Parks Canada Offers Free National Park Admission

For anyone living in Canada, they will want to take advantage of a special free offer to visit their national parks and national historic sites for free tomorrow. Parks Canada has announced that they are offering free admission to all national parks on July 1 in celebration of Canada Day. This is a wonderful opportunity to explore the beauty and wonder of the many national parks and national historic sites which are run by Parks Canada.

Parks Canada runs 43 national parks which should provide the opportunity for nearly everyone to find something of interest. The following national parks will all offer free admission on July 1:

Aulavik National Park
Auyuittuq National Park
Banff National Park
Cape Breton Highlands National Park
Forillon National Park
Fundy National Park
Glacier National Park
Grasslands National Park
Gulf Islands National Park Reserve
Ivvavik National Park
Jasper National Park
Kluane National Park and Reserve
Kouchibouguac National Park
Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve
Mount Revelstoke National Park
Nahanni National Park Reserve
Pacific Rim National Park Reserve
Point Pelee National Park
Prince Albert National Park
Prince Edward Island National Park
Pukaskwa National Park
Quttinirpaaq National Park
Riding Mountain National Park
Sable Island National Park Reserve
Sirmilik National Park
St. Lawrence Islands National Park
Terra Nova National Park
Torngat Mountains National Park
Tuktut Nogait National Park
Ukkusiksalik National Park
Vuntut National Park
Wapusk National Park
Waterton Lakes National Park
Wood Buffalo National Park
Yoho National Park

Maintain Weight to Save Money

Losing weight and looking at your new self in the mirror could give you a boost of self-confidence, but you'll get a nice kick in the pants each time you buy yourself a new wardrobe. After losing all that weight, you normally wouldn't want to hide behind those baggy old clothes. You'll want to show off your new self.

Every 10 pounds you lose in weight, you drop a size. And continuing to wear clothes 3 or 4 sizes too big will make you look and feel terrible. You’ll need to buy clothes from scratch, whether it's office wear, formal wear, jeans, or dresses, everything has to go. You'll need a couple of thousand dollars at least to replace all those, and if you continue to lose weight, you'll need a couple of thousand every 2 or 3 sizes down.

Now, I agree that losing weight is a challenge. But not putting on weight is also a challenge. The kind of sedentary lifestyles we lead, and the unhealthy foods we eat, gradually keep putting on us those extra pounds. Most of us need a lifestyle change, but it doesn't have to be a radical one. Sensible choice in food (fewer carbs, more fruits and vegetables) and moderate exercise could keep us from packing on those pounds, and prevent us from the costly health problems associated with obesity. Maintaining your weight is just one way to save money on clothes.

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. Generally speaking, it makes more dollar sense to just maintain your weight, but if you are already obese, maintaining your weight could cost you more in health problems and medical bills.

Learn to Cook at Home to save money

Learning how to cook at home is probably one of the simplest and easiest ways to save money on food. I'm surprised by how many adults lack basic cooking skills, and just how much of their hard-earned money they spend on take-out foods or processed frozen dinners. Depending on the size of the family, you could be spending thousands of dollars on ready-made meals a year.

Some people are on the road most of the time because of the nature of their jobs. They have little choice but to eat out. But the rest of us can easily avoid it, and would actually prefer great tasting home-made meals to unhealthy super-sized fast food, or expensive restaurant food. Learning to cook for yourself and for your family is probably one of the most important decisions you'll ever make. By learning this essential skill, you are in control of what you and your family eats and the overall nutritional value of your meals, in addition to saving money.

You can learn cooking by a variety of different methods - cookbooks, DVDs, television programs, or you can take classes at the local community college. The internet is a goldmine for free information. There are tons of blogs, YouTube videos, as well as recipes that offer tips and instruction on various cooking techniques. Learning how to cook doesn't have to cost you an arm and a leg.

Experience is the best teacher. It will take you less time, if you are constantly applying what you are learning at home. Start with simple recipes and slowly work your way up to more complex dessert recipes and restaurant favorites. It doesn't matter what kind of food you like to eat, learning how to cook is going to one the most valuable skills to help you save money.

Make your own cleaners to save money

The good folks on TV would like you to believe that there is a cleaner for everything (just another reason you should consider breaking your TV Habit). For furniture, windows, dishes, floors, one for every piece of household fixture. If you believe them then I have some snake oil to sell you.

The fact is that if you use all those products to keep your home clean, you could be spending thousands of dollar a year on chemical cleaners alone. There are a number of fabulous cleaner alternatives that are good for your growing family as well as your wallet.

You should have in your cleaning arsenal some olive oil, vinegar, essential oils, baking soda and Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap. Baking soda softens water naturally, so it's fantastic for your laundry. Just add a cupful to the wash cycle. It's a mild abrasive, and when used with Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap, you can clean off the scum in your bathtub, your greasy flat top range and your messy kitchen counter. You can even sprinkle some in your baby's diapers and you won't notice any smells! As a mild abrasive, baking soda makes a great exfoliant. Just mix it with your favorite face wash.

A mild bleaching agent with antimicrobial and antibacterial properties, you can mix it with an equal amount of water and use it in a squirt bottle as an amazing all purpose cleaner. You can even use scented vinegar as an air freshener instead of commercial products such as Lysol or Febreeze. If you don't like the smell of vinegar, you can mix in some drops of lavender oil or tea tree oil or some other essential oil. It masks the smell of vinegar. In fact, it smells great.

For polishing furniture, you can rub in some olive oil. One tablespoon is all you need to give your coffee table a great shine. Enjoy your new cleaners, save your wallet and the planet.

Draft Setting: Save on Printer Ink

In the not too distant past, businesses required tons of paper forms, which were either mailed or kept around the office. In the electronic world of today, most documents have become digitalized and are even transferred by electronic mail. But often these forms have to be printed in order to be signed or stamped. Compared to the dot-matrix printers of the past, printers today use up more ink to get those crisp, pixel-perfect documents and graphics. More ink equals more money, and it's important to know how you can help your bottom line by reducing printing costs, and better utilizing your ink cartridges and printer.

One of easiest and quickest ways to save ink is by the click of your mouse. Just make some slight changes in the printer settings of your printer's menu. Printers usually offer a variety of different print settings from a basic Draft to sharp Photo quality. Each setting is used for a specific purpose. If you want to print the pictures you took on your vacation, you'll need the Photo quality setting. For professional documents and resumes, you would find the Automatic Sharpening quality most appropriate. For normal use, it would make most sense if you use the Draft setting. This setting uses less ink, which means that you save more money.

Usually printers automatically stay at the last used setting. If the last time you used the printer was with the Photo quality settings, your printer will probably give you photo quality for your current print job as well. So, it's best to check your printer settings every time you start a print job. Another money saving setting is the black and white color setting. Color cartridges cost more than black ones, so it makes more sense to just print in black and white when color is not necessary.

Using a water bottle saves money

How many have you filled up on gas and spent an extra $1.50 on a bottle of water? If this is a regular occurrence, think about how much you are spending during the whole year? A little over a $100? Maybe more?

Instead of buying branded bottled water from gas stations, convenient stores and vending machines at work or in school, you can carry with you a water bottle and refill it with tap water from the water fountain. Did you know that Americans spend $1 billion dollars annually on bottled water alone? Tap water in most homes is safe, and you can make it safer by investing in a good water filter. It could also save you and your family hundreds of dollars every year.

You can take the water with you to work, out walking or to the gym. You can keep a bottle in the car to avoid buying bottled water at the gas station. A reusable bottle in your car's cup holder could save you a lot of money!

Calculated at a per gallon rate, bottled water actually costs more than gasoline. The water in those plastic bottles, however, is clean and inexpensive. By filling your eco-friendly bottle with tap water, you can make small savings that add up to a substantial amount over the long term. This will help you balance your family's budget.

A reusable water bottle is not just easier on your wallet, but also on the environment. Manufacturing bottled water costs the United States 32 to 54 million barrels of oil’s worth of energy every year. To top that off, every bottle ends up in a landfill. All that costs you further tax dollars every year. Carrying a reusable water bottle is smarter, cheaper and environmentally friendly.

Do Your Own Taxes

Let's be honest; everyone hates tax season. That time of year when you have to get everything in order to ensure that you get the right amount of money back, if you are owed any. One of the easiest things that you can do to make your tax season a little easier, is to be completely prepared and know when taxes are due. Unfortunately, many people do not manage to do this alongside their already hectic schedules and busy lives. If you are one of those people that do not have a lot of time, the tip that you are about to hear may seem completely ludicrous, but if done properly and with the right amount of organization, this tip will be fruitful for you.

Do your own taxes. You may laugh and turn away from the computer screen right now, but look at the huge amount of money you will save by doing these taxes yourself. Accountants and professional "tax preparers" can charge hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of dollars to figure out your money situation. With the influx of tax software and online programs, there is no longer any need for you to pay someone a small fortune to do the job that you can very easily do yourself. This means that the costs that you will have to pay for filing will be a fraction of the cost that you usually end up paying, and these savings can always be better spent elsewhere.

There are a number of tax programs and types of software on the market that ensures you the ability to do your taxes in the comfort of your own home, even in your night clothes if you so wish! This also saves money in transport costs. You will no longer have to cart all of your paperwork to the local accountants or tax preparer's office and the time will be minimal, as long as you follow the instructions given in the program or software, word for word.

Retirement Money Management

Two of the things that you have to worry about when it comes to retirement age is how much do I need for retirement and how are you are going to manage your money. Get too frisky with the pennies and you will soon find that you are running out, but if you prepare and have a little bit of organization, you will find that your money works well for you before, during and after even retirement.

One of the first things that you must do when it comes to good retirement money management is start as early as possible. This makes sense – the earlier you start, the more you will have saved, and this in turn means that you will have a lot more fun and more money to play with when you eventually give up work. Start a pension plan early and make sure that you use a plan that is going to work for you. You should alert the appropriate people that you are going to be retiring soon as well – you want the pay checks to stop and the pension to kick in. Waiting around for money that you “hope” will come soon is never fun and could cause more undue stress than is necessary.

Budgeting is essential when it comes to have good money management during your retirement. Before you know it, all those expenses can mount up, especially if you had a good life before you gave up work. It’s wise to make a note of how much you are spending on a monthly basis, and perhaps make a few cuts here and there – do you really need all those cable TV channels when you only watch a handful anyway? Be sensible! If you don’t use something, what’s the point in paying for it?

If you have long term assets, stocks or anything similar, make them work for you. It is wise to speak to a good financial advisor at this time of life to ensure that the money you have invested is working well for you. If it's not making you money, it’s not an investment and it might be about time to cut ties.

Retirement doesn't have to be a worrisome time – as long as you manage your retirement money properly, you will have a blast!

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.