Take a vacation day and potentially save thousands

Imagine you have a vacation day. Instead of going to the mall to spend money, stay home and look for ways to save.

It seems like a rather unexciting plan for a day off. But several hours of determined cost-cutting today can result in thousands of dollars in savings over the course of the year, financial advisers say.

Here’s an expert-curated checklist of money-saving tasks to fill a day full of cost-cutting.

Check your statements

It’s all too easy to click a button and sign up for a subscription: a streaming service with a hot new show, a publication with a viral article, or a gym with a fall promotion.

And it’s all too easy to forget about these subscriptions. But trust us: they won’t forget you.

Here’s the good news: weeding out unwanted subscriptions isn’t hard. Many charge monthly. You don’t have to search your card or statement to find it.

“Just go back 30 days and see what surprises you,” said Kimberly Palmer, personal finance expert at NerdWallet.

Thinking about her own finances, Palmer said, “I could tell you right now that I’m paying for double music subscription services.” She hasn’t found time to cancel any of them.

Palmer also remembers signing up for a streaming sports package during the Olympics. She forgot to finish it when the games were over.

In the October/November issue of AARP The Magazine, financial journalist Diane Harris recounted a day she spent cutting costs in her own budget, starting with recurring fees.

Harris found “two streaming services I forgot I had, a handful of subscriptions to magazines I rarely read, and a mysterious monthly fee from Apple.”

“All in all,” she wrote, “I was spending about $100 more per month on these services than I thought.”

Canceling your subscriptions just got easier: On Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission announced a new click-to-cancel rule. Sellers must “make it as easy for consumers to cancel their registration as it was to register,” the agency said in a news release.

Cover recurring fees

With a few simple steps you can protect yourself now from unwanted subscriptions in the future.

Consider combining all of your subscription-based services on one card, says Catherine Valega, a certified financial planner in Boston. Having them in one place makes it easier to track them.

If you start a subscription that you don’t want to keep, you should consider canceling it immediately. With a subscription-based service, you can often cancel and continue using the service for the month (or year) you’ve already paid for.

Also on Wednesday, Capital One introduced a new subscription management tool that can do the work for you. The tool “provides customers a seamless way to block and cancel recurring subscription fees with just a few taps,” the company said in a press release.

If you don’t cancel, renegotiate

NerdWallet’s Palmer said she remembered subscribing to New York Magazine a while ago. She doesn’t use it. Still, it may just keep it as a gesture to support quality journalism.

You don’t have to cancel a subscription to save money. Instead, try renegotiating.

Find out how much you pay. Then visit the website and see what kind of deal they are offering to new subscribers. Often it is the better thing.

To get this offer, experts say, you’ll probably have to pick up the phone and call the company. Ask if the subscription agent can match the offer you saw online.

Harris paid $51 a month for The New York Times. She saw a promotional offer of $20 per month. Armed with this knowledge, she called the newspaper and negotiated her monthly fee to $12.40 a month for six months and $24.80 for the next six months.

You can also try to negotiate better deals on services you don’t want to miss out on, including cell phone and internet plans, Harris said.

Search for insurance

Comparison shopping for home and auto insurance is always a good idea, NerdWallet’s Palmer said.

Insurance policies typically renew every six to twelve months. So “every year or so I would take a step back and look at the quarterly, annual or semi-annual costs,” she said, “just to make sure I’m not automatically renewing, and I’m actually taking the time to shop around.”

Consumer sites offer tips for saving on car insurance, such as: B. to increase your deductible, which is the amount you pay before your policy takes effect.

Or you can just show up and ask the insurance companies to compete for your business. The same logic applies to home contents insurance.

Get a budgeting app

A budgeting app like YNAB or Goodbudget can be a great tool for reducing costs in the long term, Valega said. Apps allow you to track and categorize expenses so you can see where your money is going.

“This exercise of downloading and categorizing the expenses is a ray of hope for everyone,” Valega said.

With a budgeting app, consumers can learn how much they actually spend at restaurants, on weekend trips, and on eBay indulgence purchases.

“I love this kind of behavioral finance where you have to track everything,” Valega said.

Let’s say you need to make an entry in your budgeting app for every $3 coffee purchase. This simple task, Valega said, could keep you from buying the coffee.

Collect your gift cards

Many of us have unused gift cards hidden from the holidays. According to Bankrate, 43% of consumers have at least one unused gift card, voucher or store credit.

“Get your gift cards and check their current value. Then add them to your stash,” said Bobbi Rebell, certified financial planner and personal finance expert at CardRates.com.

This stash may also include unused public transit tickets, loose change, and even small checks – the ones you received in the mail and never bothered to deposit.

Save your home

Experts say flipping switches and unplugging throughout the home can lead to savings, especially as the seasons change.

Walk around your house and turn off devices you are not using and unplug them to conserve electricity, Rebell said.

“Also, consider adjusting the thermostat just slightly,” to save on heating costs, she said.

Fall is also a good time to have both your heating and air conditioning checked, Palmer said, “just to make sure nothing breaks.”

Search your closet for savings

Are you having a hard time paying your monthly bills? These companies say they can help lower them.

Going through your bedroom closet can be a way to declutter and create savings at the same time, Rebell said.

“Take everything out of your closet and try on each item of clothing before putting it back in,” she said. Are you missing a button? Sew one on. Anything you don’t wear can be donated to a charity. Make sure you get a receipt for your taxes.

If you find items of clothing with the tags still attached, Rebell says they’re probably impulse buys. “Give them back for cash if you can,” she said. “If not, get a credit back and use it for your holiday shopping.”