Discover Debt Freedom!

Every year, people find themselves falling into unmanageable debt because they have not been able to manage their money properly.  Money management is not a task that many people feel comfortable with because they have never been taught the proper ways to manage their money and make common mistakes through ignorance.  Managing your money effectively may seem like a difficult task, but it is possible to take control of your finances and make it work for you by following a few simple tips.

Make Savings A Priority

Many people make the mistake of putting their spending first and making saving for the future one of their last priorities.  This short-sighted spending plan often results in the person not having enough money available to take care of financial emergencies, which typically leads to creating debt that must be paid off at a high interest rate.  By having savings available to handle these emergencies, a person can avoid going into debt if unexpected expenses occur. 

The easiest way to ensure that your savings account balance grows is to place money into your savings account every time you get paid before you start spending.  By removing the money from your checking account first, you reduce the risk that you will spend the money that you intend to save on unnecessary or frivolous purchases.  This will help ensure that your savings account will grow more quickly than using nearly any other method.

Keep On Top Of Your Credit

Letting your credit usage get out of control is one of the easiest ways to create insurmountable debt levels.  If you are maxing out your credit cards every month or obtaining new credit cards because you are close to the maximum debt level on the cards that you already have, you need to take a step back and seriously reevaluate your spending habits.  In many cases, the only option that you will have is to drastically cut your spending and try to find new sources of revenue, like a second job, to quickly pay down your debts.

By keeping your credit card usage in check and constantly monitoring the percentage of your credit that you are using, you can avoid creating large amounts of debt that will have to be paid off at interest rates of 15% or more.  It is easy to over spend with a credit card, but a good thing to keep in mind is to spend no more than you would be able to pay off in a month.  That way you will not be carrying a balance on the credit card that would be subject to fees and interest.

There are many simple things that you can do to begin saving more money immediately.  A lot of these simple solutions are so simple that many people do not think about them when they are thinking of ways to save more of their paycheck each month.  Although making big changes that save lots of money may have more impact psychologically, small savings can add up quickly and will not be as disruptive to your everyday life as larger changes would be.

Brew Your Own Coffee
Did you know that for the price of a single large cup of specialty coffee at one of the leading coffee shops you could purchase an entire canister of coffee that can be brewed to your personal tastes at home?  In general, anything purchased at a grocery store for home preparation will be much less expensive than purchasing the same item at a restaurant or convenience store.  By sacrificing a small amount of your time instead of paying for convenience, you can easily save hundreds of dollars per year.

Kick The Habit
Cigarette smoking is one of the most expensive habits to have, mainly because of the sheer number of cigarettes that many people purchase to keep up with their habit.  For example, a pack a day smoker can spend more than $2500 per year on their habit, depending on which brand they buy and which area of the country they live in.  By kicking the habit, that money could be put towards paying down bills or saving for emergencies.

Drink Alcohol At Home
The cost of an alcoholic beverage at a restaurant, lounge, or bar will cost you at least twice as much as if you purchased the same item at your neighborhood spirits retailer.  Wine is heavily marked up, with a bottle that costs $12 in the store priced at $26 to $30 in a restaurant.  Beer is not much better, with two beers at the bar costing as much as an entire 6 pack at the store.  Choosing to drink alcoholic beverages at home will not only save you money, it can also save you embarrassment and an expensive traffic ticket for driving home under the influence of an intoxicating substance.

Every person wants to save more money each month, but many people believe that saving money is too difficult for them to accomplish.  Rising prices and advertising’s temptations often prove too much for a person’s saving willpower, but there are some easy ways to save money that will not have you sacrificing your quality of life or missing payments on your bills.  Here are some tips for saving money the simple way.

Treat Your Savings Deposit Like A Bill

One of the main reasons why people have trouble saving money is because they make saving their last priority.  After paying all of their bills and spending money for food and entertainment, they find that they have just enough money to get to the end of the month.  In contrast, if you pay your savings account first, as if the deposit was a bill that must be paid, you will take that money out of your spending funds and are much less likely to waste the money on unnecessary items and frivolous pursuits.

The best way to accomplish this is to have a specific percentage of your paycheck directly deposited into your savings account every time that you get paid.  Many companies have made using this method much easier by allowing their employees to deposit portions of their paychecks into as many as three different bank accounts.  Using this method make saving for the future a simple and automatic task.

Resist Small Expenses

One of the biggest money wasters that most people encounter today are those purchases that are so small that the person doesn’t think twice about paying for them.  These purchases are typically less than $10 in cost, which does not seem like a large amount until you take into consideration that these purchases are being made multiple times a day nearly every day of the week.  A person that spends an average of $10 on coffee, snacks, and ATM fees three times per week will end up spending $1560 on these minor purchases over the course of a year.  Wouldn’t you rather have that money earning interest for you in a savings account?

Resisting these small expenses can be difficult because most of the time the purchase is based on the convenience of the item being bought, but by making a conscious effort to resist these temptations, you will be able to save a great deal of money.  Over time, these conscious efforts will become unconscious habits that will help you continue to save more of your money and build the balance of your savings account.

One of the largest monthly expenses for any family is the money that they spend for food at the grocery store.  Purchasing food for a family of four can easily equal more than $100 per week and is often dependent upon the prices of staples and deals offered by the store.  But there is one simple way for a shopper to reduce the money that is spent each month at the grocery store and that is by reducing the number of trips that you make to the store.

Why Is This Beneficial?

Reducing the number of trips that are made to the grocery store each month is not a way that many people think of when they think of methods of saving money, but it is one of the most effective ways to keep more of your money in your pocket.  This is because many grocery stores are masters of impulse purchase manipulation and organize their stores in such a way that it entices most shoppers to place items that they did not intend to buy into their cart.  While this is a good way for the grocery store to boost their profits and move their merchandise, it negatively affects consumers that end up spending much more money at the grocery store than they intend.

Experts estimate that individuals that make a “quick trip” to the grocery store to pick up a few items at a time will often purchase around 54% more than they intended during the trip while individuals that plan out their shopping trip before hand, plan to purchase two weeks worth of food, and make a shopping list of their purchases tend to stick closely to the amount that they intended to spend.  For example, a person who intends to purchase $200 worth of food in a two week period would spend $308 with the impulse purchases made in quick trips for a few items at a time compared with around $220 spent when the items are all purchased in a single trip using a shopping list.  That is an estimated savings of $88 in food purchases every two weeks or nearly $2300 over the course of a year.

Additional Tips

An important part of saving money during your trip to the grocery store is making a list of the items that you intend to purchase at the store and sticking to this list while you are shopping.  Some people who follow this rule choose to make a menu of the meals that they intend to prepare over the next two weeks to ensure that they will not have to return to the store to pick up additional ingredients needed to make a meal.  By following this simple tip, it is very easy to save a great deal of money on your grocery store purchases over the course of a year.

When people think about all the ways that they could be saving money, changing their checking account is not typically at the top of the list but it is possible that checking account fees are depleting the checking account by hundreds of dollars each year.  In most cases, the checking account fees are considered to be part of the cost of doing business with a nationally accessible banking institution but it is easy to get the same type of checking power with a free, no fee checking account.  There are several criteria that must be met for a truly free checking account.

No Minimum Balance

The best free checking accounts will not have a minimum balance that must be met for the checking account to remain free.  For example, some banks have a rule that the checking account must contain more than $2,500 for the account to remain free.  As soon as the balance of the account dips below the $2,500 mark, the account is hit with fees and the fees continue to accumulate until the balance of the account rises above $2,500.  Having a checking account that does not have a minimum balance ensures that you will not have fees levied against your account if you must withdraw a significant portion of the money in the account.

No Maximum Number Of Transactions

Some banking institutions hold down the costs of their checking accounts by limiting the number of transactions that an account holder can have each month.  The types of transactions that are limited can include deposits, withdrawals, transactions made by teller, or number of checks written.  The philosophy behind the transaction limitations is that the less the account is used, the less work it will take the bank to maintain the account which allows the bank to save money. 

Conducting more transactions per month than the checking account allows will cost the account holder a significant amount of money.  If the person goes over the transaction limit, fees are levied against the account as a lump sum fee or a per transaction fee.  The best free checking accounts will not have a maximum number of transactions for the account per month.

Forget About Accruing Interest

One of the biggest hooks to get a person to sign up for a checking account that is going to cost them money is to tell the person that the account is interest bearing.  In many cases, the balance that will have to be left in the checking account to accrue interest will have to total thousands of dollars in order for the amount of interest earned to offset the fees that are charged by the bank for the account.  Unless you are able to keep a large balance in your checking account untouched for a long period of time, you will pay more in checking account fees over the year than you will earn in interest.

There are many benefits of insurance protection that can be realized if you take the time to choose the right policies.  Insurance products have increased in popularity as individuals rush to protect the items that are important to them and the insurance industry has responded by increasing the number of products on the market to satisfy niche markets and specific possessions.  The benefits that come from having the proper insurance products to protect the future is the main reason why people choose to purchase these products.

Limited Liability

One of the main benefits of insurance protection is that the person will not be responsible for the total cost of the insured item in the event of loss, damage, or theft.  A perfect example is homeowner’s insurance which can insure a home against fire, water damage, and natural disasters.  Having the proper homeowner’s insurance insures that you will be able to repair or rebuild the home in the event of a disaster or purchase another home if your current home is totaled.

Car insurance can also keep more money in your pocket in the event of an accident.  Having the right car insurance policy will ensure that the car can be repaired or replaced after paying the deductible on the policy.  Because the insurance policy pays for most of the cost associated with the repairs, savings can be used for other important items instead of shelling out thousands of dollars because of an accident.

Peace Of Mind

Beside monetary benefits, having the proper insurance policies can give you peace of mind.  If you purchase the right insurance policies for your needs and have made all of your premium payments on time, you can be certain that you are covered in the event of the unexpected occurring.  The loss of property may be traumatic, but you will have the means to continue and get your life back on track without the worry of how to pay for or replace the needed items.

It is very important to obtain your insurance policies prior to an adverse event occurring.  Insurance policies are meant to protect you from the unexpected, not pay you a bonus for wrecking your car or destroying your home.  The numerous benefits of insurance protection can only be obtained if the insurance policy is in place before a disaster strikes.

Saving a percentage of your income in a savings account is an important part of remaining debt free.  Having savings that you can access in the event of an emergency reduces the chances that a financial emergency will leave you with insurmountable debt or will require you to pay high interest charges for placing the cost of the emergency on credit.  Many experts believe that a high yield savings account is the best place to put the money that you have saved.

Why Choose A High Yield Savings Account

A high yield savings account is a good choice for several reasons.  The first reason is that a savings account is accessible.  Having savings that you cannot access readily in the event of an emergency will not do you any good, so it is important to place your savings into an account that can be accessed with a minimum of hassle and that allows you to withdraw your money without charging high fees.  Many high yield savings accounts have a minimum account balance requirement, but as long as you do not dip below this level, you will not incur any fees for withdrawing money from the account.

Another reason why placing your money into a high yield savings account is a smart money move to make is because these accounts can protect you from rising inflation.  Because these accounts pay the account holder interest for holding their money in the account, every dollar placed into the account is earning the account holder additional money.  The amount of interest paid by the bank on the savings account should be higher than the annual rate of inflation, ensuring that you will have the same, or higher, purchasing power when you withdraw your money in the future.

High yield savings accounts are considered to be one of the better options for parking additional money because the accounts are free of investment risk.  The balance of a high yield savings account will never go down unless money is withdrawn from the account, unlike some other investment vehicles that may offer higher rates of return but are subject to downturns in the economy.  There are many benefits to placing your additional funds into a high yield savings account, including keeping the money safe for your future.

One of the most common reasons that people have trouble saving money is that the large lifestyle changes that would result in saving a great deal of money quickly turn them off to the entire process.  If a person is uncomfortable with the process, then they are less likely to stick to the program that was chosen and will resort to their old habits before they have accomplished their goal.  There are a number of ways to start saving money in small ways that will not have a great deal of impact on your current lifestyle and making these small changes into regular habits can help you save hundreds of dollars each year.

Trim Small Expenses
Many individuals have a number of small expenses that they pay for throughout the course of a week without even thinking about it and these purchases can add up to a significant amount of money.  In most cases, these purchases are not necessary and the person is paying for the convenience of the item.  By cutting out these small purchases or substituting a cheaper alternative, you may be able to save around $100 per month which should be added to your savings account at the end of each month.

Round Up Checking Charges
If you track your purchases using a checking account ledger, one of the easiest methods to save small amounts of money is to round up the actual amount of the purchase to the nearest dollar or add a “saving charge” of one or two dollars to each purchase.  The amount is so small for each purchase that you will not even notice while you are building a comfortable cushion in your checking account a few dollars at a time.  At the end of the year, you will be pleasantly surprised at the amount of money you have been able to save.

Use Coupons For Necessary Purchases
If you have to make a purchase of a necessary item, try to use a coupon for the purchase.  Coupons are not just for groceries anymore as many companies have recognized the usefulness of coupons in attracting new customers and keeping previous ones.  Now coupons can be found for numerous items, including clothing, household appliances, and vehicle oil changes.  Many coupons can be found in your local newspaper or mailed to your home by businesses or coupon companies.

Making these small changes in your lifestyle can result in the saving of a large amount of money each year and will eventually lead to saving methods that save larger amounts of money in a shorter amount of time.  The biggest step in saving money is getting started and as time goes by, saving for the future will become easier.

While it is still early into a new year, parents and teens alike are already planning months ahead for the inevitable – sweet sixteens and high school graduations. One of the most sought-after gifts from the teen side of the equation is the want of a new Car. As many parents find it difficult now to maintain their own cars, adding an extra one to the mix can be difficult; though not having to chauffeur the kids around town to practice and part-time jobs, it can be a relief to turn over responsibility to the kids.

The task of buying and maintaining the spare Car for your teen can be quite expensive but it doesn’t have to be over the top. Here are some tips for finding affordable car insurance and to expenses low and expectations for your kid’s responsibility levels high:

Split the Responsibility

• There are a lot of different expenses that come with car ownership. Make a list and divide up the responsibilities between you and your child. Put it in writing so everyone will be on the same page. Some expenses include:

Insurance (whether a teen gets their own insurance or is added to the parent’s policy)
Registration
Inspections
Oil Changes
New Tires
Car Washes/Cleaning
Parking/Speeding Tickets

• There may be advantages to shopping elsewhere for a teen’s vehicle insurance. Adding a teen driver to a parent’s policy may not be the cheapest route. This will depend mostly on the type of car your child will drive. If you allow them the more expensive family vehicles, expect to pay a large sum for added coverage of a teen driver. If your teen drives a reliable used car, it may be less expensive to shop around for a policy all their own and get the basic insurance coverage.

• Adding a teen to your policy also has advantages if your policy offers discounts for multiple vehicles or loyal customer incentives. Don’t be afraid to shop around to find the best situation for your finances.

• Require that your child become responsible for maintaining the vehicle at all time by keeping it clean and performing daily maintenance checks on tires, paint, and fluids in the engine.

• Lay down the ground rules about driving safety and make it clear that as parents you will not be paying for any violations incurred by your teen. Make sure your child understand the consequences of driving at unsafe speeds, disobeying traffic rules, and other reckless acts – from the realities of tickets to fatal accidents. You can also incorporate in the rules the different consequences for different actions – such as traffic violations will result in the loss of driving privileges.

• Make sure your child knows what to do in the event of an emergency. Any mistakes can cost both you and your teen in the event of an incident or accident.

• One of the most important things a parent can do is continue to educate their teens on the true costs of owning and maintaining a car of their own. Make sure they go through the process of registering the car, shopping for insurance, and scheduling maintenance appointments. Make sure they know that the cost of owning a Lexus is different than the cost of owning a Toyota. Go so far as hypothetically creating the financial devastation as well as the emotional one of being the cause of an accident due to careless acts or driving under the influence. The more information the child learns along with you, the more inclined they might be to take greater responsibility for their driving.

People caught up in the holiday spirit of the season often spend more than they intend on items to celebrate the holidays.  Decorations for the home, treats, and gifts can all add up to a significant amount of money if these purchases are not carefully monitored by the person doing the purchasing.  There are some simple tips that you can use to make sure that you do not spend more than you intend this holiday season.

Make A List, Check It Twice
Making a list of all of the things that you need for your home and what gifts you would like to purchase for friends and family this holiday season will help you control your spending on holiday items.  By making a list, you can quickly identify which items are necessary and which items are additional and can be eliminated from the list to save money.  Making a list will also allow you to estimate how much you will spend for all of the items and help you make the determination on whether the purchases will be affordable on your salary.

Send Holiday Greeting Cards
Shipping gifts to friends and family members all over the nation will quickly become expensive due to the shipping costs charged by the major shipping companies.  A better way to acknowledge those individuals that do not live close to your home is to send them a holiday card with a personal note about how you are thinking about them and your wishes for them to have a happy holiday.  If sending a gift is desired, consider sending something small, like entertainment tickets, gift cards, or personal checks, along with the card.

Shop Sales
During the holiday season, many retailers will have a large amount of their merchandise sale priced to ensure that the merchandise will be moved during the busiest shopping period of the year.  By focusing on the sales racks with the deepest discounts, you can save as much as 50% off the total cost of your holiday spending.  In order to save time and save even more money, review the sales flyers that are mailed to your home or inserted into the local newspaper to compare prices across stores so that you can purchase the best items at the lowest prices available.

Avoid Credit Card Use
Purchases placed on a credit card will always cost more than a purchase made in cash because of the fees and interest tacked onto the purchase amount.  Many people use their credit cards during the holiday season to spend money that they do not have on purchases that they do not really need.  In order to stay within budget for your holiday celebration, use cash or a debit card whenever possible for purchases and do not purchase anything that you have to use credit to pay for.