Every year’s budget starts with the same question: how much money do we have for travel this year?

Since we are no longer working full time, we operate each year on a fixed budget. This means we can either find travel deals that make our budgeted dollars go further or cut back on costs that many people consider “fixed” and pay without giving it a second thought.

These are the fixed-cost bills we’re going to focus on in this short series.

  • Mobile phone bills that most people don’t realize can be lowered without sacrificing service.
  • Internet bills that quietly creep up after a promo ends.
  • Television / Streaming subscriptions which get too expensive.
  • Insurance premiums that reward switching companies more than staying loyal.

Too many people let these bills get out of control when it’s so easy to pay significantly less. It’s not rocket science. Most of it takes one short phone call or an online chat with a representative. But the savings add up — and for us, it puts more money into our travel budget.

Starting with this post, I’m going to share exactly how we do it…real numbers, one expense category at a time, broken down into the specific, repeatable steps that work. The boring stuff nobody wants to spend their precious time on.

If you’ve been saving for that trip or big-ticket item, we hope this series makes you consider the untapped potential of money that’s leaking out of your bank account and can be redirected toward your goal.

Follow along with this series over the next few weeks as we show you how to build you Haggle Fund!