Tips to reduce monthly expenses!

Here are some cost-saving tips that I have learned over the years. My post about my monthly budget also talked about a few cost-saving tips that my wife and I use.

1. Utilities Cost Doesn't matter if you rent or own a house you'll still need to pay for utilities. Depending on where you are living the price of utilities vary drastically (i.e Ontario vs Alberta). The thing about utilities is that the less you use the less you paid. A very obvious statement that a lot of people fail to use to their advantage. Here are a few things that usually cost you the most but are easy to cut back on:
1. Heating - Setting your house to a high temperature so that you can wear a T-Shirt around the house in the winter is a very costly habit. A few degrees less can save you big time over the span of winter.
2. Shower - Taking a long shower does two things, uses water and uses electricity or gas to heat up the water. Just remember that it is not just the water you are using but also the boiler for the hot water.
3. Dishwasher - Dishwasher is the same as shower, it uses hot water for washing then electricity for drying the dishes. Set your dishwasher for air dry if possible, it'll take a little longer to dry but will use less electricity.
2. Auto Insurance A very simple cost-saving measure is to increase your deductible on your insurance. This means that if you ever decide to claim insurance you'll have to pay more out of pocket for your repairs. If you think about it, most people don't claim insurance for the minor incident and when you require major repairs the cost will be much higher than your deductible. Also, remember your insurance policy gets taxed so having a more expensive plan means paying more tax. Increase your deductible, pay less tax and save the difference. 
3. Internet/Cables You don't need the fastest internet available unless you have a lot of people living with you. The cheapest plan is often enough for all your internet needs such as Netflix or gaming. If you need more then upgrade to a better plan after. As for TV, I realize that a lot of on-demand option such as Netflix or Sports TV subscription will still end up being much cheaper than a cable package.
4. Repair > Replace When something breaks in your house you can either repair it or replace it. Sadly a lot of people opt for the latter and end up spending way more than they need to. I remember when my refrigerator broke my first instinct was to get a new one to replace it. After some research on Google, I was able to diagnosis the problem and end up buying a replacement part for $70. If you try to replace things when they break then you will spending a lot of money.

I'll share more saving tips whenever I discover them myself. Feel free to comment if you have any saving tips that you'll like to share.