Save Money on Bills

In previous blogs I pointed out some ideas that will help families save money with their grocery bills, entertainment and dining out bills, and much more. Today I am going to focus on the “fixed bills” – the ones you can not get rid of such as utilities and more. If you missed the previous posts please take some time and read them here.

How to Save Money on Your Phone Bill…

1. First thing you need to do is decide if your household needs both traditional and cellular phones.  Many modern households have done away with landlines and have gone strictly mobile, unless you absolutely have to ditch the land line.
2. If you do want separate mobile and house phones consider the Magic Jack.  I know the thing looks like a TV gimmick but it’s really a VOIP that uses your internet connection to place calls and can save you tons of money on your phone bill.  You can replace your phone bill and pay less than $30 a year.
3. Monitor your cell phone usage to fit your needs, for instance as much as I tried I could not limit my text messages so instead of consistently paying overage fees I opted for a larger plan.  Yes it was more money but at the same time I now don’t pay any fees so overall I’m still saving.
4. Try using Skype for some of your needs if not all. While not as pretty packaged as Magic Jack, Skype is a free software that will turn your computer into a phone. More over, Skype which is owned by eBay, sells phones that will piggy back on any wireless connection and make phones local as well as international. Imagine taking your Skype phone (with your phone number registered to it) to a Starbucks and still be able to answer calls made to your house number. With increase Wifi and WiMax coverage in many areas, those wireless phones are virtually always on an internet connection. A monthly membership is just $5.99 and it comes with all the features – voice mail, caller id, dedicated number and numbers in different area codes to make it easy and cheap for your family to call you.

How to Save Money on Cable Bills…

1. If you don’t mind losing your premium channels you can get rid of your cable provider and watch everything you need online for free.  Check out this list of Free TV on PC websites.

How to Save Money on Energy Costs…

Even though winter is coming to an end there are many things that you can do to save money on energy costs year round.

1. Whenever buying new appliances look for the energy star rating for low electricity using items.
2. When running Air Conditioning or Heat make sure your windows and doors aren’t seeping air.
3. Save money by unplugging your most energy consuming appliances when not in use.  Not sure what each appliance takes up even when not plugged in, find out what each appliance uses and at least unplug the worst offenders.

A great overall tip when it comes to saving money on bills is to not be scared or ashamed and simply ask for deals from each service provider.  For instance if you hear about a new promotion only available to new customers, no problem, call customer service and have them apply it to your account under threat of switching services.

Family Summer Fun

To continue our coverage of the 8 simple ways to revamp your home budget and save money in 2010, this post will cover savings on your Travel, Vacation and Entertainment category. If you have missed our previous posts about saving money in 2010 please read our previous entry (part 2) here.

Spring is here and summer will come around the corner in no time. Most American families will soon start planning for their yearly summer vacation and I think this post will really be helpful with this planning as far as saving some money. So without further delay here are some of the most important and effective ways to save money on your next summer vacation.

How to save money on your Vacation:

1. Vacations are a necessary part of a balanced and sane life but they can be expensive. You can cut the cost of a vacation significantly by planning and booking ahead of time. Bookmark travel sites for finding inexpensive airfare, hotels, rentals and so on.  If you know your schedule try to book months in advance to save money.
2. Look online for sales and discounts before making a purchase. For example, use travel deal sites like Priceline, Expedia, Travelocity, and Hotels.com before booking so that you can make some comparisons.
3. One unique way to save money on travel is to stay in hostels instead of hotels, they offer much cheaper rooms and a more lively experience.  This is a great solution for younger people, families with children should check ahead to see if private rooms are available.

If you enjoyed this list of ways to save money please share it with others and I know that saving money is a vast topic with tons of info so feel free to add any of your own additional methods in the comments below.

How to Save Money On Your Entertainment:

1. This is another situation where the entertainment book is crucial to your savings.  The closest theater to my house is a Regal Cinemas which charges a whopping $10.00 per adult ticket, the entertainment book contains 12 coupons which let you purchase 2 adult tickets at $7.00 a piece.  That’s a 30% savings and comes out to $6 saved per movie trip.  If you and a friend see just 3 movies this year these savings alone will cover the cost of the book.
   
2. The other option is to see movies in matinee show times, which around here will save you $2 of the ticket price.  This is a good strategy but difficult to pull off on date nights and weekends.

Save Money at the Grocery Store

A few days back I started a series of posts highlighting ways to save money in the new year. It is a more of a family guide to savings more than a list of unrelated and irrelevant corner cutting techniques.

In the first post I have talked about saving money in your commute/ automobile budget area and if you missed it you can read that post here.

Today I’m gonna cover one of the largest expense that a family budget has – food.

Saving Money on Food

Saving on Groceries:

• Never go to the grocery store without a list. This is the best way to control impulse buying, buying unnecessary things, things you already have or even worst not getting what your family needs.
• Coupons, Coupons and More Coupons. Having a list also allows you to look in the paper for coupons you will needs. Group them together with your list and it will make using coupons and saving money a breeze.  Don’t just settle for the coupons you get in your bulk mail, do a search online or visit manufacturer’s websites and see what they have. There is not one time that I have went to Goya’s website (a specialty food manufacturer I tend to buy a lot) and not find a good recipe or a great coupon.
• Look at the price. The most profitable marketing and packaging technique is the price per item rather than per unit. Manufacturers will make a slightly smaller package that their competitor and charge you the same or even more for it. So don’t fall victim of this marketing trick. Look at the price tag on the shelve and look for the unit price. That will let you compare apples to apples when looking for a bargain among manufacturers.
• Buy Generics. Unless you are shopping for dieting items or you have certain medical conditions or you are purchasing organic produce, always go for the generics. Most of the time the generic store brand is made by the same manufacturer as the leading brands just packaged differently and sold in bulk to grocery stores which in turn sell them at a discount. You will be saving a bundle and still enjoy the same taste and quality.
• Buy in non-perishable items in bulk. Sam’s Club and Cosco are great shopping trips for a family. They have everything under the sun under one roof – even couches to sit one while your spouse is browsing the warehouse . Buy non-perishable items in bulk from those places as the quantity discount you get here will add up to a few hundred dollars a year in savings which largely offsets the membership cost. Also gas is cheaper usually at these places so use this opportunity to gas up.

Saving on Dining Out:

• Cut out Lunching Out if possible. Dining out during lunch is one of the easiest things to cut out of your budget and free up that cash. If you dine out every lunch break you are looking at an expense around $1800.00 a year which is pretty much a family vacation. So get in the habit of bringing to work a doggy bag with leftovers from last night’s dinner or a sandwich you made in the morning. You will not only save money but you will enjoy a healthier diet and lose some weight.
• Do Not Touch That Snack Machine. We all know that vending machines offer unhealthy snacks at on overpriced cost. So why do you use it? Bring from home some carrot sticks or celery or whatever it is you want to snack on and stay away from the vending machine. If unhealthy snacks is what you are craving, bring that from home too and buy it in bulk from Cosco or Sam’s.
• Eat Dinner At Home. Eating dinner at home has many advantages other than saving a good chunk of cash. It allows you to reunite as a family after a day of work and enjoy the bond you have. It also allows for a more nutritious and healthier dinner that what you will get from even the best restaurant.  Also you will have something to take to work next day for lunch. Try to eat out only a couple times a week and look for the specials of that day.
• Enough with the bottled water. The use of bottled water has become insanity and there is absolutely a gigantic volume of scientific work showing that bottled water in large is worst that tap water. So quit blowing your money on bottled water and get you a Brita Filter at home. Fill it up with tap water wait for it to filter (about 10 minutes) and fill up a bottle of water or two or ten. Nowadays most refrigerators come with a charcoal filtration system which far exceeds the filtration system used by branded bottled water. Gosh $1.99 for something I can get for free? Crazy…

I hope this guide was useful to many and if you have other money saving ideas please add them to this list. In the next post I will go over ways to save money on Travel and Entertainment and hopefully you will find good information in those posts to help yo with this year summer vacation.

Saving Money in 2010

A sluggish economy, even worst employment market and an escalating national debt all add up to one thing – it’s time we all find ways to save money. Personal finance is at the forefront of everyone’s mind these days and saving money is probably the most important topic at the family dinner table.
Most find it impossible to cut down spending but that is only because they are looking in the wrong places. Nowadays it is time to be creative when it comes to saving money, it’s time to be informed and well educated about the choices you have.

As a rule of thumb each and every household should have a budget. It’s how fortune 500 companies operate and it’s how your family should too. Get a list of your bills and expenses for each month ( in the business world those are your liabilities). Also put together a list of your salary and all other revenue sources (much like a company has an income chart). This will be able to paint a pretty good picture of where you are financially and what you have to work with.
As soon as you get this items done you will be pleasantly surprised how some things will just pop at you and tell you where you can save money. One example would be the phone bill – why pay for house phone and cell phone?

But let’s get into the meat of things and set out some of the easy ways that families can save money in 2010 – some new and creative ways some just common sense traditional methods. In the next few days I will cover 7 categories of your lifestyle, like commute, food, entertainment, travel etc. and offer you money saving tips and tricks to help cut down your expenses and increase your retained earnings.

I’ll start today with your daily commute to and from work and your number one tool – your automobile.

How to Save Money on your daily commute & automobile:

• Carpool. One of the oldest and most well known of ways to save on all sorts of commuting bills is to carpool. Fine some work buddies that live close by and ask them is interested. Tell them that just by each of you using your car just twice a day you save mileage (valued at $.55 a mile), you save gas, you save on insurance (call your insurance agent and tell him your car only drives to and from work 2 times a week as part of carpool program) and most of all you save on time  (carpool lane).
• Stay with the speed limit and avoid a lot of stop and go. A car uses dramatically more gas when it runs over 55 mph or when it takes off. You can improve your gas mileage thus save money. Also a lot of stop and go will wear your motor and related parts a lot faster than continuous drive thus adding more expenses to your family budget down the road. Should I even mention what a speeding ticket will do to your budget God forbid you get one?
• Get regular maintenance done on your car. It cost a lot less to change your oil every 3000 miles than buying a new motor when you engine block is going to crack. Recently some manufacturers are offering regular maintenance free as part of purchasing their vehicle. Look for deals like that and save even more (see Kia, Hyundai, Audi and BMW).
• Use synthetic oil. Synthetic oil has a guaranteed life of about 5000 miles between changes. Considering you put the average 12,000 miles a year that means only 2 oil changes rather than 4 oil changes with regular oil. The price difference between synthetic and regular is marginal and well worth it. Not to mention the many other benefits of synthetic oil such as longer life time, higher boiling point, increased viscosity and others that will better protect your motor.
• Shop around for insurance. If you are a good driver check with several local and nationwide insurance companies and price them against each other. Even tell them that so and so insurance company offered you this quote and put them on the spot. Also keep in mind that an online only insurance company has a lot better rates than the brick and mortar stores – for obvious overhead reasons. Check with esurance.com for example.
• Buy a slightly used vehicle over a new one. Many dealerships have what is called program cars – cars that have been driven as advertising or by managers and owners. They generally have under 10,000 miles and have full warranties on it but are sold at used car prices even if it is the same year model. New cars will lose a big chunk of their value the moment you drive it off the car lot and NEVER NEVER lease a car unless you are rich and money is not an issue.
• Ride a bicycle or walk to short distances. If you have to run down to the corner store to get a gallon of milk, consider walking there or riding a bicycle. It will not only save you money on gas and wear and tear of your car (again valued at $.55 a mile) but it will also benefit you physically.
• Try to fix it yourself. If you ever have problems with your car try to fix it yourself first. Go to a discount auto parts store like Napa and ask them what they think the problem is. Most of the guys there (and for sure the manager) are licensed car mechanics or have been. They will be able to diagnose the problem and advise you what part to get and how to change it. If it sounds like too involved and complicated then you may chose to shop your local mechanic shops. If however you decide to attempt it you will see how much you will save. About 70% of a mechanic bill is labor not parts. You will be saving all of that.

I hope that the money tips above are helpful and you will be able to incorporate some of them when looking to save money in this category. At least it may spark your imagination and you may come up with money saving tricks of your own.

In the next post I will cover one of the largest expense category of our families: FOOD. So check back tomorrow or sign up for our newsfeed and get some of the best money saving tricks and tips related to grocery shopping, dining out and all FOOD related expenses.

If you can think of anything else please feel free to add it to the comment are and I will make sure to give you credit for it.

Copyright Jen B Photography

OMG – I do not know about how the story goes at your house but every episode I have the tooth brushing showdown in the bathroom.   I have two girls ages 1 & 3, both with their own agenda.  I am feeling like a terrible mother today because I realized I am lacking in teaching my daughters good oral hygiene.

I get the I am tired or I didn’t have any candy today!  Excuses that sometimes I give to.  Shame on me!!

So I began my Internet search as always when I wonder what to do, thinking their must be a better way.  I found that both of my girls should have been to the dentist by now, and that I am really going to have to forge the brushing battle at minimum twice a day!!  So I have scheduled appointments for both girls to see a kid friendly dentist and will share with you what I found from other mothers and “experts”.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that you take your child to visit the dentist for the first time around the age of 12 months.  At this stage, the dentist will be able to identify potential problems and will recommend regular regimen of visits and cleanings at the age of 2!  OK so I am so very behind – what a bad mommy I am feeling like today!

Obviously going to the dentist will be scary for a toddler the first time,  just think of the stress involved with the brushing at home or going to see the pediatrician.  So try to make it a  fun positive experience or growing milestone.  Express they are such a big girl now and they are so lucky to go see a dentist – they will get a prize for visiting, etc.

Ask your dentist to give you some additional tips on getting your child to brush their teeth.  I have read some parental advice that went as far as having daddy hold the child upside down while mommy brushes the teeth (since it is hard to keep your moth closed in this position ?!? OMG seriously?).

I think the following ideas sound like the route I am going to take:

1.  Let your toddler pick out their own tooth brush – color, character etc.

2. Offer training tooth paste in different flavors.

3. Get a fun timer or play a song for two minutes – so your toddler will know when it is time to brush & stop.

4. Provide a reward of some kind (sticker chart) - at least until the new desired behavior is achieved.

5. Get a brush for mommy or daddy to do with them to model the appropriate behavior in their bathroom.

6.  Take my turn brushing regardless of the protesting!!  Hard yes – but better than having to sit through the torture of having your child need to get a cavity filled!

Hope this helps and inspires you to fight the battle regardless of how hard it is, ignore the excuses and schedule your toddlers regular dental exams.

Basic Business Budget

One of the oldest sayings in business is that you have to spend money to make money. But you have to spend your money wisely. And that’s where budgeting comes into play.

A basic budget tries to anticipate your spending needs and forecasts your sales and other revenue. A budget helps you predict when money comes in and goes out so you can better manage your cash flow. It’s also useful when dealing with bankers on loans. In short, a budget is a useful road map to guide your business through the year.

A good basic budget can:

1. Forecast the timing and amounts of your spending
2. Set realistic goals for income and expenses
3. Give you a standard against which to measure performance
4. Help you control your expenses
5. Show you when you’re overspending so you can adjust

The three main elements of any business budget are sales revenues, expenditures and profits. To create your budget, you’ll need to anticipate a dollar amount for each elements. Existing businesses can look to past figures for guidance; new businesses must make an educated guess.

Estimate your Revenue:
It’s better to be cautious with your revenue estimates. If you fall short of projections, you could end up without enough money to cover expenses. It’s also important to map out when revenues will arrive. For example, in a cyclical business like retail, you need to budget your cash so you’ll be able to pay your bills during slow periods while you wait for the bustling holiday season to arrive.

Estimate Your Expenses:
Calculate when and how much you’ll have to pay for business expenses, including things like cost of goods sold, office supplies, rent, utilities, auto expenses, travel, advertising, professional services, loan repayment and taxes. Companies with employees have additional expenses, including salaries, benefits, employee business expense reimbursements and bonuses.

Put it All Together:
Once you have all your numbers in place, you can begin to see where your money comes from and where it goes, which helps you direct your attention to areas that need improvement. It will also help you project profits and losses, moth or periods of time when your business is most profitable, actions taken that had the greatest impact on your business and more.

Take for example advertising, if you spend $200 a month on newspaper ads and $200 a month on radio ads, wouldn’t you like to know which is is more profitable? Sure you do, and the budget together with other marketing analysis will allow you to identify your most profitable ad element which in turn will let you focus on it and possible cancel the other.

Don’t be afraid to improvise and be unconventional. Some of the best ideas and resources are found in unconventional places. And lastly keep this bullet points in mind:

• Add a cushion: Your business will need some cash on hand for day-to-day operations and unexpected expenses, so be sure to build cash reserve into your budget.
• Use your library: When you’re trying to project revenue and need to research your industry, don’t overlook your public library, which not only has books and periodicals that might be useful but also reference librarians who can help direct you.
• Take a long look: If a one-year budget is helpful in mapping out your immediate objections, then a three-year budget can help you focus on your longer-term goals and outlook.
• Measure performance: Once you have a budget, you can periodically calculate how you’re doing compared to your plan and make changes as needed in your operations.

Credit Cards for Bad Credit

I will preface this blog with the following: “Credit cards are not for everyone and they are the fastest route to becoming in debt to banks and a poor credit score”! If one is already in the red with their personal finances, a credit card is not a good idea to start with. I was told by my father, a few days after I came to America, that “If you can not buy it now with cash, what makes you think you’re going to have the money 30 days later?”. That stuck with me since and I can say that I was lucky enough to not have those horrifying stories most had with credit cards.

That having been said, and you must really have a credit card even if your credit score is so poor then lets see what is the best way to get one.

1. Find credit cards designed specifically for people with bad credit. These credit cards will typically have a higher interest rate than normal credit cards because lower credit scores are inherently riskier.

2.Be prepared to apply for a secured credit card. Secured credit cards are backed by an account that you maintain. Many credit card companies require a minimum amount of money to be in these accounts at all times to ensure that you can pay you monthly payments.

3. Shop around for interest rates. Just because you may have poor credit doesn’t mean that you have to settle for ridiculously high interest rates. However, don’t expect a low interest rate if you have poor credit.

4. Pay off your balance every month. This will dramatically increase your credit rating and credit history. Showing a lender that you have successfully managed debt in the past will go a long way in getting a new loan.

I will end this article just like I started it, credit cards are not for everyone. the concept sounds terrific but in reality it takes a very disciplined individual to actually benefit from having credit cards. In my opinion, and I am very conservative with my finances, once should only have a credit card for the sake of convenience not as access to new money.

Courtesy Associated Press

With all the buzz in our daily lives, one begs the question, “who has times to clip coupons and for what – save a dollar on cat food or some off brand detergent?“. Well guys, The Wall Street Journal published a great article  with in depth statistics and numbers on the matter of coupons. According to the article, surprisingly a lot of families! More and more Americans are going back to the coupon – mostly due to the American depression we are in. Last year alone the american people have used 3.3 billion coupons a staggering 27% rise since 2008, while online coupon redemption have rose by more than 360 %.

So why is the “Great American Coupon” so popular again?
To answer that question one would have to first find out why have they ever fell out of style. Answer is really common sense – you have to collect a bunch of fliers from your mailbox, read every single one and find items you usually buy, remember to bring those coupons with you at the store when you go shopping and remember to also use them at the cash register. I for one have done all except for remembering to use them at the cash register and only realizing it when I get home and empty my pockets . Well not much of what I wrote about has changed nor will it ever change, so then again why did we as a nation increase the use of coupons so dramatically?
Let’s deal with this in the old fashioned way – simple math.
According to Inmar Inc, the largest coupon processing agent in U.S., the average savings per coupon is $1.44.
Now we can argue all day how to calculate the time it takes to clip a coupon but for the sake or this article I will round it up to 1 minute per coupon.
That tells me that if I can save $1.44 per minute that equal to an hourly wage of $86.40.

For majority of Americans lucky enough to have a job nowadays, the daily grind at work only brings them an average of $18.70/hour according to the Department of Labor.

In case that didn’t sink in yet let me say it again – that is $86.40 a hour for a job you can do in your house, on your couch in front of your TV. Better yet, unlike the income you receive for your hard day at work, this one is TAX FREE!

An average American family can easily save $20 a week in groceries using coupons. While that is not a huge amount, it also means $80 a month or $960 a year. Over a lifetime this will add well over $100,000 – even if you account for inflation.

So why are then 90% of coupons thrown away unused? Well is because as humans we fail to threat small amount just like big amounts. If you could save $140 per coupon instead of the average $1.44 then I am positive that there will be no coupon ever thrown away, more over, people will be robbing your mailbox to get your coupon books. But since it is only a matter of cents, we brush it off as not worth it, failing to look at the big picture and how much small amounts add up to.
Click Here for a great book on how organize and make the most out of your grocery coupons and maybe you won’t be like me – returning home with them in my pocket :0!

Lesson to take home – start using coupons, is like making $86.40 an hour and is money that is given to you FREE courtesy of your grocery stores. Realize that the simple rules of mathematics tell you that small amounts when many add up to a large sum.

Dennis to offer a free Grand Slam breakfast on Tuesday February 9th 2010. Is that not awesome? Is between 6am and 2pm and I think we should all head to the local Denny’s and get that hook up . I mean bacon, eggs and all the fixings plus the coffee! Is not over-priced starbucks but man they do have some good cooffee and food.

Check it out at http://www.dennys.com/superbowl/splash2.html

When you’re trying to save for the future and still manage to eat, it can be tough to find that right balance. We all need to plan ahead and having a savings account really is essential. This can be a cushion or that “rainy day” money that you need, and it is never too late to start putting away money towards your retirement. However, a lot of us can get bogged down when it comes to handling our own finances and it is all too easy to be like the grasshopper in Aesop’s Fables and put it off until tomorrow.

You can’t put off saving for your future until tomorrow, because there is a good chance you’ll keep putting it off until you wake up one day and it’s too late. However, there are a few easy tips that you can use to start saving for your future today. It may be a little tough at times, but like anything, practice makes perfect. The more you practice saving, the easier it gets. Eventually, managing your money will come naturally.

Let’s start off with setting a budget and finding which expenses are not necessary. Add up everything you spend over the course of a month. Put all of your necessary expenses, such as groceries, rent, utilities and phone into one column. Now, put everything else in the other. You may be surprised at just how much you are spending every single month. If you have credit cards, it’s very easy to spend more than you’re making. This sets you up to enter a bad debt spiral that will eventually get out of control.

Now, let’s take a look at everything in the second column. Add up how much you spend on things such as partying or shopping. These are items that should be the first to go. Sure, you don’t want to become a recluse, but when you get tempted to go out and spend a bunch of money ask yourself – will I still be able to wear this shirt when I’m broke at 65? Do I want to work until I’m 80 simply because I want to go have a few drinks?

It’s a bit extreme, but these little spending habits can end up giving you that result. Find ways to do things a lot more cheaply and you’ll end up saving a few hundred dollars every month. Put that money into an interest bearing savings account and we guarantee, by the end of the year, you’ll be amazed at how much money you were able to put aside.

Next, you’ll need to focus on ways to create more money than just your standard income. 80% of all Americans live paycheck to paycheck. This means that one lost job can result in becoming homeless. To break that cycle, you need to create multiple streams of income so that you’re not relying on that one source of income to meet your needs. This is the key towards planning for your future.