Shiny New is Overrated Buy Used to Save Money

Money saving is never easy. Most American’s simply don’t do it. Yet, saving money is crucial sometimes. It’s a lot better than using credit. How often do you see a commercial that says, “Save up for six months and buy this new couch set!” America wants instant gratification. Unfortunately, that can cause us to get into debt that we can’t climb out of. Instead of debt, try saving. Let’s say your short term goal is to buy a boat-you have a few options. One option is to borrow the money from a lender. Another option is to charge it on a credit card, and the final option is to save for a few months and buy it with your own money. All three ways will give you that boat. Some of those options are not the wisest. If you use a lender and are late with one payment, they can put on a 99% interest. If you use a credit card, you have interest and more debt. If you save, you’re fine. But, how do you save?

Here are some very practical ideas. First of all, don’t go out to eat. If you do, get water and share a dish with someone. If you calculated the amount of money you spend on dining out in one month-you will most likely be surprised. Save that money, your short term goal is worth it. Another way to save is to cut out some extra spending. Instead of going to see a movie, rent one and stay home with some popcorn. Instead of buying an entire CD, buy the track and save that money. Another way to save some money is to buy bulk. This is especially effective for large families.

Sometimes it’s hard to save up by cutting things out of your life. This is understandable, not everyone can afford to go out to eat as much as others. Not everyone can afford nights out at the movies. In this situation, take your checks and put ten percent away in a savings account right away. Do this for as long as you need. Just act like you are literally making ten percent less until you reach your short term goal. These are just a few ways you can save for short term goals. Some will say that if you need extra help financially, there are trained professionals just a call away for advice. Remember that debt is never a wise choice to make if at all possible, because of interest and other things.

When doing your research, consider the following: Look into these programs: door-to-door, fee-per-ride, ride-share, carpools, and private shuttle services. Some services require advanced notice or reservations. Use services that are no or low cost to seniors.

Use pay as you go or monthly coupons. Use public or private transportation (taxi, mini-bus or van, bus, rail).

If you’d like to keep your vehicle, it might be a great idea to fill in the gaps for when ride services are not available. You might find that you can have greater control over the cost of fuel by maintaining your own vehicle and using ride services.

If you decide to keep your vehicle, be sure to look into lower discounted insurance rates for mature individuals. Also, if you find that you are moving slower when walking, ask your medical professional about assisting you with obtaining a handicap sticker, tag or license plate for your vehicle. Here’s a suggestion, even if you decide to get a handicap license plate, also ask for a handicap tag. That way you can display it when traveling in a vehicle driven by someone else. Check with your local Area Agency on Aging (AAA) for information specific to your area.

Simple Ideas to Buck the Economic Downturn and Flourish

Whether you are looking to save money on home expenses or looking for a new career change to support you and/or your family this information will benefit you. There is no need to worry about the future of the economy if you are innovative and creative enough.

If your main concern is to cover your childcare expenses and cost of living you can keep in mind the following tips:

You can purchase those much-coveted brand name clothes that your teens just "got to have" at discount stores, department stores, and outlet malls. You can also find those items online.

Stores such as Wal-mart often sell notebooks for only cents on the dollar at the beginning of the school year. During this time is the best time to stock up for the year.

You can find quality exchanged media for a reduced price. Therefore, if your child needs any computer equipment or media devices for school projects look at these stores first.

Online auction sellers often provide school supplies, clothing, holiday gifts, birthday presents, and more for a reduced rate. Many of these items are like new.

Certain dollar stores and grocery stores sell brands of food that are just as high of quality. The only difference is they do not spend huge amounts of money on advertising. Therefore, you can shop here for a majority of your family groceries.

You can cut down on traveling expenses by working at home. You would also cut down on traveling expenses and food purchased on the job if you work at home.

If you are in need of a new idea for bettering your overall financial situation in order to prepare for the future read the following:

If you own a business already try to find more personal ways to advertising. By far word of mouth and on one networking is most effective. It is a proven fact that people prefer to do business with people they have met or talked to.Â

Find an effective way to provide the same quality products or services as other companies-for less. You will soon have so many clients you will not know what to do with them all if you sell yourself for a more affordable price. Likewise, if you product high-quality items such as household goods, craft items, and gifts for less you will also become very popular very quickly.

Use the Internet for calling. You can even call other peoples' computers for free with certain messenger services. Furthermore, you can arrange video and voice chat sessions with clients.Â

You can do what you love to do at home instead of the office. These positions are highly-coveted but more rewarding. More of these types of positions are likely to become available.

Find a way to market your favorite hobbies and skills. Perhaps you can make extra money filling an office niche by offering discount services to other small business. This is a great time to get started, especially if you are out of a job and on unemployment. You can start a business using the computer and the Internet for next to nothing.Â

Work on learning new skills. This knowledge and experience can be obtained one or more of the following ways: formal accredited online and offline schooling, certifiable training, free video and web tutorials, and library research.

In fact, it is ideal if you can find a field of interest in which you already have a fair amount of experience working in. For instance, if you have already been producing graphics for people you may want to advance in that field.

Nine Nifty Ways to Earn an Extra $100 Bucks a Month

You don’t have to suffer if you are hurting for money. Renting can be expensive, and sometimes not exactly worth the money you pay. You’ve got to pay your monthly rent, plus your electric bill, water bill, gas bill, and other bills. Consider everything monthly. The rates build up, and you can easily fall into debt. No one wants to get in debt, but sometimes it seems unavoidable. However, there is a way you can afford it, and get your money’s worth every month, while seemingly lowering your monthly payments. No matter what the situation, there’s an apartment that’s right for you.

Get a small side Internet job that you can work from home. Many online jobs allow you to put in some time once a week or so on weekends, so you can have more money coming in. This can quickly equate to earning an extra $100 a month.

Sell items on eBay. If you have a hobby of garage sale hopping, look for small treasures when you’re out shopping. Buy cheap and sell high on eBay. EBay is an online auction website that allows you to sell items quickly and easily. If you stick to it and make it a priority, you can easily earn an extra $100 a month.

Turn a hobby into a small business. If you enjoy web design but don’t do it as a career, advertise that you can create web sites for people quickly and easily. Don’t charge too much, because you want to do it as a hobby and you do want to get customers. But charging a nominal fee is a great way to turn something you enjoy doing into $100 each month.

Find people who owe you money. If you start tying up loose ends and tracking down people you have judgments against, you can start collecting cash. Also look at cable companies that you may have overpaid. Ask for your refund. Find companies that you owe money to and it quite possibly can turn into an extra $100 each month.

Start selling old things in your house that you no longer need. Everyone has things in their home that they haven’t used in a year or more. These items oftentimes can be sold quite easily and not missed. Start posting these items on sites like Craig’s List or eBay and you can quickly and easily earn extra income each month. This is also a great way to start sorting out the things from your home that you no longer need. Soon enough you will have a streamlined household.

Instead of having bills mailed to you, and having to worry about writing and mailing out checks to several different people every thirty days, there’s one flat rate to pay every month. This payment will include your rent bill, water, gas, electric, and many other things that come with the apartment. You’d be surprised at how low the payments per month actually are.

There are some more expensive apartments. However, if you want more luxury with the place you’re living. Some apartment rent rates are higher than others, and this is because some apartments have hidden bills and fees. Obviously, the gas and electric bills are very high due to everyone living in the apartment, but again, the bills are divided up fairly equally. Another good thing is that, within reason, you can use a fair amount of water and gas and electricity and not get charged more for it every month.

Living in an apartment and having one fixed bill per month can be a major stress reliever, and a good way to help things get organized. Apartments can be fun and cheap places to live.

Annual fees are expenses paid every year for keeping/owning your credit card. These fees are usually tracked by points. For example, 10 points equals 10% of the original credit line. So if you’ve got a $200 bill, you might have 25 days to pay it, and if you’re late on the payment, you’ll get charged a certain amount of money in addition to the original $200 fee.

Water Saving Strategies to Keep your Pocketbook Padded

If you live in a place where water is plentiful, you may possibly take this resource for granted. However, you can save money on living expenses if you consider the water-saving tips mentioned in this article.

For instance, one of the most often used ways to save money by using less water is taking shorter showers. Filling the bathwater only have way is another water-saving and money-saving practice.

Aside from that, you may also consider one or more of the following additional water-saving (and ultimately money-saving) tips:

Wash full loads of laundry. It is also recommended that you give your hot-water heater a rest by setting your washer to rinse with cold water. In fact, certain types of clothing are light enough to be washed with cold water.

Run a full dishwasher and rinse just-used dishes. Chances are you use a dishwasher to help save time. If so, it is recommended that you wait until it is full before you run it. Along with that, you can reduce the chance of having to re-wash used dishes when you rinse them off as soon as you are done eating. Otherwise, cleaning your plates, cups, silverware, and other items the old-fashioned way is an alternative.

Keep water refrigerated to drink. If you drink tap or filtered tap water it is advised that you fill up containers of this thirst-quenching liquid and store it in a cool place. If so, you save on the amount of time it takes to run the water until it reaches a drinkable temperature. You can also use ice. Use re-usable ice packs on picnics and in drinks. One way to conserve on water and to save money is to purchase ice packs and reusable "ice cubes." For drinks. They are just as effective in keeping food and drinks cold as ice.

Hand-water gardens. As long as you do not have a huge garden, hand-watering your plants may be feasible. You use less water if you just replenish the immediate plant area using a water container versus when you use a sprinkling system.

Use automatic sprinklers. If you have a large lawn or garden, sprinklers set to spray at certain times of the day (usually at night) would be ideal. Besides, if they are sent infrequently enough they can even scare away potential night time prowlers-an extra bonus besides saving water.

Use hand sanitizer, wipes, or other quick cleansing materials. These are usually used on the go. However, if you want to cut down on the amount of water you use to wash your hands these items are handy, especially the hand sanitizer because it does not leave any waste behind.Â

Compose instead of flush. Sometimes people flush old food down the toilet. However, if you start a compose for your garden you can conserve on the amount of water it takes to use toilet water. The sample applies to using a garbage disposal.

Remember to switch water off. If you are a forgetful person you may want to invest in items such as automatic sink faucets. Either that or set alarms or specific intervals of times in which you check to make sure water is shut off.

Use rain water. Sometimes you can capitalize on nature's shower to clean your car. When you see that it is soon going to rain, or if it is raining already, perhaps you can take some soap and a bucket outside. Rainwater can be collected for a variety of other uses as well, such as for watering houseplants, and so on.

Free tips on water conservation are probably available through your local utility companies. Environmental organizations also can provide free assistance in this area.

Seven Painless Pointers for Lowering Bills and Living Below your Means

Living below your means and sticking to a budget does not have to be painful. Many reformed shopaholics and over spenders who adopt a more frugal lifestyle like to spread the gospel of living below your means. Why do so many people who adopt frugal habits speak so highly of this lifestyle? There are several reasons. First, living below your means keeps you out of debt. Living below your means allows you more freedom in many parts of your life. Living below your means also lowers your stress. And living below your means keeps things simple. Here are seven painless pointers for lowering your bills and adopting a lifestyle that allows you to live below your means.

Learn how to cook and brown bag your own lunch

This is a very simple way to keep your bills low. You can save money without even feeling like you’re saving money and even adopt a healthier lifestyle. If you enjoy eating out, you probably don’t even notice how much you spend on this expensive habit. This doesn’t mean that you have to give it up entirely. If you go out to eat several times a week, take it down to one or two times a week. Learning the pleasures of preparing your own meals can introduce you to a whole new world and save you lots of money in the process.

Keep your car for as long as possible

Buying a new car is one of those major purchases that can keep you drained of savings for years. Instead of buying a new car, or leasing, every few years, keep your car for as long as you can and watch the savings add up. Keep your car in good working order by taking it for regular maintenance and driving as lightly as possible. Become attached to your car, take good care of it and hopefully you will give yourself many years of trouble-free driving without having to make those hefty new car payments.

Reconsider your living situation

Are you paying a large rental bill for a two-room apartment and you live alone? Are you paying too much on your mortgage balance each month? If you are serious about lowering your bills, it’s time to sit down and reconsider your living situation. Maybe you can live just as comfortable in a somewhat smaller, and less expensive, apartment. Maybe you can lower your monthly mortgage payment significantly by refinancing your home. Whatever your situation looks like, sit down and see how much you’re paying per month on living expenses. Chances are, there are ways to lower this expense significantly.

Always buy the generic brand

Most people who buy name brand household products do so out of habit. These days, you can find high quality products for much less than the name brand simply by buying generic. You would be surprised how much you can save on staples such as detergent, disposable diapers, canned food and more. Expect a savings of approximately 30% simply by switching to the generic brand.

Get rid of your land line if you’re not using it

Do you still have a land line that rarely gets used? Do you live by your cell phone? These days, with increased cell phone stability and advanced technology, most people use their cell phone for most of their communication needs. If this sounds like you, perhaps it’s time to cut that land line service and save on your monthly telephone bill.

Shop secondhand whenever possible

New clothes, furniture and electronics are nice, but they are usually marked up pretty high. Watch the prices plunge as you step into your local secondhand store or thrift shop. You can buy high quality clothes, furniture, books and music at your local secondhand shop at a deep discount.

Pay yourself first

This long-held adage still rings true today. Most people in debt are anxious about saving, but it’s time to deposit a little into your own private savings stash every month. Make an emergency cushion for yourself by having ten percent of your paycheck automatically deposited into savings account each month. But if you are in deep debt, pay this down first.