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Take control of your mailbox

© Erin Huffstetler

See if this scenario sounds familiar. You've just gotten home from a long day at work. Following your nightly routine, you make a trip to the mailbox to retrieve the day's mail. Standing before the box, you allow yourself an optimistic moment. Perhaps today will be different. Maybe there's a letter from a distant relative. Maybe even a letter from Publisher's Clearing House. Optimism aside, the contents is no mystery to you. You are simply prolonging the inevitable. When it can be put off no longer, you finally lower the door to the mailbox, and allow your worst fears to be confirmed. Lurking inside are lots and lots of windowed envelopes. And you, like the rest of the world, know that only one thing comes in windowed envelopes . . . BILLS!

Now you can close the mailbox door, and pretend the bills aren't there, but sooner or later you're going to have to deal with them. Want to put this scenario to rest? Then it's time to reduce your monthly bills.

The first step is to determine what you hope to accomplish. Do you want to free up a little cash for a family vacation? Find money to put towards your retirement? Or are you so overwhelmed with bills, that you need to find a way to dig yourself out of debt? Determining your goal will help you to figure out how much money you have to free up.

Next make a list of all of your monthly expenses. When your list is complete, evaluate the necessity of each item. Do you have to have a cell phone? Is cable television an absolute must have? If it is, that's fine. The point is to save money, not to squeeze all of the fun out of life.

You might even consider making some short-term sacrifices until you have gotten your financial situation on track.

Once you have eliminated all of your unnecessary expenses, the next step is to find ways to save money on your remaining bills. This is where a little research and creativity can result in big savings.

First check to see if your bill collectors' offer electronic billing. Many companies have begun to tack on an extra service charge for mailing out your statement each month. By signing up for electronic billing you can to avoid these extra charges. You'll still receive your bill every month; it'll just come to your email instead.