20 Strategies For Saving Money

With the current state of the economy, everyone is looking for ways to save money and improve their
financial picture. Here are 20 simple ideas that can help you find extra money and reduce daily
expenses

1. Send free email cards instead of snail mail cards. You will save the cost of the card and the
postage.

2. Use the internet to do comparison shopping. But buy the items locally; or look for sites with
free shipping.

3. Use the local library for checking out movies instead of renting or buying, or paying to view
movies on cable

4. Buy clothes that can be laundered and ironed at home, instead of “dry clean only.”

5. Use only ATM’s where you will not be charged a service fee

6. Pay cash for groceries, gasoline, clothes, most purchase when possible; as people who use
cash spend less overall than those who charge.

7. If you bought a house and did not put at least 20% down, you are probably paying private
mortgage insurance. As soon as you have at least 20% equity in your home, contact your
lender to cancel this insurance.

8. Take advantage of free health screenings and testing at health fairs or local pharmacies and
save the deductible on your medical insurance that you would have paid to have similar test
done by your physician

9. Don’t allow any insurance policy to just renew without getting multiple quotes. It pays to
shop around

10. Go to the National Association of Unclaimed Property website to see if the state of federal
government owes you money you may not have claimed

11. Go to Bankrate.com to find the best rates on credit cards

12. Shop at resale shops in upscale neighborhoods. You may even find clothes that were never
worn.

13. Be your own handyman. Save the cost of professional help. Lowes and Home Depot
employees can walk you through what you need to know 4. Track your spending. Write it down and you will spend less

15. Sign up for a Upromise Credit card. A portion of every purchase will go into a special
college fund for your child or grandchild

16. If you are eligible, use your senior citizens discounts

17. Before you throw anything away, decide if you can sell the things you don’t need or don’t
use on Ebay, through a resale shop, or at a garage sale. Or donate items to a charity and take
a tax deduction, if possible.

18. When going out to dinner, lower the bill by having cocktails and dessert at home.

19. Plan your purchases. Never impulse buy. If you see something you would like to have, write
down the description, or take a picture of it. Then go home, wait a few days, and then decide
if you still really want it. The desire to own it could pass. If not, search on line for
opportunities for paying less for it. See if you can buy it with rewards card from your charge
card companies. Or ask friends or family to make it your birthday or Christmas gift.

20. Plan a Stay-cation instead of a Vacation. See and do the things you have always wanted to
do around your own hometown. Save the cost of hotels and transportation.

Some creativity and a little forethought can certainly make “cents”.

Home Equity Loans For Sending Young Girls…To The Prom?

Home Equity Loans for Sending Young Girls…to the Prom? As the mother and stepmother of four young girls, I know the cost of raising children. As a financial advisor, I know the importance of planning for the significant events in their lives, like education and weddings. As a parent, I know I need to be responsible for providing them with food, shelter and clothing. But all of this responsible planning changes when it comes time to clothe them for The Prom.

Having gone to a few proms in my high school years, I thought I would be prepared when my eldest announced she was going to her Junior Prom. I remembered that in my prom days, for the girls, it all came down to the dress. It had to be just right…the right style, the right color. But in my day, it didn’t have to be a designer name and a designer price tag.

A 2005 USA Today survey said that many parents expect to spend more than $3,000 or more as their daughters prepare for the prom; and much of this is for the dress. Having TV personalities and rock stars for their models, many girls want to dress like Hillary Duff or Amanda Bynes when they venture out that night. This comes at a price.

But for most parents, the thought of spending that much money on a wedding dress brings anxiety and stress, let alone having to spend it on a one-occasion prom gown. And then, what’s a parent to do if their darling daughter goes to multiple proms? Can’t be seen in the same dress twice. What will those prom pictures hanging on the family room wall look like, if in each of them she is wearing the same gown?

And it doesn’t end there, as the right dress requires the right accessories, the right shoes, the right purse, the right jewelry, the perfect up do, and letís not forget the fingernails.

As a teenager, my family had limited funds for “extras” We had three girls in the family, who were all teenagers at the same time. Things that were not necessities were put on the back burner. And our friend’s families financial situations were pretty much the same. If we were all to be properly dressed for the prom, we needed to be creative. So one year, when a number of us were going to more than one prom, we all bought new dresses for the first one and switched with each other for the next. Today, creative methods still exist. You can budget, borrow, bargain or ebay.

To keep some control over the cost, parents can begin by setting a budget. Limiting what they can afford for their daughter to spend will limit the scope of where she looks; or it will encourage her to be creative about how she spends the budgeted amount.

Borrowing is still an option. Many parents would be thrilled to think their daughter’s last year’s prom dress will be worn by someone this year. Having it used more than once may make them feel the cost is somehow reduced. If your daughter has a friend who is going to a different school’s prom on a different night and wears the same size as her, agree to share the cost and share the dress.

Bargains can also be found if you take the time to visit department and bridal stores at the end of one season and before the start of another. And upscale resale shops in fashionable neighborhoods are the source of great values on slightly used or never worn dresses.

Don’t forget to take advantage of the Internet. A lot of companies offer Internet-only specials.

For most young girls the prom may be mostly about the dress, but it is only one night. And ten or twenty years from now it will be mostly about the good time they have and share with their friends that night. Breaking the budget to buy the dress today will never mean all that much later. So, Mom and Dad, set the budget and work with your daughter to find that special dress without having to take out a home-equity loan. Save that route for college education that will last a lifetime.

I Am A Pink Princess Telephone

When I was 16 years old, all I wanted for my birthday was a Pink Princess Telephone. I was reminded of that the other day when my 10 year old niece asked for a cell phone for her birthday. Back in ìmy dayî the Princess Telephone was the height of electronics. Today it is a relic of a time past. But I paused to think of how much different communication was back then, before we had the menagerie of equipment that surrounds us today.

As a business owner, I applaud the efficiency with which electronics has helped us to be able to service our clients. We provide information quickly. We can contact them anytime day or night. We can share ideas and proposals with them while they never have to leave their offices; and we donít have to leave ours. We have been able to expand our territory out of state and even out of the country because of email, fax, scanning.

And although I think this is a great way to run a business, I wonder if constantly being attached to a communication devise is a great way to run a life
To use my Princess telephone it was necessary to be confined to my bedroom. But it also meant that I had privacy and shared my conversation with just the person on the other end of the line. It required that I focus totally on them; and we were able to share our most intimate “teenage girl” thoughts.

Today, with cell phones and Blackberrys, conversations that should stay in the bedroom or the office find their way to restaurants, malls, and grocery stores. In just the last week, I have been party to one-sided discussions where a husband was arguing with his wife, a man was revealing his financial problems to a friend, and a teenage boy was having a romantic interlude with his girlfriend; all while I sat having lunch at a local restaurant.

And the husband arguing with his wife was having lunch with a co-worker who was obviously being ignored, and was noticeably embarrassed by being part of this scenario.

We interrupt conversations to answer the phones; we ignore those who are with us to talk to someone who is not; and we delay whatever activity we are part of to concentrate on our cell phone conversation, often to the detriment of others around us.

This also makes me wonder if the constant connection with others will create a generation of people who don’t understand or enjoy time alone. Who won’t experience quiet or silence. Who will not have ever enjoyed moments of meditation. In a hectic world these are pleasures that are worth nurturing.

As I look around my offices, I begin to notice that my partners and our interns, who are all years younger than I are all “well connected”. They have speakerphones, and cell phones, and wireless computers. They have Blackberrys and Bluetooths and gadgets and gizmos. They do text messaging at the speed of light. And I wonder what a day would be like for them without all of this. Peaceful and serene? Or disconnected and frustrated? What would they do if all they had was a Pink Princess telephone?

The newest devices they have added are wireless headphones for their telephones. Because they are aware that I am always the last one to buy into the newest piece of equipment, no one ordered a headphone for me. And so when I ask them why, they are even a bit surprised that I would think of having one. I tell them, It’s because you think I am just a Pink Princess telephone. And with that they look confused as they respond in unison, ìWhat is a Pink Princess telephone?

As I return to my office, I wonder if there is an electronic devise that could close the “generation gap”. Probably not.