Regardless of where you live or what your monthly expenses include, you have probably noticed that prices went up in recent years. This applies to everything from milk and eggs at the grocery store, to auto insurance to the cost of utilities and rent.
"The average household is now spending $2,126 a month on the top 10 bills," said Business Insider, citing a report from the payment platform Doxo. These bills include basics like "mortgage payments, rent and mobile phones." Notably, this is "up 4% from a year ago and 19% since 2019."
For many people, these cost increases are a major source of stress. "Nearly four in ten (39%) of U.S. adults say they worry most or all of the time that their family's income won't be enough to meet expenses," said CNN Business, citing results from a poll taken in July. This is a sentiment expressed in "even higher percentages of Latino (52%) and Black (46%) Americans," and among "more than half (55%) of those making less than $50,000."
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Admittedly, many of the factors contributing to these increasing costs are out of individual bill-payers' control. Still, there are three steps you can take to try and make your bills feel a bit more manageable.
1. Try negotiating
If you thought the amount owed on a bill was set in stone, think again. As it turns out, "you can often call customer service at providers such as your cable, internet or phone companies to negotiate your bills," said Experian. Believe it or not, said Discover, "these providers can bend the rules on their rates more than you think."
You can use this tactic to potentially "negotiate with companies to remove a recent late fee or reduce your monthly rate," said Discover. And it can work for more than just utility bills. If you want to join a gym, for instance, "come to the conversation armed with competitors' rates and the gym's own new customer promotions to get the best deal," said NerdWallet.
2. Consider downgrading — or canceling — when possible
While this tactic will not apply across the board, there are likely some areas where you can cut back. For instance, you might take a look at your cell phone bill to ensure you "only pay for what you need," said GOBankingRates, and "if you don't require something like voicemail that reads your messages aloud, don't pay for that service."
Another example is internet or cable packages. "You may be paying for very high internet speeds, for example," said Experian, "but if you spend some time testing your speed with websites and streaming services you typically use, you may find higher speeds unnecessary." In this case, you could save by "dropping to a lower-speed option."
Getting strategic with cancellations is also worth considering — and that does not necessarily mean totally depriving yourself. "Some of your discretionary bills may be reduced by rotating them," said Experian. So, for example, if you pay for several streaming services, consider suspending all but one service each month," so the "bills will only come for one service at a time."
3. Look out for discount opportunities
If you take the time to search, you may be surprised by how many discounts you can find. For some services, like cable and internet and auto insurance, you can save by bundling, which is when you get both services from the same provider. Or, for home insurance, "you may be able to save money on your homeowners insurance by paying in full, signing up for electronic payments or having a home security system," said NerdWallet.
Another option for utilities like electricity is to switch to a "fixed pricing plan or time-of-use plan," said Experian. With a time-of-use plan, you may pay a "lower delivery fee based on when you use the most energy," effectively rewarding you for waiting until off-times.
For groceries, you can "unlock exclusive sales and coupons by signing up for the store's loyalty program and downloading its app, if it has one," said NerdWallet. And if you dine out, plan to "take advantage of happy hours or other specials, like burger nights, Taco Tuesday deals and game-day promotions."
