Cost Cutting Thursday!

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Every Thursday, we introduce FIVE COST CUTTING TIPS.  Here are our favorites for the week:

1. Cut your phone bill (landline)
   If you have a landline, there are many options out there for less expensive phone service.  It is a very competitive market so shop around for the best rates.  If you have a home office, you can get a bundled rate of internet, cable, and phone where the phone portion is very inexpensive.  Vonage also offers a great deal for internet-based phone service for $25/month of unlimited calls.
2. Cut your taxes
   If you did your own taxes and broke your neck to get them in by midnight last night, you probably told yourself you’d never do it again.  So don’t.  Chances are that there are tax savings that you might not be maximizing.  Hire a tax accountant.  The cost outlay is minimal compared to the taxes he or she could be saving you.
3. Share your office space
   If you have an office, you can cut some of your cost by sharing it with another wedding professional.  If business is slower than you’d like (given the recent economy), you may not be maximizing it’s use.  Ask people in the industry to see if they are interested in getting out of the home office and into an “outside office” 2-3 days/week .
4. Stop auto-pay on your credit cards
   It’s so convenient to have charges automatically drawn from your credit cards each month, but do you remember everything that is being charged every month?  And, do you maximize that service?  Last year, I was paying $15 for an online service.  At first, I was very diligent about maximizing its use.  After time, I got busy and forgot about it.  But, they didn’t forget to charge me the $15 every month.  Cancel auto-pay on anything you are not using.
5. Are you maximizing the dues on organizations?
   I think belonging to organizations is very important part of our learning and networking in this industry, so do not cut out this cost to simply save money.  However, are you paying for dues on organizations to which you don’t participate?  Similar to the auto-pay, you may be paying dues monthly (or weekly) to a group that you do not attend meetings or functions.  If you feel your active participation in the group is simply on hiatus, then continue to be a member (and pay your dues).  But, if you seriously can’t say you are committed to the organization, then rethink the cost you are putting into it.

Do you have cost cutting tips for your fellow wedding professionals? If so, please email them to SageWeddingPros@gmail.com.