I have started to look at my budget items to see if there are anything that I can lower. My phone contract still has 4 months to go before I can make a change. I looked it up and saw that I can save about 30%. I have made a note of it on my calendar.
As for Cable TV, I will cancel the sports package when mom leaves. She is the only one watching them. She is a volleyball enthusiast. When she comes back, I can always add the sports package. The rest is very basic except for my documentary package which I am not willing to give up. That is about 15% savings when mom is not around. I plan to freeze my account till November since, I will not be around much.
I have checked my insurance items and do not see any room for improvement there just yet.
Other items are pretty standart and beyond my control. For instance, the heating system is central. I am very careful about electricity. My normal usage is perhaps at a minimum.
So, I will track my spending for a month when I come back from vacation to see exactly where my money is going. I think I can lower my general expenses by about 25%. That includes groceries, eating out, clothing, cleaning supplies and etc.
I will keep on having the cleaning lady every two weeks because, it is not just an expense. She has moved to her parents' home with two young daughters and she needs a little bit of pocket money. That expense has a social aspect. Her folks want her to go back to her husband who has cheated on her several times and have been physically abusive. He also cannot hold a job. I do not understand her parents. They do not let her to take him to court for divorce either. Anyway, one day the guy will probably want to re-marry and he will then, divorce her.
I will also keep the donations to charity in my budget. I would be willing to lower other spending but, not that.
I am ready to retire, relax and take some time off. Then I will go back to part-time, project based work.
It is difficult to save on insurance in any other way except shop it around each renewal and consider higher deductibles (that money could always come out of emergency fund). I was in insurance for years :) Likely now every day you spend money you will think about how to reduce spending but you are already frugal so that should come second nature
ReplyDeleteYou are right. It is also difficult to compare different policies too. I do not know how it is in Canada but here, the policies are full of legal wording made intentionally difficult to understand. Although, I am used to reading contracts, I get dizzy trying to compare apples to apples.
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