Now's the time to check for leaking pennies! Go over your bank statements, phone bills and insurance statements to see if you're being charged for services you don't need. For instance, if you don't use long distance on a land line phone, you can have the access taken off and save about $5 a month. Why not?
Bank savings accounts often charge a service fee if your balance falls below a certain amount. See what it is and decide whether it's worth keeping the account. You may be better off to put the money in a checking account and not be charged for it.
Double check home owner's insurance to be sure you're not paying for something you no longer have. Home values are lower now, so take that into account. Vehicle insurance sometimes duplicates other insurance coverage, like medical. Look at all of your insurance accounts and make sure you're not paying for double coverage.
We did this last month and found out a fraudulent company was taking money out of our account $2 here and there.... then we found $20 here and there. How did we miss it???
ReplyDeleteThey investigating the company and trying to get us our money back... so far so good.
Thank you so much for this reminder!
ReplyDeleteUgh. I hate doing this stuff, even though it saves me money. I just procrastinate like crazy, and I don't even know why.
But like old Ben said, "A penny saved is a penny earned." And when I think about how excited my 5-year-old gets when he takes stock of the pennies in his piggy bank, it gives a new meaning to the saying, too.
Thanks for this sage entry!