As I plan for retirement later this year, I have been reviewing what I am spending money on and how I can reduce spending, every little bit adds up.
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Subscriptions (Old School)
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When I was growing up magazines were a way to read about new ideas and products. I remember my subscription for PC Magazine. I looked forward to receiving that 1-pound magazine to read about what's new in the PC industry.
I have subscribed to quite a few magazines and newsletters over the years. During the last decade years I have been letting many subscriptions expire.
Information Age
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The information age has certainly changed our way of sharing, learning, and interacting with information. Today, information is literally available at our finger tips.
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Technology reviews are easy to find. If you want to learn or need help with something, you simply enter your request into an internet search engine and you will get a fountain of information. Books, videos, music, travel, photographs, and more can be found for FREE.
Newspaper Subscription
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One subscription I have kept throughout the years is my newspaper subscription. To learn what is going on locally it served its purpose for many years. I also enjoyed the coupons and advertisement circulars I got each week.
News Available Online
Many newspapers have an online presence these days. Some have paywalls that offer full articles for a subscription to their site. But I have always been able to find all the news of the day online for free, be it globally, nationally, and locally.
Coupons Online
There are various services that offer printable coupons online. This eliminates my need for the weekly coupons in my newspaper subscription.
Advertiser Circulars Online
The Flipp application allows you to browse and carry advertisement circulars with you on your cell phone. I learned about Flipp in this SteemIt post, Do you like saving money? by @jrcornel.
I often use "price match" when I shop to get the best price at Wal-Mart. "Price Match" has been a cost savings technique I have employed for years. With the Flipp application on my smart phone, it is so much easier now.
Dropping My Newspaper Subscription
When I contacted my local newspaper to cancel my subscription they offered me different options to reduce the subscription price in order to keep me as a subscriber. But I was persistent and cancelled my subscription.
My cost savings:
| Monthly | Yearly |
|---|---|
| $24.70 | $296.40 |
My yearly savings is $296.40. I should have done this much sooner, every little bit helps.