How to Save Money

Writing about saving money is a feel-good way for me to share my knowledge with all of you. Since I've started, I've covered a number of ways that you can cut your grocery bill, home energy costs, shopping expenses and many more areas where we regularly spend our money. Some are smaller ways, and others help you to save big money, like shopping around for car insurance.  But I wanted to share some other ideas with you. Each of them is different and if you make them into regular habits, you can save a substantial amount.

Bold Ways to Save Big Money

1. Give Up Your Car

The cost of a car is way expensive. You may have monthly payments in the hundreds, car insurance costs through the roof (here in NJ, it's the highest in the country), maintenance and gasoline, plus license and registration fees.

Read More

As a savvy consumer, you probably do some research before you spend your hard-earned money, whether it's for a night out at a fine restaurant, a hotel stay as part of a leisurely vacation, or purchasing goods such as electronics or clothing. How often have you spent those dollars only to find out that the restaurant or hotel wasn't quite what you were expecting? How much time have you spent exploring your plans and checking out online user reviews? Did you trust what you read? That's the question I'm asking today and what I have learned about online user reviews can help you wade through some of the clutter and get to the real story.

There have been many articles written and surveys taken about the reliability of the reviews we see online for various services like hotels, restaurants, contractors, and of course, products. Some are positive and others are negative. According to a survey done by BrightLocal, the results for 2015 show that 80% of consumers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations, but 72% will do so only if certain criteria are met, with 31% needing to believe the review is authentic.

Read More

It was just a few years ago that my 12-year-old nephew asked his grandmother for a CD on his birthday. She was so proud that the young man was interested in looking for ways to build his finances that she wanted to open a new CD for him right away. I had to laugh just a little when I explained to her that he wasn't asking about an interest-bearing certificate of deposit from the bank, but rather a new compact disc just released by his favorite rock band! There's a lesson here somewhere, but that's for another post on another day.

Today we are talking about CD's (certificates of deposit), the kind that can help you round out your financial portfolio and help you reach your financial goals. The strategy is called laddering, and it helps you make some decisions about the terms and interest rates. Longer terms mean higher interest rates for CD's (in general) and shorter terms mean faster access to your money. A CD ladder strategy helps you balance higher rates with more frequent access to your funds.

Read More

There are so many ways, subtle ways, that we sabotage our finances and sometimes we don't even realize we're doing it. We become conditioned thinking we are on course and then we get blindsided by our poor planning or careless spending habits. Money mistakes have happened to us all, probably more that a few times.

Here's my list of some of the big offenders and some solutions you can try if you find yourself too often behind the eight ball.

Read More

About 70% of all U.S. consumers have smartphones today. If you're one of those “smart” people, then it's no surprise to you that apps are what drives activity on our phones, helping us to do everything from obtain news to getting directions to your next appointment and everything in between. They certainly can enrich, inform, and help to manage your life. Even I have joined in the 21st century and use my phone for a lot of those exciting and beneficial resources, and according to research, the number of people doing that is growing every day!

Despite the expansive number of app choices out there for use, believe it or not the most commonly used apps are healthcare related. According to survey earlier this year from Pew Research Center, 62% of smartphone users used their device to look up healthcare information during the past year.  I know when I was in the hospital earlier this year, my wife and I relied on our smartphones to gather information to discuss with the doctors, as well as to find out information about my medications and my insurance plan coverage. But it goes beyond simple information, as more than 66% of Americans would use a mobile app to help manage their health-related issues according to a survey from Makovsky/Kelton.

Read More

Is there something wrong with obsessing over dollars? If so, I'm guilty as charged. After all, they can add up to real savings. I can't help myself from thinking of all the ways I can avoid wasting money and I definitely want to pass my ideas on to you. I'd use the phrase “pay it forward”, but I'm just too frugal to pay anything I don't have to!

And it's not just about the money you save. It's about making that money work for you to earn even more, and what that money can do for you. Maybe you want to pay down debt, or have more security, or you're saving up for a trip or some other goal. Whatever the reason, making small, simple changes to your everyday expenses can add up and make a real difference.

Read More