Cutting costs. Cutting subscriptions.

[michelek]

Today we chopped Hulu, ($59) Spotify, ($15) some cell phone add ons ($40) , storage unit.
($79) Saved $193 per month with a few hours of work.

We are concerned about our tenants ability to continue paying rent. Otherwise we’re good.

What did you chop?

 

[Sunset]

Cancelled my United credit card, as I'm not traveling for many months, and don't want to pay the yearly fee.
Saved $95

 

[ncbill]

Moved our 3 lines on Cricket to the new, cheapest plan (only 2GB LTE data per line)

Everybody's back home so they can use the WiFi instead of cellular data.

From $110 down to $45 monthly.

 

[RunningBum]

I gave some thought to canceling YouTube TV since there are no live sports, but I also like the idea of having more options to watch since I'm home.

I'll have to look at that Cricket deal, but I barely get reception with AT&T at my house. I'm worried that any service less than full AT&T will leave me with no reception here. I'm not clear on what you give up with Cricket vs. AT&T.

 

[BeachOrCity]

Since we can't go anywhere the spending is automatically down. Way down.
Smaller gas bill, restaurant bill, bar bill, travel bill, etc.

 

[Freedom56]

Didn't chop anything. Our travel and leisure expenses are down significantly. We have been stepping up spending on home improvement projects. Recessions are great times to buy big ticket items. We plan to re-furnish our primary home soon. The last time we spent money on major improvements was back in 2009/2010. This time it won't be any different.

 

[Montecfo]

Negotiated a $60 per month credit on my DirecTV bill. No change in the service.

 

[Dawg52]

Since we can't go anywhere the spending is automatically down. Way down.
Smaller gas bill, restaurant bill, bar bill, travel bill, etc.

Same. If you're following the guidelines for staying home you should save some money. I'm not cutting cable or streaming packages as that gives me some entertainment during these more closed in times.

 

[Spock]

We were already pretty lean on expenses for services.
I've cut back on consumables by
only eating 1.5 meals a day,
using smaller "dabs" of toothpaste on the brush and shampoo (i'm basically bald anyway).
I think I'm setting a record for number of days out of a roll of TP now.
Another is using tissues when we clean the dog's eyes 2x a day. I found I can cut a tissue in half and still have plenty to get the job done so a box will now last 2x as long.

Other that slowing consumption to make things last longer, spending is WAY up as prices are taking off.

 

[target2019]

Hulu, Netflix, and Spotify are fully-funded and in use.
Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead!

 

[REWahoo]

If you're following the guidelines for staying home you should save some money. I'm not cutting cable or streaming packages as that gives me some entertainment during these more closed in times.

Hulu, Netflix, and Spotify are fully-funded and in use.
Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead!

+1

Our spending is down significantly so I have no interest in trying to save a few bucks by reducing our access to mind-numbing forms of entertainment!

 

[jazz4cash]

Cancelled Big Ten Network $9.95 per mo. -one month earlier than usual. I only subscribe during BB season.

I got sucked into Apple TV subscription (4.99/mo) due to the series Servant and The Morning Show. Waiting for season 2 of those series and there are some other interesting series, BUT it dawned on me I could subscribe for 2 months and binge watch everything that interests me and then unsubscribe.

 

[W2R]

I'm not cutting back right now, although I did discontinue my subscription to Consumer Reports (online) about a month ago.

We used to eat lunch at restaurants every day, but of course we can't do that any more. We are still getting delivery or take-out about 2-3 times/week, but yesterday we discussed cutting back on that too.

I am barely driving so I expect my gasoline bill will be almost nothing this month. I don't have Cable TV or subscribe to streaming services other than Amazon Prime. My cell phone is already on the Cricket cheap plan, plus I dropped my landline.

I am thinking that with a paid off house and car, no dependents, and fairly minimal monthly bills, I am probably pretty far from having to cut back due to recent events. We'll see.

 

[Dtail]

We were already pretty lean on expenses for services.
I've cut back on consumables by
only eating 1.5 meals a day,
using smaller "dabs" of toothpaste on the brush and shampoo (i'm basically bald anyway).
I think I'm setting a record for number of days out of a roll of TP now.
Another is using tissues when we clean the dog's eyes 2x a day. I found I can cut a tissue in half and still have plenty to get the job done so a box will now last 2x as long.

Other that slowing consumption to make things last longer, spending is WAY up as prices are taking off.

Bolded by me - sounds like another dryer sheet conversation could be coming.

 

[ivinsfan]

We were already pretty lean on expenses for services.
I've cut back on consumables by
only eating 1.5 meals a day,
using smaller "dabs" of toothpaste on the brush and shampoo (i'm basically bald anyway).
I think I'm setting a record for number of days out of a roll of TP now.
Another is using tissues when we clean the dog's eyes 2x a day. I found I can cut a tissue in half and still have plenty to get the job done so a box will now last 2x as long.

Other that slowing consumption to make things last longer, spending is WAY up as prices are taking off.

Well only eating 1.5 meals a day will cut back on TP use...mind if I ask why you are going this extreme. What is half a meal?

 

[W2R]

I've cut back on consumables by
only eating 1.5 meals a day,

+1, I have been eating less, too. I have lost 5 pounds in the past 10 days. I don't feel like eating so much, with all the dire news we have been hearing. It's upsetting, so I quit listening to it and then get all enthralled with my video game and still don't eat. On most days I have been forgetting to eat dinner.

I'm way, way overweight so anything I can lose is great.

 

[rk911]

haven't cut anything and don't plan to unless SS and our pensions evaporate. and if that happens we'll all have much larger problems.

 

[Spock]

Well only eating 1.5 meals a day will cut back on TP use...mind if I ask why you are going this extreme. What is half a meal?

A 1/2 meal is eating half a portion/regular amount for lunch and keeping the other half for lunch the next day. I tried doing the 1/2 meal for supper but that doesn't work as being hungry interferes with sleep. Hunger during the day can be staved off by drinking more water.


extreme: the food aisles at all three local stores here are picked clean. bread (and flour etc for baking your own bread), cooking oils/fats, canned goods, potatoes, rice, milk, cereal, eggs... any basic staple is gone. If there are onions or fresh produce available its half-moldy already. Been that way for the last 2 weeks.

You can tell if a store has TP in stock based on whether or not there are a couple of cop cars in the parking lot... no cops=no TP. My wife is terrified of shopping as people are getting stuff stolen out of their carts in the store and in the parking lot on the way to the cart. Stores only allow 1 shopper per cart in the store.
Home delivery is next to worthless... if an item is out of stock I can't add it to the cart. If it's in stock when the order is placed it won't be in stock when the order is picked on delivery day.


Tomorrow we're going to start restaurant take-out 2x per week (expensive) to make what we have in-hand last longer. I expect the restaurants to start shutting down soon as they originally were told "2 weeks, end of March" and now they're being told end of April. One nearby restaurant started posting on FB that they are selling off their liquor stocks by the bottle on a first-come/first served basis and everybody's take-out hours have shrunk down to 3-7PM... they can't run the freezers on that. I would be surprised if they are re-stocking.

So yeah... its starting to look like the prelude portion of the post-apocalyptic movies.


I saw trouble coming (but not this bad) about a month ago and stocked up some on March 3rd... but that was a month ago. If I'm half-right on where I think this is going (economically+grocery supplies, getting the virus is a distant third at this point) its going to be down right ugly in the next month or two.

 

[ivinsfan]

A 1/2 meal is eating half a portion/regular amount for lunch and keeping the other half for lunch the next day. I tried doing the 1/2 meal for supper but that doesn't work as being hungry interferes with sleep. Hunger during the day can be staved off by drinking more water.


extreme: the food aisles at all three local stores here are picked clean. bread (and flour etc for baking your own bread), cooking oils/fats, canned goods, potatoes, rice, milk, cereal, eggs... any basic staple is gone. If there are onions or fresh produce available its half-moldy already. Been that way for the last 2 weeks.

You can tell if a store has TP in stock based on whether or not there are a couple of cop cars in the parking lot... no cops=no TP. My wife is terrified of shopping as people are getting stuff stolen out of their carts in the store and in the parking lot on the way to the cart. Stores only allow 1 shopper per cart in the store.
Home delivery is next to worthless... if an item is out of stock I can't add it to the cart. If it's in stock when the order is placed it won't be in stock when the order is picked on delivery day.


Tomorrow we're going to start restaurant take-out 2x per week (expensive) to make what we have in-hand last longer. I expect the restaurants to start shutting down soon as they originally were told "2 weeks, end of March" and now they're being told end of April. One nearby restaurant started posting on FB that they are selling off their liquor stocks by the bottle on a first-come/first served basis and everybody's take-out hours have shrunk down to 3-7PM... they can't run the freezers on that. I would be surprised if they are re-stocking.

So yeah... its starting to look like the prelude portion of the post-apocalyptic movies.


I saw trouble coming (but not this bad) about a month ago and stocked up some on March 3rd... but that was a month ago. If I'm half-right on where I think this is going (economically+grocery supplies, getting the virus is a distant third at this point) its going to be down right ugly in the next month or two.

What area do you live in?.can you do Amazon for any food staples? I noticed their stock of items is improving

 

[Octogirl]

We re not driving much so our gasoline bill will be low

We don't have Cable TV and only use Amazon Prime.

Still buying take out to support local restaurants



Less rental income bec. so we gave tenants a break on April rent. Husband not working.
We re going to be fine

My DH can start SS anytime but we are hoping to postpone until Nov.

We'll see ...........

 

[jollystomper]

We are not intentionally cutting back on anything. Travel limitations and closures of recreational places like golf and bowling are doing that for us. A nephew's college graduation ceremony was officially cancelled so that saves us driving and hotel/lodging expenses. Another nephew's wedding in June that will be a rental car drive and hotel is also in jeopardy. A planned cruise and a separate vacation in April are cancelled. We will not be doing overseas trips to see family this year.


Some of this savings we will use to help other family members impacted in much worse ways than us.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

What area do you live in?.can you do Amazon for any food staples? I noticed their stock of items is improving

I've been getting my pantry items online and have them delivered, mostly from Amazon and Walmart. I just keep checking back from time to time and make an order when they have enough stuff I want to get free shipping. Items go in and out of stock very quickly, but I have been able to get all the basics - cereal, rice, an assortment of dried and canned beans, tuna, TP, canned soups, dried fruit, pasta and nuts.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

We're not cutting anything at this time. We're fortunate we don't have any rental income we rely on. I can appreciate the OP's concern.

Having said that, we're only a couple weeks into this. I might get out the pruning shears later in the year, depending on how things go.

 

[Scuba]

We normally spend a lot on travel, eating out, and social events/entertainment, so we have reduced our spending level substantially. As others have mentioned, our cars aren’t being driven so that is way down as well.

We will not be cutting any ongoing expenses at this time. Fortunately the tenant in our rental property has a very good job and is likely to continue paying rent.

 

[Pellice]

Thinking about culling AAA. But my dealer's towing warranty ends this year. I also have towing covered by my auto insurance, BUT I see so many warnings about NEVER using your auto insurance to cover a towing charge. On the other hand, I'm driving a 3 year old Honda Civic, very reliable. Anybody know anything about this issue?