Category: Savings Accounts


The best ways to save money in 2011

Filed Under: Savings Accounts by Don Weststein — Comments Off
February 25, 2011

Even though we are well into the new year, you may still be paying bills from the holiday season, or even from before then. With these tough economic times, the idea of saving money may be a foreign one. Bills, unexpected expenses and having a little fun may eat through your income before you know it. There are some ways you can save a bit of cash though before it all disappears.

Some of the best ways to save money include paying yourself just as you would pay a bill. By putting aside some cash for yourself, you are building a nest egg for emergencies or for things like vacations or shopping sprees. You should treat yourself just like you would any other person you owe money to. You should even go as far as to write yourself a bill and pay it along with your other obligations. It is vital that you have some money set aside for a rainy day, so put yourself in the mix of people who must be paid by you.

You might be able to save some cash by renegotiating your mortgage or other installment payments. It may be difficult to qualify, but if you can refinance your mortgage, you may save several hundred dollars a month in interest payments. Also, call the banks that issue your credit cards and ask for a lower interest rate. If you have a good payment history, they may be able to help you. If you are having problems, be sure to get help from some of the credit repair services that offer assistance with your creditors and with payment plans.

It is not impossible to save money. Even if you can only save a little bit every pay period, you will find that the bit you save will grow faster than you think. Start now.

Tags: ,
Permalink

Finding the Best Ways to Save Money

Filed Under: Savings Accounts by Don Weststein — Comments Off
February 18, 2011

Saving money should be your priority if you want to avoid future problems regarding your finances. Unfortunately, not all money saving tips will work on you while others are too difficult to apply. So, in this article you’ll know about several effective ways to save money.
What’s advantageous about these suggestions is that these are easy to apply. They have been proven to really work in addressing your money concerns.

One recommended way of saving money is to limit spending on things that are not important. To abide by this rule, Considered as the best way to save money is the search for ways of making more money. One can try part time jobs or fill out paid online surveys to earn additional income.
Do not use credit cards because it can affect your budget and if you are forced to use them, just make sure that you paid them in full every month. Check your bank balance every now and then and ensure that you avoid over draft fees.
Reuse items and accept hand-me-downs. This way you can save a lot because you won’t spend on these things anymore. If you have to buy clothes or other items, look for bargains and discounts.

Married couples can benefit from these different ways to save money. These couples need all the help they can to be able to pass money problems in marriage.
These problems may break a marriage and can be a cause of fight between couples. To further ensure that any problem related to money will not recur, you need to follow these tips.

Organize your finances by listing down all your debts and by making a plan to ensure that you can pay them off. Set your financial goals and focus on them by not overspending on things that you don’t really need.

Permalink

How to Save Money with Sales and Coupons

Filed Under: Savings Accounts, Uncategorized by Don Weststein — Comments Off
January 21, 2011

If you are looking to learn how to save money at grocery stores, department stores, and other shops, there are two things that can help you out a lot. Sales and coupons can save you a lot of money. There are many casual users of sales and coupons. However, one of the best money saving tips you’ll here is to use them together. Shopping during sales now and then and using coupons when you happen to have them will not save you nearly enough.

At the Supermarket

You can probably save the most often at supermarkets, mostly because you buy more stuff there. Also, there are more products with available coupons and sales. First, get the Sunday paper on a regular basis to get the coupons. Get coupons on coupon websites, too. Only get coupons for items you know you’ll use, otherwise you’re wasting money. Clip as many coupons as you can, including doubles.

Save the coupons until there is a sale for the item. It may be a couple weeks or a month later when the same items will go on sale. Use the coupons on the items on sale. Buy in bulk to get more items at the lower price.

At Drugstores

Do the same as you would do at the supermarket but for beauty and health products. The benefit of drugstores is that they often have store cards where you can earn cash back, rebates, or store dollars. Use coupons during sales, and eventually, you will be able to use the dollars or rebates you earn to pay the rest, essentially getting the items for free.

At Department Stores

Some department stores use coupons and sales more than others. Always collect coupons for stores in general, as well as for specific items you were planning to buy anyway. Wait until there is a store-wide sale, then buy items that are individually on sale. You can often get a sale item paired with a coupon and a store discount, for a deeply discounted price. Shop the clearance racks and save more.

Permalink

What Do You Get With Second Chance Bank Accounts?

Filed Under: Savings Accounts by Don Weststein — 1 Comment
September 5, 2010

When you aren’t able to get an account at a traditional bank, it’s easy to feel like you don’t have a lot of places to turn to.  On the contrary!  You have second chance bank accounts from traditional and alternative banks.  In this post I want to show you what you can get with both types of second chance accounts so that you can know what you are getting yourself into, and are able to make an educated decision on which is going to be the best for you.

With a second chance account at a regular bank, you’re going to get all of the same features as normal accounts do.  The problem is that they are rare, and cost you more than a regular account.  Compass Bank is the biggest company that offers these, but most people don’t live anywhere near a Compass branch.  Your local, smaller bank may offer something that can help, they do this mainly because they will do almost anything to get customers away from the bigger banks.

When it comes to alternative banks, things vary quite a bit.  A company like Vision Premiere is going to offer many of the same features that you get with regular banks, except you don’t get checks.  Rush Card will offer checks to some customers, but not all.  Both of these companies offer direct deposit, overdraft protection, guarantees against fraudulent purchases, and a ton of other features.  You are going to pay a bit more to use a company like this, but no matter what you’re paying it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than paying check cashing fees!

Using second chance banking is one of the best ways to manage your money when you are blacklisted from traditional banks.  Not only are you keeping your money in a safe place, you’re also not paying any more check cashing fees, which saves you a big chunk of your paycheck every couple of weeks!

Tags: , , ,
Comment

Look online for better savings rates

Filed Under: Savings Accounts by — Comments Off
November 1, 2009

Most brick and mortar banks offer very low rates on their savings products.  Normally, this is less than 1 or 2 percent.  You may be able to find rates a bit higher if you lock up more of your money in a money market account or have a minimum balance.  I do not like either of those ideas though.

You can go online to ING Direct or another respectable savings institution and normally get about double of what your local banks or credit unions have to offer. It may not seem like much of a difference, but interest is essentially free money they are paying you, so why not maximize it.  It does become extremely important if you have a bunch of money in there though.  Then, every little bit of interest helps since you have so much more money in the account.

Either way, shop around, you will be surprised what you see.

Tags: , , ,
Comment

Saving Money Long Term On Auto Pilot

Filed Under: Savings Accounts by — Comments Off
October 31, 2009

Most people spend the money if they know they have it.  Well, let us pretend we do not have any.  By making continual electronic transactions into your savings account you will never miss the money, because you never knew you had it.

The key though is to make this automatic.  If you have to do it manually you will never save.  I recommend a high interest online savings account.  The savings accounts at local banks have awful interest rates that are normally lower than the rate of inflation.  So in terms of real money purchasing power you are losing money by having it in the bank with a poor savings rate interest percent.  Sounds dumb to me doesn’t it.  Only slightly better than hiding it in your back yard.

Your employer should be able to send your check to at least 2 or 3 accounts via direct deposit. Just send 50 bucks a pay into that savings account and never touch it, except for emergencies or once your goal is reached.

You can also use this same technique for 401-k retirement plans.  I hope you are saving money there too.

Tags: , , , ,
Comment
Powered by WordPress | Theme: Motion by 85ideas.