Create a budget. The first step to figure out where you can trim the fat from your vacation rental budget is to create an actual budget. If you're spreadsheet inclined, creating a simple budget in Excel with all of your expenses in one column and all of your revenue in another should give you a good idea of where your money is going. If you're not an Excel whiz, you can create a simple budget in your word processor (or even by hand) by splitting the page into two columns, one for revenue and one for expenses. After you determine where you currently spend money on your vacation rental each month, you'll be able to put a cost-cutting strategy into place.

 

Refinance your home. There's a lot of talk in the news right now around the potential economic stimulus package and the Treasury plan to lower mortgage rates. The New Year could be a fortuitous time to refinance your vacation home.  If you think you might be a candidate for refinancing, monitor the refinance market closely in the coming weeks and months. If you're considering refinancing, be sure to have all your documentation pulled together, so that you can act quickly when you find a favorable rate.  Refinancing may be stressful for some, but is typically well-worth it; Locking in to a lower rate could save you big bucks in the long term.

Renegotiate your merchant account rates.  Call up your credit card merchant account company to see if the rate they're charging you is the best they can do. It goes along with the old adage, “It never hurts to ask.”

 

Call your cable, Internet, and telephone companies to see if you can negotiate better rates. Similarly, your cable, Internet, and phone companies know that they';re lucky to have you as a customer and may be open to lowering your rates, especially if you hint that you're considering their competitors. You may be able to save a bit of money if you buy all three in a bundle from one provider or you may even be able to qualify for commercial rates.

 

Shop around for homeowners insurance, just in case. Many homeowners have seen their insurance rates drop in the last year, so you could be overpaying for homeowners and liability insurance if you haven't shopped around in a few years. Just make sure to check the conditions of your current policy before changing carriers to see if they'll prorate the remainder of your policy.

 

Contest your property tax assessment. The final number that the assessor comes up with is not set in stone. Here's a guide for disputing your property taxes.