I worked so hard last year at lowering any bill I could and I am watching them just creep back up. I don't know if complaining or trying to restructure will help.
1. The phone bill was brought down to $90.00 a month for the two smart phone it is now $120 and I can see of no way to remedy that. I could switch companies but I also think staying local is important.
2. Our house taxes went up about $60.00 a month due to a new school levy. I voted for a new High school and it is really needed. So not much I can do here.
3. I just received our homeowners insurance and it went up to $778.00 a year almost $250.00 a year. I am working on changing companies. We do not have an enormous house or live in a fancy place, but we do have to pay for all the fire damage in California.
4. Our sewer bill is up over $40.00 a month due to the need of a new sewer plant. Nothing I can do here but be very careful with water and I already am careful.
5. I have our internet locked at a life time rate but now the new high speed is out in our area and ours is painfully slow so it is tempting to go up with the introductory rate but I lose the lifetime lock.
AS I see all these things concerning our property, it makes me realize that going to a smaller place with a smaller tax bracket is important. Less taxes, less insurance, smaller yard and water consumption, better internet access. These are just thoughts as retirement means no knew monies coming in.
However there are some good things happening on the financing front.
1.Gas for our cars is going down. We have in the last year had the highest gas prices in the nation. Even though our gas is shipped here in the cheapest way possible via barge. But we are held hostage by a group of cheap gouging gas stations. I think we have broken the mafia down here, by the majority of us going out of town for gas. Never underestimate the power of people in action. We are finally getting our gas down to around $2.29 a gallon and dropping everyday.
2. We can still get potatoes, and onions, which I think you could live on if you needed to for almost nothing.Toilet paper and most paper products are much cheaper here.
3. Housing prices remain high in this area which will be good for us when we sell. But is will also determine where we buy.
4. The new tax structure I believe is really helping the lower middle class which is where I put Hub's and I. We live very well because we use our talents and skills and we also are frugal.
5. continuing to hone frugal ways will always help our bottom line.
DO you notice things rising in your area? What are you doing to try and keep those costs down?
Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.
Kim.
I have noticed housing prices are really rising in our suburb. It is nice because I can move and not have to worry about a school district and the people with kids really do want to live in our city for the schools. I am only about 3 minutes from Mom, but as soon as she decides to live elsewhere our house goes on the market. It is way too big for us now anyway.
ReplyDeleteDo you feel like you rattling around like a couple of bb's in a tin can?
DeleteMaybe you could call your internet company and see if as a life lock consumer they will give you a good deal.
ReplyDeleteI will try, it just surprises me that in a year everything has really jumped.
DeleteHi Kim,
ReplyDeleteHousing prices keep rising and they are building the new section of our neighborhood. So I would imagine when we move, we will pay a lot higher in the area we are thinking about moving to but also get a decent price for this one. However because we had a lot of sales in here in 2018, our new assessment will be higher. We are at 100% evaluation and our town reassesses every year. So I am expecting a higher assessment in the spring. There is not much we can do about that.
Our cellphone is under my son's plan. They are planning on going to a new company soon and lowering the bill by doing so. If they do our share we pay should be a lot less than the $598. a year we pay now.
We should get our homeowners and car insurance bills this month because it is due the end of March. I expect they will rise. We switched last year because our former company kept giving us annual huge increases. $ 250. for your homeowners to increase is drastic.
Our sewer bill is quarterly and the cost is a function of how much water we put down the drain so we are able to control that somewhat.
We too are seeing our gasoline prices drop but not as low as yours. We are at $2.49. I try to lower that with less driving and by using our gasoline points to get a reduced price.
I believe the new tax structure is helping all of the middle class. We usually have to pay when we do our income taxes. I just finished them and we have changed no withholding on anything. But this year we are paying $1300. lower in taxes. I have talked to a few people and they are seeing almost the same results.
You are doing a great job frugally. When things go up, we just try harder to cut or cut in other areas where they haven't gone up.
That is what I am trying to do, but I always get this way in February very little money coming in and so much going out. Yikes!
DeleteIt seems like we have to stay right on top of things here too. Switching rates or even companies to get a good deal. It gets old that's for sure. Like you say there are those bills that we can just do nothing about. Gas, food, cable, all those things we can work with. I know my friend keeps a date on her calendar every year for when her cable contract is running out and calls them for a better rate. She threatens them with finding another company if they don't come down in their price. I do that and they say I'm sorry to hear your leaving. LOL
ReplyDeleteHave a great day.
Yeah I have had a few phone calls like that:)
DeleteWe made big savings on our land line by switching the number to a new cell phone line, but now the cost of internet and Direct TV went up, so what we thought would be $60 per month is only a $40 per month savings, and we have a new $15 fee on the extra cell line. Still, $300 for the year is better than no savings. We also will be looking at smaller houses in the near future, but our current house needs so much work-we'll eat up the profit from down sizing in home updates and upgrades. Still, we need to look at the month to month bills and reduce heating, electric, gas, and taxes and insurance.
ReplyDeleteOurs needs work also. I guess I sometimes wish I lived off grid so no one could raise anything on me. Well I would still have a phone, and I would still have land taxes.
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