Here are 8 money saving tips you may not know about.
1. Get Excited About Saving Money
The first step is to get excited about saving money! Learn about the benefits of being frugal. Perhaps even learn how to become frugal yourself. There must be some good reasons for being thrifty. Just ask any frugal person. Most of them will enthusiastically give you all the reasons why and then give you 10 ways to save money.
I am frugal myself, and I think anyone who isn’t, rich or poor, is either foolish, ignorant, or brainwashed by product advertisements.
Get on board the money train and save!
2. Chart Your Monthly Expenses & Create a Budget
Once you understand where your money is going, you can find many ways to save money. However, you cannot do this until you chart all your monthly expenses. This means making a list of every place you spend money during a full calendar year and beyond, if necessary, to account for everything.
You can do this by creating a personal budget on a spreadsheet or a sheet of paper. Once you have all your monthly expenses listed on the left and your expenditures entered into each month of the year, you can look for ways to cut your costs. By cutting expenses on things you control, researching items for possible rate reductions, and negotiating lower prices on other things, you are, in effect, creating a personal budget.
Many people have negative associations with the word “budget.” These negative associations may create feelings of being limited, restricted, or controlled. You won’t get very far until your motivations come from a positive source.
A better way to look at a budget is as a goal for something positive, like financial freedom, a new car or house, or a vacation! Then, you become a willing and motivated participant and contributor.
3. Shop for Better Insurance Rates
Insurance companies often set up coverage rates for reasons that have nothing to do with you. Sometimes rates are changed to attract new business. Premiums are also changed to meet regulatory requirements, industry measurements, or financial obligations.
For this reason, it’s a good practice to shop for better rates on your health, auto, and home insurance every couple of years. Some of you will immediately become concerned about how things will play out with your agent–– perhaps one you’ve been with for many years.
If you found out through your research that you are paying much more per year with your current agent than you could get with another reputable company, would you allow blind loyalty to stop you? I say blind loyalty because until you’ve done the research, you are blind! By the way, I am not encouraging comparisons with low-rated insurance companies whose commercials look enticing but whose products and services lack credibility. Insurance is too important an issue to entrust to a questionable company.
You may not have to change agents, though. Once you shop around, learn more about your options, and then allow your agent to look for ways to reduce your premium, s/he may meet or exceed what you discovered during your research. At the very least, your agent might be able to get close enough to satisfy you. The most important points to remember are that this is business, and it’s your hard-earned money.
One of the best ways to reduce your insurance rates significantly is to increase your deductibles. Many people tighten up when changes to deductibles are mentioned because they put themselves into the future and imagine paying them. Here’s another way to look at it. Let’s look at automobile insurance. If you haven’t been in an accident in 10, 20, or even 30 years, you’ve spent a lot of extra money for the so-called peace of mind of having a low deductible. If you are a careful driver who rarely, if ever, gets into an accident and you have enough money in the bank to cover a higher deductible, you should look at increasing your deductible. Consider this example.
Plan A: Your annual automobile insurance premium is $1,100, and your comprehensive and collision deductibles are $250 each.
$1,100 X 20 years = $22,000
Plan B: Your annual automobile insurance premium is $700, and your comprehensive and collision deductibles are $1000 each.
$700 X 20 years = $14,000
Difference in annual premium over 20 years: $8,000
With the money you saved using plan B (higher deductible), you could have paid both the comprehensive and collision deductibles once during the 20 years and had $6,000 leftover!
Typically, your home insurance coverage is packaged with your vehicle insurance. Therefore, you can also discuss ways to reduce your premiums in this area when you talk with your current or new agent.
Comprehensive covers damage caused to your vehicle by anything other than another vehicle. This includes vandalism, acts of nature, and car theft.
Collision covers damage caused to your vehicle due to a collision with another vehicle. You are usually only required to pay the deductible when it is determined that you were at fault or the other party has no insurance and you have no uninsured motorist coverage.
There are other ways to reduce your vehicle insurance premiums, like eliminating tow service and rental car—if you are not prone to accidents—and medical coverage—if you have solid coverage through another source. Even uninsured motorist coverage may not be needed in your particular situation.
Discuss these options with a licensed agent that you trust. Your objective is to secure accurate protection of yourself, your passengers, your vehicle, and your assets (home, money). I say “accurate” because you want to match your insurance coverage with the actual value of your vehicle and assets. Paying a higher premium for coverage that significantly exceeds the value of your car and/or assets is a waste of money.
Changing your deductible is an entirely different matter regarding health insurance. It depends on age, health, medical needs, career status, and financial position. Checking rates every couple of years is vital, as premiums and coverage can change significantly between companies.
4. Shop for Better Telephone & Cable, or Satellite Television Rates
Telephone and television services are very competitive industries. Consequently, they constantly change their rates and offer new packages and specials. Researching to find out if you’re getting the best deal is worthwhile.
Some companies provide a lot of free stuff just for switching over to them, so sometimes it won’t cost you anything to make the change. You’ve got to ask the representative about current specials when you call, though. And don’t be afraid to ask them how they can sweeten the deal if you are switching from another company or setting up service for the first time.
5. Eliminate Premium Telephone, Television, and Internet Services.
How many extra telephone services, like call waiting and caller ID, do you need or use? When you first sign up, telephone company representatives make those features seem like they are an absolute necessity. Of course, they have memorized a carefully crafted sales script that has been refined over many years! And they will probably be given an incentive or bonus for selling these extras.
Look over your telephone bill and drop the services you don’t need or use. It all adds up!
Do you watch all 900 channels your television service gives you… for a rather substantial fee? Aside from the money issue, aren’t there better ways to spend your time? Take the first step toward more reading, learning, and communicating by reducing your television services to a minimum acceptable level. You’ll save a lot of money and waste a lot less time.
Internet providers often try to sell you on upgrading your service to a “faster speed” because it will greatly enhance your online experience. What a crock. Those faster speeds only benefit you when downloading or uploading a file, and how often do you do that? When you are just surfing the Web, doing everyday things like processing email, reviewing your bank balance, paying your bills, buying a product, posting comments, or working on your website(s), there will be little noticeable difference with the higher speeds. So why pay extra for it? Just get the basic service.
6. Shop Dealerships for Vehicle Maintenance & Repairs
It is often assumed that factory-authorized dealerships charge the same amount for scheduled maintenance, repairs, and even accessories. This is not true. Dealers’ charges for scheduled maintenance and repairs can vary significantly! The game-changing Car MD or similar device can tell you exactly what’s wrong with your car so that you can avoid getting ripped off.
Dealers must charge the same amount only when they send out coupons as a group with the total price listed for each featured service and/or part. When the coupon only offers a percentage discount, the dealers can charge whatever they want.
When you need scheduled maintenance, repair, or accessory, call around to at least three (3) dealerships in your area, even if one of them is a considerable distance away. I’ve always been amazed at the price difference.
There is another way to save money when you go to a dealership for factory-recommended scheduled maintenance. Only allow the dealer to do what the factory recommends, as your owner’s manual describes. Also, do not automatically agree to “dealer-recommended” additional services. In most cases, you do not need them. Your service advisor may use various tactics to get you to do these extra services, so be on your toes. And don’t be afraid to ask questions.
7. Shop for Better Rates on Regular Services like Dry Cleaning, Hair Care, & Vehicle Wash
We all get into the habit of doing business at the same places. The problem is that sometimes new businesses open or old ones remodel that offer much better prices, products, and services than the store or individual we’ve been using for years!
Most of your research can be done by telephone. Call each of them and ask for their price on the services you regularly buy.
8. Shop for Better Rates on Professional Services
Many people would never consider comparing the fees they are charged by their dentist, medical doctor, accountant, or lawyer. As the years go by and their fees gradually increase, your dentist or other professional may become your area’s highest-priced provider.
If you notice that your doctor bought a new high-end luxury vehicle and suddenly increases your rates dramatically, it’s time to find another doctor. I had this happen to me with my dentist. Once I looked into what other dentists were charging, I was amazed at how high my dentist’s fees had become. I researched and found a better dentist who charged 25% less!
Another option is to join a discount dental plan. This is a network of dentists who have agreed to offer their services at a lower cost. Your current dentist may be a participant.
There is another way to save a huge amount of money with professional service providers. Do not automatically agree to their recommended treatment or service plan. Always ask them to tell you about all the other less expensive options. Then, ask them as many questions as you want. Remember, doctors, dentists, and other professionals are also businesspeople. Many have underlying motivations to make as much money as possible while maintaining their ethics.
Choosing a less expensive option does not necessarily mean getting inferior treatment or service. It may be just as good or sufficient for now and meet your current financial situation.
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I hope you find these money saving tips useful.