Saving

Save Money without Spending Time

July 28, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

The money-saving tips seem to be endless. However, some of them can be a lot of work, which can dissuade the public from taking advantage of them. Luckily, there are some tips that can do both: save time and money. Don’t miss out on these examples to realize universal savings.

The Internet and Your Car

Without a doubt, just about anything involving money and your car should involve the Internet. That may be a bit optimistic, but it rings true on a number of occasions.

When you’re looking to buy a new car, obtain financing online. You never know if you’ll qualify for the promotional rate, or worse, get a competitive rate from the dealer (less likely). Take a few minutes to obtain some offers, and you could be pre-approved for a new car up to a certain amount; you’ll have nothing to lose.

Other places can be just as rewarding. Get quick auto insurance quotes online; which will allow you to comparison shop. Also, from researching new and used cars to actually purchasing them online, the Internet seems to go hand-in-hand with car-related finances.

Attack Your Cable Bill

Is your cable or satellite bill approaching your car payment? There are some tips to manage or even eliminate this area of your budget.

First consider bundling services. If you bundle your Internet, phone, and cable; you may be able to knock down your bill by a considerable amount. What’s the aggressive alternative? Try getting a Roku with a Netflix subscription, only use a cell phone, and enjoy the savings.

Pay Bills Online

You’re either in this category or scoff at those who are: individuals that pay bills by mail.

Saving money is perhaps the less important benefit here, though postage and envelopes aren’t cheap over time. However, consider the time it takes to write out monthly bills. By setting up static and changing bills each month online with your bank, you can automate it as much as needed. Once you’ve experienced this – you’ll never look back.

Overall, it is important to take a look at some simple ways to save money. While some great money-saving tips aren’t the best for your time, you might be surprised as to how many do fit these requirements. The next time you receive a paper bill in the mail or think about driving to the office of an auto insurer, you can save in more ways than one.

Filed Under: Saving

Tips for Summer Energy Savings

June 9, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

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Summer is heating up and so is the cost of energy. To keep cool this summer while keeping your energy costs down, you will need to use every trick in the book.

If possible, replace your windows with high efficiency windows. This will bring your savings in the winter as well as the summer. So it’s a good investment and so far, it still qualifies you for a federal energy tax credit. However, not everyone has the ability to replace their windows this year. So here are some other energy savings tips that will also keep you cool.

Did you know that a full refrigerator is more energy efficient than a half-full refrigerator. It’s true. The more cold food you have in the refrigerator, the less likely that the frequent opening of the refrigerator door will cause the refrigerator to cycle on.

Microwave cooking is a double energy saver in the summer. First it takes 2/3 less energy than cooking on your stovetop. And second, it doesn’t heat up your kitchen which would increase your energy costs to cool it down.

Turn off and unplug any electrical device you are not currently using. Many of today’s electronics still use electricity even when they are turned off! Turn computers and printers off at the power grid.

Simple adjustments to your thermostat can realize substantial savings. Most energy experts recommend that you set your thermostat at 78 degrees when you are home and 85 degrees when you are away. You’ll save 1 to 3 percent on your energy bill for each degree your thermostat is set over 72 degrees.

Filed Under: Saving Tagged With: Efficient energy use, Energy conservation, Thermostat

How to Save Big on a New TV

June 6, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Buying an HDTV and saving money in the process can be a daunting experience because, in the world of electronics, there is a lot to consider. Start by researching HDTV’s, the different brands and their features. Determine whether you would prefer a LED or LCD HDTVs. Make sure your outlets are ready for hook up to cable or satellite. Also, research the warranty policy and be sure the warranty period begins on the date of purchase.

Knowing when to buy a TV can also be a big money saver. Black Friday is considered the best time to get huge savings on electronics, including TVs. This time is also a madhouse and requires some planning. After Christmas is another excellent savings opportunity and of course, there is always Super Bowl season.

Deciding where to buy the TV is the last step. Check stores regularly for bargains, including factory or store rebates and coupons. Also think about opened box, refurbished, and returned TVs; these can be real savings of $150 to $250. Online shopping websites like Offers.com are a popular choice when buying a HDTV because the major makes and models are available for comparison from the comfort of home. Shopping for an HDTV online is as simple as picking the TV to buy and makng the purchase. If the TV can be picked up locally, rather than shipping it, there is even more savings.

The process is actually simple: research, decide, buy, hook it up – and enjoy.

Filed Under: Saving Tagged With: High-definition television, Super Bowl, Television

How to Save $1,000 This Summer

April 25, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Summer is a great time to start saving money for future expenses. In addition to spending less money, the summer offers numerous opportunities to make a few extra bucks. Remember that small savings can add up quickly. By the end of the summer, you can save $1000 or more by following a few basic suggestions.

Get Movies and Books From the Library

If you love summer blockbusters, but you don’t like spending money at the cinema, then you have probably already started renting movies for home viewing. With some planning, you can save even more money. Most library systems have movies as well as books that you can check out for free. Visit your library’s website to determine whether they have movies that interest you. If it does, then submit a request for your favorite titles. Depending on how many movies you watch, you could easily save $10 a week by avoiding rental fees. Voracious readers might save even more by avoiding the high price of hard cover and paperback books.

Save Money on Your Car Insurance

Finding affordable car insurance can also help you meet your summer savings goal. Numerous companies offer discounts to safe drivers with clean records. You might also qualify for discounts by owning your own house, holding a college degree, or belonging to an organization.

Use the Internet to compare insurance prices quickly. It’s a tool that many people forget to use when searching for the car insurance plans that fit their budgets as well as their coverage needs. You might find that you can save over $100 this summer on car insurance alone.

Make Extra Cash With a Lawn Service

You might have made summer cash by cutting lawns when you were a kid. It’s still a good idea that can help you meet your $1000 savings goal. All you need is a reliable lawnmower and a vehicle.

Hang up some flyers in nearby neighborhoods to advertise your services. If you have experience with gardening and landscaping, then you can offer those services, too. Many people are willing to pay top dollar to reliable lawn service professionals when summer reaches its highest temperatures. As long as you have the right equipment and the know-how, you can start your own summer business.

Make Money From Your Parking Space

If you live near a sports arena, concert hall, or other facility that hosts large events, then you could potentially make money by renting your parking space during the summer months. This is an especially attractive idea for those who live extremely close to popular attractions. You can even advertise your garage or parking spot on ParkatmyHouse.com and ParkLet.com. These online services let people schedule time at your parking space, allowing them to park at ease instead of traipsing through the neighborhood in search of a good spot.

If you want to save $1000 or more this summer, then you will have to get creative. Finding innovative ways to save and make money will help you reach your goal. Don’t stop once you reach $1000. How will you save money this summer?

Filed Under: Saving Tagged With: Financial Services, Insurance, Vehicle insurance

How to Save Money on College Tuition

April 20, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

For many parents, the dream of sending their children to college has always been one of the strongest they’ve had. Unfortunately, their income may lead them to believe that this is impossible to achieve because of the rising cost of college tuition.

There are many ways to save money on college tuition. These include encouraging your child to apply for any and all scholarships that he may be eligible for, as well as finding out about those that are available for children of war veterans, those whose parent or grandparent has suffered from a specific medical condition, or other circumstances.

Saving money on college tuition may also mean taking a long, hard look at a family’s finance situation. Are there budgeted living expenses that can be reduced? What is the family’s debt to income ratio (something which can make a difference when applying for loans)? Any of these issues can affect how well a family saves money for college tuition.

If money already exists in savings, making it stretch as far as possible may be another issue. If this is the case, looking into accredited online degrees options is one way that tuition money can be made to go further. These types of degrees are the same as those earned at “brick and mortar” colleges.

Further, some accredited online degrees can be earned faster than traditional ones. This is another way that can help you save on college tuition.

So many places are offering accredited online degrees now that “comparison shopping” for a college makes as much sense as doing it for anything else. In most cases, it won’t mean sacrificing quality for cost.

Filed Under: Saving Tagged With: Child, College tuition, Tuition payments

Luxuries You Can Easily Give Up

December 23, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Most of what we consider necessities today are, in fact, actually luxuries. For instance, not only do we not need big-screen televisions, we don’t really need a television at all. Dining out is often one of the first expenses cut when families are trying to save money, but fast food often stays in the budget. These quick meals are actually costing us more in health problems than most restaurant fare. Also, coming home to make a more healthy meal or brown-bagging lunch will help you keep from tipping the scale.

There are always opportunities to cut down on expenses and eliminate unneeded bills. Some of the easiest are by determining which luxuries that we take for granted will be the easiest to live without. Start by going through your home and ruthlessly evaluating your spending habits. Perhaps you have a closet full of designer clothing, but spend most of your time in jeans. Perhaps you have a library full of DVDs that you’ve only watched once. Are you sending your shirts to the cleaners instead of washing and pressing them at home? Investing in an ironing board and a clothes iron will save you a substantial amount of money, as will cutting down on the number of dry-clean-only clothes that you wear in a typical week.

Another area where we tend to splurge on luxuries is in our cellular phone service. Go over your usage history to determine if you’re paying for extras or a larger pool of minutes than you really need. While going over can cost you quite a bit, so will paying for services that you are not using. While you’re at it, check out the channel lineup on your cable television service. Can you cut back to a more limited package, or drop some paid movie channels? Most likely, the answer is yes.

Filed Under: Saving, Thrifty Ideas Tagged With: Cable television, Ironing, Luxury good, Mobile phone, Television

Pay Yourself First: Learning How To Save

December 8, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Teaching how to save for emergencies, major expenses, and eventually, retirement, isn’t something that the American public school system spends much time on. Several generations of Americans are paying the price for that now, but it is not too late. You can always learn good ways of saving at any point in your life, and the sooner, the better. The earlier you start savings, the better off you will be years down the road.

One of the quickest and easiest methods of creating a savings plan is to simply keep a checking and savings account in the same bank, and have a set amount transferred from one to the other on each pay day. Using this method, you will not see the money coming in or going out, and you will have less temptation to not deposit savings on any given pay day.

If your employer offers a 401k or other retirement plan, that will provide another great method for paying your savings first. Money is deducted from your paycheck on a pre-tax basis and deposited into the 401k. Then, the fund’s manager will use that money to purchases investments for you. Money earned on those investments is reinvested which allows your retirement account to grow exponentially.

The last method of paying yourself first involves a little home accounting. Each time you record a deposit in your checking account, allocate part of that deposit toward your savings. This amount, while still within the same account, can then be designated for major purchases, vacations, or emergencies. The benefit of this method is that the funds are much more readily available. The downside, however, is that you may be more tempted to use this money for impulsive purchases. Also, unless your checking account pays interest, you will be missing out on an opportunity to earn from investing the money.

Filed Under: Saving Tagged With: 401(k), Investment, Retirement, Saving

What Is a 401k?

December 7, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

A 401k plan is a specialized retirement savings plan, usually offered by your employer. Companies typically pay third-party firms to manage 401k plans, so there is the benefit of an outside expert to help you in regards to making decisions about your retirement funds. Your employer will deduct the amount you designate from your paycheck on a pre-tax basis. They may also offer matching funds up to a certain amount, but they are not by any means required to do so. This money is then deposited into a an account with the management firm who will invest the money in mutual funds, stocks or other methods, based on the decisions you make about types of investments you prefer. Most experts advise diversification within your retirement investments with a larger amount in the more risky but higher-yield types while you are young. As you get closer to retirement age, you will want to focus more on safer and lower-yielding investments.

The money that you draw from your 401k plan after retirement is taxed but no more so than usual income. There are government restrictions on certain features of 401k plans such as the percentage of your income that you can deposit in a given period. There are also restrictions on your access to the funds before your retirement, although you may be able to borrow against your 401k plan for certain emergencies and life events like buying a house or paying for your child’s college tuition. Make sure to check into all possible benefits and consequences before applying to borrow against your retirement.
If you happen to change jobs, you can elect to cash out your 401k plan, less the taxes owed and penalties for early withdrawal. You can instead elect to “roll over” your plan to your new employer. This method is strongly advised, and your new employer should be happy to assist you in doing so.

Filed Under: Saving Tagged With: 401(k), Employment, Mutual fund, Retirement, Tax

Planning for Retirement

December 6, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Sadly, the American Social Security system is floundering, and those of the current generations cannot expect to rely on Social Security alone for retirement. It is likely that with the current problems in the program, increased life spans, and inflation, nearly everyone will need some type of retirement savings in order to live even close to the manner in which they have grown accustomed. Planning for retirement is a very important consideration for new graduates and should be started as early as possible. The younger you are, of course the more time you have to accumulate a larger savings. What is even more important, starting young sets a habit that will become more ingrained as you get older, making saving money a familiar process.

In order to begin planning for your retirement, first calculate the number of years you have until you become fully eligible by government standards. For instance, a person of age 30 has approximately 37 years until retirement. Next, try to calculate how much money you will need annually during your retirement years. Take your current salary and multiply by the rate of inflation for those 37 years. Now, take that annual figure and multiply it by the number of years you can reasonably expect to live past retirement. Many experts recommend planning to live until age 95; even if that is unlikely, the surplus will provide an inheritance for your family.

Now is when the heavy math comes in. Use a spreadsheet to create a formula to calculate how much you need to save each year in order to arrive at your total by age 67. Make sure to factor in compounding interest on your investments. That is the primary factor to the growth rate of you investments. Divide your annual amount into pay periods to determine the amount you need to contribute each pay check. Make sure not to count on employer contributions, as those are not reliable.

Filed Under: Saving Tagged With: Life expectancy, Retirement, Saving, Social Security