Pay More than Minimum Credit Card Payment

Almost everyone has a credit card these days; some people even have a few! When you bear this in mind, it is understandable how so many people manage to get into debt with their credit cards. Although credit cards have benefits such as air miles or other reward schemes, this doesn’t always outweigh the costs that can accompany them.

When you spend money on a credit card, you accumulate interest until the total balance is paid off. This brings us to our credit saving tip – always pay more than the minimum balance where possible. For the most part, the minimum payments that you are making are only really covering the interest that has accrued on the account. If it says that you only have to make a minimum payment of $50, don't rejoice and think to yourself that you have a few extra pennies to spend somewhere else, make a payment of $100 if you can afford it. Better yet, start a debt snowball. You will have less interest to pay off and in the long run, you will be much better off.

Not only will paying more than the minimum balance be a great help financially, but it will also help your relationship with the lender and in turn, your credit score overall. Once you have built up a good relationship with a lender, when you do reach dire financial times, they will be more likely to help you out with a better repayment plan and you will avoid the nasty black marks against your name on your credit report. It just makes sense when you think about it. One last reason why you should be paying off more than the minimum – you pay off the balance much quicker so you will be back to not having credit card debt. Then the credit card's full balance will be there, should you ever need it in a case of a large and expensive emergency.

Car Share

It doesn't matter where you are in the world right now, there is one fact that is very clear – gas prices are getting higher and higher and while there are things we can do to reduce gas prices, there aren't many tings we can do short term. It has gotten to a point where people are actually avoiding using their vehicles in order to save money and instead, spending almost as much on public transport just to get to work and other places that they need to frequent on a regular basis.

There is one very helpful tip that can help you if you are looking to save money on your gas prices – car sharing schemes. These sound complicated but in reality, the idea is very, very simple. If you work with one or more people that you get along with, and they live in the same rough direction as yourself, why not share the car duties? Instead of two or three of you taking your cars to work in the morning, take it turns to pick each other up and just all put in for a gas "kitty" so that the whole process is fair.

Create a rotation of sorts – you can do it in whichever way is easier for you. Maybe one person does one week and then another does the next? Figure out exactly how much gas is being used on the journey and every pay a certain amount of money each. This will still be cheaper than taking three different vehicles to work and can save you a lot of money in the long run, as well as helping the environment.

All of you involved in the car pooling scheme should keep an eye out at gas stations to try and find the cheapest price too – if you notice that one station is considerably cheaper than the one that your work colleague is already using, bring it to their attention, saving even more money still. Do your bit for the environment and save some pennies – a job well done!

Make A List When Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping is something that fills a lot of people with dread. You walk around a grocery store for a while, put a bunch of random stuff in your cart and then get to the checkout to realise you have spent well over your budget. There is one very simple way in which you can save money on your grocery bill and that is to always make a list of items that you need or want and take it with you to the grocery store. Buy only what you have on your list and do not get carried away with buy one, get one free offers and other such deals and you will soon see your grocery bill shrinking over time.

Take a good look in your cupboards and in the refrigerator before you leave for the store and make sure that you write down the things that you need that you would normally buy. These should be things like eggs, milk, bread, sugar etc. When you head to the store, make sure that you have the list somewhere safe and accessible. You will find that, with a list, you can buy the things that are just what you need. You will head to the aisles that contain the items that you need and then go to the checkout. Not only will your grocery bill be smaller, but your trips to the store will also be quicker, meaning that you have more time to spend on other things and better manage your day.

It can be very easy to go to the store and walk out with a whole bunch of stuff that you don’t need and probably won’t use. How many times have you bought items that you wouldn't normally buy simply because they were on some kind of special offer? Will a list and a little bit of will power, you will find that your grocery bills will soon shrink!

Washing Machine Saving Money Tips

If you think the only way you can save money using your washing machine is by scrubbing your clothes in the local lake on a rock, you are mistaken. There are hundreds of ways that you can save a few pennies when doing your laundry and when it comes down to it, a lot of these money saving methods are down to plain and simple common sense. Thankfully, help is at hand – here are the top three tips for saving money with your washing machine.

1. If you don't need to do laundry, don't do it! So what if your favourite jeans are a tad grubby and you want to wear them tomorrow? Hand-wash them if you really can't live without them. There is no point in doing a whole load of laundry for one pair of jeans, especially when it takes just a few moments to give them a quick clean by hand. Wait until you need to do laundry – make set days such as Tuesday’s and Sundays. Not only will you be amazed at how much more time you have on your hands, but you will also be amazed at how much money you save, both on electricity costs as well as detergent and softener costs!

2. Turn off the hot water! So many of the laundry detergents on the markets these days are designed to be used in a colder temperature of water, so why not make use of them? What's the point in heating your water to boiling point and wasting heat/electricity when the detergent you are using works perfectly well, (sometimes better) at a colder temperature? Why not try it, just for a month? You'll be shocked at how many pennies you will be able to save!

3. If your washing machine looks like something found in a seventies movie, maybe it’s time to upgrade? Not only can an old machine waste water and electricity, but by upgrading to a newer, energy efficient model, you are also doing your bit for the environment. The same applies to large machines – if the kids have moved out or you no longer have as many people living in your home, what's the point in having a massive machine? Downsize your machine size as well as your laundry costs at the same time!

Dryer Setting Tip

Laundry is one of those things that you cannot really sacrifice. You need these pieces of machinery in the same way that you need your car or washing machine for day to day use. It makes sense to learn how you can save money using your dryer and luckily, there is one simple tip that you should not live without.

Although using your dryer proves to be convenient, it can also prove to be expensive. It can use more electricity than your average air conditioning unit, and this is a lot of power. One of the easiest things that you can do to save money and power with your dryer, is to ensure that you are using the right setting for the clothes that you are trying to dry. You will find that there are normally more than a few settings for you to choose from, and one of the reasons why so many people waste electricity and money when doing laundry, is because they have their dryer (and occasionally the washing machine) on the wrong setting.

If you are drying your underwear or other delicate items, use the delicate setting on your dryer or at least use a lower temperature. It is simple common sense – the less heat you use, the less power you need and in turn, the more money you will save. You will also save money on clothing costs by doing this – using the wrong heat setting on your clothes can damage them quicker than your average amount of wear and tear, and you will end up having to stop wearing your favourite items after just a few washes.

Next time you turn on your dryer, take a peek at what setting you are using. If you only have half a load, use a lower temperature and always make sure that you are choosing the right setting for the type of clothing that you are trying to dry.

How To Save Over $100 Grocery Shopping

Here is an easy and painless way to save money when doing your grocery shopping that will not change what you are planning to purchase. Even better, this simple little change can save you well over a hundred dollars a year. You simply need to change the time you do your grocery shopping.

Studies have shown that the longer you stay in a grocery store, the more likely you are to spend money. it may surprise you to learn that consumers spend as much as 50 cents more each additional minute they remain at the grocery store after the first 30 minutes. That's right. if you can get in and out of a grocery store quickly, you are much less likely to spend extra money, but if you stay over thirty minutes, each couple of minutes after that is going to cost you $1.00. If you can cut the time you spend in the grocery store from an hour to 30 minutes, you will save yourself approximately $15. There are a variety of ways to decrease the amount of time you spend in the grocery store, but one of the simplest ways is to focus on the time of day that you shop.

A simple way to accomplish this is to go to the grocery store during non-peak shopping hours. Since there are more people in the store during peak shopping hours, you'll spend more time in the store than when it is relatively empty. This will especially help in decreasing the time you wait in the check-out line where the dreaded impulse purchase items are calling at you.

If your grocery store is open 24 hours, the best times to go are before 8:00 in the morning or after 9:00 in the evening. If your store isn't open 24 hours, shopping when it first opens in the morning is best. If that is not possible, right before it closes is next best. If you can remember, make a note the time when you enter and exit to see how much time you spend inside (a stop-watch is handy here if you happen to have one and makes it sort of a fun game). The goal is to get in and out in under 30 minutes each time you visit your local grocery store.

If you can arrange your schedule to shop when it's least crowded, you will save well over $100 in shopping expenses during the year. An added benefit is that you will free up more time to do other things since you'll spend less time shopping.

Buy Holiday Goods Now

Christmas is over which means it is the perfect time to start thinking about Christmas 2012 for those who want to save money. Before you begin rolling your eyes at the thought of having to think about the holiday season when you thought that is was finally over, remember that the better prepared you are before the holiday season starts, the more you'll save when the holiday season arrives. Just imagine how much more pleasurable December 2012 will be if you have all your decorations, ornaments and gifts bought and wrapped long before the 2012 holiday shopping season even begins?

The first thing you need to do is take a quick inventory of all the Christmas items that you have taking special need of anything that needs replacing or you wish you had during the holiday season. This is by far the best time to do this since it is still fresh in your mind so that you don't wish you had it again next year. With your list in hand, head to the stores where all Christmas related items should be heavily discounted.

You should be able to find all that you need to replace and anything that you know that you needed for 50% off or more. Once purchased, place with all your other Christmas and holiday goods and decorations and you will be set to go next year without having to worry about what you may still need. If you buy holiday related gifts for friends or family, this is also a great time to purchase these at great discounts to give for next year.

By beginning early and determining holiday needs now, you'll be in the position to significantly reduce the amount of money you spend on decorations, ornaments and holiday gifts next year. best of all, you won't have the pressure of having to find them with crowded holiday shoppers since it will all already be taken care of.

Clean Out Your Car Trunk To Save Money

Often it is simple little baby steps that can save you money over a long period of time. A good example of that is to empty out all the stuff you have been storing inside of your car's trunk.

There seems to be a law that if something goes into a car trunk, it must remain there indefinitely. As the months go by, the trunk starts looking less like a trunk and more like a storage closet. While your car's trunk may be a convenient place to store all those items that you are not sure where to put otherwise, that storage comes at a price. All those items resting in the trunk of your car add weight, and that added weight costs you money.

If you are the type of person that uses your car trunk as a storage area, make the time to go to your car and empty everything out of the trunk and back seat that doesn't need to be there. In addition to cleaning out the inside of your car, it's also a good time to take off the car rack if you have one. Car racks significantly reduce the aerodynamics of the car which lowers your overall gas mileage.

The more weight that you can shed from the car, the lighter and more fuel-efficient it will be. Emptying out your trunk should save you a minimum of $20 for the year and possibly much more. An added bonus to reducing the weight in your car is that your car's driving performance should also improve.

An added benefit of cleaning out your car is that you will likely find a lot of things that you thought were lost. Keeping it clean can also mean that important papers or other documents don't accidentally get lost in the mess. once your car is clean and organized, it should be much easier to keep it this way and save you both time and energy (on top of money) knowing where everything is.

getting your car and car trunk clean is a great first step in getting all the places in your life better organized and clean. Remember, it's a first baby step.

Credit Cards Have Advantages

There is often an assumption made by people who have gotten into credit card debt that credit cards are terrible. The truth is that they are terrible if you don't pay them off in full every month. If you have the discipline to pay them off each month in full, credit cards have many advantages. A few of these advantages include the following:

Creating A Credit History: Having a credit card that you pay off each month helps create a credit history which will improve your credit score. An improved credit score will allow you to get loans for a car or house at much better interest rates saving you money.

You Get An Interest Free Loan: from the time you buy something with a credit card until the time you pay off the credit card, you get an interest free loan.

Your receive Damage and Loss Protection: When you purchase something with a credit card, you are protected from damage or loss. You do not receive this protection when you use cash.

You Get Theft Protection: If an item that you purchase gets stolen within a specified period of time, your credit card often covers the replacement of the stolen item.

These are just a few ways that credit cards can be advantageous. The key point to remember is that this is only the case if you pay of the balance of the credit card each month in full.

Why You Should Pay Bills Right Away

For those of you who have had late payments on bills, learning to pay bills on time can have a profound impact on your savings so it's an important one to master.

If you haven't had any late payments in the last year, you have already figured out a quality system to get your payments in on time. You should change nothing and continue with the method you have devised that works for you.

If you made even one late payment in the past year, you've made one too many. A single late payment on any bill can have ill effects far beyond the bill in question including a decline in your credit rating and the raising of your credit card interest rates. What you want to do is to make sure you don't have another late payment from this day forward.

In order to achieve this, start by paying your bills the day that they arrive instead of their due date. When you bring in the mail, before you read any letters from your friends, before you look through the advertisements, before you read your favorite magazine, you should sit down with the bills and write out a check for each of them if you don't have an automatic payment system set up with your bank. The next day you will put them in the mailbox and send them off. That's all you have to do to avoid all the money you have paid in late fees in the past. By committing to do this you will avoid all late fees in the future.

Even if it seems early to pay the bill, you are far better off paying it too soon than accidentally forgetting it and paying too late. By paying bills the day your receive them, you will actually save yourself both time and money. That is, you will free up time that you would have wasted if had placed the bill somewhere to pay later. You will only look at the bill once and you will never have to spend the time searching for where you placed it again.

Get Your Credit Card Interest Rate Lowered & Annual Fee Waived

Here's a money saving method that will ultimately save you tens of thousands of dollars over your lifetime. In today's challenge we are going to take the first step in learning how to ask for savings.

To begin, call your credit card company and ask for one of the following: a) to have the credit card interest rate you're charged lowered, b) to have your credit card annual fee waived or c) both a and b.

The first thing you need to do is to find the number of your credit card company. It should be on your credit card or on your credit card statement. When you call, you want to say something like:

Hi. I have used your card for the last 3 years and have been happy with it. However, I recently received a competing credit card offer with no annual fee. Would it be possible to have my annual fee waived?

or

Hi. I have used your card for the last 3 years and have been happy with it. However, I recently received a competing credit card offer with a much lower interest rate (have a percentage rate in mind in case they ask). What is the best interest rate that you can give me?

If you are currently paying a annual fee and a high interest rate, feel free to ask about both in your call. One of two things will happen: 1) you'll get your annual fee waived or a lower interest rate or 2) you won't. While it will be great if you do, the result is not nearly as important as actually getting up the courage to make the call because when you learn to ask for discounts on a regular basis, even if they don't all work out, many will and you will save money.

Take the challenge. Get up from the computer and go to the phone right now. Even if you're a bit nervous, that's fine. Just commit to making the call and ask for a better deal.

Save On Prescription Drug Costs

By Megan N.

Almost everyone cringes at the thought of spending hundreds of dollars on prescription drug. Shelling out for expensive drugs is an especially grueling experience for seniors, and those who take multiple types of medicine daily. Because these costs can add up to hundreds out of your pocket every year, the first method for is to be proactive. Know which medicines are absolutely necessary for your health, if there are any alternatives, and whether or not your insurance covers them.

When it comes to being prescribed new drugs, remember that talking to your doctor can mean a world of difference. Doctors would rather have a conversation with their patients about drug costs than see them skip out on filling prescriptions or stop taking important medicines all together due to lack of money. Usually they can offer alternatives, including generic versions of drugs that can be a fraction of the cost. They may also be able to give samples which can reduce costs.

In fact, before you even make it to the doctor's office, it makes financial sense to check up on a few different but similar drugs that could provide alternatives to the one your doctor is likely to prescribe. Call your insurance company and ask the copayment on each one, so that when you reach the doctor's you are armed with knowledge. Tell your doctor what you've discovered financially about these drugs, and your doctor can tell you what the differences are medically. You could save yourself hundreds each year by choosing a drug with a smaller copayment and less restrictions than its alternative if there are no major differences in effectiveness.

Another two simple ways to cut prescription costs are by prescription coupons and trying different pharmacies. Buying prescription medication is a lot like shopping for the best price on milk -- different stores offer various incentives and discounted prices to retain you as a customer. You can also look out for money saving programs, like the one offered by AARP, which help fill the gap that some coverages don't.

The best defense against prescription drug costs is speaking up. Often, your doctor, neighbor, or family members can recommend pharmacies, discounts, and alternative drugs that will keep more money in your pocket.

How To Break A Soda Habit

If you are anything like I once was, you may have a terrible (health wise) and expensive soda habit. I tried for years to break it and failed miserably each time. Then about 5 years ago, I came up with a method that worked, and eventually cut my $1000 a year soda habit down to $0.

My main problem was that when I tried to quit drinking soda, I always felt deprived. The deprivation had me always thinking about it and at some point I would cave in and start drinking soda again. I had to come up with a way so I didn't feel deprived.

My simple solution was to say I could drink as much soda as I wanted, but I had to drink a full glass of water before I could. The result was that I didn't feel deprived of my soda since I could have as many as I wanted, but drinking a full glass of water before each one made it so I didn't drink nearly as many each day.

After a month, I made the rule that I had to drink 2 glasses of water before drinking a soda, and that eventually increased to 4 glasses of water over time until I was in the habit of drinking water instead of soda. I'm not sure it that will work for you, but it is certainly a set of baby steps that are worth a try if you are looking for a way to break this type of habit.

Pay Yourself $1.00 Game

If you are having trouble saving money, I have found that playing a pay yourself game works wonderfully and it's easy to implement. Basically, you pick something that you do around the house and charge yourself every time you do it. Turn on the TV, pay $1.00. Do the laundry, Pay $1.00. Open the refrigerator, pay $1.00. Each week take the money collected and place it into a separate savings account. It's amazing how fast the savings can add up.

It's also an effective way to keep you from being lazy. If you feel you are watching too much TV, charging yourself to do it will help discourage you from doing it so much. Give it a try and I think you may be surprised at how effective this baby step can be.

How A Towel Can Save You

No, this is not a reference to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Much like the the simple washer savings baby step, I loved this idea because it only takes a second and it isn't something that I would have thought about on my own.

I live in a community where I can't line dry my clothes outside and I haven't reached the level where I am comfortable with wet clothes lying all over my house to dry. That means that I use my dryer and according to dryer tips there is an easy way to reduce the cost of each dryer load by 10%.

After throwing in all the wet clothes that have come out of the washing machine, take a big, fluffy, dry towel and throw it into the dryer with all the wet clothes. As this fluffy towel tumbles in the dryer with all the wet clothes, it helps to absorb the moisture in the wet clothes which allows them to dry more quickly. In the end, you get your clothes dry in less time and save a bit of money in the process.

I started doing this about a week ago and it seems to work just as claimed. it's one of the easiest 10% savings I have found in a long time.

Throwing on Cold Water

I love finding little baby steps to improve my finances which take very little time or effort to accomplish. This baby step does both in a matter of seconds and can save about $100 a year according to washer tips.

All you need to do is take a stroll over to your washing machine and turn the wash cycle switch so that it's pointing to a "cold – cold" wash. I have been doing this for a few weeks and I can't tell a difference in the cleanliness of my clothes at all. Unless your clothes are terribly dirty, I highly doubt that you will see a difference either.

It is the cost of heating the water that is the most expensive part of washing clothes. When the washing machine is set to "cold - cold" there is no cost to heat the water, and this is where the money savings comes from. A small and easy baby step that I took to help improve my finances.

Dave Ramsey Baby Step 3

Once you finished Baby Step 1 and Baby Step 2, you are ready for Baby Step 3 which is to put aside 3 to 6 months worth of expenses into your savings account. This will be your full emergency fund. Take the time to look at your monthly expenses and figure out how much money you would need to live for 3 to 6 months if you lost your job. Whatever amount you come up with is how much you should have in your full emergency fund.

The important thing to remember is that this money is for emergencies only such as any unexpected incident which would have a major impact on you and your family. This emergency savings should be kept in a money market account so that it can easily be accessed in an emergency. The key to remember is that this money is not investment money, but insurance money for you to use when the unexpected things in life happen.

Dave Ramsey Baby Step 2

Once you finish Baby Step 1, the next step according to Dave Ramsey is to make a list of all your debts, excluding only the house. This debt list should be ordered from smallest to largest and the smallest debt balance becomes the number one priority. According to Dave, you shouldn't worry about interest rates and focus only on the debt amount. If two debts happen to be the same amount, then you should list the debt with the higher interest rate first.

Dave calls paying off the debts this way a "debt snowball" and he likes this order because it allows you to have pay off some of your debts quickly which should give you motivation about getting out of debt. Dave understands that paying the higher interest rate debts will save more money, but feels that paying off debt is not always about math. A lot of it is emotional and about motivation. He believes that personal finance is 20% knowledge  you know in your head while the other 80% behavior. With this in mind, he believes that once you are able to get rid of the lower debts, you will see the results you are producing and stay motivated to get rid of all your other debt as well.

Dave Ramsey Baby Step 1

When it comes to finances and baby steps, many people often think about Dave Ramsey's 7 baby steps. Over the next few weeks I will be going over each of them and you can decide whether they are a good approach for you. The first Baby Step in Dave Ramsey's program is to save up a $1000 emergency fund.

 

Everyone really should have an emergency fund for the unexpected events that happen in life to all of us. The amount of the emergency fund probably varies from person to person depending on their situation and lifestyle. $1000 is definitely much better than having nothing at all and creating an emergency fund is a good place to begin financial baby steps.

Saving Money For Your Child's Future: A Different View

A few days ago, I had lunch with a person in the local community whose opinion I respect quite a bit. He has two adult children, only one of which attended college straight out of high school, and both of which run their own business.

What I wanted to know from him was how exactly he raised his children to be such independent, self-motivated, entrepreneurial people. What he told me really surprised me, and it made me think a bit about whether I should be contributing to my children’s 529 plans or doing something different for their future.

When the children were young (under 12), he paid an allowance for household chores. There was a minimum that had to be done to even qualify for the system each week - so they had to do a certain number of tasks just as a baseline. Beyond that, though, they could earn money by doing more chores: dishes, lawn care, and so on.

Meanwhile, he was investing in a mutual fund for each of the children. Each week, he put a small amount into their fund, intending to use it later to help them out.

On each child’s twelfth birthday, he sat down with them and helped them develop a business of their own that they could manage. One of them chose lawn care and snow removal, while the other one chose math tutoring because he was exceptional at math (and had already completed all of the math courses offered in the school district). He provided them both an equal amount of “seed money” out of their fund to get things started - one of them used it to buy a used lawnmower and a snow shovel, while the other bought a printer cartridge and paper to make flyers. He then guided them on their business, acting basically as a free business consultant to them. The only requirement that he placed on the business is that half of the money either had to be reinvested in the business or invested in something else - they could spend the other half.

In both cases, the businesses thrived. The math tutoring child wound up with significantly more in his fund than his brother, but the lawn care/snow removal brother wound up with a lot of equipment. Both learned quite a lot about how to operate a business.

On their eighteenth birthday, they were gifted their funds. After that, the parents provided no more financial support. The person with the lawn care business took that money, bought a lot of ads and some new equipment, and expanded the business. The son with the tutoring business finished his senior year, then went to school to get degrees in both business and civil engineering on a nearly full scholarship, then worked at an engineering firm for six years while that fund still grew, then used it to put out his own shingle. He now runs an engineering firm.

To me, there is a lot of appeal in this plan. It relies heavily in constant fostering of self-reliance and entrepreneurship in your children, but it also gives them the opportunity to choose education if they so wish.

This doesn’t change my desire to save money for my child’s future, it just makes me reconsider putting the money into a 529. That money has tax benefits if used for education, but an extra tax penalty on earnings (10% more than long term capital gains) if used for non-educational purposes. If you assume they’re going to go to college, a 529 is the right way to go, but if they wind up starting their own business right out of high school - which an entrepreneur might - a 529 is a hindrance as compared to a normal fund.

Post courtesy of Trent Hamm