Eliminate Your Bills

A Guide to Eliminating Monthly Bills

In my post about Saving for Travel, I mentioned eliminating bills. If you are traveling long-term, you should have almost NO bills. That’s right NONE. Refer back to your list of monthly bills. Cut off all monthly/annual subscriptions: Pandora, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc.  Then, follow the steps below to make your main bills disappear.

Rent/Mortgage

Sublease/Rent out your place. Sell your house and excess stuff. Ask your parents or a friend if you can store what’s left in their garage. Offer to pay a small fee or buy them a wool carpet from India. (Luckily, my parent’s own a furniture store with plenty of storage. The few things I own get stored in a corner or the closet in my old room.) Airbnb is a great option to make money while you travel. You can pay a percentage to a friend/family member to manage/clean the place while you are gone.

 

Car/Truck/Motorcycle

Option 1: Sell it.

Option 2: Rent it.
If selling scares you, rent your vehicle out to a friend/cousin/your dry cleaner’s dog walker. We all know someone who needs a car or has one that only cranks if you kick it ten times. If you own your vehicle, consider letting a friend drive it for free if they pay your car insurance.

Or rent out your car with companies like Relay Rides or Flight Car.

Car Insurance

If you don’t want to sell or rent your car, here’s a few ways to slash your insurance bill:

Drop Liability Coverage. If your car will be parked while you travel, you can cut your bill in half by dropping liability  and leave only the comprehensive coverage. You will have return the license plate, but your car is protected if a tree falls on it or a herd of cows have a dance party on the roof.

Risks: Be sure to change your oil when you return. You might also need a new battery. You’ll will also have to get the tags for your car again. I know it’s common sense, but I have to say it: NOBODY should drive your car without liability insurance. If you don’t have comprehensive insurance or your car is ancient, then ditch the insurance until you return. Talk to your insurance agent about your options before making a decision.

USAA Insurance offers huge discounts for cars in storage. (Available only to US military members and their families.)

Is this financially worth all the hassle? Do the math. How long can you travel on the money you save?

Cell Phone

Cut off or suspend your cell phone service. Here’s a list of service/billing suspension options for major U.S. carriers:

• Verizon allows you to suspend your service online at no cost for six months per year in three-month increments. (I do this every year simply because my cell phone number is the only consistent thing in my life.)
• AT&T lets you suspend service but continues billing.
• Sprint offers a Seasonal Standby Plan to suspend service for $8.99/month for six months per year for all plans.
• TMobile offers free international data and messaging for their Simple Choice plans. This is a reason to consider keeping your plan instead of suspending it.

Other Tips:

•  If you cut off your service completely, you will lose your phone number.
•  Do NOT get an international plans. The rates are crazy: $2/minute for voice and .50/text. It’s cheaper to use Skype or buy a local SIM to use for both local/international calls.
• Research early termination fees. It could be cheaper than paying your bill while you are traveling.

Health Insurance

Ditch your U.S. health insurance and get a good travel medical insurance plan. Most U.S. health insurance companies offer limited coverage abroad except for major emergencies, which require paying out of pocket upfront and being partially reimbursed. If you have a serious preexisting condition, research your options thoroughly. Some travel insurance policies will cover a “Sudden and Unexpected Reoccurrence of a Preexisting Condition.”

If you have health insurance through your employer: 

When you quit a job in America, you receive an option to enroll in the COBRA program, which allows you to keep your same benefits but at a higher cost for up to 18-36 months. COBRA gives you 60 days to sign up, and coverage is retroactive to the date you quit. This gives you two months to start your trip and still have the safety net of COBRA eligiblity as a backup plan if you have a medical emergency. Plus, it saves the cost of paying for COBRA insurance.

Here’s what I do: I researched the cost of COBRA before quitting my job and the cost of Obama Care. I had to decide if the risk of getting sick or having a major accident was worth the cost of COBRA or Obama Care. This year, I took a risk and didn’t sign up for either but made sure I left for my trip BEFORE my 60-days to sign up for COBRA ended. If I had a medical emergency, I would have signed up for COBRA and been covered retroactively by the benefits of my previous insurance.

Prescriptions

If you take prescriptions regularly, research generic costs without insurance. Also, remember most drugs are available at a significant discount without a prescription in many places abroad especially Asia. (I occasionally use prescription eye drops. A tiny bottle costs $30 with insurance and $300 without. In Thailand, the exact same brand and batch is $7! It’s cheaper to live abroad than in America sometimes.)

TIP: Most insurance plans also offer a 90-day vacation supply of medications for travel on top of your regular monthly or 90-day supply refills. Simply call your insurance to clarify the details and start the process at least a month before your trip.

Before canceling your health insurance:

• Research international coverage options for your current plan
• If you have insurance from your employer, verify COBRA eligibility. Do a cost comparison of COBRA and Obama Care BEFORE you quit.
• Research travel insurance coverage thoroughly. Daredevils should add the adventure sports rider. My current plan is $50/month with the adventure rider and end of trip home coverage. (Travel Insurance Guide Coming Soon!)
• Non-emergency medical care and even x-rays can be significantly cheaper abroad. I paid $72 for two x-rays and an appointment with an orthopedic doctor at the nicest and most expensive hospital in Bangkok. (I was reimbursed by my travel insurance later.) I also got my teeth cleaned for $30 in Bangkok.

How do you eliminate bills while you travel? Share in the comments!