Money Management

Want to save money? You don’t have to cancel your favorite streaming services and subscriptions. See how to save big money by cutting back on monthly bills. [[{“value”:”

Netflix, Disney+, Spotify, Hulu, and other digital subscriptions have started to feel like must-have essentials for everyday life. Other subscriptions like meal kits, fitness apps, and gym memberships can help you live a healthier, happier, and more abundant lifestyle. But all these subscriptions come at a cost to your personal finances. If you want to save more money in 2024, your subscription costs could be a big part of your monthly bills.

Have your subscriptions gotten more expensive than you realized? On the one hand, maybe that’s not a problem: If you love your subscriptions and you use them all, you might not want to cancel any. But if you want to save more money in 2024, cutting back on subscription costs could be an easy way to do it.

Let’s look at a few ways to boost your bank account in 2024, while keeping the subscriptions you love.

1. Renegotiate your biggest monthly bills

When your home internet service provider (ISP), mobile phone carrier, or other big monthly bills raise their prices, you don’t have to just sit there and take it. You can negotiate your bills.

For example, if your gym has started to offer a lower price to new customers, you can ask the gym to give you that same price. If your mobile phone service has jacked up its rates, you can ask it to give you a discount, or ask to speak to the customer retention team. Many companies would rather keep you as a customer than lose you to a lower-priced competitor.

You might not always get what you want when you ask for a price break, but it never hurts to try. Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Call to ask for a better deal, and your biggest recurring bills might get a little bit more affordable.

How much you can save: I am currently paying $142 per month for home internet. Let’s assume that I ask my ISP for a discount, and they give me a 10% price cut. That would save me $14.20 per month, or about $170 per year.

2. Switch to lower-cost mobile phone service

Depending on how you use your smartphone, you might be overpaying for cellphone service. Many people want a cellphone plan that has unlimited mobile data — this is the priciest part of most cellphone plans.

But how often are you really using mobile data? If you work from home and use free public wifi at coffee shops or the mall, you might not be using nearly as much cellular data as you’re paying for. Check your phone’s data usage — for example, I’ve only used 375 MB of data on my phone, with eight days left in my billing cycle. Why am I paying for unlimited data? I should get a lower-cost cellphone plan.

Mobile phone data is not a precious, scarce resource anymore. Your cellphone bill should probably be cheaper! It might be time to reduce your monthly data allotment, or switch to a new mobile phone company. For example, Mint Mobile (as of Jan. 21, 2024) is offering unlimited data for $15 per month for the first three months (then $30 per month).

How much you can save: My mobile phone service currently costs $75 per month. If I switched to Mint Mobile unlimited data, I would save $45 per month, or $540 per year.

3. Cut — don’t cancel — your less-used subscriptions

Some subscriptions provide excellent value, and you want to keep using them, but you don’t want to pay full price or get the most premium options. Sometimes you can save significant money by keeping your subscription but cutting the price.

For example, if you are a Peloton customer, you could switch from Peloton App+ ($24.00 per month) to Peloton App One ($12.99 per month). If you subscribe to HelloFresh meal kits, you could switch from three meals per week for two people ($70.93 per box) to two meals per week ($56.95 per box).

How much you can save: If you made both of these moves to downsize your subscriptions to Peloton and Hello Fresh, you could save a total of about $67 per month, or $804 per year.

4. Change streaming services to ad-supported

Everyone loves streaming video and music subscriptions, but these services have been gradually jacking up their prices in the past few years. When you add up all your streaming services, you might be paying more than cable TV used to cost!

If you subscribe to Netflix, Disney+, Max, and Spotify, here’s how much you’d save by switching from premium or ad-free plans to ad-supported plans:

Netflix: Switch from Premium to Standard with ads and save $16 per monthDisney+: Switch from Disney+ Premium to Disney+ Basic (with ads) and save $6 per month.Max: Switch from Ultimate Ad Free to With Ads and save $10 per month.Spotify: Switch from Spotify Premium Individual to Spotify Free and save $10.99 per month.

Based on pricing listed as of Jan. 21, 2024, if you switch to ads with all four of these streaming services, you’ll save $46.99 per month — or $564 per year.

Bottom line: If you could make all the money moves shown in this article, after one year you’d have an extra $2,078 in your savings account! Not everyone has the same options; maybe your ISP won’t give you a discount, maybe you’re not in a good coverage area for lower-cost cellphone service. But most people have more control over their monthly bills than you might think.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Netflix. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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It might not be a great year to become a homeowner, but many of us are dreaming about it. Learn what you can do to turn the dream into reality. [[{“value”:”

If you’ve spent the last few years itching to get on the property ladder, you might be feeling pretty discouraged by persistently higher mortgage rates and a stubbornly low number of houses for sale. But don’t lose hope — here are a few ways to make it more likely that you’ll be able to buy a home this year.

1. Assess your financial and personal situation

You might want to become a homeowner, but be honest with yourself — are you actually ready, or are you just assuming that buying a house is “the next step,” and not doing so means you’re not a “real adult”? If so, no shame — I was once in your shoes, and buying a house in my 20s was easily one of the biggest financial mistakes I’ve ever made.

If you are ready for all the responsibilities and expenses that come with owning, it’s best to look at your financial situation to make sure it’ll stand up under scrutiny (and higher bills). How’s your credit score? A score of 620 is generally considered to be the minimum to buy with a conventional loan, but you may be able to get a different type of loan with a lower credit score.

What about your debt? If you’ve got a lot of it, particularly of the high-interest variety, it’s a better idea to focus on paying off your debt before taking on the huge expense of a mortgage. And with a lot of debt, a lender might be reluctant to approve your mortgage application — or offer you the best rate available. And don’t forget to consider your income — it’s best to keep your predictable housing costs below 30% of your take-home pay, lest you end up house poor.

2. Save money

Think you know how expensive buying and owning a house is? You’re likely underestimating, unless you’ve been a homeowner before. Expensive repairs and other problems that you got to outsource to a landlord as a renter will become your problems — and it’ll be your checking account that covers them. As such, if you want to buy this year, saving money should be a major focus.

You’ll cover a down payment and closing costs in the process of buying, and there might be other costs before you even move in, like renovations. And then there’s the cost of the move itself. And once you’re all moved in, you’ll want a stocked emergency fund to help you cope with those surprise bills, like a furnace that dies on the coldest day of winter.

3. Choose the right mortgage type

How much do you know about mortgages? Now is the time to learn. There are many different types to choose from — a conventional loan is only the beginning. If you’re a first-time home buyer, you might want to use an FHA loan. Current or former military members are eligible for VA loans. And that’s still only the tip of the iceberg.

The point I’m trying to make here is that some loan types might be a better fit for you than others. So do some investigating into mortgage types and find the right one for you to make buying in 2024 easier.

4. Find the best lender — and the best rate

All right, you’ve assessed your finances, saved money, and decided what kind of loan you want to pursue. Now it’s time to find a good mortgage lender. Different lenders target different kinds of buyers, but our list of the best mortgage lenders is a good place to start looking. I recommend considering local lenders, too, as they often have their finger firmly on the pulse of your city and have a vested interest in getting good people into good homes.

Once you’ve identified a few potential lenders for you, apply for pre-approvals to see what rate you’d be offered. Mortgage rates can vary widely among different lenders, so it’s worth taking this step. As of this writing, the average rate on a 30-year fixed loan is 6.6% (per Freddie Mac), and if your credit score isn’t the strongest, you could end up with a much higher rate. The higher your mortgage rate, the more expensive it will be to buy a house. So shop around.

While 2024 may not be the best time to buy a house, plenty of us are hoping to become homeowners this year. If you are, too, lean on these tips to take buying from a dream to reality.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Target. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Money market accounts are paying high APYs on the heels of Federal Reserve rate hikes. Learn why one writer has opted out of getting an MMA. [[{“value”:”

If you’ve got money in the bank, you’re at a definite advantage these days. Not only are you more likely to be able to avoid taking on debt in the event of an unplanned expense, but annual percentage yields (APYs) on deposit accounts are quite high. This is thanks to the Federal Reserve’s string of 11 rate hikes between 2022 and 2023.

These increases to the federal funds rate were intended to slow inflation, and they did have an effect — as of the most recent Consumer Price Index report, inflation was at 3.4%. This is higher than the 2% the Fed targets, but it’s miles better than the 9.1% we saw for June 2022.

The Federal Reserve doesn’t set consumer interest rates on bank accounts, credit cards, and loans, but these tend to move in the same direction as the federal funds rate. Hence, we’re seeing those higher APYs on savings accounts, CDs, and money market accounts (MMAs). Some MMAs are even paying more than 5% APY. But I’m not rushing to open one — and here’s why.

I am currently well-banked

As of now, I have four bank accounts, two each for checking and savings, and they’re at two different banks. One of my banks is of the big national brick-and-mortar variety, while the other is online only.

By using both, I get to take advantage of the different features they offer — and I favor the checking account with the big bank and the savings account with the online bank to meet most of my banking needs. With this many accounts to juggle, I’m not really interested in adding yet another bank account to my plate. (This might change in the future, however, as I’ll discuss below.)

High-yield savings accounts are competitive with MMAs

Another reason I haven’t opened an MMA is because I can get a similar APY on a savings account right now, thanks to that higher federal funds rate. And savings accounts have some other advantages, including no minimum balance requirements or monthly fees. If I can earn the same returns on a savings account, it doesn’t make sense to open an MMA right now.

I’m not ruling out an MMA in the future

While I’m not opening a money market account now, I could change my mind. I’m planning a big financial move for 2024 — buying a house. I’ve spent the last 15 months or so saving money to meet this goal in a high-yield savings account, but once I actually find a house to buy and go forward with the purchase, I might end up looking for a new home for my emergency fund.

That money is currently co-mingled with my house fund in the savings account, but it might be nice to have easier access to it in the future. Right now, to get the money in that savings account (which is with an online-only bank), I have to transfer it to the checking account I have linked to it and then I can use my debit card to make purchases or withdraw cash from an ATM.

If I open an MMA, I can get around this money shuffling — I could directly access my cash via debit card or checks when I need it. And if interest rates fall and MMAs end up with higher APYs than savings accounts, it might make a lot of sense to move my emergency fund to one at that point.

There are a lot of options out there for bank accounts. Money market accounts might not be the right fit for me at this time — but they might be right for you.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Cable TV service can be expensive. Read on to see if it’s time to cut the cord. [[{“value”:”

One of the personal finance goals my husband and I set for 2024 was to try to reduce our spending on things that didn’t make sense to pay for. And cable was an easy expense category to target in that regard.

My family has had cable for years, and I can say with all honesty that the only thing I ever really use it for is the sports access. As such, we recently looked into different options to see if cutting the cord was feasible for us. And in the end, we found that there was no way to get me the sports access I want at a lower cost than what we’re currently paying.

But just because I don’t stand to reap savings due to my viewing needs doesn’t mean you won’t manage to save money by cutting out cable. So it pays to run the numbers to see what you’re looking at.

A move that could pay off

If you’re paying for cable for local sports team access, I’ll warn you right now that it may be a struggle to find a viable or cost-effective alternative. A lot of the sports packages you’ll see outside of a cable plan are designed to black out local games. So if you live in a different part of the country than your favorite sports team, you may have options. Otherwise, good luck.

If you’re not so intent on getting sports access, though, then you may find that switching from cable to streaming services saves you a bit of money. How much money, though, is the question.

Allconnect says that the average cable and internet bill in the U.S. is now $118 per month. Of that, the cable portion’s average price is around $43 — not so much more than what you might pay for a few streaming services.

As an added example, in my area, Optimum TV has plans for as low as $40 a month. But that doesn’t include taxes and fees, which can drive the cost up. And if you want more channels, you’re going to pay more. I can tell you that the cable portion of my bill is basically twice as high — again, because the company pretty much backs you into a corner if you want sports.

Meanwhile, a standard Netflix plan is $15.49 a month. And the Hulu-Disney Bundle Trio Premium costs $24.99 per month, which includes Disney+ and Hulu ad-free and ESPN+ with ads.

If you’re someone who wants some sports access but don’t have a team you follow per se, the Hulu-Disney Bundle Trio might work for you. And if you want to add Netflix on top of that for more variety, you may find that you’re paying anywhere from a touch less to a lot less than what you’re paying for cable, depending on your current package.

What’s the right call?

To me, saving somewhere in the ballpark of $40 a month isn’t worth giving up access to the sports teams I like and watch frequently. But you may be in a different situation. So take a look at your options and see what makes the most financial sense.

If you’re paying for cable to have something to watch but aren’t so picky about what that something is, then you may want to switch to a streaming service or two instead and enjoy a lower credit card bill. But if you can afford cable and you like cable, keep paying for cable.

Cord cutting may be a somewhat trendy thing to do these days, but it isn’t for everyone. And you shouldn’t be made to feel like you’re throwing your money away on cable if you see the value in it.

That’s the way I justify my decision to keep cable. It doesn’t matter that I’m not using 179 of the channels I’m offered. I’m using the few channels that matter to me. That’s really all that counts.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Maurie Backman has positions in Netflix. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Netflix. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Worried about the unstable global economy? Here are five mistakes to avoid, so you can build stability in your personal finances. [[{“value”:”

War in Ukraine and the Middle East, Houthi rebels striking cargo ships in the Red Sea, political unrest, climate change…it seems like the global economy is in a constant state of crisis. What if you lose your job, what if you suffer an emergency expense that you can’t afford, what if the stock market crashes?

There are lots of “what-ifs” in the world. But no matter what happens from one day to the next in the global economy, it’s important to build your own sense of resilience and stability in your personal finances.

Let’s look at a few expensive mistakes to avoid during times of economic uncertainty.

1. Taking a hit to your credit score

If your FICO® Score is less than “good,” (lower than 670) you are vulnerable to higher costs and painful penalties. People with poor credit are charged higher interest rates, might be declined for loans and credit cards, and might not get hired for a job, or be rejected from renting an apartment.

Building and improving your credit can be the first step to building financial resilience in unstable economic times. Here are a few quick tips:

Make sure you’re not missing payments or making late payments. Payment history makes up 35% of your FICO® Score. Even if you have to make just a minimum payment for a credit card, make the payment on time.Check your credit utilization ratio. Are you maxing out your credit cards? If so, you might get dinged on your credit score. Try to keep your credit utilization below 30%. So if you have a credit card with a $10,000 limit, try not to carry a balance of more than $3,000 at any time.Get a secured credit card. If you don’t have an established credit history or are rebuilding your credit after a bankruptcy or negative credit events, you can get a secured credit card. This type of credit card lets you put down a cash deposit, such as $200 or $500, that becomes your “credit limit” for spending. Over time, you can boost your credit score and graduate to a regular credit card.

Strengthening your credit score is a smart financial move, especially if you have a lower income and not much wealth. If you don’t have much money, it’s even more important to avoid credit card interest and other high-interest debts.

2. Not having an emergency savings fund

If you’re feeling uncertain about the global economy, how is your emergency fund? Ideally, you should have three to six months of living expenses in a savings account. Your emergency fund is there in case you lose your job or suffer some kind of disabling injury or illness, and can’t work for a few months.

If you think it might take longer than six months for you to find a job, or if you want additional peace of mind, you might want even more cash savings. Money in the bank can help relieve your worries.

3. Not improving your career skills and earning power

Even if you currently have a good job and a decent emergency savings fund, it’s important to stay on top of the latest trends in your field. Can you take an online course, get a new certification, or invest in professional development? Should you consider going back to school to get another degree?

Keep looking for ways to make yourself more valuable to your employer and more marketable in your industry. As of January 2024, the U.S. job market is generally strong, with low unemployment. But in case of an economic downturn, you’ll want to stay nimble so you can pivot to a new job, a new company, or a new career field.

4. Putting too much money in one stock (or asset)

In an unstable global economic environment, it’s even more important to diversify your investments. Putting too much money into a single company’s stock, a single category of assets, or a single country’s stock market can be risky.

If you are feeling nervous about the global economy, you might want to take a fresh look at how your money is invested across your portfolio, such as:

Can you diversify your portfolio by investing in a wider range of stock and bond ETFs?Do you have too many international stocks, or not enough?Are you overly invested in your employer’s stock, such as through an employee stock purchase program?

Don’t put too many eggs in one basket. Stay diversified and you’ll be better positioned to stay resilient during the next crisis, shock, or downturn in the global economy.

5. Making panic moves based on short-term economic situations

In March 2020, the stock market plummeted. COVID-19 was shutting down the world, no one knew what would happen next, and some people were panicking. But by the end of 2020, the stock market had recovered all those losses, and more — the S&P 500 ended up gaining 16% in 2020.

The lesson: don’t overreact to short-term economic news. Don’t sell all your stocks if the market goes down, don’t give up on international stocks because of one bad news story, and try not to live in a state of cynical pessimism. Just keep working, keep saving, and keep investing according to your long-term goals.

Bottom line: It’s easy to feel worried, sad, or negative about the state of the world. But remember: humanity tends to recover from even the worst crises. In the long run, most people are working hard every day and trying to make the world better. Being an investor is an act of trust. Just by showing up for work everyday and participating in the global economy, you are making a statement of faith in human ingenuity and positive collaboration.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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