There are a thousand things to look forward to at the beginning of every month but somehow all the joy seems to get marred by the bills that arrive with the morning mail. Slowly, over the first 3 days, the stack of bills grows exponentially till the point you have a very small mountain of envelopes stacked haphazardly on the kitchen table.

Everybody dread bills, especially when it comes to paying them and not having enough money to do so. If you value your hard earned money, you must already be feeling that nagging pinch on your pockets. Cost of living is going up steadily but if you manage your bills smartly and play your cards right, you should have no problem if you wish to cut back on your monthly spending.

Here are a few of those pesky bills that you can cut down on and save some much needed money to take care of your other needs.

Cell phone bills

Trying to keep up with Generation Tech is not the way to go, especially when you are trying to save money. An $80/month data plan for your snazzy new iPhone might have some value to begin with, but it is surely going to eat up more bucks that it saves. Unless you need such plans to cover for office work or something similar, there really is no need to opt for the more expensive plans. You can save at least $40 a month against your cell phone bill alone. Shop around and find an effective family plan which lets you make free calls within a specified network.

Landline bills

If you have already managed to get yourself on one of those super cost effective family plans for cell phones, is there really any hard need to maintain a landline connection as well? In case you don want to maintain a landline in your home, you should consider alternative strategies like using VoIP or internet telephony. Applications such as Skype let you make inexpensive long distance calls and there is no monthly rent or any such thing involved. VoIPs are just like landlines and come with 911 support and monthly calling charges are only a fraction of what it would cost on a landline.

Grocery bills

Grocery expenditures take up a significant portion of the weekly paycheck. The best way to reduce your daily grocery bill is to look for deals and use discount coupons wherever you possibly can. A dollar of 3 cans of beans and a few cents off a jar of coffee might not seem like much in the short run but if you add all of it up at the end of the week, you will be pleasantly surprised. Alternatively, you can go shopping for your groceries in stores which give discounts on bulk purchases. Its also another good way of managing the bills.

Coffee bills

Coffee is a daily need and that cup from Starbucks on the way to work everyday doesn’t matter much, especially because it saves you the pain of making your own cup. Now look at it this way, a cup of retail latte costs about $3.50 and considering you buy a cup every day, you’re yearly spending on coffee adds up to $1277.50. Looking at those figures, what would you rather do? Brew your own cup or make a trip to the café?