Tracey Baker:- Hi! I am Tracey Baker and I am the member of the Financial Planning Association. I am here, to discuss strategies to save you money. And right now, I am going to talk about planning for lower fixed cost. You can lower your fixed cost, if you plan ahead. Consider for example, how you might lower your housing cost. You may plan to move to a less expensive place at the end of your lease or down size to a smaller home. Though there would be some moving cost, as well as selling, buying cost. If you have more space then you need you may be able run out of room if local zoning laws allow. Reduce your utility bills, turn down your thermostat and get rid of unnecessary phone services. You can also save money by turning out lights as you leave a room, running dishwashers only when they are full and limiting the length of your showers.

Even small savings on individual items can add up. When you negotiate or pay off your loans. Any money you are spending in interest charges on outstanding loans is money you could put to better use. The only exception is that interest on a home mortgage is generally tax deductible. But even in that case, a lower rate is preferable.

However there in mind, that renegotiating is easier, if you are up to date on your payments. You may also consider consolidating your loans, but you should recognize that it is likely to increase the overall cost of borrowing.

Find cheaper insurance coverage. One of the easiest ways to reduce insurance cost is to increase the amount of your deductible. Assuming you will be able to afford to pay that amount you are responsible for. You may also be able to find lower cost insurance from a different company that you use now. But you want to be sure, the quality of the service and the financial standing of the new insurer is adequate. There's no advantage to lowering your insurance cost, if the insurer won't or can't pay your claims.

Those are just some of the strategies, to lower your fixed costs. Now let's discuss making those hard decisions.