Friday, July 29, 2005

How much are you paying for insurance?

It's important that you have life insurance in case something happens to you or your spouse. You want to make sure that funeral expenses and expenses for your family will be covered.

If you don't currently have life insurance or you are looking for the best rate you can get try these links Free Life Insurance Quotes and Click here for FREE Life Insurance Quotes!

Auto insurance is another place where you can trim some expenses. Know what your plan includes and shop around!
Compare multiple instant auto insurance quotes from top companies and save! Get Quotes Now

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Save Money on Your Utility Bills

This is a great article that can help you start saving money on those monthly utlity bills!

Save Money Off Your Home Utility Bills

This article contains some great tips. These tips can be put to use TODAY!

Lowering your usage means paying less.

Also be sure to read your own gas and electric meter EVERY month and call in your reading. Most utility companies only do actual readings every other month. This means that the other months they estimate your usage. Calling in your reading each month means you are only paying for what you are using.

Friday, July 22, 2005

Lower Your Grocery Bill

I figured we would start with an expense that is easy to save money on! I'm sure many people get their weekly sales flyer from the grocery store and trash them with the junk mail. These are golden! Do not throw them away. Take time to look them over! Grocery shopping is where you can save a bundle. It takes a little time and effort, but I promise it will be time well spent! Pay attention to what's on sale and where! If you are one of those people who shop at one place all the time then you really need to read this post. How many of you have ever used a coupon? Those little pieces of paper are a goldmine! Start buying the Sunday paper and clip those coupons! I save on average of $20+ when grocery shopping. I watch what is on sale and match coupons. Some stores double or even triple the coupons. To give you a good example:

I have 2 local grocery stores and each store doubles coupons up to .99. So a coupon worth .75 off a product gets me $1.50 off that product at the checkout.

Say my store has a brand of ice cream on sale for $1.99 for half gallon. I have a .50 off one coupon. So at trhe check out I get $1 off so I pay .99! Even if you don't have a coupon for an item, if it's on sale at a great price you have immediate savings right there. Some stores also have shopper cards now where you earn bonuses. One of my local stores I earn .20 off per gallon of gas for every $50 I spend. I have to buy the gas at a particular chain BUT that's not a problem. I ave on my groceries and end up saving at the pump! That's what I can a double play.

My other local store that doubles also let's me earn green points which I can redeem online for gift cards and more...again a double play.

Now if items are not on sale and you need something, try the store brands! You can save a bundle doing this and more often than not the store brand items are also on sale in the flyers!

Visit my coupon page to get more information http://www.frugaltown.com/coupons.html

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Let's Get Started -Where Is the Money Going?

It's important that you stay on top of your finances. You should know how much money you are bringing in every payday and where exactly it goes.

It's surprising how many people aren't aware of how much tax or other costs are being withheld from their paychecks. Take the time to sit down and view your pay stub! See how much tax is being withheld, how much do your insurance costs add up to? Do you have money deducted from your check for your 401k? All this information should be on your paystub.

If you are married, both spouses should be "in the know". Why should one spouse be responsible for paying all the expenses? You don't get into debt alone. You need to sit down and take a hard look at where the money goes.

The key is to catch things before they spin out of control.

You should have created your list with the 2 categories.

#1 Category was for your regular living expenses. Items like Rent/Mortgage, Electric, Gas, Water, Sewage, Garbage, Food and Fuel & Phone. These are items you will have in that list. These are expense that cannot be ignored. You need them to live.

#2 Category are luxury expenses like cell phones, internet access, credit cards etc.

Category #1 will never go away but you can do your best to control those expenses. Aside from Rent/Mortgage the other expenses depend on your useage. If your house it always lit up like a church you need to start shutting the lights off. Generally summer months you have high electric bills due to a/c, fans etc. Winter the gas bill is higher for heating your home (unless of course you have electric heat. A/c doesn't need to be set at 68. Your house should not be a freezer. Adjust your thermostat accordingly. Same thing goes in the winter. You want to be warm but it should not feel like a tropical paradise! In most places the sewage bill is based on your water bill. Everyone needs a bath or shower but each person doesn't need to run the hot water tank out in 1 use. Limit shower time. Get in and get washed and GET OUT. My husband use to run the water for 10 minutes while he saved before getting the shower! GRRR Not only did that kill the water bill but the gas bill too as we have a gas hot water heater. Here are some links for getting those electric and gas bills down. The others I will tackle over the next few days EnergySavers & Consumer Energy Center

Saturday, July 16, 2005

Start By Making a List

Take the time to sit down and make a list of all your debts and expenses. Be sure to include everything. Your ren/mortgage, utility bills, internet expenses, cell phone, credit cards, medical bills, loans, auto insurance etc. Don't leave anything out.

After you have your list taken care of you then need to break things down.

Category 1- Monthly expenses. This would include your regular living expenses such as rent/utilities.

Category 2- Luxury expenses. This would include cell phones, internet access, credit cards. Anything that a normal human being doesn't NEED for survival so to speak.

You will want to take a hard look at what kind of debt you have. Many people know they are in debt, but they couldn't tell you exactly how MUCH debt they are in.

I would suggest you start with category 1 expenses. While you need a place to live and need light, heat and water, you can do some things to bring those expenses down some.

Category 2- these are debts you have because you chose to get a cell phone, be on the internet or charge things on your credit card. Unless you use a cell phone for business reasons you should really consider getting rid of the cell phone until you can afford to have one. As far as internet access goes you need to look at how much you are paying. You may need to think about going back to dial up or accessing the net from your local library until you have your debts under control.

I'll be tackling ways to get control over some expenses. Sometimes you just need to take a hard look at other providers out there and see where you can get the best deal for the money you can afford to spend. With a little time, effort and self control you can do it!