I have not posted in over a week which has to be some sort of record for me. Normally it is the first thing I do every morning. For my regular readers - don't worry - I haven't run out of ideas at all. I have just been getting my financial house in order. It's like a spring clean of my finances and I highly recommend everyone does it at some point or another.
It is easy to be lazy and let contracts roll...but this is not always the financially smart thing to do
Whenever we sign up for a new contract we typically research it extensively. I generally spend hours looking up everything from health insurance to the price of my mobile phone contract to my gym membership.
However once these are in place it is generally a pain to renew them. We often will for bigger ticket items that hurt every time we have to pay it - a good example of this is car insurance. However if we pay a fee monthly (for example our mobile phone, internet or health insurance) we may not look at what else is out there...we may be missing out on paying a cheaper price for the same service or getting a better service for the same price.
Either way, this inactivity is how companies often make money. In fact, energy companies are notorious for this. They give you great discounts
however these discounts only apply for the contract period. Once you roll off this onto their 'standard' contract they sting you and make their real money.
I highly recommend therefore that everyone goes through a Financial Spring Clean. Mine was motivated by moving into my new rental. There is nothing like having to research the hell out of everything from internet plans to contents insurance to the cost of appliances to bring into focus how much money you can save just by looking around.
Beware...it is time consuming...
I can't believe how time consuming this process has been. There are better deals for almost every contract that I have on foot and most of my contracts have been out of the contractual period for such a long time.
To be fair the mobile phone contract I had with TPG (which I posted about when I got it) is still far better than anything else out there at the moment and my gym membership has not risen in the last 3 years. However, I did renew my car insurance for $300 less than my current insurer was offering me (a post about this to come soon) and I am looking at 'right sizing' my health insurance policy (I currently have top cover and claim almost nothing).
If you are the type of person that can keep on top of the paperwork and gradually look for new and better deals then perhaps you never let a contract roll over onto a bad deal. I am not like this (and I suspect most people aren't) so I have decided to take a week of pain every year and try and schedule all my contracts to be renewed around the same time.
You May Also Be Interested In
Save money when you upgrade your mobile phone plan
Save money off your electricity bill: always compare prices
Car insurance - getting a great deal
Choosing the right health insurance
It is easy to be lazy and let contracts roll...but this is not always the financially smart thing to do
Whenever we sign up for a new contract we typically research it extensively. I generally spend hours looking up everything from health insurance to the price of my mobile phone contract to my gym membership.
However once these are in place it is generally a pain to renew them. We often will for bigger ticket items that hurt every time we have to pay it - a good example of this is car insurance. However if we pay a fee monthly (for example our mobile phone, internet or health insurance) we may not look at what else is out there...we may be missing out on paying a cheaper price for the same service or getting a better service for the same price.
Either way, this inactivity is how companies often make money. In fact, energy companies are notorious for this. They give you great discounts
however these discounts only apply for the contract period. Once you roll off this onto their 'standard' contract they sting you and make their real money.
I highly recommend therefore that everyone goes through a Financial Spring Clean. Mine was motivated by moving into my new rental. There is nothing like having to research the hell out of everything from internet plans to contents insurance to the cost of appliances to bring into focus how much money you can save just by looking around.
Beware...it is time consuming...
I can't believe how time consuming this process has been. There are better deals for almost every contract that I have on foot and most of my contracts have been out of the contractual period for such a long time.
To be fair the mobile phone contract I had with TPG (which I posted about when I got it) is still far better than anything else out there at the moment and my gym membership has not risen in the last 3 years. However, I did renew my car insurance for $300 less than my current insurer was offering me (a post about this to come soon) and I am looking at 'right sizing' my health insurance policy (I currently have top cover and claim almost nothing).
If you are the type of person that can keep on top of the paperwork and gradually look for new and better deals then perhaps you never let a contract roll over onto a bad deal. I am not like this (and I suspect most people aren't) so I have decided to take a week of pain every year and try and schedule all my contracts to be renewed around the same time.
You May Also Be Interested In
Save money when you upgrade your mobile phone plan
Save money off your electricity bill: always compare prices
Car insurance - getting a great deal
Choosing the right health insurance
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