Saving money is not really that difficult. The following are ten practical tips on saving money that you can easily put into practice without changing your lifestyle:-
1. Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs. CFL bulbs consume 80% less energy than incandescent bulbs, but give the same illumination. Make sure to buy only lamps and bulbs that have the Energy Star rating to ensure quality compliance.
2. Make a list when going to the grocery and stick to it! Anything that is not on the list is not a “need”, but merely a “want”, so avoid busting your pockets for unnecessary items. Buy non-perishable consumables in bulk to benefit from bulk discounts.
3. Use coupons when available. Take the time and have the patience to clip and organize grocery coupons. When added together, savings from using all coupons in one grocery trip can be as much as $20-$30. Purchase dining and shopping coupons online and print them at home. Doing so can save you at least 50% on the face value of the coupons.
4. Buy online, whenever possible. Online stores pass their savings from rental costs and warehousing to the online consumer, thus they can afford as much as 70% off their rack price. When buying items online, Google it first together with the word, “discount code”. This can give you further reductions on the item you want to purchase. Try also online bidding: they offer at least 75% off the original purchase price, for practically new (slightly used!) items.
5. Take lunch to work. Buy potato chips and soda from the grocery and make a homemade sandwich and pack them in a brown bag.
6. Eat homemade dinners as often as possible. Plan menus that are practical and easy-to-cook to encourage eating at home. Save money by dining out only on special occasions.
7. Use everyday pantry items for skin and body care. Cucumbers, honey, milk, lemon, salt and baking soda are some items in your home that can also be used to take care of your skin.
8. Avoid shopping as a means of de-stressing. Try walking around the park or watching a movie instead.
9. Bring your own sodas and snacks when watching a movie. The cost of sodas and snacks are at least 25% higher in movie houses. Plus, homemade popcorn tastes much better: you can put on all the salt and butter you want!
10. Pay off your credit card balances each month and avoid finance charges. Better yet, use cash as much as possible, unless using plastic will give you a better deal (0% interest on appliance purchases, or cash rebates).
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Financial Planning: Effective Ways of Saving Money
Four Measures That Can Help Make You Rich
Saving has always been a way of life for people who believe in the benefit of doing so. These people know that they have to save more money in order to create a more secure future.
However, as time goes by, more and more people find it hard to save money. They contend that saving is no longer a way of life but a resolution that they have to strictly adhere to just to set aside a sum of money.
Some people even insist that it is no longer possible for a person to save more money because most of them are already living from paycheck to paycheck. With all the high-prices of commodities these days, saving more money is no longer workable. But the truth is that people can indeed save more.
How? Here is a list of some innovative ways that will let you save more money:
1. Save some percentage from your salary
Most money-savers automatically take at least 30% from their salaries and deposit the sum into their respective savings accounts. The basic concept here is that most of us spend whatever amount we have on our paycheck, and maybe even more. If you are able to limit that amount, your expenses will understandably get smaller.
2. Pay for everything in cash
Credit cards have always been a way of life for most consumers. The problem is that they become so comfortable with the 'facility' afforded by credit cards that they tend to spend everything on credit. In fact, statistics show that the average family has an average outstanding balance on their credit cards amounting to $7,000. And they even pay almost $1,000 in each year just on the interest charges alone.
Hence, because of this convenience of credit-driven shopping, they tend to lose track of their expenses and accumulate more payables than they can afford to pay off.
3. Set goals
Create goals that you are serious in achieving and be single-minded about their achievement. If there is a certain amount involved, be specific with the amount, like saying “I will save $5,000 in a year and not around $5,000.” Try to set your goals based on your priorities. Set a target period for every goal.
4. Check your company’s retirement plan
With your employer plan such as the 401(k) or the 403(b), you can definitely save more money for the future. Here, your company will deduct a percentage of your salary from each paycheck and invest the amount in your choice of instruments—predominantly mutual funds.
The bottom line is that saving is not just a way of life or a resolution. In the final analysis, it is the ultimate gratification that you get as the fruit of your labor.
Saving has always been a way of life for people who believe in the benefit of doing so. These people know that they have to save more money in order to create a more secure future.
However, as time goes by, more and more people find it hard to save money. They contend that saving is no longer a way of life but a resolution that they have to strictly adhere to just to set aside a sum of money.
Some people even insist that it is no longer possible for a person to save more money because most of them are already living from paycheck to paycheck. With all the high-prices of commodities these days, saving more money is no longer workable. But the truth is that people can indeed save more.
How? Here is a list of some innovative ways that will let you save more money:
1. Save some percentage from your salary
Most money-savers automatically take at least 30% from their salaries and deposit the sum into their respective savings accounts. The basic concept here is that most of us spend whatever amount we have on our paycheck, and maybe even more. If you are able to limit that amount, your expenses will understandably get smaller.
2. Pay for everything in cash
Credit cards have always been a way of life for most consumers. The problem is that they become so comfortable with the 'facility' afforded by credit cards that they tend to spend everything on credit. In fact, statistics show that the average family has an average outstanding balance on their credit cards amounting to $7,000. And they even pay almost $1,000 in each year just on the interest charges alone.
Hence, because of this convenience of credit-driven shopping, they tend to lose track of their expenses and accumulate more payables than they can afford to pay off.
3. Set goals
Create goals that you are serious in achieving and be single-minded about their achievement. If there is a certain amount involved, be specific with the amount, like saying “I will save $5,000 in a year and not around $5,000.” Try to set your goals based on your priorities. Set a target period for every goal.
4. Check your company’s retirement plan
With your employer plan such as the 401(k) or the 403(b), you can definitely save more money for the future. Here, your company will deduct a percentage of your salary from each paycheck and invest the amount in your choice of instruments—predominantly mutual funds.
The bottom line is that saving is not just a way of life or a resolution. In the final analysis, it is the ultimate gratification that you get as the fruit of your labor.
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