Half of 2021 has already come and gone, which means it’s the perfect time to check in on your finances. If you’ve noticed that you could benefit from cutting back on expenses in some areas of your financial life, we’ve compiled a list of three ways you could consider reducing your costs this summer.
Reduce Your Costs by Refinancing Your Mortgage
If you are a homeowner, you likely have a 30-year fixed or adjustable-rate mortgage. There’s a chance that the current rates or term lengths available from lenders are more favorable now than when you originally signed your mortgage. If this is the case and you find a lender with a lower mortgage interest rate than the mortgage you currently have, you could reduce your costs by refinancing your mortgage. This will likely be reflected in both long and short-term savings. Typically when you can refinance your mortgage for a lower interest rate, the monthly payment will become lower, and the total interest paid back over time will be less.
Reduce Your Costs by Carpooling or Car Sharing
Typically in the summer months, gas prices for vehicles rise, and this year is no exception. To save money every month and at the gas pump, you could reduce your costs by carpooling. This means that when you travel somewhere, you travel in the same vehicle with someone else also going to that destination and split the cost of gas. As an added bonus, this is better for the environment as well as it cuts down the number of vehicles on the road.
Another great option to reduce your costs for transportation is to utilize car sharing, even within your immediate household. This means that instead of having multiple vehicles with multiple auto loans, your household invests in one reliable vehicle to share so that your entire household just has one monthly auto loan payment and one vehicle to pay to upkeep.
Reduce Your Costs by Eliminating Unnecessary Monthly Expenses
Some monthly expenses, like your housing payment and electricity bill, are unavoidable. However, if you review your monthly banking statements, it’s likely that some expenses could be discretionary An easy way to reduce your costs this summer is to review your credit card and bank statements and see what you can live without.
This can be as simple as identifying that you are paying to eat out too much or that you have monthly subscriptions that you have forgotten about and don’t get your money’s worth of use from.
Choosing to reduce your costs now can possibly lead to long-term savings, which can be put to use in your savings account, retirement savings, investment accounts, or in other areas of your life.
Do you need help managing your finances? Let us know!
It can be challenging to balance your savings, loans, and other accounts all in one place. However, we offer many ways to help manage your finances at Camino Federal Credit Union through online banking, and mobile banking app. Please give us a call at 800-835-3400 to speak with one of our Member Advisors, or contact us online at caminofcu.org for more information.
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