How to Cut Your Monthly Expenses By $1,000 a Year

Honey Boo Boo may be entertaining, but is she worth the $100 or more you may be shelling out for cable each month?

According to The NPD Group, the average pay-TV subscription service cost $86 a month in 2011, and that number is expected to climb to $123 by 2015. If the research company is right, you may be on track to spend more than $200 a month for the privilege of watching television in 2020.

Cable or Satellite TV

Let’s start with the big one: your television service. Now, I know paying to watch TV seems to be the American way. After all, in 2012, Nielsen reported more than 90% of the nation’s households paid for a TV subscription either through a cable, satellite or telephone provider.

So I get it if you think pulling the plug is a bit radical. But it is also smart. If you have an HDTV and a roof antenna, you can get free over-the-air channels with a picture quality that puts standard-definition cable TV to shame.

In addition, if you have a newer TV, Blu-Ray player or gaming system and a high-speed Internet connection, you can use these streaming services for a fraction of the price:

Netflix
Hulu or Hulu Plus
Amazon Prime
iTunes

There may be a slight delay in watching new shows but ask yourself if it is really worth $1,200 a year just so you can be in the know for the office water cooler conversation?

Internet

Next to television, Internet is the other big monthly expense for many families.

If you are a basic Internet user and simply need service to check your email and Facebook, you may want to check out the ultra-cheap Internet available through Freedom Pop and NetZero.

With Freedom Pop, you can get up to 2 gigabytes of wireless service at 3G and 4G speeds, while NetZero offers a DSL hookup. NetZero is as cheap as $9.95 a month while Freedom Pop is free to start, and then charges as little as $3.99 a month. However, both services might require you to buy their modem and/or router equipment.

If you have a tiered data plan with Verizon Wireless, you can use your phone as a tethered hot spot for free. The company settled a complaint with the FCC in 2012 and agreed not to charge these customers for hot spot access. Depending on your plan, you might need to download a third-party app first.

If you are grandfathered into Verizon’s old unlimited data plan, you’re out of luck with the free hot spot service. However, you can pay $30 a month for 4 gigabytes of hot spot access, and that may be cheaper than what you are currently paying for DSL or cable. Other mobile carriers offer their own hot spot plans as well.

Finally, if your kids qualify for the National School Lunch Program, you can get $9.95 Internet access through programs such as Comcast’s Internet Essentials.

Mobile Phone Service

Moving right along … let’s talk about your cellphone. Signing a contract can be the best way to snag the latest and greatest phone for little or nothing upfront. But you’ll be paying for that phone in the form of higher monthly plan fees over the next two years.

If you aren’t particular about your phone, try a prepaid plan that will give you access to good service with a decent, although not flashy, phone. All the major carriers offer prepaid plans, but PC Magazine reports some of the smaller providers offer even better deals.

Check out what is available in your area from the following companies:

Consumer Cellular
Net10
Total Call Mobile
Page Plus Cellular
Ready Mobile

Be sure to compare a couple of providers before signing up. Most run on AT&T or Sprint’s network but Page Plus Cellular offers access to Verizon’s network. In addition, some providers, such as Total Call Mobile, may be a better choice if you need to call internationally.

Credit Monitoring

We’ve covered the big three, but there are still plenty more ways to save. Sometimes, we get so hung up on our major expenses that we ignore the little fees that nickel and dime our bank accounts down to nothing.

Take credit monitoring, for example. You could pay a company $15 a month or more to watch your credit report or you could do it yourself. By law, you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus each year. Request yours at annualcreditreport.com (the only government-authorized site) and review them for errors.

For additional peace of mind, you can add a fraud alert to your file, which requires lenders to take additional steps to verify your request before extending any credit in your name.

Computer Services

Along the same lines, why are you paying for virus protection and cloud storage when free options are available?

I am an AVG fan myself, but there are plenty of other good free anti-virus programs available. Again, we’ll defer to our friends at PC Magazine to help identify the best free programs on the Web. The following are among their recommendations:

Ad-Aware Free Anti-Virus
AVG Anti-Virus FREE
Comodo Internet Security Premium
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

Cloud storage is also easily found online. If you have an MSN account, you have access to their SkyDrive. Google users can back up documents to their Google Drive. Then, you also have Dropbox, iCloud, MediaFire and the list goes on and on.

Magazine Subscriptions

Confession time: I love magazines. My perfect morning involves sleeping children, a cup of coffee and a home and garden magazine.

Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to get cheap magazines without paying newsstand prices. For example, there are a number of websites offering free magazine subscriptions. I’ve personally used the free magazine section of ValueMags for consumer publications and Mercury Magazines for business titles.

While many free magazine offers are for digital editions, you can also find print subscriptions for free.

Speaking of digital editions, you can typically find much of a magazine’s content on its website for free. I know, it’s not quite the same as flipping through the pages, but you can’t beat the price.

If you must have the magazine in your hand but can’t find a free subscription, a trip to your local library is probably in order. In addition to checking magazines out, some branches have racks of old issues free for the taking.

Gym Memberships

Last but not least, that gym membership you’ve been clinging to in the hopes you really will begin working out any day now.

If you really want to belong to a gym, look for free or low-cost options. Students may have free access to their school’s facilities. Your health insurance plan may get you a discount. Or if you belong to Costco, you could take advantage of their arrangement with 24 Hour Fitness. Other chains such as Planet Fitness and Anytime Fitness specialize in no-frills, low-cost gyms.

Finally, it probably doesn’t need to be said, but you do know it’s free to walk on the sidewalk, right?

This post originally appeared on Money Talks News.

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