Being frugal is good. It save a lot of money. The bad part about being frugal is, it doesn't leave you with much money to enjoy things you really like. One amongst such things is hobby. If we, however, give up majority of entertainment activities and hobbies of your life, there isn't really much fun left in our lives. As mentioned earlier frugality is not depriving ourselves of something, but making smart and efficient use of our funds. There are ways you can trim down the expenses of having a hobby, yet derive equivalent satisfaction from it. Here is a list of few hobbies and ways to cut down the costs. Collecting Antiques This is usually an expensive hobby. However, if you tackle it in an appropriate manner, you can save considerable money here. Search for small outlets that sell antiques [...]

Being a financial consultant, I have met varieties of people including the ones that are over-bothered about their savings, and the ones who are not bothered at all. And you know what kind of people suffer the most. Here are few reasons why many people never have money, and why they wouldn't ever have enough money. These are some of their common habits: 1.    They Never Take Responsibility If something goes wrong, they are never at fault. They are generally very good at blaming others, and slip out of the situation as soon as possible. If they are not able to earn enough money, they will either blame the competition, government, or their own family. But taking responsibility is out of question. 2.    What the Hell is Budgeting? People who are least concerned about their money don't know [...]

Most people like the idea of saving money, but they don't know how to do it. Few people might be disappointed when I say there isn't a best way to save money. The trick that works for me might not work for my neighbor. However, I can suggest three strategies to save big amount. Select the one that suits your needs. But before you start with reading the tips, keep in mind, all the following tips have one thing in common: Spend less than you earn. If you are someone who loves using credit cards, and don't want to reduce the usage, these might be very difficult tips. For others, these are simple, and require only a bit of effort to succeed. One of the core reasons why we aren't able to save much today is because we all seek instant gratification. Because we can enjoy today by spending more, we [...]

Along with providing ease to access inform, internet is widely used to transact money. Quick payments can be made to the creditors; purchases can be made; balance can be transferred from one account to the other. Internet savings accounts and checking accounts aren’t much popular. They are, however, being used as a basic form of banking transactions. Since, these accounts are new form of banking, many people, especially older ones, are still reluctant about giving their personal information on the web. This is the biggest reason why these forms of bank accounts are taking time establishing themselves. Safety is another concern when it comes to making transactions online. With tremendous increase in number of scams and frauds recently, people find it difficult to accept this form of money [...]

There are millions of people around the globe struggling just to meet their monthly expenses. Yet, every year, we see many people becoming millionaires. What is the distinction between these two set of people? What is it that the latter group is doing but the former is not? The basic difference is their mindset and attitude. If you intend to become a millionaire one day, but you don’t do anything about it, you would be a part of those million people struggling every day, just to pay off your monthly bills. It takes certain things to become a millionaire, do you have it in you? Do you have a financial vision? Becoming a millionaire is not easy at all. It requires directed efforts. Hence, to keep moving in a specific direction, setting a goal is necessary. Most millionaire succeeded to earn [...]

Recently, I got a mail from my colleague, Chris, who retired a couple of years ago. Once, I met him at the grocery store and we discussed frugality. Though he didn’t open up much, he sent me an email a week later. He says: “Quite often, I feel frugality is detaching me from the society. And every night, started this since past couple of weeks, I ask my self “Is frugality depleting my social life?” With days, I find myself not being interested in the mainstream society. I have disconnected my TV cable, so I can’t really tell if who won the American Idol, or is it still on. Daily headlines, too, is just a glance on the internet. So, I don’t know much beyond the headline. I don’t eat out much, though I have perfected cooking, I haven’t had a look at the local menus since many months. [...]

Saving money was quite essential and it became more crucial after we witnessed the effects of financial crisis on common man. Here are few tips on saving money for young adults. Have a budget Young adults don’t have much responsibility as most of them aren’t married and don’t have kids to take care of. This is probably the best time to inculcate the habit of living with a budget. It’s quite simple to start with. At the beginning of every month, determine the amount of money that will be flowing in. Then, deduct the amount you will be spending as necessary expenses and think about how you will invest the left over amount. Gradually, start reducing the amount you spend on various things. Start saving early Probably there isn’t any right age to start saving. However, starting early is [...]

Exactly a year ago, my electricity bills were more than three times it is now. Every time I had a look at my bills, I used to get a minor heart-attack. Hence, I decided to cut down on these bills before it becomes a major reason of my death. Yes, these minor attacks could have transformed into major ones and I could have died. However, I created a live-saving, or rather electricity-saving list that helped me regain my health and my heart. Let’s have a look at few best ways to save money on electricity bills. CFL Bulbs Also known as Compact Fluorescent Bulbs, these bulbs are quite useful as they save loads of energy. I have replaced all the bulbs, including the one in my refrigerator, and have successfully cut down my bills. My bathroom used to have four bulbs. However, one CFL bulb is enough [...]

Times are tough and it has become quite crucial to save money wherever we can, to survive and fight the economic battle. We don’t really realize how much money we spend on phone until we have a closer look. Here is a list on how to save money on phone bills. If most of your outgoing calls involves international calling, it’s advisable to ask your service operator to provide a ‘pay per second’ or ‘pay per 10 seconds’ plan. This has proved to be a much cheaper plan than ‘pay per-minute’ plan. Many times, your conversation time is as short as 10 or 15 seconds, and you have to pay for the whole minute. Sometimes, the person on other end is not able to hear you clearly. In such cases, you disconnect the call within 10 seconds. However, you pay for the whole minute. Hence, it’s [...]

Wedding is definitely a pleasing event. However, the cost involved to arrange a wedding is quite high and unmanageable. But if you think intelligently, you can have a cheap but very beautiful wedding. Here are top 10 ways to save money on your wedding. Fewer Guests With every name you add in your guest list, you are increasing the budget considerably. It’s not just food cost, but you also spend more on rentals, centerpiece, favors, etc. It’s not really important to invite people whom you haven’t talked since last 3-4 years. And don’t compel people to bring a date, if they are single. Save Postage cost Avoid having a blotted paper or inner envelopes in your invitation. Get a cheap but decent envelope instead of an expensive one. It’s really unnecessary to have a reply card. Instead [...]

Dividends, bonuses, and paychecks don’t last long. Hence, saving money regularly is a difficult challenge for most of the people. However, it isn’t much difficult if you have the right approach. Here are 10 most effective money saving ideas that can help you to accumulate a huge amount over a period of few months. Track your spending We come across many things everyday and we spend money on them casually. Later, at the end of the month, we wonder where we spent so much. Hence, tracking money is an effective way to know your spending habits and your attitude toward saving. This will also help you to know which expenses are important and which can be avoided. Do you, for instance, purchase coffee every morning when you can get it for free in your office? Pay Yourself Time and again, this [...]

It’s quite easy to pull out you wallet and pay money for useless things. The reason why I am saying it’s easy is because people are now habituated to make certain expenses every month unconsciously. Hence, rather than looking at other difficult opportunities to save money, let’s have a look at how we can save money every month easily. Here is a list of expenses which we generally incur every month and how we can cut it down. In short, this list provides help on how to save money every month. If you have a cell phone, you don’t really need a home phone. Actually, a mobile phone is better than a land line phone in every way. I don’t still understand why people need it at home and offices. Get rid of them and save some money every month. Yes, I understand internet is an essential aspect [...]