We are all trying to save money anywhere we can. Perhaps you are saving money to purchase a home, or for a great vacation, or to finally start socking some money away towards your retirement. Let me share some tips I've actually used myself in the last few days. And I'd love to hear what you've used as well, so comment in the comments section if you've got some ideas.
I'm embarassed to admit, that I recently had to start revolving a balance on a credit card. Never wanted to do that in my life. If you can pay your credit cards off in full, obviously that would be ideal. If you CAN'T, call up the credit card company and see if they have any lower rates available. Also, if you have received a late fee or an overlimit fee in the recent months, but have otherwise been a loyal cardholder for years, ask if they will waive them. Most people don't even ask, or worse yet, don't even NOTICE they've been charged a fee. I called up American Express a few days ago and they lowered my interest rate 2% just for asking.
Then I cancelled the local newpaper, The Arizona Republic. I always justifed that expense by saying that I clipped coupons that more than made up for the expense, but who am I kidding? I didn't. I am waaaay too busy to clip a coupon for 25 cents off a roll of toilet paper, or to read the newspaper, lol.
Then I called up Dish Network, my satellite TV provider. I'm sure you could call up whatever company provides your TV service and do the same thing. I simply told them I was trying to save money. I was going to "Downgrade" to the next level down to save $10 a month. I ended up keeping my same programming, got free HD for life (for which I was paying $10 a month) and saving $25 off each of the next 12 bills. I went from paying $99 a month to $74.
You ever notice that the deals they give you if you are a new customer are way better than what you are getting now? You might mention that to them. I find that people actually (usually) want to be helpful. You just have to ask!
Next I called my internet provider, Cox Communications, who seems to raise my rates about every three months while not providing any better service. I complained about my current internet service being raised from $47.99 a month to $52.99 a month. Guess what they did? Lowered it back to $47.99. All I had to do was ask.
And a few months ago I discovered Pandora. Yeah, I know, I was the last guy in America to figure it out. I was paying $15 a month or so for Sirius XM in my car. After discovering Pandora, I called up Sirius XM and said I wanted to cancel. Well, guess what? Big surprise! They'd rather keep me as a customer at $5 a month than lose me a customer altogether. So they lowered my bill $10 a month.
Just look at every "subscription" you have. Do you really NEED it? I have a feeling if you actually looked at every dollar you spent, you would find a lot of places to save money. Also try saving all your receipts for a few weeks. Then go back and review what you spent money on. You’ll most likely find that you spent waaaaay too much money on fast food, or coffee, or whatever it may be for you. Take that money and put into a savings account instead. You'll be surprised how much money it adds up to in a year. Also, if you are reading this article and live in Arizona, you may be able to purchase a home for $0 down payment. You need a 640 credit score and need to make LESS than $88,000 a year. Buying a home could actually SAVE you money over renting, not only on a monthly payment basis but also with the tax benefits and not having to worry about coming up with security deposits and pet deposits equal to or greater than your monthly rent payment. Imagine that! Owning a home as a way of saving money! Call me for details. DavidHulka@westusa.com 480-326-9069. And let's hear your comments below!!!!
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