Easiest Ways to Save Money
What are the easiest ways to save money in the new economy? Saving money, sometimes takes just a few subtle changes. Saving money is powerful. Here’s what I mean. Saving money is, or can be better, than making money. Dollars saved by frugality, are not taxed. Dollars saved may be put aside or invested towards your future. Ben Franklin used to say that a penny saved is a penny earned. Today a penny means nothing, but the principal is the same only better. A penny or a dollar saved on a purchase is one less dollar needing to be earned, and one less dollar being taxed. So I suppose the next question is: What are some easiest ways to save money? Of course everyone knows; making measurable progress in any endeavor in life may require some sacrifice. Here are some easiest ways to save money: Save on Car Insurance - Get several quotes from different agents. Ask what discounts they offer. Many times they may fail to offer all the discounts. I have my insurance re-quoted at renewal time. Always have your insurance re-quoted at renewal. Shopping your insurance is one of the easiest ways to save money. Save on Debt - Saving on debt, reducing your debt, and debt payments is a great way to say money. Payments on debts consume way too much of the average American’s budget. Being frugal and applying your savings towards reducing your debt, would be the best use of your savings realized through all the tips on this page. Save on House Insurance - When my house insurance was renewing they automatically raised my house value. I protested as housing values here had dropped way below 1 year ago. I had the house quoted at a value more in line with what it was worth. My current company came in at a lower rate but another company quoted me a rate that saved me $600.00 over the previous year. Shop your house insurance every year a month before renewal dates. Save on Life Insurance - Everyone knows or should know that term insurance is cheaper than whole life. The catch is, term insurance may expire before you do. Buy a term plan that is guaranteed convertible to whole life. That way, if your health deteriorates, you can stay insured as long as you need to. Most term insurance will not insure you, as long as you may need the insurance. Whole life builds value and becomes paid up when your policies value becomes as great as the face value of the policy. Consult your insurance agent and always seek a 2nd opinion, if you’re unsure about their recommendation. Save on Telephone, Cable T.V. and Internet - There was a time that your telephone, cable, and internet were done by single providers. Today there is increased competition making this again one of the easiest ways to save money. Look at all these bills and see if you’re blowing extra money. Received a super duper offer from your provider’s competition? Call your provider and tell them like this: I just got an offer from ______ Your competitor. I’d like to stay with you guys. What can you offer me? You should be using unlimited long distance if you make a lot of long distance calls. It’s cheaper than paying by the minute. Call your cell phone, cable t.v. and other services and tell them you may like to disconnect service. They probably can offer you a better deal. Shop your services around. Don’t assume that you’re getting their best deal! Save on Dining Out - Drink water. The price of drinks in restaurants has been jacked up to keep entree prices lower. I drink water, filtered at home, by simply carrying in my Tervis Tumbler of water. 99% of the time there is no problem with the restaurant. You can also watch the papers for coupons or buy a coupon book for dining out. Save on Groceries - Here is an area where everyone can save. You can eat healthier and save money by reading labels. Manufacturers of foods can sometimes be deceptive. For instance, when reading a label of a loaf of bread, it may say whole grain or made with whole grain on the package but show very little fiber in the label detail. They’re ripping you off with cheaper ingredients. Save even more by buying bulk grains and baking your own bread. Here are some grocery shopping videos, that may give you more ideas on how to save on groceries. Buying bulk, whole foods will save you money, and may improve your health as you’re bypassing many unhealthy additives. Bulk beans and grains are much cheaper than prepackaged. I buy my oatmeal in a 50 pound bag and put into gallon food jars I got free from a restaurant. I pay a third what I’d normally pay for these staples this way. Pre-chopped bagged and frozen veggies are nearly 4 times as expensive as chopping them yourselves. Better yet raise your own, or go to a farmers market and get them fresh from the field. You can also buy bread and other foods cheaper from closeout and discount grocery stores. The manufacturers sell their overstocked, out of date, and discontinued items to these salvage stores who sell them for much less than retail.
Here is a healthy tip on saving money. Grow your own food. Today, it is easier than ever to grow your own food. All you need are a few square feet that receive sunlight for 6-8 hours per day. You’ll get the added benefit of knowing that you’re eating healthy, fresh, green food, that has no chemicals or additives. You’ll also get the benefit of a stress relieving hobby. even those living in an apartment can use a southern balcony and grow food in grow boxes.
The best bet if you’re buying used is to avoid buying a lemon. Have a trusted mechanic inspect the car before you buy it. If you’re mechanically inclined you may want to inspect the car yourself. Save on Car Repairs - I would always ask around before letting just any mechanic work on my car. A friend may know a good mechanic. A brake job could cost you several hundred more at the wrong shop. Always check out a shops reputation online before you let them work on your car. I let a chain quote me on my brakes, before I took it to my trusted brake mechanic. They wanted to replace lots of parts that were unneeded. Their quote was about $400.00 more than what was really needed. Online they had lots of bad feedback, so it was no surprise they were trying to cheat me. Save Money on Gasoline - Many of the easiest ways to save money are on things we may use everyday like our cars. Tips to save on gasoline include: keeping your tires inflated properly. Low tires suck gas. Keep a clean air filter. Drive your gas saver and use the SUV only for special events. When buying a car consider fuel mileage as one of the most important criteria in it’s selection. Combining errands in one trip can save a lot. This may require telling a teenager No, on silly errands. Save on Utility Bills - Installing a skylight can remove the need for lights being on in a room. Opening shades in a room can reduce a need for daytime lighting. Timers to turn outside lights off can help, also. Save on Your Home - Your home is an expense; not an asset. Here’s some ways to cut down the home expenses. Having trouble paying your mortgage? Call the mortgage company and go for an interest rate reduction. They have hardship programs. You have nothing to lose. Now that real estate has gone down in value, go over your property tax values carefully. Your county assessor may not be dropping values as fast as he should. Be prepared to ask for a drop in it's assessment. Be sure you also check your insurance valuation. You may be paying for too much insurance. Save on Building a Web Site - Today, a business need to be online to get customers. Consumers today are more likely to use the web than the yellow pages. A small businessperson usually make s excuse like, I’m too busy to build a site, or I don’t know how. A web site company may charge thousands to build and maintain a web site. I always thought it was hard or expensive. Then I found Ken Evoy’s Site Build It. Site Build It made it easy, to build and maintain this web site for $299.00 a year. Have I missed some of the easiest ways to save money? I have came up with more money saving tips for recessionary times. Return to Top of Easiest Ways to Save Money Easiest Ways to Save Money Updated 08/31/2010 Leave Easiest Ways to Save Money and Return to Home
|
Easiest Ways to Save Money
Save on Cars - Our cars are expensive and repairing them is too. I went shopping with my friend for a new Mercedes yesterday. Rich people do not always buy a new car. The same new car we looked at was available used for over $20,000.00less money. It was a year older and had 22,000 miles but even so it made buying the new car seem foolish. It’s said, that many new car value’s drop by 5 thousand dollars as you drive it off the lot. Buying a year old car is one of the easiest ways to save money.
