In this episode of Motley Fool Answers, Alison Southwick and Robert Brokamp want to help you get rich quick. Well, richer, and with a fairly small investment of your time, even if you'll have to wait a while to see results.
For tip six, Brokamp suggests you review your bank and credit card statements for recurring charges for things you can cut or reduce. Odds are, you'll find some.
A full transcript follows the video.
This video was recorded on Jan. 9, 2018.
Alison Southwick: What about the sixth thing you can do in under 15 minutes to have a wealthier 2018?
Robert Brokamp: No. 6 is eliminate or reduce a recurring expense. We all know what these things are. It could be a gym. It could be cable. It could be a phone. Subscriptions. A lot of times these things are employee benefits like Pre-Paid Legal, or some sort of extra insurance coverage, or anything that's coming out of your paycheck and you just forgot about it. I bet that if you look at three months' worth of bank statements, credit card statements, and paychecks, you're going to find something that [a] you're paying for that you no longer want or [b] someone you can call and negotiate a better deal.
We've talked on previous episodes about cable bills. This past year I called my cable provider about slow Wi-Fi speeds. I ended up getting a faster Wi-Fi speed and a lower price before I was done with it. So, give it a try. See what you can reduce or eliminate.
Southwick: And if you want to dig into the archives of Motley Fool Answers, we also have an episode with Ollen Douglass, The Motley Fool's CFO, on how to negotiate your bills. You can search for that episode to get more tips on wheeling and dealing, as it were.
Engdahl: Can I throw something in there?
Southwick: Yeah!
Brokamp: Sure. Please do.
Engdahl: This is tying two of your tips together. If you are someone who pays off your credit cards [and you go shopping for a better credit card, sign up for it, and start using it exclusively], then soon all those subscription fees that you forgot about start popping up on the old credit card and they reveal themselves to you. And you say, "Hey! I didn't know I was still paying for that! I can get rid of that, now." It works really well.
Brokamp: Or you can just cancel that card, and then those things disappear.
Engdahl: Well, that gets a little messier, because then you start getting notices from people that you're not paying them. This way they pop up. It's like, "Oh! I was paying for Babysitter.com?" Who knew?
Southwick: Were you really?
Engdahl: Well, that was a year or two ago, but yes, that happened. I was paying like $25 a month and I had no idea.
Southwick: $25 a month?
Engdahl: It was one of those free trials. You sign up for a free trial to use once and then you forget to [cancel it]. Yes, stuff like that pops up. I know you could just read the statements all the way through every month or whatever, but nobody does that.
Brokamp: Yes, it's very difficult.
Engdahl: Just switch cards and suddenly the only thing left on that card pops up.
Southwick: Babysitter.com.
Brokamp: Babysitter.com.
Southwick: My kids are in college!
