It’s no wonder most live paycheck to paycheck by the time you factor in monthly bills, food, gas, a little spending money, not to mention, hopefully saving for retirement. Sure, the amount you spend each month will quickly outweigh the money that’s coming in if you’re not careful, but there are ways you can reduce monthly expenses without having to stay homebound. By making a few financial moves you can hopefully reduce the monthly bills and have a little extra that will go a long way in getting out of debt and planning more for your future.
Refinance Your Mortgage
With rates getting back down to earth like in the heyday of the refinance boom, now is as good of time as ever to lock into a lower interest rate and lower your monthly payment over all. Depending what you’re currently paying, you could even be able to take out a 15- or 20-year mortgage so you don’t have to start over with terms for a 30 year. If you’re ok with extending the terms for a lower payment, if you have extra room that will not inflate your payment too high you can even take cash out to pay off credit cards or finally be able to complete a home renovation that will not only keep you in the home longer, but improve the overall value.
Take Advantage of a Balance Transfer Promotion
If you are carrying over a credit card balance month over month the interest can build up so much that it may not even seem like the balance is reducing by the time you cover the interest payment. Especially if you’re only making the minimum payment, you could see that outstanding balance for the next few decades. By transferring to another card with a 0% promo rate, you can pay down the balance much faster.
Try a Debt Consolidation Loan
If you’ve gotten yourself into a hole and it seems like all the focus is paying back what you’ve spent on a credit card and you can’t gain any ground, taking out a debt consolidation loan is a great way to have a payoff in site. This way the interest rate will be lower than what you’re currently paying on the credit card, though it takes you a few years to rid the balance. Just make sure you don’t go on a spending spree now that you have a little breathing room, or you’ll just continue to dig yourself deeper.
Make the Necessary Sacrifices
Sure, you can juggle around your outstanding balances, but it’s what you spend throughout the month that needs to be adjusted. Expenses such as the gym membership, avoiding going out to eat and opting or grocery shopping to eat at home, or even finally cutting the cable cord and going with a streaming service that you likely only use anyways, are great ways. By taking a look at your credit or debit card statement line by line you can hold each purchase under a microscope and hopefully start to tighten up the grip of your cards going forward.