Entries Tagged 'Budgeting' ↓

It seems like a lot of people are concerned about how to save money in a depression, or how to protect what they have in the near term. I’m getting queries like “moving to the country to survive a depression” and “How to earn money in a depression”.

You have to remember, when we think of what we might face in terms of a depression, that we know very little of true depressions (hardly anything in personal experience terms). In the 1930′s, the depression hurt a lot of people because there was no social security safety net, no unemployment benefits, no welfare and food stamps. It was because of that lack that these safety net programs where instituted.

In addition, it’s well known that Herbert Hoover let the depression sink in because he refused to spend any more. Guess where we’d be if some conservatives had their way? Why would they want to repeat the mistakes of Hoover? True, we are building up a huge financial deficit. But there could be – could be – growth to get us out of it, if all goes according to Obama’s plan.

Nevertheless – if a family faces job loss or downsizing, foreclosure, if big banks fail and consumers hunker down and stop spending, we could be in for some tough economic times. Yet I tend to see this as a step on a path to a new way of thinking about how we live – just like social programs resulted from the Great Depression of the 1930′s.

Here’s where things could go, IMHO. We could start learning to live with less money. OK, after we default on our homes and credit cards, we learn that we don’t need all the latest doo dads to keep us happy. We plant gardens. We keep the cars we have running. We barter and trade with our neighbors – lawn cutting for piano lessons or something. We turn to our communities for swap meets and recipe trades and getting back to basics. We start to be creative again, not just consumers of someone else’s creativity, that is, we bake and cook instead of going out; we play games and go for walks instead of spending hundreds a month on cable; we go to the movie at the town hall with our blanket and picnic instead of paying $50 or more at the theater. We take a composting class or a bike repair course and learn a new language with friends.

We find that we don’t need the things we have been conditioned to buy. We find that yes, if we save instead of spend, we put some people out of work, but we reach out to those people and help them become useful in other capacities. We learn that this too is just a phase, on our way to a more sustainable, friendlier, less consumption driven lifestyle, where there wasn’t much substance behind all that garbage.

My feeling is you’d do better in a community, not the country, where people can share and educate and lend and play and work together to make things work. You are not well served by harboring fear or complacency, but rather we can do so much better by harnessing the same “we can do it” strength that we felt after 9/11. We are facing difficulty as a country, not alone, but together, and only with constructive effort and creativity – not fear-mongering and ignorance and infighting – will be succeed and build something better out of our challenges.

And believe me – there are going to be amazing investment opportunities. I’ll be posting some of those to keep a watch on in the coming weeks and months.

Seeing your sky high electric bill these days is almost enough to cause a heart attack. You may have tried everything you can think of to save on electricity back but still can’t get the numbers low enough. There may be additional electricty saving steps you can take to reduce your use that you haven’t come across. Finding new ways to conserve energy can be easy, but it will take the effort of your entire family. here are a few ideas:

1. Reduce your heating or cooling needs. In summer, raise your thermostat setting above 80 degrees, and use fans, both the ceiling and floor fans. They help stir the air and add to comfort. Be sure the ceiling fan is circulating air down, not up. In winter, up is fine when you want to move warm air from the ceiling down to the floor level. Using a fan can save more than $600 per year.

2. When you’re not home, turn off the air conditioning. The constant running means it’s working harder. You can raise the temp so it doesn’t run all day, and turn it back on when you get home.

3. Be sure to keep your air conditioner’s filter clean by cleaning it at least once a month. A dirty filter will make your AC work less efficiently and that requires more power. Be sure to also Clean registers in all rooms as well as the intake register. Close the registers in all rooms not in regular use. And speaking of clean, you can take a cool shower just before bed to help you feel cooler.

4. Cover your outside condenser with shade, and you can save up to 10% on electric. Just make sure shrubs or grass don’t block the unit’s air flow.

5. Examine your ducts for leaks. Older ductwork can leak more. In the attic, check how hot it is there. Use insulation to save up to 40% of colling power. You might also consider installing an attic fan, since by reducing your attic temperature by just 10 degrees, you can save as much as 10% on your electric bill.

5. Put compact fluorescent light bulbs everywhere you can. An old-fashioned incandescent light is just a mini heater that emits light. Fluorescent bulbs are cooler, and more popular than ever as money savers, so prices are coming down. They give off only 10% heat for 90% light compared to incandescent.

6. Paint your home a light color on the exterior, to reflect heat. Dark paint absorbs up to 20% more heat thereby increasing cooling needs.

7. Watch your appliance use. Use full loads in the dishwasher and laundry, or air dry clothing on a clothesline in good weather. You can also air-dry dishes the old fashioned way, and skip the high-power heated drying cycle. Also, replace old appliances with Energy Star, which use much less electricity.

8. Consider a tankless water heater. Traditional water heaters keep water heated all day long regardless of use, but a tankless heater heats water only as you need it. This can save as much as 25% to 50% of your utility bills!

9. An obvious one is to turn off electric appliances, electronics and other power hogs when not in use. Even when plugged in, “ghost load” power that keeps LED clocks and fast-on switch powered costs as much as 10-15% extra.

By saving just a few watts of electricity here and there it can really add up, plus you can see your success immediately right in your monthly bill! Make it a goal to cut your bills by 20%, and see if you can’t do that with simple changes. Saving energy helps you save money, and that’s something you can really bank on.

As we all look for ways to save money, there are amazing places you can find new money saving ideas and put them to work in your own personal finance plan.

The important thing to remember is, you aren’t just trying to save money, you should also plan to put that money into a savings account so you are really saving you money, and not just saving here so you can spend more there! That’s not how to build wealth – you want to save and invest for true wealth.  Start with basic budgeting, and from there you build to pile of cash you have to save and invest to biuld wealth.

So where can you find the best saving money tips? Ideas are everywhere. But the bottom line is that there are really only three, just three, ways to save money: (1) spend less, (2) make more, and (3) bank the difference between your expenses and your income. That’s it – literally everything you read on the web or anywhere else about how to save money will include one or all of those three things. Once you get those ideas under your belt, you’ll be inventing great ways to save money all on your own.

Let’s talk about the first item, Spend Less. The goal here is that you should try to to spend less than you make. Think this is too hard? Have more expenses left at the end of the month than money to pay for them? Try a little experiment. Next time you head to the store, just put back one of every four things you initially want to buy. think you need the item? Try doing without, just for this trip. yo ujust saved 25% on your shopping trip! Seriously, if you think you need that jar of spaghetti sauce, for example, think about what you have at home you can still use, or what else in your cart you can use. It may be hard to do, but even if you try, you’ll see how many things you really dont’ need to buy.

Next, you’ll want to think more about making more money. We’ve posted here on this blog in the past about how to make at least a little more money at home in your spare time. But the important thing is, as you reduce your spending, and increase your income, you’ll start to see a little extra money flowing into your life. Read other posts on this blog aotu making money, to get some ideas.

Last, when you’re saving money by spending less and making more, you can put that savings into a bank account and watch it grow. It might grow slowly at first, but if yo ustart putting $25, $50 or $100 in the bank each month, as well as money yo’uve saved by spending less, and any extra money you make, this is exactly how wealth is built. This is the money you will learn to invest in the near future and start to build some financial security for your family.

Even though you might be looking for new ways to save money, there are really only old ways, but put to good use by new thinking. To have the most options, we recommend you open a no-fee brokerage account today with www.TradeKing.com
so you can then invest your savings in safe investments like CDs, money market accounts, or mutual funds with more safe investments.

Everyone is getting on the coupon bandwagon, since we’re all trying to save money. Everyone knows coupons save money right? WRONG. The fact is, using save money coupons can actually hurt your financial attempt to save money! While it’s a good idea to use them sometimes, knowing when is a good time to use coupons will actually save more than using as many as possible.

First, using a coupon to buy a more expensive item than you usually would is going to cost you more. Of course. But that’s part of the reason manufacturers put coupons in the paper – so you will buy their more expensive, less desireable items. If you normally buy a store brand, you can figure that the store brand is probably just as good, and will cost you less, than the coupon brand even after you apply the coupon savings.

Second, notice how many coupons now require you to buy two of something? That’s cause if you’re going ot get double cuopons from your grocery store, the manufacturer wants to be sure they’re move twice as much inventory. So, even if you only need one item, you’re now being coaxed into buying two, at higher total cost. Yes, your saving on each item, a little, but you are out of pocket the price on a seconed item. That’s cash you don’t have in your pocket!

Third, if you are trying to save money on groceries, you are going to spend a heck of a lot of time managing and going through coupons to save just a couple bucks. some of these coupons websites say they help you cut time – but they don’t really, because you still have to go through the sunday paper, keep the coupons somwhere, rad through the lists on the weekend, plan your trip, and all of that takes up time. Ever had the experience that you spend three or four hours managing coupons, for a savings off three bucks at the market? Not worth it. Spend the hours buildinga web-based business like the coupon lady does, that’s where the real money is!

Fourth, not to mention, you are also paying for the Sunday paper to get the coupons in the first place. if you deduct the $3 a week or more for the paper from your coupon savings, are you ahead or not? Not to mention the tonnage of paper that is just getting recycled – hopefully.

Fifth, many coupons are for processed foods, foods the companies want to push, which are not as good for you, with additives, packaging, chemicals and more. If you want your family to be healtier, and your environment cleaner, you might focus iunstead on fresh fruits and veggies, fresh meats (not processed), household cleaners that are natural, and products that don’t come packaged in as much plastic as the food they contain.

No – instead of coupons, you can save money groceries shopping just by finding the least expensive store, stocking up on good sales, and not driving around to a lot of different locations or wasting time with coupons. Your real savings is your time which is worth far more than a couple dollars an hour. Save money, time and the planet, adn skip the coupons!

Going without a telephone is just out of the question today. Most households have land lines and cell phones. Even kids have cell phone lines to talk to their friends. But when everyone’s using a cell phone, the land line isn’t needed as much, and more households are making the switch to just cell phone usage.

There are a number of ways you can cut your cell phone bill, or your telephone bill costs generally. These cell phone bills can get out of control fast.

Many people just buy the unlimited plan, because it’s easier that opening a severl-thousand-dollar bill when you’re not paying attention. Here are a couple ways to cut your cell phone bill costs.

1. Look for real cell phone deals before you buy and get locked into a two year plan. Most carriers have similar plans, although some like Sprint have unlimited plans for a low flat rate. Be sure to explore all the cell phone deals out there before signing on the dotted line. You can find some good deals also with prepaid cell phones, because you aren’t locked in, and you pay only for what you need for calls and text. Pay as you go can be really good cell phone deals for younger kids especially, who don’t make as many calls.

2. At least save on the phones with free cell phone family plan choices. Many carriers offer the free cell phone family plan because they know you’re going to make thousands of dollars of calls with that free cell phone! so, if you have to stick with your current plan, at least get a free cell phone out of it.

3. Don’t upgrade your phone until the free options are available. It might take a few months, but your carrier will likely offer you a free cell phone after a while, when you commit to an additional two year cell phone plan. Again, you’re still stuck with the plan, but you can at least get a free cell phone out of it.

4. Get rid of features you don’t need. Every cell phone service comes with options, you ca pick and choose from. Use only the cell phone service you need. For example, try to avoid using the web on your phone, the data plans are truly expensive, and you don’t need it to text or make calls.

5. Take another look at prepaid cell phone deals. These cell phone services are now offering top of the line phones, as well as unlimited text and calls. You can cancel at any time, your cell phone number is portable, and you aren’t locked into all the minimum monthly fees either. Prepaid cell phone plans also vary widely like regular cell phones.

That should get you started toward getting some good cell phone deals to cut your phone bill starting this month!