Cutting Costs 'Cause of COVID-19

While some of us practice frugality all the time, others may just be learning the ropes.  Never in our lives has practically the entire economy shut down.  There's no better time than today to make some small changes to reduce your ongoing expenses.

Here's what we did in March and early April:

Cancelling Accounts:  $751 refunded

• Since my industry is shut down, there's no need for me to carry commercial liability insurance.  I called Hiscox and am receiving a $301 refund.
• Last month I paid the $450 annual fee for my Marriott Bonvoy card.  Why do I need a hotel credit card if I can't travel?  I cancelled that and will be refunded $450.

Consumable Items

• We're going to start using our supply of paper and plastic bags from retailers.  We spend $.14 per kitchen garbage bag, which gets emptied 2-3 times per week.  
• We are saving on laundry detergent, water and electricity by doing less laundry.  There's no reason to wash pants every time you wear them, especially if you are quarantined at home.  They aren't dirty.
• We are removing things instead of replacing them.  It feels normal to simply replace something when it breaks or wears out.  At the Airbnb, if a rug becomes permanently stained, I won't immediately replace it (we will wait for clearance sales for a deal).  If a piece of furniture breaks, we'll decide if it is even necessary.  At our home, I'm similarly not replacing clothes that are ripped or stained.  I've got plenty of clothes, and there will probably be some incredible clearance sales in the next year due to the slowing economy.

Phone Plan:  Saving $120/month

We switched from Google Fi to Sprint's Unlimited Kickstart plan.  Each line is $35/month for unlimited everything, plus they are offering a $300 prepaid gift card.  Basically you can get free phone service for 8 months.  In March I paid off the balance owed for our Pixel 3 phones and sold one of them on ebay.  The other phone has a cracked screen, with virtually no resale value.

In the months of March and April, I've trimmed $1,000 from the budget.  This was painless, no sacrifices at all.  It may become necessary to do more hardcore cost-cutting, depending on how deep this recession becomes.  What are you doing to control costs during COVID-19?