monthly expenses

The cost of living in New York City has always been high, but now it is the highest it's been in years. Rent won't come cheap, especially if you want to live in Manhattan, and nine times out of ten: Nothing will be included with your rent.

Yet even with the odds stacked against you, there is a way you can still save money on your bills while living in the most expensive city in the world. Here is how to save the most money on your bills without stress.

Wash Your Clothes in Cold Water

It may seem silly, but 90 percent of the energy that a washing machine uses goes towards heating the water. If you're lucky enough to even have a washing machine, cut your energy use in half by washing clothes in cold water. The clothes will still get clean, and your energy bill will be cut in half.

Turn Your Heat or AC off When You Leave The House

This may seem like a no brainer, but you'd be surprised how many people forget to turn off appliances when they're in a rush to get out the door. If you really wanna cut down on energy costs, make sure your heat or AC is only one when you absolutely need it. Otherwise, throw on a sweater or take a cold shower.

Change and Clean Your Filters

It's a tactic many people aren't aware of, but taking a few minutes to clean your air filters actually increases the efficiency of your appliances. If the air filters or clogged and dirty, the units will have to work harder to pump out energy, thus increasing your monthly costs.

Check for Leaks

Many of the apartments in New York City are pretty old, so it's common that door frames, windows, and basements will have air leaks. Take the time to figure out if you have any leaks in your apartment. Leaks will let out heat or AC, thus requiring you to use more energy in order to get your fix. To seal them up, purchase Caulk from any hardware store, and you're guaranteed to get more bang for your buck from your appliances.

Load Up Dishwasher Properly

Many people think that after dinner, you load the dishwasher with your dishes and run it immediately. Chances are if you haven't taken the time to get excess food off of your plates and bowls, then they are not gonna be cleaned properly. Make sure to scrape off any scraps as best as you can before loading your dishes into the dishwasher. Also, make sure the dishwasher is loaded up all the way before running it. Both of these tactics will save you a ton on electricity.

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For many of us, our credit scores are not always accurate representations of who we are or the decisions we make. We can be conservative spenders, but various financial distress from job loss, divorce, or medical bills can impact our scores, and effectively hurt the quality of our lives. This was the case for me when I was unexpectedly laid off. Finances were rough and I was putting everything on my credit cards out of uncertainty. Pretty quickly, I began racking up debt I couldn't pay off fast enough. That's when the debt collectors started calling and my credit score started to plummet.

Even though I had gotten a new job and had begun to slowly chip away at my credit card debt, the damage was already done. I knew I had to improve my score before my situation worsened, but was unsure where to turn to or who to consult about my problem. Luckily, my friend who has had similar credit issues told me about Lexington Law. Lexington Law systematically uses the law to work directly with creditors and credit bureaus to remove negative items from credit reports such as liens, repossessions, late payments, and foreclosures. Once those items are removed, the score goes up, which will allow you to get approved and have a better rate on your loans. This all sounded too good to be true, so I gave them a call for a consultation.

The credit expert walked me through the process from signing up to how they would work with me to improve my credit. For less than $4 a day, I'd get access to my own personalized dashboard to see my credit report and could even request certain things to be challenged so my lawyers could begin the process of removing them. Additionally, I would be able to reach my team via phone or email whenever I had questions.

Perhaps their most helpful feature was their credit score estimator which takes three things into account -- the type of loan I wanted a better rate on (home, auto, refinancing, or even opening up a new line of credit), my current score, and how many lines I needed to be removed. Based on these factors, Lexington Law gave me an estimate of how much I could save on my loan. For me, I needed to refinance a loan, and my score was 600. I knew I needed about 8-10 lines removed, so just by improving by an additional 40 points, I could save up to $65,189 when refinancing!

My team of lawyers was diligent in keeping close communication with me to inform me about the items that were getting removed, and I could check my dashboard to follow the progress I was making. It's incredible to me to be able to look back at where I was a year ago and know that, in less than a year, I was able to increase my credit score, get my loan refinanced and save over $65,000. I'm so grateful that Lexington Law not only fixed my credit, but also coached me on how I can maintain my it going forward, so I don't end up in this situation again.

Update: The team at Lexington Law is extending a special offer to our readers! Follow this link, or call 1-844-690-7576 to get a free credit consultation, which includes your FREE credit report and score!

Call anytime between 7am and 11:59pm EST to get your free credit report and score!


Personal Finance in Your 20s For Dummies

Eric Tyson

The clearest and most extensive explanation of everything you need to know about personal finance. If you need to learn what a credit score is, when you should use a checking or savings account, or any other first step into the realm of finance then this is your go-to book. It is broken down into sections so you don't need to read it cover to cover. Use this as a guide and find the section you need in the table of contents and skip straight to it. Before getting any book that further explains the tips and tricks of finance make sure you have this book to explain the basics.

The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke

Suze Orman

A very pragmatic, organized, and colorful guide to being young and broke. There are sections geared at those fresh into the professional world featuring topics like surviving on low salaries, how to find jobs, paying off student loans and much more. It also features more adult topics concerning buying a home, buying your first car, and setting up retirement plans. There is a lot you can learn from the material in this book and it is a great early guide to personal finance.

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