6 ways to save that will make more room in your budget!

Fees

Have you ever done a fee audit? Check all your accounts – Banks, credit cards, investment accounts – to see how much you are being charged in fees.  Fees can eat away at your bank balance and investment gains, making a big impact over time. There are many fees you may not realize you are paying for.

Again, call your providers and see if they will refund or waive the fees due to your loyalty as a customer. Tell them that you would hate to close the accounts, but the fees make it hard to justify keeping them. See if they will offer you anything to stay on as a customer. There of often retention teams whose sole job is to keep clients who are considering leaving. 

If you can’t reduce or remove the fees, look for alternate providers who don’t charge fees. Looking for no-fee banking in Canada? – Try Tangerine, Neo, Simplii, or EQ.  Looking for no-fee investment options? Wealthsimple Trade’s self-directed investing platform has no fees and you get a $25 sign up bonus to invest for using our link. 

Subscriptions

Remember when you signed up for that free trial, meaning to cancel before it ran out, and just forgot about it? Well, the company didn’t, and they have been charging you all these months!  This happens so frequently and we end up paying for something for months or years that we aren’t using. 

Do yourself a favour and do a subscription audit.  Check your app store or Google play store for subscription accounts, and make a call on which ones you really need.  Review which other (non app) subscription services you are using and decide if they all need to stay. 

If it can’t be negotiated, are there any steps you can take to influence what you are charged? Reduce your package to a lower tier? Switch providers? Cancel the service?

Food Costs

There are a few things to do to reduce your food costs each month. Look around your area for a cheaper grocery chain you could use. Always go shopping with a list after reviewing what is in your fridge and pantry. Never go grocery shopping hungry! Use a price matching app like FLIPP to get lower prices at your preferred store. Cook food in bulk and prepare lunches for the week so you aren’t tempted to buy takeout at lunch. Food is increasingly one of the largest costs in our budgets, especially with recent inflation, these tips can help you reduce your food budget each month.