week.
Psssst....you two are young. Stop stressing. Just live within your means and adjust as needed.
Right, or you could leave LI/NYS and enjoy a bump up immediately, even if you don't a wage increase.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.