Little Things Add Up

JosephSangl.com has a great post showing how the little things we spend money on each day add up to real money over the course of a year. Follow the link for the full story. "Trivial Costs Don't Mean Anything."

Why Can't I Ever Get Ahead

Yahoo! Finance has a great article today listing 10 reasons why you are not rich. None of these are new revelations, in fact they have been proven over time. Click through to the article at the link below and ask yourself which of the 10 do you need to work on.

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/105934/10-Reasons-You're-Not-Rich

Cut It Out

Clink on the link to go to a story from Yahoo! Finance on some very easy and practical ways to save up to $5,000 over the course of a year. None of these moves are impossible to make and they are definitely worth the payoff.

If you have any other tips to share, please let me know.

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/105397/Cut-It-Out

Good Ideas

If you are looking for some creative ways to save money, follow this link to the article: 100 Things To Do During A Money Free Weekend.

If you have any other suggestions, please send them to me and I will add the best ones to a future posting.

Cut Your Energy Costs

Follow this link to an article with an easy to-do tip for cutting your power bill.

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/smartpower-smarttip-of-the-week-break-out-the-power-strips-193662/

Looking For Low Gas Prices?

Everyone is in search of lower gas prices these days. The internet has long been used for price comparisons on consumer goods. Now we can use the internet to search for the lowest price on gas. Instead of driving around town looking for the lowest price, and burning up gas in the process, go to the web and find the best price in your area and start racking up the savings. Below are links to two sources of gas prices which can be filtered by zip code. If you have another site you use, please send me the link and I will add it to the listing.


http://autos.msn.com/partners/sponsorpage.aspx?page=gas

http://www.wistv.com/Global/category.asp?C=92317

Money Saving Tips

Christianity Today recently published on article on money saving ideas. Some of the websites referenced in the article are:

• ebates.com
• entertainment.com
• mysimon.com
• couponcabin.com

Check out these great sites and get started with your savings!

For the full article go to: http://www.christianitytoday.com/mp/2008/002/7.19.html

How to Make Saving a Habit

As gas prices continue to rise and other living expenses follow the upward trend, saving money becomes a necessity. The Wall Street Journal posted an article on Yahoo! Finance with some easy and practical ways to reduce your expenses and increase your savings.

Click on the link and it will take you to this article and other great resources on Yahoo! Finance:
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/105041/Ways-to-

Money Saving Tips

If you are interested in some easy ways to save money when shopping on everything from groceries to diapers to household goods, take a look at these sites. Currently each of the sites are free and easy to use.

http://www.coupons.com/

http://www.couponmom.com/

http://www.ebates.com/



If you know of any other great money saving sites, send me a comment and I will share them in a future post.

Good luck!

Shop Around

Home insurance is something you can't live without but you do have a choice in which company provides the coverage. Recently I did some comparison shopping among insurance companies and was able to save over $300 on our annual premium. By using the internet to do some quick searches, you can easily see rates from several insurance companies to better make a decision on your coverage.

Comparison shopping on the internet is easy and can be used for all types of purchases. Don't take for granted that the price you are quoted is the only choice you have. With a little effort and a small amount of time, you can save hundreds of dollars while sitting in the comfort of your own home.

Money Saving Tips

A friend of mine recently pointed me towards a shopping site called ebates.com. This is a shopping site with hundreds of online stores through which you can do your shopping. The benefit of joining this site is that almost every purchase you make is subject to a money back discount. When you shop at the various stores, a percentage of your purchase is credited to your account and rebated to you once a quarter. Membership on the site is free.

This is a great way to get money back on items that you purchase regularly and for one-time purchases. If you are comfortable shopping online, go for it. There are many commodity items which can be purchased and shipped directly to your home. Some of the benefits I can see by shopping through ebates are:

• money back on every purchase
• a selection of hundreds of stores to compare prices from
• the ability to set up favorites at the stores to speed up future purchases
• by shopping online, you resist the temptation of seeing must have items on the shelves and being tempted by sales clerks
• shopping online is usually much quicker than driving to the store and making the purchase in person

When making these purchases, look for free shipping offers. Many online retailers offer free shipping for first time shoppers or free shipping for purchases over a minimum amount (usually $25). Also, if you use your credit card, be sure you pay off the balance each month.

With a little planning you can save time, reduce temptation and save a little money by doing your shopping online. Give ebates a try and let me know what you think.

Free Service

The small expenses we incur everyday add up to be BIG expenses. These can quickly bust your budget. Each time you spend a dollar here and two dollars there it seems like a small thing but over the course of a month it adds up to real money.

Google now offers a 411 service for looking up phone numbers instead of dialing the traditional 411. This is a great service that gives the same features as the for-pay services. Save the number in your cellphone or add it to your speed dial and each time you need to look up a number you will be saving money. Remember each small amount you save adds up to be real money over time.

Click here to go to the Google411 page and get started saving today!
Google411

Time Management

Part of bringing order to your life is learning how to manage your time. If you can master the art of managing your time more effectively, you can gain time to pursue other things or even get the much needed rest you haven't had time for. I recently ran across a book at Barnes and Noble which had some excellent tips on personal time management and organization. It is an easy read. It only takes about two hours to read the book and it comes with very practical realistic things you can do to immediately improve your time management skills. The book is titled 151 Quick Ideas To Manage Your Time. If this is an area you need to work on, I highly recommend this book.

Credit Reports

Obtain your free credit report from each of the credit reporting agencies at www.annualcreditreport.com. You can obtain one free credit report from each of the three credit agencies each year. To give yourself all year monitoring, run a report from a different agency every 4 months. By doing this, you can see all the activity on your credit report spread throughout the year and monitor any incorrect information or fraudulent activity. Keeping a clean and correct credit report is vital to managing your finances. This is one easy, free step you can take as you continue to get your financial affairs in order.

Money Saving Tips

Everyday our mailboxes are filled with unsolicited catalogs and credit offers. If shopping is a temptation, these can be dangerous for you to receive. Each time you look at a new catalog, you picture yourself wearing that outfit or using that new gadget. At that point you are hooked and the temptation moves you into action - and further into debt. Even if catalogs and credit offers are not a temptation for you, then the receipt of all this mail is a waste. Paper is wasted, trees are cut down, postage is wasted - which causes overall prices to go up and you have a pile of clutter in your house. If you have a desire to simplfy your life and get your spending under control, the following two articles give some great practical tips on moving in that direction. These articles point you towards some agencies which will allow you to opt out of receivieing these offers. By doing this, you are resisting the urge to shop, saving yourself some money and being a good steward of the resources God has given us. Check out these links and in just a few steps you will be on your way!

http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/toptenoptout.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22918522/