Category: Saving Money
January 25th, 2010
When making a purchase, people typically only consider the upfront cost but for many items there are additional costs to consider. Below are some examples of costs that will be incurued after ownership.
Car: Fuel (need to consider type of fuel and its fuel efficiency), insurance rates, and maintenance costs.
House: Taxes, maintenance costs, insureance, mortgage.
Phone: Phone plan (If you buy a smartphone, you’ll likely need to buy a data plan in addition to a voice plan to utilize all of the features).
TV: Electricity (Typically the bigger the TV, the more electricity it’s going to take to power).
When looking at a big purchase, be sure to look at the total cost to own. Sometimes spending a little more money up front for a quality or more efficient product that will result in a lower total cost.
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tim
Categories: Frugal Living, Misc, Saving Money
November 24th, 2009
When most people hear of a recession, they tend to think of it as a negative. Not everything about it is negative though. In recessions, people tend to make the most of their money.
For people who see a drop in their income due to the recession, they are forced to find ways to spend more efficiently because they have to.
For people who’s income level were not affected, they tend to spend more sparingly since there is a fear that their job may be next to go.
Will you maintain the frugal habits that are picked up during the recessionary times and use them when the good times come? If you start putting 10% of your paycheck into savings because you are scared that you may lose your job, then there is no reason why you can’t save 10% when your job stability improves.
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tim
Categories: Frugal Living, Saving Money
October 30th, 2009
Before I purchase an item online, I’ll check to see if I can get cashback (or a rebate) on it through Bing (Microsoft’s new search engine). Typically I’ll receive 2%-5% cashback with most stores I buy from, but there are a few places where there are 20%+ cashback offers.
To sign up and/or get more details visit: http://www.bing.com/cashback
www.bing.com/cashback/
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tim
Categories: Saving Money
August 26th, 2009
My local library offers more than just books, they also offer DVD, CD rentals and many other amenities free of charge. While theoretically I pay for all this through taxes, it costs me nothing additional for items that I take out.
While my local library does not always carry everything at their site that I’d like, I can place a request for materials into the online catalog which draws from all the public libraries in my region. After I place the request online, the material(s) will be sent to my local library so that I can pick it up at my convenience.
The library is a great resource for me. For books/movies usually I’ll only read/watch it once and never look at it again, so it works out perfectly.
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tim
Categories: Frugal Living, Misc, Saving Money
July 15th, 2009
The secret to not getting rich is to set your lifestyle around your income.
To simplify things, we’ll take a look at the following hypothetical scenario from a high level and assume no investment spending occurs. Bob earns $100,000 in a given year and spends $100,000 in that same year. Sue earns $50,000 in a given year and spends $40,000 in that same year. Sue is therefore able to build $10,000 more wealth than Bob despite earning significantly less than him.
Sue is able to build more wealth than Bob because she spends her money based on what she needs to live her modest lifestyle. If Sue gets a promotion and earns $60,000 next year, she won’t spend more to move her lifestyle up, instead she’ll still only spend $40,000 next year.
Bob however sets his lifestyle around his income. If Bob gets a promotion and earns $120,000 next year, he would increase his spending to $120,000 next year to live a more luxurious lifestyle.
If you emulate Bob and set your lifestyle around your income, you will never get rich.
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tim
Categories: Frugal Living, Misc, Saving Money
June 24th, 2009
Ever buy something in the clearence section just because it was cheap? Buying an item soely becuase it’s a good ”value” is a waste of your money. This includes buying items in bulk to receive a discount when you only have plans to use only a small portion of the items purchased.
It’s an entirely different story if you buy items on the cheap to resell them for a profit. There are many people that buy soely for the thrill of getting a good deal without a plan for their purchased goods. Buying without a plan is wasting money and not “saving” you any money.
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timadmin
Categories: Frugal Living, Saving Money
June 17th, 2009
When shopping at the grocery store, there is a quck way to find the lowest price that you pay per unit in a few quick seconds that doesn’t involve any manual calculations. By simply comparing the unit price label (should be in most grocery stores) you can easily see which product has the best price per unit.
Below, you’ll see that there are many different choices of ketchup to choose from.
By taking a few seconds to scan the unit price (price in the orange box in the picture below), I was able to find the lowest price per a pound of ketchup. The best deal was only $0.66/pound!
Price per unit is just one factor to consider when buying a product. Other factors to consider are nutritional value, size and personal taste.
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tim
Categories: Frugal Living, Saving Money
June 10th, 2009
There are probably lots of bills that you pay monthly without giving a second thought to. If you take a few minutes to take study them, you may find that you can cut back on your expenses.
Cable
Do you have a cable package with premium channels that you don’t watch? Trade down to a cheaper package or consider cutting off cable completely and install an antenna instead if you only watch TV sparingly.
Phone
If you are paying for a land line and a cell phone, consider switching to just just a cell phone or take a look cheaper options such as a VOIP line.
Gym Membership
If you only go to the gym once or twice a month, cancel your montly membership. Many gyms give you the option of paying for each visit, instead of on a monthly basis.
TV/Magazines
Do you have piles of unread newspapers or magazines? Don’t renew your magazine/newspaper subscriptions at the renewal date. If you only read the newspaper on the weekend, consider subscribing to the weekend edition.
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tim
Categories: Frugal Living, Saving Money
May 20th, 2009
As recently as the 1990′s you had to pay for many things that you can get for free on the internet today. Switching to free online sources will decrease your monthly spend as well as increase convenience and timeliness.
Magazines/Newspapers
Most magazines and newspapers (such as Time Magazine and The New York Times) have free online editions.
TV/Movies
Sites such as Hulu and YouTube offer a broad selection of TV shows and movies to watch.
Classifieds
Craigs List offers a free service for posting your classified ad in front of potential prospects.
Medical Advice
Instead of going to a doctor for medical advice, for minor medical aliments, sites such as WebMD can be a good source for medical information.
Invitations
Evite is a good nice alternative to sending out an invitation through snail mail.
The above are examples of just a few free sites/services, there are probably thousands of other sites that offer free services and information that will be useful to you.
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tim
Categories: Frugal Living, Saving Money
May 13th, 2009
Some people get a thrill out of paying the lowest possible price. But there are several factors that need to be looked at to see whether the best price is really the best price.
Cost of Acquiring the Deal
If gas is $0.02/gallon cheaper in the next town, it doesn’t make financial sense to drive 5 miles out of your way to save $0.30. You’ll be spending more on gas (plus wear and tear on your car) then you would receive in actual savings.
Time
Spending hours doing comparison shopping at the mall to save $2 on one item is not an efficient use of your time.
Usage
If you buy a product just because it’s on sale but never use it, then you would have been better off if you never bought the product in the first place.
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tim
Categories: Frugal Living, Misc, Saving Money