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3 Huge Tips to Reduce Credit Card Debt |
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Here are 5 ways that you can can really save a bundle of money and help you reach your financial goals. Let's take a look at them starting with the biggest saving opportunities.
5 Great Money Saving Tips:
Refinance
your Mortgage
Your biggest expense each month is probably your
mortgage payment. For most people, the majority of
that payment is interest (AKA: profit for the bank).
Typically, over the
life of your loan, you will end up paying twice the purchase
price of your home in interest. With interest
rates at near-record lows, you can more than likely take
advantage of a real opportunity to save a substantial amount
of interest by refinancing your mortgage now. Even
though you may have to pay some closing costs to refinance,
most lenders will roll them into the loan so you won't have
any out-of-pocket costs. And the closings costs will
be easily made up for in savings over the long run.
If your current mortgage interest rate is competitive,
refinancing may not be a smart thing to do. Instead,
consider paying and extra $100 or so each month to the
principal on your home loan. Doing so will save you
tens of thousands of dollars in interest charges over the
life of your loan.
Shop around
for Insurance - Auto, Home and Life.
With competition heating up in the insurance world, there is
a big saving potential for the consumer who takes the time
to get quotes from several carriers.
If switching companies isn't practical for you right now,
look into raising your deductible on your auto and
homeowner's insurance policies.
Homeowner's
Insurance
Although rates are rising in many parts of the country, you
can still win if you shop around. I like to go to
LowerMyBills.com get quotes. They are fast and have
a wide variety of insurance carriers to offer you quotes.
Car Insurance
This has to be the most competitive insurance arena.
There are several large insurance carriers that are
constantly locked in battle for your business. You've
heard all the commercials: Geico, Allstate,
Progressive and many others are all competing and you are
the winner. All you have to do is ask for quotes and
you can be on your way to saving literally hundreds of
dollars per year. Click
here to
start now with some free quotes.
Life Insurance
I saved a ton of money by going with term life insurance.
I got a 20 year fixed policy for $22 a month which is
typically a lot less than a whole life policy.
Be sure to get enough coverage to pay off your mortgage, and
your outstanding debt, and enough to let your surviving
spouse and children live comfortably for a while.
When you're getting quotes, ask if you can get a discounted rate if you go with them on more than one type of insurance. This called "bundling" your insurance, (i.e. getting your car and home insurance through the same company). Many insurance companies will be glad to get more of your business, so they will gladly offer lower rates.
Believe it or not, many
insurance companies look at your credit score to help
determine your rates. It's very important that your
credit score be the best that it can be.
Click here to read more
on how you can improve your score.
Avoid Fees
Are you being fee'd to death? Probably.
Especially if you keep using that out-of-network ATM and
have a bank that loves to nickel-and-dime you. Here's
a few quick tips to avoid all the pesky fees that can really
add up:
| ▪ | ATM Fees -
always use free ATMs. Find out from your bank
which ones you will not get charged for. If you find
yourself consistently in a location where you get
charged a fee, get extra money out at the
non-fee ATMs. This should be a no-brainer, but
a lot of
people pay a lot of ATM fees unnecessarily. |
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| ▪ | Misc Bank Fees
- You may be charged the following types of fees:
low balance, bill pay, and check
writing fees. Lets make this clear: you
should never be charged these fees. With
so many banks competed for your business, you should
switch to a bank that doesn't charge for these.
There are lots of "free checking" banks out there as
well as new internet banks, like
Netbank
(my favorite) that will not charge you misc. fees.
Of course, you need to read the fine print, and they usually require direct deposit of some sort. Some banks don't even require direct deposit.
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| ▪ | Late and Over the Limit Fees - Do everything in your power to pay your bills on time. Especially your credit card bills. These can be the most expensive type of fees and are completely avoidable. Use software like Quicken or Money to remind you ahead of time when you have to pay your bills, or have them automatically deducted from your account. |
Switch your
Phone Company - Dump the telephone company and go VOIP!
By using your phone over your broadband connection, you can
save a bundle of money per month on your phone bill.
VOIP (Voice over IP) is a technology that uses your current
broadband internet connection to transmit your voice calls
over the Internet. If you've go broadband internet access in
your home, you're ready. Companies like
Vonage and others
are gaining market share and the quality of the phone call
is indistinguishable from a standard telephone conversation.
I switched to Vonage
a while ago and have been very pleased. Their plans
start as little as $14.99/month which is a huge savings over
a the average $45/month for the standard
Go Solo
with your Cell Phone
If you find you don't use your home phone much, you may want
to consider just canceling the service and using your cell
phone as your primary means of communication. Many
people are going this route to save money and because cell
phones are getting clearer and more reliable.
The only thing to watch out for here is going over your
minutes. It can be a budget-killer. You might
want to check out getting an "all-you-can-eat" plan for a
little more than you're paying now. Or check into
getting a pre-paid cell phone plan. That way you know
how many minutes you have left so you can't go over.
Really good for self-control.
With these five tips alone, you can probably save at
least a hundred dollars
a month, guaranteed. Always keep in mind your goal,
debt-free living. Applying these tips is a
sure-fire way to stay within (and beat!) your budget guidelines.
Good Luck! Email me with your money-saving tips or experiences. If it's a good one, I'll list it here and give you the credit!
Mvelopes Personal is an online budgeting system that makes it easy to create an effective personal budget and track every aspect of your spending as it happens. It will help you always know exactly how much you have left to spend, instantly know the impact of every spending decision, effectively manage credit card spending, and quickly create an easy to use household budgeting plan. Click here to learn more
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Most Popular Pages |
Personal Money Management Basics
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Did You Know... |
49% of adults, and 66% of US high school students got F's on a national test on their knowledge of basic economic principles.
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Food for Thought... |
"I'd rather go to bed without supper than rise in debt."
-Ben Franklin.
