Spend Control

101 Ways To Save Money in Everyday Life

May 15, 2012
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101 Ways To Save Money in Everyday Life

This is a follow-up post from the earlier listing of 80 ways to lose money. This time, I am going to increase the number of tips to 101 because these are about saving money (and not losing). Here are 101 ways to save money which are easy to implement as well. Switch off the fan, air conditioner when you leave a room. Apply various driving techniques to save on gas cost. Use fans which rotate when winds blow as you need no electricity for them. Walk as much as you can and use public transport which cost less and save gas. Close the water faucet while brushing. See – Save water, Save money. Close the shower when applying soap or shampoo. Drink lots of cold water to keep your body temperature cool and reduce the need for air conditioning. Use fans instead of air conditioners when it is not too hot. Wash your car or other things on your lawn so don’t need to water them again. Water the lawn or the plants before sunrise or after sunset, to keep air cool and prevent wastage of water. Instead of washing clothes according to color, separately wash the clothes that lose color and wash

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How I Saved on Holiday Vacation Expenses

December 14, 2011
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How I Saved on Holiday Vacation Expenses

I just came from one of the most fantastic Thanksgiving holidays with a couple of my friends along with our family. We Drove to Smoky mountains from south Florida, where we enjoyed mountains; Getting away from the plains of Florida was a good change before we officially greet the holiday season with open arms. Of course, there was turkey and plenty of activities and laughter. But what made me happier is the fact that I was able to save a lot of money from the trip; yes, plenty of money. To give you an idea, my total expenses was around 50 percent off the amount I spent last year. The following are the secrets for lower holiday vacation expenses. We booked early Right after Thanksgiving 2010, I already told myself we’re going to spend it in somewhere where we could drive. I went to Boston last year. I had to book flight, rental car and hotel. This year we drove to Smokies; Three families booked a minivan and rented a three bedroom cottage on the Appalachian hill. We booked our cottage in the summer when there was lower demand for thanksgiving accommodation. One of us already stayed in that cottage

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Kathy, Cynthia, Joyce, and Carmen Go Black Friday Shopping

November 7, 2011
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Kathy, Cynthia, Joyce, and Carmen Go Black Friday Shopping

Kathy, Cynthia, Joyce, and Carmen are four friends. Cynthia and Joyce are both married with kids. Kathy is dating, while Carmen is single and ready to mingle.  On a Sunday evening the following conversation took place between them. Kathy: Ladies, what’s the holiday shopping plan? Are we going out on Black Friday? Carmen: I guess I’m going to check out Best Buy. I need to get the catalog first; do you know when it’s coming out? Kathy: Do they publish catalogs? I thought they stopped because employees leaked the catalogs to get advertising on deal sites. Joyce: Really? I don’t think so. I heard that all the stores secretly do that themselves to build excitement for the sales. Come on, do you really think the all-powerful businesses can control government policies but can’t prevent a recurring leak like that? Carmen: But how would that help them?  If people know what’s on sale ahead of time, they might lose interest. Joyce: I doubt it! You know Black Friday shopping is not about getting things you need. Well, for most of us. It’s about momentum. It’s a social thing to shop that day. Carmen, you’re not sure what you’re buying, right? You said you need

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Never Cut Back On Things You Cherish For

November 4, 2011
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Never Cut Back On Things You Cherish For

This article is part of the yakezie blog swap event where bloggers swap articles with each other in order to reach out to new audience. This is good for readers as well, as they get to taste a different perspective on personal finance from a different writer. This article is written by Shanendoah at The Dog Ate My Wallet, a blog about managing your personal finances in a world full of easy excuses. If you wish, visit her blog to read my story. The truth is, there are probably a number of things I never go cheap on- things like tires or high end kitchen gadgets –things that I expect to last a number of years, and the reason I don’t go cheap is that the pricier items actually last longer than the cheaper ones, making them, in fact, cheaper in the long run. But I actually want to talk about something where there’s not a “cheaper in the long run” benefit, something that I honestly, always choose to pay more for, and it’s also something I buy on a regular basis, Tea. Now, tea is not a high end expensive item to begin with, and yet, I generally choose

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Never Miss Good Opportunities to Spend Your Money

September 15, 2011
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This post was written by Shaun, writer of the blog Smart Family Finance. He writes to inform and educate young families about good spending habits, saving tips and intelligent career decisions. Having adhered to the laws of frugality and spending, my family ends the month using only $80 of the $100 budgeted for family entertainment. An extra $20 now resides comfortably in the family bank account and initially, I’m elated. It’s a badge of honor and a testament to my family’s self-control and frugality. We knew it would be hard to adjust to $100, but we met the challenge and did $20 better. So, why am I so bothered by coming in under budget? For some this feat of spending will-power is a goal worthy of aspiration. We tend to view every budget limit as a ceiling meant to be raised by lowering the floor. But for me, I feel unsettled when my family misses the budget goal, even when we’re under it. It’s all related to SB’s conversation he had with his wife the other day, if we postpone happiness for later, what we will live for at present? That $20, it haunts me. Not because I want to

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How Do I Buy Software Online; Things To Consider Before You Buy

August 16, 2011
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How Do I Buy Software Online; Things To Consider Before You Buy

Buying software online is a risky proposition, especially if you are new to shopping online. Whether you are upgrading software version or looking for a new one to install, the process will be a much easier if you pay attention to details. I never had a problem buying software online, its relatively easier these days as you don’t have to wait for the CD to arrive in your mail box. Rather, you can download instantly and start using within a few minutes as installation process completes. 10 Tips to Buy Software Online 1. Read customer review first. Almost every software store, such as Amazon, Buy.com etc, allows buyers to leave opinion about their products. Reading different customer reviews help to make the decision easier. Do read at least the highest satisfied and the lowest satisfied customer’s point of views (You can gauge by the rating they put). 2. Read what experts are saying.  Software developers provide beta version or sample copies to the experts for their review much before the product launch. Try searching on Google for product reviews by experts, like PCMag (I trust PC mag a lot. 3. Check Compatibility. Not every piece of software could run on your computer. Read the

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How to Lose Money Everyday in 80 Foolish Ways

August 10, 2011
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As a personal finance reader, most of the time you have read various ways to save and earn more money. Sometimes it helps to know various different ways to lose your money too. The secret of saving lies more in how much you can save rather than on how much you can make. Knowing things that can qualify as ‘losing money’ can help you seal the leak. Do you really need these? Paying for gym membership Buying penny stocks Buying lotto/lottery tickets Buying dresses every week or every month Having daily coffee shot at Starbucks or other coffee joints Paying for week-end shopping spree Paying for magazine subscription if that magazine is not improving your life style or increasing earning potential Using car for short distance travel Not using comparison websites for car, hotel and flight reservation Not paying off full credit card balance every month Paying govt. using credit card, since they always charge service charge for credit cards Charging your loans on credit card Preparing shopping list after searching coupons and discounts, rather than the opposite Paying for fraudulent charges by not properly scrutinizing bills Drawing check before checking bank balance Buying software when alternative is available for free (ex. MS

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Do You Really Need Netflix Subscription, I Don’t

July 18, 2011
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Do You Really Need Netflix Subscription, I Don’t

No, I don’t, I am fine with the way I am, living without Netflix for last 5 years. I ask you to think about your plan too. Do you really need to keep on subscribing to Netflix? This is one of the businesses that is striving on our disposable income, you go to your friend’s house, and seeing him/her using Netflix, you order your’s own, without realizing if you really need it. On the other hand you may be one of those 11M subscribers, who orders Netflix to save on cost of movie tickets at theater, then this article is to let you know that you can save further. You can enjoy new DVD releases with much lesser money or even for free. Let’s take a quick look at Netflix’s price structure (per month) after the recent increase. Unlimited Streaming  = $7.99 Two DVD at a time = $9.99 One DVD at a time = $7.99 Let’s say you are interested in one DVD at a time, how many times you will order a Netflix movie in a month? Probably not more that 4. You will pay $7.99 per month for 4 movies from Netflix. Now let’s see what options you

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Tips To Stay Away From Impulse Buying

July 1, 2011
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Tips To Stay Away From Impulse Buying

This is part of the series of posting to inspire you to be rich one cent at a time. As I said earlier, the term ‘rich‘ has many poly morphs, Monetarily rich, Emotionally rich, Socially rich and Spiritually rich Today we will cover the aspect of being monetarily rich,  My blog has maximum content on monetary richness compared to other forms of richness. You can be rich by earning more money, you can be monetarily rich by saving more money. You can save more money by spending less. One of the biggest contributor of spending money is impulse buying or emotional buying.     How many times you got excited at an offer and bought it instantly only to find it useless later? Controlling emotion is not tough, you can easily do it. Always remember, If you feel the need for buying something only after seeing an ad or hearing someone talking about, it is not the thing you absolutely want. A mere $20 save every year for 30 years (assuming you have 30 years more to retire), will give you 1481.65 back at 5% interest rate. If you are in love of that shoe on display, just mentally think

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