8 Ways to Save Money
Ready to pay down those credit card bills? Don’t know where the money will come from? Here are eight tips to help you find money where you never even knew it existed.
Credit card tips first, since that is the focus of this blog:
1) Balance transfers. More than 12 percent interest is too much for good credit, but be aware beforehand of the pitfalls of balance transfers as well. Try to transfer to a card that offers little or no APR on balance transfers, then pay it off as soon as possible. Check here for Banks.com’s balance transfer card recommendations.
2) Pay on time and stay under your credit limit. Those fees will kill you. Also try to use cards with no annual fees. If you pay off your balance each month, you can pretty much avoid finance charges altogether.
3) HELOC. Sure, it’s a money-saver at 6% to 7%, but I generally wouldn’t recommend it because who really wants to put their house on the line? Transferring your credit card balances to a new card with a better rate is a much safer bet.
And now for general, good-sense, money saving tips for your daily life:
4) Dine in, and that doesn’t mean take-out. Cook, for crying out loud! That oven isn’t going to kill you. Take a long, hard look at how much you are spending on restaurant fare and you will experience true sticker shock. Cut it out and save a ton of money.
5) Shop generic. Those off-brands are not going to kill you either. There is a significant savings between generic and name brand shopping. Don’t forget to compare volume as well, because some generics simply decrease their package size and content amount to justify charging less. It’s consumer trickery at its finest. It goes for toilet paper rolls, breakfast bars, cheese and lunchmeat, just about anything you can think of. And don’t forget about generic prescriptions, which offer a major cost savings over name brand prescriptions. And, let’s see … nope, generic prescriptions haven’t killed me yet either.
6) Stop smoking! Those cigarettes really will kill you. They’ll also kill your budget. While you’re at it, kick other unhealthy habits like drinking too much. This, along with tip number 4, can lead you to a healthier, happier 2008.
And just for laughs…
7) Reuse paper towels and separate 2-ply toilet paper. It’s not my bag, but go for it if you dare. There are people out there who really do this, in all seriousness.
8 ) Shower less. Lower your utilities costs and your personal toiletries costs. Recommended for telecommute employees only.
