Pick Up the Phone

So, yesterday as I'm driving home I hear this horrible screeching sound coming from my front wheel. Oh no, I have heard this before. It is the dreadful sound of metal grinding against metal. I need new breaks... Do I have money budgeted for car repairs? No. Here comes another bump in the road. Well it looks as though my goal for this month is going to have to get rearranged around a little. Time to get creative and figure out how I'm going to tackle this one. I'll talk more about this later though.

Today I have something else to share with you. Did you know that by just picking up the phone and having a few 5 minute conversations you can cut costs on your monthly expenses? I know... everyone hates it but if you really want to get serious about where your money is going you need to pick up the phone. How much of your money is slipping away on unnecessary expenses? A few dollars here, a couple there... Do you really know what you are paying for?

Last week I got online for my car insurance, made a few changes on my policy and got it reduced from $168 a month to $141. That's $27 I saved just by getting online and taking a look at what I was actually paying for. Since then it got me wondering what else I could cut back on. This morning I took a few minutes and actually called and spoke to a representative. I asked him if there was any way he could help me to reduce my costs. He assured me that I had all the discounts that they could offer and then he said, "Wait a minute, I see that you have a speeding ticket and a traffic accident on your record." I sighed with a reluctant, "Yes..." Well come to find out my insurance company keeps those on their records for 35 months. Guess what? Lucky me! Both are coming up on that time. He told me that if I call back on January 21st for the speeding ticket that my monthly payment will go down to $117 a month. That's another $24 off my monthly payment. Then, if I call back on March 17th to remove the traffic accident that it will go down to only $80 per month! That is going to be an $88 decrease from what I was spending last month!!! More than half off, and just by picking up the phone.

Next I called my phone service. I was only able to save about $10 per month there, but $10 is money that I can put somewhere else.

Do you remember? 80% of the world population lives off of $10 a day. Think about it. There are people who would love to have 10 extra dollars.

So $98 a month isn't bad when your reworking your budget to work for you.

In short, we need to be more aware. I think that a lot of times we get a bill, we pay it, and we never stop to think about the details. It's your money. Ask questions. Take the time to make a call and just ask, "Is there anything you can do to help me out here?" These companies want to keep you as a customer and if you pay on time and they know you are going to pay they will take time to try and keep you.

Thing to remember: It doesn't hurt to ask.

Tomorrow: To Purchase with Thought and Purpose