I love automatic monthly payments. I never want to be late on a payment so I love when things are automatically pulled from my account. I haven’t had a late payment on anything in over five years, so it’s obviously working.
However, automatic payments can be dangerous. Sometimes you end up paying for something you don’t need, and you don’t realize it because it just keeps hitting your credit card or bank account every month.
In the last week I’ve canceled two recurring payments that are saving me a minimum of $65 a month, or $780 a year!
The Gym
How many people sign up for a gym with good intentions and then end up paying a monthly “fat tax” because you don’t use the gym and you don’t cancel the membership? Count me and my wife in that group.
We started with a membership and I was going 1-2 times per week. Then I got busy and stopped going but the monthly payments just kept on coming. It was only $22 per month for both of us, but we simply weren’t using it. I canceled this one last Saturday and am ready to just use our treadmill, bicycles, and P90X to stay in shape.
The Golf Course
This might scare people at first. No, I’m not a member of some fancy country club where I pay hundreds of dollars every month. This is simply a $40 plus tax (so about $43) membership that gives me free range balls and discounted greens fees.
This was actually a really good way to save money on a golf habit. A bucket of balls alone costs $11 and the membership saved me about $20 per round of golf I played. Hit 2 buckets and play 2 rounds in a month and I’ve saved a total of $62 dollars, which makes the $43 price tag worth it.
However, it’s November. That means it’s cold and the sun sets at 5:30. I can’t play after work because it’s dark and I can’t play on the weekends because it’s too dang cold. I canceled the membership last week and am looking forward to an extra $43+ in my account.
This is a really exciting cancellation because it also means I’m not playing golf anymore. That means no more greens fees, no more golf balls, gloves, lessons, or any of that nonsense. I’m actually probably saving at least $80 or $100 a month on this one.
Readers: Do you have any monthly expenses that you could get rid of?
James Hendrickson is an internet entrepreneur, blogging junky, hunter and personal finance geek. When he’s not lurking in coffee shops in Portland, Oregon, you’ll find him in the Pacific Northwest’s great outdoors. James has a masters degree in Sociology from the University of Maryland at College Park and a Bachelors degree on Sociology from Earlham College. He loves individual stocks, bonds and precious metals.