Article Directory :: Finance & Investment Articles

Seven Easy Steps That Will Save You Hundreds Of Dollars A Month

By Michael Redbourn

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 22Oct2009 Word count: 993 Viewed: 276 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

If you use all of the following steps then you'll save several hundred dollars a month, and even if you only want to use some of them, you'll save a lot of money, so don't just read the advice, but please act on it too.

1) Go To The Supermarket Less Often And Always Take A List

Going to the supermarket less frequently and only buying what's on your list will save you a lot of money every month!

It's a well known fact that people without a shopping list buy several things that they didn't intend to buy every time they visit a supermarket, and that's what supermarkets are designed to do.

The reason market managers have things moved around all the time is to make people search for want they want, and to buy things that they had no intention of buying.

So if you go less often, and even if you still buy some unintended things you'll save money.

2) Don't Buy Credit Card Insurance

Most credit card companies offer at least four different kinds of insurance:

1) Life and/or AD&D (Accidental Death & Dismemberment) insurance means that when you die your credit card balance will be paid off.

"Life Insurance" should obviously be called death insurance, but it doesn't sound so nice!

2) Disability Insurance, will pay your minimum credit card payments for a limited amount of time if you become disabled.

3) Critical Illness Insurance, will pay your minimum payments for a limited amount of time if you get sick.

4) Involuntary Job Loss Insurance will pay your minimum payments for a limited amount of time if you get laid off.

Only #1 pays off your debt and you have to die for that to happen, and the others will only pay your minimum card payment for a limited amount of time, and because of interest charges you'll most likely find that you owe more money than you did before, when you have to start paying again.

N.B. Many credit card companies automatically provide travel insurance at no cost if you buy your tickets using their card, so check that out.

3) Get Rid Of Your Telephone Land-line

Cell phone companies are offering great packages now, and many of them are pushing unlimited airtime for just an extra few bucks a month, meaning that less and less people are paying for incoming calls, and since landlines are never charged for incoming calls, you don't have to worry about your friends getting charged if you call their land-line.

You can also use Skype which offers high quality phone calls pretty much worldwide from computer to computer free of charge, and to landlines and cell phones at a very low cost, and GoogleTalk offers free high quality calls between any two computers that have it installed. If you want to keep your land-line however, then think about dropping extras such as caller id, call waiting, call forwarding, and long distance which are probably costing you around $40 per month.

BTW - you can make 911 calls from a land-line that's been disconnected, as long as it's plugged in of course ;-)

4) Your Tap Water Is Probably Safer Than Bottled Water

Around 40% of bottled water began its life as tap water, and the only likely difference is added minerals that may actually be harmful. The French Senate even advises people who drink bottled mineral water to change brands frequently because the added minerals are helpful in small amounts, but may be dangerous in higher doses.

In the US and in many other countries too, there are more regulations governing the quality of tap water than there are for bottled water, and the water quality standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency for tap water are more stringent than the Food and Drug Administration's standards for bottled water.

How about the taste?

In taste tests that were carried out all over the U.S. people often said that the tap water tasted better than the bottled water, and in a recent test at the West Side County Fair in Riverside Park people were tasted from two jugs of water, one containing "Poland Springs" water, and the other straight from the tap, and out of the 86 people who took the taste test, 61 thought the tap water tasted better.

5) Cut Back On The Cable TV

Take a look at what's in your cable package and think about the last time you watched some of the junk that you're paying good money for. The internet has far better news coverage than cable stations, and if you want to watch sport then pay per view might be a better option. There might be some soaps or favorite programs that you feel you'd miss, but ask yourself if they're worth the $50 a month that they might be costing you.

6) Cook Extra Food At Home To Eat At Work

Not only will you save a lot of money by taking food from home and eating it at work, but you'll also eat a lot more healthily if you choose to. Just put the meal in a reusable container at night and take it with you in the morning. Most workplaces have a microwave, and if they don't then many foods such as chicken taste as good or better cold than they do hot.

7) Cappuccino and latte

There's certainly nothing wrong with going to a coffee shop with friends to have a latte or cappuccino, but $4-5 bucks a day every working day sure adds up fast, and you can buy an espresso machine for around $50 which will pay for itself in a month.

Smoking, Drinking And Gambling

I didn't mention smoking, drinking or gambling because people that indulge in them know only too well what they cost and how much they'd save by not indulging in them, and they certainly don't need me to tell them to cut out, or to cut back on, what they consider to be, one or more of life's little pleasures.

EasyPublish™ this article - publishers click here

More articles by Michael Redbourn

Free Report!
Ten Essential Secrets Of Article Marketing ... Grab Your Free
Copy Now:

Need Content?
Regular Top Quality Content for your Blog, Ezine or Website ...
Delivered Direct,
For Free!
Click For Details