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Thursday, July 7, 2011

Let’s Save Some Money by reusing cereal bags

Let’s Save Some Money by reusing cereal bags

First Person: The 6 Surprising Money Savers Hiding in My Home - Yahoo! Finance

First Person: The 6 Surprising Money Savers Hiding in My Home - Yahoo! Finance

What it takes to retire a millionaire at any age | www.clarkhoward.com

What it takes to retire a millionaire at any age www.clarkhoward.com

Teach Your Kids About Money with Their Own Bank Account

Teach Your Kids About Money with Their Own Bank Account

What Should You Know to Save on Gym Memberships?

What Should You Know to Save on Gym Memberships?

6 Tips to Save on Beauty Products | Money Talks News

6 Tips to Save on Beauty Products Money Talks News

5 Ways to Save on Your Cell Phone Bill | Money Talks News

5 Ways to Save on Your Cell Phone Bill Money Talks News

6 Ways to Save Money in the Second Half of the Year

6 Ways to Save Money in the Second Half of the Year

7 Life and Money Lessons from Warren Buffett

7 Life and Money Lessons from Warren Buffett

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

12 Household Appliances You Should Unplug to Save Money

12 Household Appliances You Should Unplug to Save Money

How the Cut in Debit Card Swipe Fees Will Affect You

How the Cut in Debit Card Swipe Fees Will Affect You

Budgeting for wireless data on Verizon's new plans - Yahoo! Finance

Budgeting for wireless data on Verizon's new plans - Yahoo! Finance

Mission Possible 2

Your Mission for this week, should you decide to accept it, it to look at your bank.  Are they charging you monthly fees?  What FREE services do they offer you for letting them use your money? 

Part 1-
If they are charging you a monthly fee - make it stop!!  Ask how your checking or savings can be free and change it!  At my bank I have to have one automatic deposit a month and I can't use the tellers except to cash checks.  I must use the ATM for all other transactions.  By following this I save $8.95/month.  So if you are being charged a fee and they don't offer any free checking........FIRE your bank and find another one ASAP.  

Part 2-
Does your bank offer FREE bill pay?  If it does, get busy setting it up!  Bill pay is safe, guarenteed and easy!  It saves you an average of $2. per month in stamps and the hassle of writing all those checks and making sure they don't get stolen from your mailbox.  It also cuts down on identity theft. 

Part 3 -
If your bank charges you for sending back you your cancelled checks and statements (many banks are doing this now).  Have them stopped and ask for paperless accounts.  You can pull your statements up online and see cancelled checks (print them if you need them for any reason). 

Part 4 -
If you have a savings account and checking at the same bank, have them link your two accounts so you have overdraft protection.  On average and bounced check fee at the bank is $30 to $35 EACH.  If you have the overdraft protection they fee is much smaller if you make an OPPS!  Usually around $10 each., but the real savings is that they will take the money from savings to cover your check and the person (or business) you paid will not charge you their fees (sometimes as high as $50 or a % of the check you wrote). 

Part 5-
Look at your savings.  Some banks charge a fee for savings!!  This is a TOTAL RIP OFF!  They tell you they pay interest and then charge you a fee - usually way more than what you make in interest.  Take your money out and find FREE savings.  DO NOT ever let a bank charge you fees on savings accounts.
Tip:  If you have a long-term savings I would suggest you look for at online banks such as ING Direct for the highest rates on savings.  There are several, I just used the one I bank at as an example.  The rates are MUCH higher than reg. banks.

Part 6 -
ATM's - If your bank offers FREE ATM use, make sure you always use their ATM's.  Using another banks ATM's will cost you BIG TIME (sometimes double).  I have heard so many tell me "my bank offers free ATM" and then they ask me why they got charged $48 for using the ATM.  Your bank may not charge when you use their banks ATM machines....but the other banks will change you!  And on top of that your bank may charge you again for the transfer of cash.  Find out where your banks ATMs are and stick to those.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Mission Possible 1, should you decide to accept it.....


Mission 1:

You mission for this week is to call your utility companies and ask about thier "budget programs".  They will take an average of the bills you have paid for the last several months and that is what you will pay on every up coming bill.  No ups and downs.  You will be able to budget better knowing exactly how much each bill will be.  This will help you in "Mission Possible 2".  It will take all the "surprise" out of opening those bills.  They will adjust the billing once a year, but it is usually not much. 

Keep you thermostat steady....no ups and downs.  Programable is the best way to go, if it makes sense in your home.  My home it does not because we have very mixed up schedules. 

Ask you gas company how much you are paying per TU (thermal unit).  Check other gas companies to see if they have better rates and switch if you can.  It will help you this Winter. 


Please "like" or comment if you have decided to accept this challenge. 

New Feature: Mission Possible



I am going to start a new feature called Mission Possible.  This mission should you choose to accept it, will be done once or twice a week depending on the difficulty of the mission.  It is a task designed for you to save money or set you up to save money in the future. 

I have come to the conclusion that when I list a lot of things for people to do, they get overwhelmed and don't do any or if only a few of the things I suggest.  This way (I am hoping) if I give only one mission (or homework assignment, if you will) then everyone will be more inclined to take those steps.  Some are as easy as a phone call.  Some will be much harder.  Some you may already have done.  Guess it depends on how sick and tired you are of being sick and tired.  How willing you really are to go the extra mile to save that hard earned (or in some cases scarse) money. 

I hope you are willing to take on these missions.  Please "like" or comment on the status (or leave me a message) to let me know if you have accepted the challenge.  If for any reason you fail at these missions, it's okay.....at least you tired.  If you succeed, you have just saved some money.....congratulations!