Frugal folks know that cutting the expenses on cable and satellite contracts is one of the best ways to save significant amounts of cash each month. And once you start seeing your savings add up, making more small changes and smart choices can become addictive! That’s why during our recent giveaway of Tablo’s most affordable OTA DVR yet – the Tablo DUAL LITE – we asked folks to share their money saving tips.
Here are the best of the bunch:
1. Save Money on Home Phone and Internet Service
When you cancel the TV portion of your ‘Triple Play’ service, you should re-evaluate the internet and home phone portions as well.
Switching to Voice-Over-IP phone service, ditching rental equipment and switching to alternative ISPs can all lead to significant savings.
Buy your own modem and router to save fees charged monthly by your Internet company, usually for poor equipment!
– Brian S.Switched the landline phone from ATT to Ooma. Saving a whopping $32 a month for the past 4 years.
– Deb S.Instead of getting phone service through the cable company’s ‘triple play’ packages, get VOIP through Ooma, Vonage, or Magic Jack.
– Mike D.Use one of the many ‘alternative’ ISP’s to save money.
– Kevin V.
2. Save Money on Streaming TV
Subscribing to paid TV streaming services can give you access to some of the cable-only shows and networks that aren’t available with free Over-the-Air TV using an antenna.
With no contracts you can add/drop these streaming services as needed to save cash. But, if you’ve got a datacap. be sure to keep an eye on usage especially when streaming HD or 4K content.
There are also TONS of great free streaming services to check out!
Regularly review which streaming services you’re subscribed to and what you want to add/drop.
– Andrew S.Set the (streaming TV) resolution lower to use less data.
– Robb B.Make sure to use services like Crackle that are free with popular, quality content.
– Kevin B.Get a library card. There are services like Kanopy and Hoopla which (if your library participates) allow for movie/tv show borrowing.
– Kevin W.
3. Save Money on Groceries & Food
Your grocery bill is another spot with a huge potential for savings.
Use apps like Flipp to browse sale flyers from your local stores so you can plan your shopping trip in advance and also get price matching at stores that allow it.
Try to stock up on regularly used items when they’re on sale, don’t be afraid to try generic brands and make enough for next day lunch leftovers to limit expensive take out meals.
When a staple – say coffee – is on sale BOGO, buy some even if you don’t need it right away. Stock up when it’s half price.
– Tawney M.Look at cost per ounce at grocery store.
– David W.Limit the visits to the grocery store. By making a list and going once a week, you tend to buy less of the impulse items and can also get better deals on the products that are necessary.
– Sunney J.Buy store brands, they usually are the name brand you usually buy but private labeled.
– Norman S.Plant a vegetable garden.
– Derek J.Make your coffee at home and put it in a good mug. You’ll save a fortune over coffee shops in the long run.
– Chris H.
4. Money Saving Apps, Plugins, & Tools
As mentioned, Flipp is a great app for watching sale prices at grocery and big box stores, but there are many more tech tools you can use to find bargains.
Use apps like (coupon code browser plugin) Honey.
– Gina E.Use the Gas Buddy app to find the cheapest gas.
– Kevin K.Go to camelcamelcamel.com to get the best price on Amazon merchandise.
– Liz L.
5. Hidden Everyday Savings
Finding savings can be as easy as stockpiling your loose change, or finding the ‘hidden’ benefits of your credit cards, mobile provider, or professional organization memberships.
Your credit card probably automatically extends the warranty on products purchased with the card. If a device breaks outside of the covered period, the credit card company will just cut you a check to fix/replace it. It’s not a scam, its a service of the card and it can easily save you hundreds when your $400 cell phone craps out and costs $250 to fix.
– Thomas D.I collect all my change throughout the year and put it back into my savings plan.
– Sam S.
If you put all of these money saving tips into play AND move away from cable and satellite TV, you could have a significantly larger nest egg by this time next year that you can put towards anything – vacation, college fund, renovations.
So let’s keep the savings ball rolling… What’s your best money saving tip or tool? Tell us on Facebook or Twitter!
