Penny Pinching, or Hoarding, as it were - Part 3

Now, it’s nice to use coupons, make your own coffee, etc. BUT, when it comes to change you can see, as in, in your BANK, there are a few things that really impact the bottom line.

REFINANCE!! Refinance your mortgage. Interest rates are lower now than they’ve been for a while. It’s not a big deal to get it going. Seriously. So, call your mortgage lender TODAY and ask them:

1. Do you have a NO-FEE refinance program?

2. How much money would I save per month if I refinanced today?

I had a 25 minute conversation with my mortgage lender, signed the (closing package) paperwork they sent in the mail and I’m now saving $156 per month. Oh, yeeeeeaaahhhh!!!

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Also, you’d be SHOCKED at how much money you can save on your insurance policies.  First things first, if you have insurance with various companies, consider consolidating. I’ve grouped all of our insurance (car, home and life insurance) in State Farm. Call your insurance carrier and ask them for discounts.

The car insurance discounts we get:

-Low mileage

-Multi-car

-Good driving

-Vehicle stability – features on the car that prevent accident, i.e., traction control

-Anti-lock break

-Multi-line (for having car and home)

-Accident free

Also, make sure they calculate your premium based on your CURRENT address. When we relocated from the city to the suburbs, we saved $150 on each premium!

After all of these discounts on our car insurance, we save over 50%. No joke!

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Cable

For YEARS we were paying for all of the premium channels (like Showtime, HBO, pay-per view, and stuff like that) and rarely used the majority of them. Though, I did watch Weeds (I loved that show), sometimes, The L-word, and the occasional HBO program. The thing is? That package, I think they call it the “Gold package”, is $50 PER MONTH charge. Right. Like gold. Anyway, it seemed like a no-brainer saving opp. So, when we relocated, I nixed the premium and chose the “family package” instead. Lest, we deprive our little ones of the Backyardigans, and we’re FAR TOO attached to Pablo and Uniqua, but I digress. Now, this would mean I’d have to get over my Weeds fix, but luckily they’ve got it on DVD if I really want to catch-up.

So, we saved $50 PER MONTH. That’s $600 per year. I think that qualifies for this BIG savings category.

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These are just a few examples of how we save big. So, pick up that phone and call your billers if you aren’t already getting these savings, too. They certainly won’t offer better rates, unless you inquire. And let me tell you:

That refinance we did, saving $150 per month? We bought a whole-life insurance policy for me with that money. Even Steven.

That money we save on our car insurance? Goes straight into our savings.

And the $600 per year we save on our cable? Goes to college savings for our kiddies.

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So!? I ask you. Do you have any Penny Hoarding tips to share? I’d LOVE to hear them!