Big amount of money can be saved if you can hold back the consumer in you. Instead of saving money by cutting down on little things, it’s quite important to recognize things that can save big money. Quit Smoking Obviously this isn’t for those you don’t smoke. But for those who smoke, it’s a huge money saving opportunity. If you are addicted to smoke a pack each day, quitting smoke can easily help you to save around $5 per day, which equals to $1,800 every year. Along with gaining this amount, you also save money that you probably would have spent on health issues like insurance, medicine costs, etc. This is one of the best ways to save money. Purchase used items You can reduce your overall expenses by around 25% merely by purchasing used items whenever possible. Various [...]

No doubt it’s an idiot box, but it’s the major source of household entertainment. There’s no way you can escape from its attraction even though you know it costs a lot in terms of money and time. Yes! The television is such a gadget. Now, with satellite television being an almost mandatory household feature, you cannot really avoid spending a significant part of your monthly income on it. But here are ways in which you can enjoy your cable TV without burning a hole in your pocket. Bundle up your cable services with other services from the same company if applicable. For example, take cable TV connection from your telephone and internet connection provider. When you take two or more services from the same provider you’ll be getting cable service at a lower cost. Many cable TV companies [...]

Reading books is a passion for many, but this recession might have prompted you into slashing that extra expenditure that you make on purchasing books.  Don’t worry; here are some cost saving ways for you to pursue your intellectual interest. Join a purchase rewards program- Barnes and Noble; Book a Millionaire, Border’s Rewards are all bookstores that offer you attractive reward programs once you buy books from them. Watch out for their coupon reward system which is going to offer you discounts. But these discounts are profitable only for regular buyers of books and not occasional purchasers. Barnes and Nobles and Book a Millionaire offer 20 % to 40 % discounts. Border’s Rewards prizes you with $5 on purchasing books worth $ 150. Along with rebates you get emails and offer letters [...]

I’m sure you’ll agree with me that health deserves prime importance and you cannot neglect it at any cost. You might slash down upon your festive shopping due to the economic epidemic, but you can’t probably slash down upon your health costs, especially during the flu season. You are well aware of how threatening swine flu has become to the country and along with that the seasonal flu is another threat. Nasal sprays and vaccine shots have come up to immunize you against H1N1. A host of retailers say that they can immunize you for low costs. But you simply can’t get a health job done from anywhere. You’ve got to be extra cautious in that. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that out of 2,126 cases of flu reported from the 20th -26th of September this year, [...]

If you make a purchase on a credit card, your retailer gets less money because he has to make some hidden payments as fees. For example, if you are making a payment of $ 150 its not that the entire money is reaching the retailer. He/she is getting only a part of it. If you use a card that offers benefits, the store will be getting even less than what it would if you’d use a card that does not come with any benefits. For example if you are using a card that offers you airline miles to buy something at a mall, the store will get lesser than it would if you would have used a card that does not offer you any perks.  This is the reason the stores have decided to price their items higher. On the other hand, there are people who don’t use credit cards. Till a few days ago stores would offer [...]

Christmas is still more than a couple of months away, but you might be contemplating starting your shopping for the event. After the recession, if you are comfortable with your money, you can always go ahead right now, but shopper news doesn’t seem to be very encouraging. Well, I really don’t want to disappoint you but with unemployment rate at almost 10 % and the foreclosure episodes still being quite frequent do you expect people to shop big this holiday season? In August, we might have rejoiced about consumer confidence rising up to 54. 5 %, but according to the Conference board report it has again plummeted to 53.1 % in September. A confidence index of 90 % is indicative of sound economic health for the nation. When our confidence is so poor, can we really spend much on shopping this [...]

If you are paid on an hourly basis, you’ll understand that every minute you put in work counts. My employers are very strict about their time schedules and they have a delivery quantity allotted for that period of time. For me, even one minute of paid time is going to affect my total output for the day and so I make it a point to not waste time. Many of us may not be paid on an hourly basis, but on a fixed monthly salary basis, but we are expected to deliver a certain quantity of work at the end of every day. Time management is most important. Working overtime is not going to please your boss always, as you might expect. It only speaks of your inefficiency. If you are allotted 8 hours a day for your work, try to complete it during that time period. Finishing off a given work well before [...]

Summers are really unbearable for many! I remember a friend of mine who unable to tolerate the heat, went on the hottest day to the markets to buy an air conditioner. He got a beautiful piece, but that costed him a fortune. Had he predicted this and made this purchase during the winter months, he’d surely have saved a lot of currency! Best purchases are more about the timing of purchase and surprisingly, you’ll see that you save a lot in the process. You might think that saving means restricting your expenditure. Saving money on groceries is not only about not buying things, but it’s about buying them at the right price…and when do you think you can buy something at the right price? Obviously, as you might have thought, not during any special sales or something, but at normal times [...]

As a school kid when I’d talk about money frugality, my friends would tease me saying I was stingy. But now the recession has taught even the greatest spendthrifts amongst us to be very prudent with our money. No more is it fashionable to spend big bucks for a lavish lifestyle. In fact, these days, you’re looked upon as a fool if you do that! Everybody is talking about money saving ideas. That gives hopeless misers a chance to be proud of their ways! Isn’t it ? Here are some easy time-tested ways that have been around for quite some days now. They are simple, short and effective. If you were to go by Financial Literacy survey 2009 of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, about 45 % of people spend lesser than what they used to in the previous year. It seems when conditions [...]

The holidays are coming and you might have planned to travel to your favorite travel destinations. Tesco Personal finance has advised people to watch out their travel expenditure when going on a holiday. According to their spokesperson you need to consider your dining expenditures. Most people consider travel costs. But you’ve got to be mindful about the costs that you might have to face when you are in the city. You’ll have to spend on your accommodation, food and shopping. According to Tesco officials, "If families really want to holiday on a shoestring then they need to do their research to really make their money go further". In the past three years, a third of the population had gone on a last minute holiday. These last minute holidays don’t let you plan well for the holiday. [...]