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Today, 9 more creative tips to help you save more money!
10. Insurance

Shop around for insurance and work with a good agent that can provide information on discounts such as good student, multi-car discount, etc. Some people think the price of insurance is the same from one company to the next. However, prices can vary dramatically and to ensure you get the best deal, you need to consider all your options.

11. Coupons

Okay, maybe you used to laugh as you watched people pull out their coupons at stores but the truth is that using coupons can save you hundreds of dollars every year. Coupons can be used at grocery stores, retail chains, any store where the item is sold. Some stores offer double coupon days, which is an extra bonus. On average, you could easily save from 5% to 15% on a bill for $100 simply by presenting a coupon. Coupons are not just for food items and by scouring your local newspaper you can find coupons for all sorts of merchandise.

12. Credit Cards

Use credit cards only for emergency. Although convenient, credit cards are dangerous and damaging. In addition, if you have a credit card that has a $1,000 balance and you pay only the minimum payment each month, it will take you between 20 and 30 years to pay off that $1,000 balance since the majority of money is going strictly toward the interest and not the principal amount.

13. Mortgage Payment

Paying one additional mortgage payment each year, whether in a lump sum or monthly increments, can lower a 30-year loan down to 18 years. If you pay more than one extra payment, the number of years will decrease even more. Since this additional payment will be applied only to the principal and not the interest, you end up saving thousands and thousands of dollars once the home is paid off.

14. Credit Card Interest

If you have credit cards and your credit is in good standing, call your credit card company, and ask for your interest rate to be lowered. It is truly that simple. Unfortunately, most people do not even realize this is an option so they never make the call. Just tell the representative that you want a better rate on your credit card and they will take care of your request.

15. Patience

Be patient when it comes to saving. This means that you need to accept that it will take time to save and good planning. Be patient and remember that just because you want something, do not rush to buy just to satisfy your urge. Instead, wait for sales in order to get the best price, which in turn will save you money.

16. Financial Consulting

Many financial companies and even churches offer outstanding classes on how to manage money. While some of these programs are free, others may have a nominal fee of around $35 to attend but the money is well spent. Another great option is consumer-counseling services. This is a great option for people in over their head with debt. The counselors will work directly with your creditors to lower your balances, interest rate, and establish workable payments that you can afford.

17. Break old Habits

Take time to learn the various things that “trigger” your spending. When you are depressed, lonely, sad, anxious, excited, whatever it may be, do you spend more? Once you can identify these triggers then you can learn how to control them. As an example, if you were just laid off from your job, although money is tight, you may have an overwhelming “need” to spend money. Perhaps you notice that when you are bored, you head for the shops. Knowing what affects you will help you to discipline yourself to find other ways of comfort.

18. Avoid Temptations

If you have a particular weakness, stay away from it. If you love to gamble, stay out of the casinos. If you have a weakness for shoes, drive past your favorite shoe store. While avoiding temptation is hard, it is also necessary in order to save money. When you want to give into your temptation, this is the time to use your “allowance”.

19. The Right Time to Shop

Studies have proven that when shopping while hungry, depressed, tired, and stressed, you buy more. Before you head to the grocery store, eat something. If you are upset or feeling a little blue, calm yourself down or wait until you feel better before you head out to shop. As funny as it may sound, having a clear mind is important when it comes to shopping and spending money.

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Though a lot of people are comfortable with going forward with credit card debt management all by themselves, not everyone is. There are people who don’t really want to tread into the territory of financial issues (credit card debt management included). Such people generally prefer going to debt assistance companies for advice on credit card debt management or for getting the credit card debt management done through them. However, even before we talk further on this topic of credit card debt management, it’s imperative to understand that any external person or agency can only do a proper credit card debt management for you if you strictly follow the advice/guidelines that they formulate as part of credit card debt management. These credit card debt management guidelines are generally related to controlling your spending (which basically means perseverance and contentment).

Going to a credit card debt management company or a credit card debt management adviser/professional is not meant only for people who are foreign to financial topics but is sometimes fruitful for other people too (who are going with credit card debt management all by themselves). This arises from the fact that these credit card debt management professionals (as any professional) would have more knowledge in that field than anyone else that is not from that field/profession. So, firstly, you wouldn’t know all the tips and tricks that the credit card debt management professional would know (and in fact this is something that you cannot read and learn overnight). And secondly, it will save you a lot of time; because the person who practices credit card debt management as a profession would know about all the latest offers etc that are available in the market e.g. balance transfer offers etc (and hence you don’t need to go looking for all this stuff all by yourself). All in all, a credit card debt management professional can help get you a better deal that might more than compensate for the fee charged by that professional. If you look around you will find that there are hordes of companies and professionals offering credit card debt management services. However, the key here is that you choose someone whose credentials are already established (or who can prove his credentials to you). One good way of selecting a credit card debt management company/ professional is to check with a friend or someone from your family, if they have used any such service in recent times. After all, references are the best way of building trust.

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You go to the mail box and scan – a couple fliers (nah), your magazine subscription (yes!) and
bills (groan). Every month the bills show up and as you sigh and take out your check book you
wonder if you will ever be free.

Each month you pay the minimums and although you KNOW you’ve got a handle on it – you are
not charging your credit card or accumulating new debts anymore – it seems that you will be
paying the minimum fees forever.

Did you know that HOW you pay your debts can affect how soon you will finishing paying them
off – even if you keep paying the same amount for debt every month? Of course you might be
able to get a consolidation loan, but if you’re not eligible or are not interested then there are
several other things you can do.

It’s not always the easiest to figure out the mathematics, but there are three steps to quicker
debt relief – guaranteed.

STEP ONE – Create a list.

List your smallest debts first followed by your largest high-interest debts (credit card) and then
your largest low-interest debts (Lines of credit and taxes).
Plan to pay the minimums on all debts with these goals in mind:

STEP TWO – Small bills first.

They may not be the highest interest, but every bill that you are paying some interest on
means you are usually only paying minimal amounts on the principal. Multiple debts are also a
sure way to bring your spirits down. Paying off small debts first is a quick way to start checking
them off – and freeing your mind.

STEP THREE – Move the payments along.

When one debt is paid add the funds to the next debt. For example, say you’re making $75
payments to a small debt. When the debt is cleared add the $75 to the next debt on your list. If
the next debt had a minimum payment of $100, you will now pay $175 until it is paid off. When
that one is finished, take the $175 and add it to the next payment and so on.

STEP FOUR – Save the cash!

Don’t forget that when your debts are cleared you have set yourself up for a better financial
future. The best way to take advantage of your new situation is to use all the money you were
spending on debts and start investing or saving it every month.

With this strategy your debts will clear faster meaning you will pay less interest, you will see
progress as you clear small debts first, and you will not be tempted to use the funds for
personal use instead of debt repayment.

It is a worthwhile goal to get out of debt. Seeing that goal come sooner and teaching yourself
discipline sets you up for a brighter financial future. You OWE yourself that!

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Practically everyone in the United States has credit cards. From teenagers to retirees, almost
everyone has at least one credit card. Everywhere we go we see ads – in the television, radio,
newspapers, billboard advertisements – on credit cards. Some credit cards are even mailed
directly to our homes. But what are credit cards, why should you have one and what are some
of the risks involved?

Simply stated, a credit card is a financial arrangement between you, the consumer or the card
holder, and an institution such as a bank. The arrangement specifies that you borrow money
from the lending institution with the promise that you will pay them back in the future. The
institution agrees that it will provide the money you need and in-turn you are expected to
return payment over a certain period of time. Your payment will include not just the amount of
money you borrowed, but also an additional charge based on a pre-defined rate of interest.
Credit can provide various services, making it an indispensable tool for today’s consumers.

These include:

Convenience. You saw this wonderful dress in a shop. Perfect for tonight’s party, you thought.
But you don’t have money right now. Thanks to your card, you can buy anything you want right
now. Credit cards give you that wonderful allowance not to bring that much cash and to order
goods from catalogs. In addition, many of the online-based shops and stores, such as Amazon.
com, mainly accept payment using credit.

Emergency Protection. For emergency situation, credit cards can be an extremely helpful tool
that could be your friend that could pay for your emergency needs, like when your car conked
out in the road, or your mother gets hospitalized, or any emergency situations that you need
money but can’t get it from the usual means.
Putting you in the right budget. Want to keep a detailed record of your expenditures? Credit
cards can do that.

Security. In today’s world, carrying large cash has become a problem. If your cash gets lost,
there’s no way you can retrieve it. Compared with credit cards, money cannot be returned back
when it got lost or stolen. If your card, for example, got broken or it got lost or someone stole
it from you, you can always ask for a credit card termination or cancellation. You will have
another card, a new one that will replace it in a few days.

Traveling. If you’re quite a traveler, whether across the town or country, or outside the US, it is
relatively easier to travel with a credit card.

When used responsibly, credit cards can help improve our daily lives. With credit cards, life can
be much easier. However, the joy of using credit cards can quickly change to a curse!
Are you starting to get notices from creditors to pay or “else”? Are you worried that you might
lose your properties like your house because of credit debt? Chin up: Dealing with credit card
debt is not as hard as you may think.

And, if there’s any consolation, you’re not the only one facing such situations. At some point,
many people like you face financial crises with credit card debt.
Here are some simple tips to help you cope with your credit card debt:

Make a Budget.

If you want to have a grab of your financial situation before you lose everything, making a
budget is what you should do first. Assess how much do you get from your income or other
means and your expenditures. For example, if getting that posh apartment means you have to
limit your meals to once a day, then it is not a great and sound budgeting decision. Your goal is
ensure that you can answer for all the basic necessities: food, housing, clothes, health-related
costs, among others.

Contact Your Creditors.

Remember: Running away from your creditors is not the answer. It is not a solution, and may
in fact lead you to bigger problems. If you are having trouble paying off your debts, address
this immediately with your creditors. State to them sincerely and fully the reason why it has
become hard for you to pay these debts, and check if they could give you a revised payment
arrangement that will put you at ease on your payment terms. Do not let creditors turn over
your situation to someone or an agency to do the collecting for them, as this means that they
have given up on you.

Address Debt Collectors.

There is a law that gives certain conditions for debt collectors as to when and how they should
ask you to pay. The federal law, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, clearly states that those
collecting debts may not bug you, give false assertions, or do practices that are not fair when
they are getting to collect money from you.

Get Credit Counseling.

You could also consider getting the aid of groups or institutions that will help you in your
problems. If you managed to have an improved payment arrangement of your debt with a good
credit counseling organization, creditors may approve of your proposition and accept your
modified arrangement plan..

Bankruptcy.

Generally, personal bankruptcy is known as the last choice to fix your ballooning credit debt. A
bankruptcy unfortunately stays on your financial information report for years. Getting additional
credit, buying a house, sometimes even getting a job might be hard for you. Technically,
however, it is a legal way of addressing your credit debt.

Enjoy the use of credit to make your life easier. . .BUT don’t let it become a nightmare! Learn
to use your credit responsibly.

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Besides reducing your spending and making the most of the money that you earn the other way that you can reduce debt faster is to make more money.

Whether you are self employed or work for a wage you should be looking at ways to work longer hours where possible to make more money. There are two opportunities to get ahead when doing this.

Firstly the increased income can go directly towards reducing debt and by doing that you will be reducing the interest you will be paying on that debt and secondly there is the added benefit of the fact that you be either too busy or too tired to spend money elsewhere.

Even if it is only for a short term the additional money that you will earn and can mark off against your debt can have a huge impact on the time that it will take you to reduce and eliminate your loans.

You might be able to refinance some of your loans for a shorter term by being able to make bigger monthly payments.

The additional money gives you more control to budget better and to make the most of discount opportunities and interest rebates for early repayments of loans.

If you are already working long hours and can’t possibly fit in an additional job or more hours at your current job them maybe it is time to start looking around for other employment that pays you more. There are always other opportunities and even a small increase in income might be all you need to get over the next hurdle.

Ask for a pay rise and you might be pleasantly surprised to find that you get one. You need to think in a manner that you have to survive and you should take the courage to do all that you can to get through your financial turmoil.

What is worse – The stress of debt or the fear of asking for a pay rise?

You need to take action right now and you can change your future. The benefits are too great to let opportunities go by without seeing if they are available.
When it comes to debt management there is no better time than right now to make proactive steps towards resolving your problems.

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The first step towards eliminating debt is to look at all areas of your spending and slash the items that aren’t vitally necessary for your survival. You are in survival mode now so you need to think in that manner. Luxuries are off the menu until you are in a position to sleep peacefully at night and not fear the phone ringing thinking it is a debt collector on the line.

Day to day spending of ‘petty cash’ adds up to a considerable amount over the course of a year and it could be enough to clear one of your outstanding high interest debts.

Even buying one coffee a day can amount to quite a bit of money at the end of the year. Not only will that reduce part of your debt but you will also be saving interest that you would have been paying on that debt and the compound effect is more significant as time goes by.

Making your own lunch and taking it to work rather than buying it from the shop can also save a lot of money and you might be doing your health a lot of good in the process by eating better food.
Cooking your evening meals at home rather than going to takeaways or restaurants is one of the best ways to start slashing your spending.

Maybe you spend a little too much on clothing and you really don’t need to have the latest fashion item when other suitable clothing is still hanging in your closet unused.

Are there any places that you could walk to rather than drive the car and save money in gas?

There are so many small areas where it is quite easy to slash your spending without impacting on your lifestyle all that much and it is these little drains on your income that are happening on a regular basis that are responsible for a lot of the debt that you have to be concerned with today.

This is the sort of money that you don’t even notice going out of your pocket but you do notice the debt that accumulates because before you know it your creditors are knocking on your door asking for repayment.

Prepare a shopping list before you go shopping for groceries and make sure you stick to that list rather than buying anything that catches your eye while you are in the supermarket. Supermarkets are designed specifically with the way the items are placed to make people buy and having a list of items you require before you enter the shop makes it a lot easier to manage the temptation that they put before you to buy.

Write down every dollar that you spend for the week and then add that spending up to see just how much money you waste without realizing. Add this to your budget and then work towards slashing as many areas of spending as possible.

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Where there is a budget surplus you should apply those funds towards clearing the debt that you are paying the highest rates of interest on.

Where you have accounts that offer a discount for early payment you should also take advantage of those discounts by applying the budget surplus towards them.

Until you have cleared your debt you shouldn’t consider using the surplus for investing, as the money you will receive from the investment, less the tax that you will pay on that income, will be less than the amount you will save in interest payments for clearing debt.

Always look for the most benefits for each dollar spent and in almost all cases there is no better benefit than clearing debt.

Of course once you get to the stage where you have your finances in order and everything is under control budget surpluses can be better spent on investing in appreciating assets such as property, provided the property market is rising, and only where you will be able to make more money from borrowing to buy the property than you would using the money elsewhere.

That is something you can look forward to once you have managed your debt and with your ability to budget well you will be able to calculate the ratio of income to expenditure and determine whether it is a good investment that you will be able to handle comfortably before you spend your money.

You will be able to make all your decisions based on simple steps that will eliminate all the guesswork and ensure that you don’t get into financial difficulty again.

Sometimes you only need to change a few factors in your life to go from a budget deficit to a budget surplus and that is what you will be aiming to do as soon as possible. The more of the budget surplus you apply to debt the bigger the surplus will become and this affect begins to accelerate over time.

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The debts that need paying first are the ones that will cause you the most grief if left unpaid.

It goes without saying that taxes are at the top of the priority list as the IRS has more powers than anyone to recover the monies owed to them and failure to pay their account on time will not only result in interest but also penalties that can quickly mount up to more than the original debt.

Medical debt is also high on the list of priorities and it is essential that you look after your health and that of the members of your family. Without good health you will need more money to pay for your health care and if you can’t provide sufficient health care for yourself and those who are under your care then the long term problems that can come about from that are often much more costly than the original debt.

Student loans and child care support are both top priority as they are debts where government departments get involved and they have wide reaching powers to recover monies owed to them to such an extent that they can actually make your debt reduction program more difficult to achieve.

You should learn to prioritize all aspects of your life from the debts that you need to pay first to the tasks that you need to get done each day. Time management will help you through your daily tasks and financial management will ensure that you have the least problems possible with your creditors by paying those who must be paid first.

Just because a debt collector starts putting pressure on you to pay a minor debt doesn’t mean that other more important debts should wait for payment. Take control of the situation in all instances where possible and stay with the budget and the process that you have created for efficient debt control.

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If your expenses are greater than your income then you have to contend with a budget deficit and there are only two ways you can deal with this. You can earn more money or you can spend less – it is as simple as that. Unfortunately it is easier said than done some of the time and that’s why many people get into debt in the first place by topping up the deficit with money from credit cards and other high interest loans.

Your budget will help you to focus on areas where you can cut your spending. Obviously you will be looking at luxury items first and those non-essential items that will be easy to eliminate. If you can eliminate your budget deficit by getting rid of these non-essential items then you are in luck however it might not be quite that easy for you to reduce your spending enough to make up the deficit.

If that is the case then you will have to go back over your budget again and see the areas where you can cut your spending to try to close the gap between income and expenditure.

If you are putting a percentage of your income aside a regular basis for some type of saving scheme then you might need to consider canceling that saving until you have managed to reduce your debt to such an extent that you are able to cover your costs with your income.

Once all areas of cost-cutting have been exhausted you are left with the only other alternative of increasing your income and you will need to look at whether you’re able to increase your hours of work or possibly even get a second job to bring in enough additional income to cover your expenses.

One way or another unless this budget deficit is eliminated you will be destined to continue accumulating debt and the more you do that the more difficult it will be to bridge the gap.

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You will begin to understand why there is a need to change your attitude towards money as it can make your life a whole lot easier if managed correctly just as it can present you with ongoing stress if it is mishandled. The fact that you have created a problem of excess debt is due to having the wrong attitude towards money.

By going through the process of preparing a budget and seeing exactly where your money has been going and how much waste there has been you will be able to change your ways and never get in a similar situation again.

When you consider the things you might have been able to do with that ‘lost’ money you will begin to see that the alternatives are very often so much more appealing and the habit of frittering away funds will be able to be corrected.

Often the amount that people waste on minor expenses, such as daily coffees and takeaway foods can represent a luxury holiday once a year and surely that would be much more appealing.

Money is not something that can solve your emotional problems and spending money on luxury items that aren’t necessities might give you some short term satisfaction but the long term stress and worry that excess debt brings with it is something that I am sure you will want to avoid ever having to deal with again.

It is your choice to take charge of your finances and it is as simple as starting a budget and setting realistic short term and long term goals and then making those goals become a reality.

Money can make you very happy and give you an excellent lifestyle if it is managed properly but even those who are earning huge incomes frequently fall into financial strife due to an inability to manage their finances. If you follow the proven steps to financial survival you will be better off than the majority of people and in the long term you will be able to afford more of the things that you desire than you would do otherwise.

Your attitude towards money and debt has a huge bearing on the quality of your lifestyle.

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