I hate articles that tell you to quit drinking Starbucks, cancel your gym membership or overall downgrade your lifestyle. If you’re miserable, what’s the point? So here’s REAL ways to cut costs without sacrifice!

The quickest way to accomplish this is to open up your credit card(s) / PayPal / AmazonPay statements and see what all you have been paying for monthly. As an online seller, obviously you are going to have to pay fees for your business, but let’s look at the other monthly costs:

1. APPS: I am personally guilty of this; on my Firestick I was paying for monthly apps that I rarely ever used. They get you sucked in because they just released that show that you want to see sooooooo bad. Then time passes and you forget that you’re paying $1.99+ every month for it. I deleted four different apps that saved me over $26 every month! Do the same with your cell phone apps! Keep in mind that even if you cancel apps you can always sign up again later!

2. POSTAGE PROVIDER: When we started selling back in 2005 there were no FREE postage providers, so we PAID $24.99 for Stamps.com. Fast forward to 2021 and there are now tons of FREE postage companies. You can now get the same, OR BETTER, rates and eliminate the $25-a-month charge.

3. CREDIT CARD: I can not emphasize enough to change your card to a “cash back card”. I know some people love the airline miles cards and such but with a cash back card you can use the funds on whatever you want, and maybe one month you want flight tickets but maybe the next month you need to upgrade your computer; regardless of what your needs are, cash is king.

4. INSURANCE / BUSINESS INSURANCE: By making a single phone call I was able to switch from Farmers (business insurance) to a local company and my 6-month policy cost dropped by HUNDREDS of dollars! Additionally, I had the representative of the new company review my Farmers policy and she discovered that I was paying for a ton of crap that was totally irrelevant!  It made me really upset that I was taken advantage of for so long but hey, it's my fault for not taking the time to thoroughly read everything I was being charged for.  If you want, contact my insurance agent; she insures companies all over the USA. Here’s her info: RobinO@hgway.com / (248) 203-1819.  Tell her your friend, Tori Thompson from Big Brand Wholesale, sent you.   I don't get anything for referrals, I just want you to get the best deal possible. 

5. CELL PHONE: Ok let’s admit it…. We don’t actually READ our billing statements. However there have been massive class action lawsuits over cell phone bill bloat. You may be shocked to learn that you are paying for many services that you don’t need and have never used. My husband discovered that we had been paying over $5 a month for Verizon Navigation… WTF? Google nav is free! Additionally we were paying for way more data than either of us ever used. TIP: IF you find charges on your bill for “Navigation” or whatever, call customer service and let them know you feel robbed because you never asked for this charge. Chances are they will give you an additional discount off your monthly bill!

6. INTERNET: If you’re an online seller you def need quality internet but do you need the plan you are paying for? Many times, when you call to sign up for your internet plan, they sell you the “Top Shelf” plan when all you need is the middle shelf.

7. IF YOU SMOKE, SWITCH TO VAPING: Notice I am NOT telling you to QUIT? Why? Because that advice isn’t realistic. If you want to quit, go for it. If not, just switch to vaping.

Ignore all the propaganda you have heard online about how awful vaping is. I quit smoking (switched to vaping) in 2015 and it was an AMAZING CHOICE! The average cost of a pack of cigarettes in 2020 is $6.96. If you smoke a pack a day = $208 a month. A good quality vaporizer is around $70 total. Delish eJuice is $20 or less. You will save at least $150 every month after you fully switch! Not to mention, within 2 weeks food will taste the best it ever has because your body will begin healing itself.

I order all of my vapes and supplies from MyVaporStore.com.  I order all of my eJuice from eJuiceConnect.com.  My favorite vaporizer brand is SMOK and my all time favorite eJuice is called "KILLER KUSTARD" and the manufacturer is Vapetasia.   

8. ALCOHOL: Again, I am NOT going to tell you to quit. I also hate stupid suggestions. If you drink alcohol there’s lots of ways to save money. If you are paying for a mixer for liquor, mix with water instead. I know you're thinking "GROSS!" but trust me, after a week you will lose weight and get accustomed to the taste. I only drink (high end) vodka and water now and I have learned to really enjoy it. I have lost 15 POUNDS since stopping drinking mixers! If you really, really, really feel like you need a mixer, opt for a product like Mio instead of pop or juice.  If you genuinely need some fizz, pickup a case of soda WATER / club soda.  No, not soda, but soda water which is just carbonated water.  If you mix a little in with your Mio and water you'll get the same fizz and flavor as pop but your calories will be basically only the alcohol!  I promise, you’ll thank me in 4 weeks for this tip!  

Additionally liquor can be purchased for less at Sams Club or Costco.  Many states even allow you to order liquor online.  Unfortunately my home state of Michigan does not allow alcohol to be imported  :( 

If you drink wine, check out Aldi or Lidi.  You can also order online (unless you're in Michigan)

If you drink beer; heck I don’t know. I don’t like beer but I assume Costco and Online Ordering is cheaper.  

Another way to save on alcohol in general is to shop clearance sections. The Kroger I go to always has alcohol on final clearance. You can score Pumpkin Spice Baileys in Feb for damn-near nothing. They almost always have wine dirt cheap.

9. THERMAL PRINTER: You will save a fortune by switching your postage printer to a thermal printer!  More than money, what you truly save with a Thermal is TIME.  

10. DO YOU EVEN NEED A COLOR PRINTER???: We canned our color printer YEARS ago. We have only had a black/ grey Brother brand printer ever since. By eliminating the cost of expensive ink we have cut down our printing expenses substantially.  COLOR PRINTING: Instead of paying a fortune for color prints, upload your design to UPrinting.com and have them make you top-quality prints. We have used them for 7+ YEARS and love them!

11.  SUPPLIES:  Spend 10 minutes trying to find the identical supplies you already buy for less.  Even though you may be used to ordering off Amazon, check prices on eBay or even etsy.  Do a Google Search and see if you can shave a couple bucks off every order!

12. PC PAPER: Buy PC paper by the case on Amazon.  

13. AMAZON PRIME DAY: Make an ongoing list of supplies you go through and as soon as Amazon Prime Day arrives, buy as much of it as you can afford. We try to buy enough to last us a full year but we typically run out.  You can score a totally FREE 30-Day Amazon here. 

14. AMAZON WAREHOUSE: If you need something cheap, here’s how to get EXTRA discounts on Amazon.com

15. UTILIZE CASH BACK SHOPPING SITES: This is so incredibly simple! <--- Read our blog post all about it.  Super easy! 

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