The Reduce a Bill Challenge is Back!
February 1, 2008 – 2:06 pmI have to apologize profusely to ya’ll. After some discussion with previous participants of the challenge I felt it was best to take the month of December off due to Christmas. I thought we could all use a break since Christmas time can be a hard time just to even stay on budget, let alone try and reduce it. Well…December stretched into January and before I knew it the month was half way over. I’ve been up to my ears in moving boxes and mud from our backyard landscape project that the Reduce a Bill Challenge got pushed to the back of my mind.
So here it is February 1st and the Reduce a Bill Challenge is back.
- Read this to get the info on how it works.
- Leave a post with what you plan to reduce.
- I’ll have weekly check-ins to see how everyone is doing. Come share your progress, advice for others and get help if you are struggling.
What am I going to reduce this month?
Two things.
First, we just our most recent gas bill (natural gas heats our house and our water). It was $327!!! So my first goal is to be more aggressive with turning down the heat when we are not at home.
My second goal is to reduce our grocery bill. In November I totally blew it during the challenge. Not only did I not reduce our bill, I went over budget. About three weeks ago I got serious and switched completely to cash for groceries. So far it’s worked really well and I don’t have to worry about estimating how much we have left for groceries. A quick peek in my wallet let’s me know. I budget $100 a week, and I want to spend $95 a week this month. Which means next Friday on payday I will take out $190 cash instead of $200. I’ll have to get a little more creative to make sure the money lasts.
What about you? Want to join in? Leave a post and let us know what you will work on reducing this month. I’ll post a link to all the participants on the Reduce a Bill Challenge page.
8 Responses to “The Reduce a Bill Challenge is Back!”
Oh yay! I’m so glad this is back! I need the accountability!
I’m going to reduce my eating out bill, because I went way over budget on that in January. And I also want to reduce my gas bill. It was $69 last month, which is higher than I like it. Time to turn down the heat!
By Lynnae @ Being Frugal.net on Feb 1, 2008
Hi… I think my family needs to work on reducing our electric bill. We have gotten lazy about turning lights, unused appliances, etc. off when not in use. Our utility bill includes a comparison for each month’s usage to the previous year’s equivalent month. And not counting rate increases, we are way over our usage last year. So my reduce-a-bill is electric!
By dawn on Feb 1, 2008
Re: your gas bill. Do you know about programmable thermostats? You can set them to raise and lower the temp at whichever times you desire. You can always override what you’ve set it at, but you can also completely forget it and know you’ve not gone off for the day without forgetting to lower the temp.
Amazon’s got a Honeywell for 21$.
By Karen on Feb 2, 2008
Oh, I’m sooo in. I got through the holidays without adding debt. Went to visit my dad which always costs money. Now, I’m in my panic mode because I’m off kilter.
My challenge(s) -
Brainstorm to bring in an extra $100 for February and bring my lunch to work at least 3 days each week.
By Mary on Feb 2, 2008
I’d like to reduce the cost of our landline telephone bill. We pay it quarterly however the cost of calls is currently on average £17.42 a month. I want to reduce this by 50%.
It doesn’t seem a lot however it would be extra money towards the mortgage payments.
Good luck everyone:)
By nomorespending on Feb 3, 2008
I want to reduce my landline phone/internet bill. Currently, it’s at about $66 a month, and I think that’s outrageous for someone who almost never uses the phone (I do, however, use my internet frequently, both for work and play).
Eventually, I’d like to find a way to reduce the internet side of the bill, but that’s for another month. . . .
By Finally Frugal on Feb 3, 2008
the bill that i want to reduce this month is my entertainment bill. for some reason no matter how much i try, i can’t see to get it under budget. this is a great way to keep me honest and accountable.
By getoutofdebt08 on Feb 4, 2008
I just wanted to give you a tip on the gas bill if you haven’t tried already. I did the same and now I know how much I need to budget every month for gas and electric. Ask if you can participate in budget billing. In the winter season it skyrockets but I used to have a $300 bill and now it is reduced to $70. They take the average of usual spent watts and figure your bill ( so I think ).
By Caren on Feb 10, 2008