Get Moving On Projects by Editing Expenses (Editing Life Series)
Posted on September 24, 2010 by LJ Earnest
Categories: Article Series,Editing Life
This is the fourth article in the Editing Life series.
Expenses mean money out. Money out means that money has to come in. Having less going out means that I can have less coming in, or have the excess for other stuff.
The thing I didn’t realize is that I am often paying for things that I don’t use or need. If I am aware of such services, and I’m not using them, I then feel like I should “do something about it”, which becomes another open loop.
Expenses for Editing
Here are some expenses that crop up in my life that add to my overload:
- Print media subscriptions
- Other subscriptions
- Netflix
- Cell phone
- Cable
- Internet
I found all of our repeating charges by looking at our bank statements. And one by one I went through them, evaluating and eliminating where necessary. Here’s the kicker, though: anything that I eliminated because I didn’t have time or priority for, I also removed from the house.
Magazines
There were three magazine subscriptions: one for my daughter and two for myself. My daughter’s magazine subscription was billed on a monthly charge and she didn’t read the magazine. That was cancelled and all unread issues went to the school to be used as they saw fit. For me, one magazine I read, one I didn’t. So I cancelled the one I didn’t read…and removed the backlog into the recycling bin.
Newspapers
I don’t read or watch the news. I figure if something important happens someone will tell me. We do get the Sunday newspaper, though, because I like the comics and my husband likes the sports section. (No kidding. It’s all we read.) So when the newspaper called us to get us to “upgrade” I ask if the carrier would be willing to simply put the newspaper in recycling. This is usually met with silence, and I explain that is exactly what I will be doing because I have no interest in reading the paper during the week.
Other Subscriptions
I love books. Audio books are great, particularly on trips and when I have longer errands to run. But I ended up getting behind in my Audible.com subscription a few years ago. As in it-would-take-me-months-to-catch-up behind. So I canceled my subscription and have been slowly working my way through the backlog of audio books.
Services
This one was tricky because it wasn’t a yes/no answer. With Netflix, the cell phone, cable and internet, the services are used. The question became: are they right-sized for our usage?
Figuring out what we actually use can be as simple as looking at how often we use the service (Netflix and cable), “leftovers” (cell phone minutes and unwatched Netflix movies) and frequency/depth of use (internet).
By examining my overload by looking at my expenses, I see other areas that I can pare back and free up my obligations. When I get rid of the backlog, that is one more loop closed.
How do you limit expenses? Share below.
Photo by a loves dc
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