Do you wish you had more disposable income? Most people do. The problem is finding a way to save enough money so that you can splurge on occasion. You may have the best intentions, but you still struggle to penny-pinch enough to make a difference. Read on to learn about three ways to save up more fun money.
Use a Smart Thermostat
Did you know that you can save as much as $145 a year on your utility bill? The best part is that you’ll only need to do one thing to earn that discount. You must buy a smart thermostat.
When you have this device in your home, it learns your family’s tendencies. It knows when you want the heat or air to run. It also knows when you’re not at home and have no need of HVAC usage. Google loved this idea so much that it paid $3.2 billion in 2014 to buy the company selling the best smart thermostat on the market. Since the device costs $249, it’ll pay for itself in two years. After that, you’ll get $145 extra each year from your utility bill savings.
Cut the Cord
Cable television is dying, at least in its current form. Over-The-Top programming (OTT) is the future of entertainment consumption. That’s why cable networks are losing hundreds of thousands of customers each quarter. You should join this group.
The average cable bill is $103 per month, which is $1,236 annually. You can take a great vacation each year by saving that much money. More importantly, you’re jumping off a train that’s about to crash. Cable bill rates are increasing as broadcasters try to compensate for the massive customer losses. The loyal customers are the ones footing the bill for this strategy. If you stubbornly choose to keep your cable service, you’ll pay even more in the future.
What you should do instead is subscribe to an OTT service such as Netflix or Hulu. Both of these companies offer more programming than you could watch in a year. You’ll never feel like you’re at a loss for entertainment with either one.
Still, if you’re not quite ready to drop cable entirely, you have another option. Skinny bundles are growing in popularity. These packages offer cable programming via the internet. You use a device like a Roku or TiVo or your smartphone to watch the shows. Companies like Sling, Sony, and DirecTV all offer skinny bundle packages starting at $20 per month. That’s still a savings of $83 monthly or $996 in a year.
Freelance
Did you know that you can make a quick buck on the internet without doing anything illegal? It’s true. Websites like Fiverr and Freelancer give people the chance to do quick work for a modest fee. The name Fiverr reflects the fact that you can find somebody to do any simple job for five dollars. On days when you’re not doing anything constructive, use a site like Fiverr to make some easy money!
As you can see, you can save money in many ways. All three of the suggestions above will help you gain enough disposable income to have some fun.
