April 2019 – Nick Alsis

Dutchess Partners Share 5 Ways to Reduce Your Monthly Payments

If you’ve mismanaged finances early on, odds are you’re probably at your breaking point with a monthly budget that can’t cover all your bills. Filing personal bankruptcy doesn’t have to be the answer to eliminating debts. In fact, Dutchess Partners have found five ways you can reduce your monthly bills without resorting to bankruptcy.

1. Look at Your Current Monthly Bills

You may want to scream at your monitor after checking your monthly interest payments. However, this step is vitally important because you must see where your money is going. It’s the only way to determine how to reduce your monthly bills. Be tough. Include all monthly bills. In fact, print off bank statements, credit card bills and other statements to look at them. Write down all the debts and determine exactly where your hard-earned money is being spent.

2. Negotiate with Creditors

Another way to lower your monthly bills is to contact your creditors to work out a lower monthly payment. Let your creditors know that you are willing to pay what you owe. However, you only have so much money available to work with. Some credit card issuers may provide a hardship plan, which allows you to pay either a lower interest rate or a lower plan for a specific amount of time. Make sure to obtain an agreement in writing and have them mail or email it to you.

3. Cut All Unneeded, Obvious Bills

After you know all your monthly bills, start cutting. Everyone has expenses that aren’t used to fill a need, such as entertainment, dining out, subscriptions and memberships. Cutting expenses doesn’t mean that you are required to live an unhappy, boring life. It just means that you are cutting things you really don’t need. For example, you may spend $40 for a gym membership each month but only go to the gym one or two times a month. Ditch the membership and save the money. The goal of cutting unnecessary expenses is to give yourself some breathing room in your budget and some extra cash.

4. Cut Even More Expenses from Your Monthly Bills

This is probably the hardest step to reducing your monthly bills. You’ve cut all your obvious bills. The next step is to cut the expenses you feel it is difficult, but not impossible, to live without. This includes the extra cable channels or streaming services, ordering pizza during football games, or going out with your significant other every weekend. This may cut a big chunk out of your monthly bills. It also gives you additional money in your monthly budget.

5. Try the Snowball Method of Lowering Monthly Bills

It’s often a dilemma. Do you pay more on all your monthly debts to get a handle on them, or a prioritize a specific debt? The snowball method focuses on building momentum. Make a list of debts that don’t include rent or mortgages. The list should be organized from smallest to largest balances. Make the minimum payments on all the debts, except the smallest one. Make an additional payment towards that monthly.

Once that debt is eliminated, move on to the next smallest debt until your debts are gone completely. This may sound like a tough thing to do, but you are achieving two goals. The first goal is reducing your monthly bills. You make the minimum payment monthly but pay a little extra on one until it’s paid, then move on to the next bill. By the time you reach the top of the list, you don’t have any nagging bills and can focus entirely on what once seemed overwhelming.

You Can Reduce Your Monthly Debts

The power to lower your monthly bills rests in your hands. You can consolidate a loan via Dutchess Partners. It’s one way to avoid the high interest rate credit cards and regain control of your monthly payments.

Hornet Partners Shares Quick Ways to Lower Expenses

While getting out of debt can often seem hopeless, with some quick and creative thinking, you can find effective ways to cut your expenses and start paying off your debt. Read on for eight ideas to help you reduce your expenses now.

1. Bundle Your Services

Internet and phone services are an essential part of our lives, for better or for worse. While they can be purchased separately, bundling these services together can save you a significant amount of money. If you have some time on your hands, sift through your current plans and all available offers. By bundling these services, you’ll likely find an inexpensive deal that rivals the cost of each individual plan.

2. Hold Off on Pet Ownership

Pets bring a certain unique sense of joy to our lives. If you’ve dreamed of having a pet, waiting to get your own four-legged friend may seem like torture, but if you’re hoping to limit your expenses, now might not be the best time to add a new pet to the family.

The money that you’re saving now by not having a pet can be spent to pay off your debt. While this isn’t as exciting as teaching your dog new tricks, you will be able to give your new fur friend all the treats they deserve when the time is right to bring your pet home.

3. Buy Food Wisely

We all must spend money to eat, but it is how and where we spend that money that really changes things. Instead of blowing your budget at a new restaurant every other night, carefully choose when you will dine out. Similarly, making every effort to prepare your food at home will allow you to significantly cut costs and put your money where it needs to go.

4. Consolidate Debt

Wherever you stand with your debt and credit, it’s likely that you could be doing more to take care of your interest fees and handle your debt. With services provided by companies like Hornet Partners, you can consolidate your expenses. This will allow you to make one payment each month rather than individual payments to each of the various lenders. Additionally, consolidation through Hornet Partners or another reputable consolidation company serves as a unique opportunity to adjust your finances and create an aggressive budget for the future.

5. Limit Your Electricity Use

Electricity can get pretty pricey but living completely off the grid isn’t an option for most people. However, if you’re looking for ways to cut back, you should make every effort to stop wasting electricity. Start simple by turning off the lights when you’re not home, installing energy-efficient bulbs, unplugging devices you rarely use, and anything else that helps you save a few dollars.

One of the biggest users of electricity is air conditioning. If you really want to save money, consider keeping the central air off and opt for a few fans instead. During the nicer days in the spring and fall, keep the windows open as much as possible.

6. Sell Your Car

While the majority of people rely on their car for transportation everywhere, if you can get by without a vehicle, try it. By selling your car, your money will no longer be going towards gas, insurance, or maintenance of your vehicle. Though you’ll have to spend some money on public transportation and ride sharing, it will be thousands of dollars less than what you’d be sinking into the cost of car ownership.

7. Go on a Spending Strike

Ready to see how much money you can save? Stop spending for a weekend (or even longer). If you don’t work on the weekend, you have no real reason to leave the house. While you don’t have to stay indoors every day, you can stick to your spending strike by eating what you have in the house, entertaining yourself with your favorite shows or movies, and catching up with your friends and family by text or phone call.

Though it may take a fair amount of determination, going two days without spending anything will really rack up some savings. The more you’re able to go on these spending strikes, the more money you can use to pay off your debt.

8. Cut Back on Smoking and Drinking

Whether you enjoy a nice cocktail after work or prefer to smoke at least once a day, these habits eat away at your wallet. When it comes to non-essentials like smoking and drinking, if you can find ways to limit your intake, do it. While putting back a pack of cigarettes or a bottle of wine may not seem like much in the moment, the money you save over time will really make an impact.

Getting out from under your debt is possible. Instead of waiting for something to happen, start taking matters into your own hands. Let these eight ideas inspire you to keep cutting back and save more money.