The easiest way to increase cash flow is...

Clean up your monthly recurring bills people!  I’ve had the privilege of digging deep into friends and family finances in the hopes of helping them improve their financial life. I’m constantly amazed of all the unnecessary bills people are paying each month. It’s like no one cares that they are in debt and are going to be flat broke when they get older. People need to someone to kick them in the butt to see what they are doing and how much they are spending. I am about to kick your butt in this topic with the info below. Read it, follow it, love it!!

If you are someone who constantly complains about not having money or you’re not able to save money and you have a job. Then that means you are spending too much money on crap and unnecessary expenses. Cutting out these kinds of expenses is the first step to getting on the road to financial freedom.

Here are some examples of the expenses I’ve seen that are holding you back.

1) Gym Membership – People are paying anywhere from $15 to $60 a month on gym fees and most of them only end up going once a month. This needs to be resolved asap! Quit your membership folks. There is no need to waste gas, go to a gym and use nasty, sweaty equipment anymore. I personally go running outside and the days that the weather does not coincide, I do a home workout, specifically T25. I guarantee you that if you were to do this workout and follow the regimen, you would be in way better shape than the workout you’re doing at the gym. It’s literally a 25 minute workout that you can do in the comfort of your own home. You don’t even have to follow their regimen, just pick a CD and pop it in. That 25 minute work out will crush you. You can use these DVDs forever and save hundreds and hundreds of dollars. That is just one example, there are hundreds of home workout programs. You need to jump on this band wagon and stop wasting money.

2) Cable TV or Satellite – If you haven’t already noticed, internet streaming is taking over the world. There is no point in paying $100 per month anymore to watch television. There are multiple ways to get your fix people. I personally cut out my satellite dish years ago for Netflix. Its $10 per month and has more than enough TV shows and movies to make you happy. If you are concerned about certain channels you wont get there is another awesome service called Sling Tv. Its a new service they offer where you can live stream tons of channels. Like really good channels, the ones you want to see. Espn, Espn2, AMC, Food network, A&E, History channel, TNT, HBO, HGTV, Disney, CNN, TBS, Travel channel, Adult Swim, Galavision, cartoon network, the list goes on. You do not need anything more than this and its $20 per month. Between that and netflix you no longer need cable or satellite. Cancel it right now. Seriously! Go!! Go now and come back after you’ve cancelled it. You will thank me later.

3) Donations and charities – This may sound mean but if you are in debt, you should not be giving money away people! Get rid of your debt, then consider donating money to a good cause. For example, I discovered a person I knew who is in debt, has a negative net worth and was paying a local radio station a $10 monthly donation because they liked the radio show. Really!! I know it was only $10 but when it comes down to being smart about money, you need to track every penny as every penny helps your cash flow situation. End this now!!

4) Monthly credit card bills – This topic really merits its own article in itself but the gist of it is that if you are paying a monthly credit card bill and you’re in debt, you need to figure out a way to pay this off and stop using your credit card ASAP. This is an emergency situation that needs to be addressed. If you have to use your credit card to purchase things then you can’t afford it so don’t buy it! If this is you then you need to read a debt book like "Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey"  asap and start taking care of your debt situation. If you are a financially savvy person that uses your credit card for rewards and pays it off in full every month then I applaud you. That is the only way you should ever be making monthly credit card expenses.

5) Home phone land line – Don’t even get me started on this one. If you are paying this then you are lost in the 90’s. Wake up and see we are living in 2015 now. I don’t even think they make new homes with existing phone line connections anymore. I actually met someone just this past weekend that had this. I yelled at them!

6) Monthly checking accounts fees – There are so many credit unions and banks out there now offering free checking. I know it’s a pain to transfer everything over but do it. Save the money! This is crap fee that no one should ever have to pay.

7) Monthly mortgage expense – Folks if you haven’t already noticed, interest rates are ridiculous cheap. If you can shave off even 1% on your rate you can save a ton of money on your mortgage bill. Your monthly mortgage amount will be significantly smaller. This can also be a daunting task and requires a lot of work but its worth it. It’s free to find out if you can even qualify. Run the numbers, see what can be done.

8) Monthly auto insurance – Most people get an insurance company to work with and they stick with it for ever. This is the wrong tactic. Every 3 or 4 years you should get new quotes from different companies and see about lowering your insurance bill while maintaining the same coverage. You will be surprised when you find out you have been over paying this whole time. This is also something you can do for free to find out if you can save money. Start looking around now for an insurance broker. They can pull quotes from multiple companies and offer you the best deal. This also applies to your home insurance if you have a house. Get a cheaper quote for this too. Same exact process. Package your home and auto insurance with your new cheaper insurance company and they both get even cheaper. WINNER!

If you do all of this, you probably just increased your monthly cash flow by at least $200. That is an extra two hundy in your pocket that you can use for investing.

Do as much as of this as you can now!!  Can you think of any other monthly bills you can cut?