The Most Helpful List Of Household Expenses We Will Never Cut

You can’t cut everything out of your budget, although we all wish we could at some point in our lives.

This past year has been a doozy, from the water heater going, the washer dying and the ice maker going caput.

Since we didn’t have a whole lot of time to prepare for these expenses, we had to cut a lot of our essential household items in order to replace those essential household items.

We have had to completely revamp our budget for these unexpected expenses, and we’ve found ourselves evaluating every line of the budget many times.

But there were several must-have household items that we just couldn’t cut even if we wanted to because they are so essential to our financial stability.

If you are looking at your list of household expenses, let me help guide you to what you should not cut out of your budget.

This household expenses list will help you easily determine what you should not cut out of your budget.

It will help you quickly determine the value and importance of what you shouldn’t cut.

And, you will see how these must-have household items will be an asset to your life and financial security.

Here are some of the expenses we will never cut, even when we need to tighten our budget.

Car Insurance

While coverage requirements vary by state, most states require you to have at least liability insurance coverage for your vehicle. Florida requires that all drivers have liability and personal injury protection insurance. This is the first on the list of household expenses that we won’t cut.

The law states that the coverage limit must be at least $10,000 for personal injury protection, per person per accident.

However, we have more than the required car insurance policy for a number of reasons. One of which being that our cars are actually worth something. Plus, Florida drivers can be crazy so that’s why it’s one of our essential household items in our budget.

Plus, there are ways to save on your car insurance!

And, if need be, trade in that newer car for an older model. That can not only help you get out of the payments or lower your payments, but an older car will not cost as much in insurance as a newer model.

Don’t forget! You can save on gas too which can help your budget!

Health Insurance

If you can afford health insurance and choose not to buy it, you must pay a fee called the individual shared responsibility payment.

This fee can be anywhere from 2.5% of your household income, to $2,085, whichever is greater.

Health insurance is expensive, yes, but the fees usually cost more than it would have been to pay a premium in the first place. This is one reason why health insurance is on our list of household expenses that we won’t cut.

Look for ways to save on your health insurance. It can only help in the long run!

While health insurance is expensive, a quick trip to the hospital can easily cost well over a $1,000. A simple broken arm or leg can cost well over $2,500!

So you can see how without having health insurace, you’d be paying these costs out of pocket. And at a heftier price tag! If you don’t have a really good savings account stashed away, a simple trip to the ER could drain what savings you have in no time.

Cell Phone Bill

We don’t have a landline in our home, so the only way we can be reached is by cell phone. We cut our landline out when we cut our cable. It’s actually one of our must-have household items.

If we were to cut this expense, we would be unreachable. Not only that, but we use our cell phones primarily for work. So this is why I include our cell phone on our list of household expenses that we can’t cut.

Plus, there are ways to save on your cell phone bill. Remember, you don’t need the fanciest and newest phone to make phone calls.

If you live in an area with good cell phone coverage, a pay by monthly phone may be a good option to lower your cell bill too!

Life Insurance

Nobody wants to think about losing a spouse, or have to decide what happens in the event of your passing, but it is very real, and happens all the time. It’s at the top of my list of household expenses that I won’t cut.

Knowing there will be money available to help take care of outstanding debt, or to help with burial costs if something should happen to one of us brings us peace of mind. And why it’s one of my must-have household items that I won’t cut.

My husband always says that it’s better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. That’s truly the case with life insurance.

Here’s is how you decide if you need Life Insurance or not.

Internet

The Internet is not a necessity, I know. However, this one is non-negotiable for us, and therefore, on my list of household expenses I won’t cut.

Without the internet, I would not be able to run this website and the kids would not be able to do many of their homeschooling activities and assignments. It’s one of the truly essential household items we need daily.

The money the internet costs us more than pays for the inconvenience, time and travel it would take to go somewhere where we could use the internet such as the library. Just think, it could quickly add up for us. If we had to travel to the library every day, we would quickly add more money to our gas expenses, wear and tear on our cars, the temptation to eat out more, stop by Starbucks for coffee, etc.

Plus, since we cut our cable bill, it costs us a fraction of the cost the “bundle” used to be from our internet and cable provider.

If you are really trying to cut expenses, shop around to try to find a lower internet bill.

You could also call your internet provider and try to negotiate a lower bill. If that doesn’t work, see if you can downgrade your service plan to lower your bill.

As you can see, this household expenses list helps you to easily determine what you should not cut out of your budget.

And, you can quickly determine the value and importance of what you shouldn’t cut.

You see how these must-have household items can be an asset to your life and financial security.

Your Turn: How about you? What list of household expenses will you never cut? Let me know in the comments below!

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