Useful BudgetingManagement Money Tips.Get practical solutions for improving your household budget. There are dozens of ways you can save time and money in your everyday household activities and buying. Analyze you phone bill. Determine your calling patterns...all local? What is your long distance usage? Mostly on weekends or during the week for business? Then do comparison shopping for offers from competing companies to find your best deal. Check per minute rate, monthly fees taxes, all additional charges & exactly when evening and weekend rates apply. Look into finding one fee local and long-distance plans. One of the more helpful sites for comparison of these things is Trac.org. Save on international calls by using Talkster.com. Enter your phone # and the party you wish to reach into your computer. Talkster will issue you, two local numbers that each party calls and you can then talk for an unlimited time. The service is free, you just have to listen to an ad prior to beginning your conversation. Take advantage of "free/Unlimited" evening and weekend minutes on your cell phone plan. Save those long talks with family and friends during the unlimited time periods If you talk infrequently on a cell phone, you might be better going with a prepaid program, that only charges you for the minutes you use. There are no monthly fees, no contracts, no deposits and no activation charges. Consider such plans as Tracfone Don't let high oil and electric prices get you down. You have the power to save a small fortune by cutting your usage, and shopping for suppliers. EnergyGuide.com analyzes your energy costs, helps you find less expensive suppliers in your area and recommends energy efficient products. You can also do the math to see if getting light dimmers or other energy efficient ideas will save you money. Check out www.lutron.com/energy for a great calculator for determining energy savings. Save time and money on your recurring monthly expense. You can make quick and easy comparisons at Learn to lower your bills. Save money on your grocery bill by using the online sites: The Grocery Game, Amazon.com/grocery or My Grocery Deals. These sites will show you local circulars with your area's best coupons and/or online deals at your local grocery stores. Tired of running out to Kinko's when you to receive a fax? Efax.com will provide a phone number where you can have your faxes sent. The free service will then relay the fax to you as email attachments.Are you on dial up, don't want to get a second line and don't want to miss important calls while you online? Then try the free service from CallWave.com. The service allows your callers to leave you a message which you can retrieve when you've signed off. The service does require you have call forwarding to be activating on your phone service. Internet users are discovering how online coupon services give them savings on all sorts of product and services while leaving more time other things. A few to try are CoolSavings.com which offers in-store coupons & sale announcements. Valpak.com provides access for local good and services such as discounts on oil changes or two-for-one lunches at local area restaurants. Save money on gas by first checking gasbuddy.com before you head out the door to fill up that gas hog in the driveway. A 20-cents a gallon savings on 12 gallons a week adds up to $125 in your pocket and not the oil companies wallets. Bank online and save postage, envelopes and time. If you pay 15 bills online a month instead of sending through the snail mail, you'll save $75/yr. If your retailer runs out stock of an advertised special, ask for a rain check to allow you get the sale price at a later date, when the retailer has restocked the item. Use common household items for cleaning instead of pricey house cleaners sold in stores. Vinegar, Baking Soda, Rubbing Alcohol, Lemon Juice, Bleach make excellent economical and efficient cleaners, for a fraction of the price of those other cleaners. Use old t-shirts and old socks in place of pricey disposable dust cloths. Save money and help the environment, by not having additional disposal garbage to add to the land fill. Clean bathroom caulk with rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball. Cook tonight with tomorrow's lunch in mind. Use tonight's left overs for tomorrow's lunch. Keep healthy, inexpensive snacks in your desk at work such as granola bars, trail mix, pretzels, nuts and instant soup. You'll be less likely to hit the office vending machine for a mid day snack. Do your grocery shopping once a week with a list and stick to it. Check the local newspaper circular for this week's specials and plan your list around the specials. Make a big pot of soup and freeze in individual size containers. Then just pop one in the microwave for an instant lunch or after school snack. Check the day old departments in your grocery for discounts on produce, meats, breads and dairy products. Items that are close to their expiration date will sometimes be deeply discounted. Save your warranty information and sales receipts together in a binder. If an items breaks, companies will often repair or replace for free Vacuum behind the stove, refrigerator , tv and pc. Dust is drawn into the these appliances causing them to work harder, run hotter, and wear out quicker. Extend the life of your appliances, by doing some periodic maintenance work. If you're replacing your washing machine, consider a front loading model that uses up to 33% less water. You can shop for TV and audio equipment at TV repair shops. Often owners don't return to pick up their items. You can buy merchandise often for just the cost of the original repair. Check out the oops section of your hardware store paint section. You can pick up paint at a fraction of the original cost and for a small area completely change the look of your room Buying discontinued tiles, carpeting and window treatments carries with it a deep discount from the regular prices. Reuse pretty food jars for flowers, shells or stones for house decorations. Use the front of old greeting cards as new gift tags for presents. Use motion detectors on outdoor lights that normally stay on all night Buy items a year in advance. Shop for Halloween items in November, Summer clothes in September, Winter Clothes in May use up those end of the soap bar bits, by putting the bar pieces into an old nylon and tyeing the end. You'll have an instant body sponge. Look at the back of your grocery receipts for coupon savings the next you visit. |
