Tag: savings

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Financial Savings

Challenge Yourself With a No-Spend Month

Challenge Yourself With a No-Spend Month

Each month we spend money on things that we don’t necessarily need. We buy iced coffee, video games, and other non-essential items. But what if we took a month to eliminate those non-needed purchases?

Have you ever thought about doing the No spend month challenge? During this challenge, you would cut out any extra purchases and only buy the necessities. It is a great way to save money and get caught up.

What Are Necessities 

Necessities are something that you have to have to live. Paying your bills is obviously a necessity. But what other items would be considered a necessities?

Hygiene Products

Hygiene products are considered necessities for your everyday life. They help keep you healthy and free from disease. Examples of hygiene products include:

  • Shampoo & Conditioner
  • Toothpaste and Mouthwash 
  • Soap & Body wash
  • Feminine Products
  • Deodorant & Antiperspirant 

Medical Product Necessities

Medical products are also necessities of your everyday life. These items also help you be healthy and free from disease. These items can be physical or non-tangible. Some examples of medical product necessities include:

  • Therapy Appointments
  • Medicine
  • Bandages 
  • Insulin Pumps
  • Nebulizers 

Utilities

Utilities are things that we pay for that allow us to function. Examples of utilities include:

  • Electricity
  • Water
  • Gas
  • Sewage & Sanitation 

Communication

Communication is needed not only for our mental health but for work purposes and emergencies. Without communication, it would be hard to do some of your activities. Examples of a communication expense include:

  • Cell Phone
  • Internet
  • Home Phone

Food And Beverage

For us to stay alive, we need food and water. You can not survive without these basic necessities. Examples of food and beverage include:

  • Water
  • Herbal Tea
  • Vegetables
  • Fruit
  • Meat

Transportation Necessities

We all need to get places to fulfill our duties. We have many things going on in our daily lives and, most cannot be completed from our homes. Just like us having some mode of transport to leave our houses. Examples of transportation expenses include:

  • Car Payment
  • Uber Or Lyft
  • Train Fair
  • Bus Pass
  • Airplane Ticket

What Are Not Considered Necessities

We have many things in our lives that are not considered necessities. We use and spend money on them every day without a second thought. These are the items that you should eliminate for your one-month no-spend challenge. 

Entertainment

While entertainment is fun and can help your day go faster, it is not a necessity. It doesn’t provide you with something that enhances your health, safety, or wellbeing. Examples of entertainment include:

  • Movies
  • Concerts
  • Video Games
  • Sporting Events
  • Comedy Clubs

Non-essential Food Items

While food is a necessity, many foods are non-essential. We should meet our caloric needs for the day with healthy food choices. The following are examples of luxury non-essential food items.

  • Chips
  • Candy
  • Ice Cream
  • Soda
  • Iced Coffee

Conclusion

If you are up for it, try the one-month no spend challenge. Use the money that would have been spent on non-essentials and put it into savings. Allow yourself to see how much you are spending on these items each month. 

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Financial Savings

How To Save Money On Utility Bills This Winter

How To Save Money On Utilities This Winter

Winter is cold for a lot of the United States. Winter is known for its snow and ice and below-freezing temperatures. While it can be a beautiful time of year, it can also become expensive.

Utility bills sometimes skyrocket during the cold months. If you want your home to be at a cozy temperature, your furnace may have to work extra hard, raising your bills to all-time highs.

But what if you are on a budget and cannot afford higher winter utility bills? Continue reading below to find out our top ways to save money on your utility bills this winter.

Insulate Your Home

Having a well-insulated home is crucial to keeping your utility bills low. Insulation will keep warm air inside and the cold air outside. Your furnace won’t work as hard to heat up your home when you have well-insulated walls, doors, and windows.

Open Curtains This Winter

This may sound inaccurate, but it is true. Having open curtains in the winter can allow the sun to shine through. The sun is a natural form of heat and can allow your home to warm up during the day. Be sure to close them at night when the sun goes down.

Keep Your Thermostat Lower

If you want lower utility bills you can try keeping your thermostat a degree or two lower. While it may not be as warm as you would like, it will reduce the amount you are spending.

Replace Furnace Filters This Winter

Replacing your furnace filter regularly, especially at the beginning of winter, will help your furnace work properly. You will know when to replace your filter when it has a layer of dust or dirt covering it.

Add Weatherstrips To Doors And Windows

If you add weatherstrips to your doors and windows it can be a great way to lower your utility bills. Weatherstrips will block and breeze or cold air from coming into your house.

Buy A Smart Thermostat

Buying a smart thermostat can help reduce your utility bills as well. The new technology in these thermostats is more accurate and precise than older thermostats. They will regulate your temperature and allow you to set them from your phone.

Check Your Vents This Winter

Sometimes people forget to check their air vents and don’t realize that they are blocked. A blocked air vent won’t allow the warm air from the furnace to be disbursed into your home. Your furnace will have to work double to accommodate the blocked vent.

Turn Down Your Water Heater

During the winter you may enjoy a hot shower. But having your water heater set too high can also mean a higher utility bill. Adjust your water heater’s temperature a few degrees to help save money.

The Take-Away

Although winter can be a more expensive time of year for utilities, it doesn’t have to be. With some adjustments and quick fixes, you can help alleviate the high bills and still be just as cozy and warm.

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Credit Financial Real Estate

Buying a Home With a Partner Who Has Bad Credit

Buying a Home With a Partner Who Has Bad Credit

Buying a home is one of the biggest purchases you will ever make. It takes a lot of time and preparation to buy your first home. Sometimes our partner has less than good credit which can complicate the process.

If you have a partner with less than perfect credit, you may want to read below. We will discuss tips to make the buying process better.

Tip 1

If you are married and want the best interest rate on a mortgage, you can buy a home using only one partner’s credit.  Most states consider a property that is bought during a marriage to be both party’s responsibility.

The partner with the better credit puts the house in their name, using their income and credit. While you may not be able to buy as large of a house as if you used both partners’ income, you will get a better interest rate. It will also help your odds of approval.

Tip 2

Save up for a little while longer, and put down a higher down payment. The bank wants to see that you can be responsible for the mortgage payments. If you put down at least 20% as the downpayment on the loan, the bank will see that you have the ability to save.

A higher down payment means a lower mortgage amount, which can help if one partner has bad credit.

Tip 3

Wait until your partner raises their credit. Sometimes waiting is not fun. But in the end, it is worth it. Have your partner take a credit repair course to understand why their credit score is low. Once they understand why they have poor credit, they can begin to fix it.

Credit repair can be done by eliminating debt, paying credit cards and bills on time, and not applying for new credit. After six months to a year, your partners’ credit can be in a better place. Which will help with mortgage approval.

Tip 4

If your partner has bad credit, maybe you should look at buying a smaller home. If one person isn’t good with finances it may not be wise to buy a home that they can’t keep up with. You want to avoid foreclosure at all costs when buying a home.

Think of circumstances where your partner may be the one responsible for the home. If you lose your job or become injured, will your partner be able to take over a large home?

Tip 5

If you want to buy the home of your dreams, but your partner has poor credit, add another stream of income. The more money you make, the more likely you are to be approved for a home.

All Things Considered

With everything you know about the importance of mortgage preparation, you will want to find a plan that works best for you and your partner. You are not out of luck getting a mortgage if your partner has bad credit.

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Financial Savings

Set Up Automatic Deposits To Help Save Money

Set Up Automatic Deposits To Help Save Money

We all want to save more money for a rainy day. Sometimes though, when money is in our checking account, we frivolously spend it without a second thought. Then, when a rainy day comes we have no savings. 

Sometimes we need help with separating money that we spend for everyday use and money that we should be saving. If you want to learn how to start saving money without having to manually transfer it into your saving account, continue reading below.

Check With Your Employer For Automatic Deposits

Talking with your employer is the best first step to set up automatic deposits. Did you know that you can have a percentage of your paycheck deposited into a savings account each week while having the rest put into your checking account? 

Putting part of your money into a savings account can keep you from using it. Out of sight, out of mind. Better yet, put it into a savings account that accrues interest for higher yields and faster results.

Use The Round-Up Method To Save Money

A new way to save money is the round-up method. To participate in the round-up method you will need a participating financial institution. The concept of this way of saving is simple. Let’s say you make a purchase for $3.85, the purchase would be rounded up to the nearest dollar. The $.15 that it would take to reach the next dollar amount would be put into your savings account.

The purchase would actually be $4.00, but since the difference would be put into your savings, you would not miss it. That is up to .99 per transaction. After a few purchases, you could already have a steady amount of money saved. 

Keep in mind that these are apps that provide this service. You can’t do this with your regular brick-and-mortar bank. 

Check Your Bank

You can reach out to your bank and ask them if they offer automatic bank transfers. If they do, you can set it up so that a certain amount of money goes into a savings account each week or month. 

Most banks also offer the option of sending money to other banks. If you have your primary account as your checking, and your savings with another bank, it should be no trouble sending money between the two.

Things To Be Aware Of

There are a number of things to be aware of when setting up automated payments. Most of them relate to having sufficient funds in your account.

  1.  Always make sure you have enough money in the bank to cover your purchases and the automatic deposit.
  1. Always ask your bank if there will be any fees associated with the automatic deposit.
  1. Don’t overstretch yourself so that you have too many deposits coming out of your account at once.

The Bottom Line

Sending money has never been easier. Technology has improved the world of banking tremendously. You no longer need to drive from one bank to the other to deposit money for savings.

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Financial Savings

5 Financial Goals to Make This Year

5 Financial Goals to Make This Year

Saving for things that are currently out of your budget is a wise choice. Whether you are 10 years old and want a bicycle or an adult who wants to buy a new car, saving would be the best goal. But, as you grow up financial management becomes a complicated activity.

So, if you find financial management challenging and want to figure out ways to achieve the unachievable, then you should start by setting up goals. When you have goals in your mind, you can easily stick to a strategy, despite a tight budget. Here are some financial goals that you should include in your New Year’s journal and learn how to achieve them:

1.     Build an Emergency Fund

Normally, people think of an emergency fund as a short-term financial goal. But, that is not entirely true. Emergency funds have long-term financial benefits as well. The emergency fund works as a money management tool. It can help you through medical expenses and job loss.

To create a long-term emergency fund you need to set saving goals. This doesn’t mean that you should have a single large goal. Rather divide this goal into smaller ones to keep a track of them. Start with small but regular contributions. Also, limit your monthly expenses and automate your savings in a separate bank account.

2.     Manage Credit Card Expenses

Interest charges negatively and largely influence your cash flow. Therefore, you should reduce your credit card use. Furthermore, you shouldn’t use a credit card unless you know how you are going to pay. If you have trouble paying for the use, try credit consolidation.

3.     Reduce Your Expenses

When you learn how to manage your expenses, you get complete control over your finance. You should set a goal to spend less than you earn. This means that you need to avoid using a credit card. When you limit your expenses, you get plenty of income for investment, saving, and paying off debt. At first, differentiate between needs and wants. You cannot achieve your financial goals without recognizing extra expenses.

4.     Quit Any Addiction

This might not seem like a financial goal, but you can save a huge amount by quitting any addictions. Whether you are addicted to cigarettes or alcohol, you are wasting your money. Addiction works like a financial parasite that eats up all your money. However, when you quit your addictions, you can add a significant amount in savings. To quit any addiction you need to distract your mind whenever you feel the urge to so end the money on it.

5.     Develop Skills

Adding new skills to your portfolio can lead to large payoffs. If you are a student you can attend workshops and conferences and learn new ideas to earn money. However, if you work in an office, you can take additional training and become an expert. Developing new skills open new opportunities and doors to earn income.

Conclusion

For many people, financial management seems like an irritating task. Keeping track of your income and expense requires more time. But, setting your financial goal will improve your future. If you want to be independent when you get old, you should take control of your finance from now.

Categories
Debt Financial

Ally Bank Does Away With Overdraft Fees

Ally Bank Does Away With Overdraft Fees

One of the most annoying features of banking in America has been eliminated by one financial institution. And it’s already receiving rave reviews from customers and promising a change for the entire industry. Overdraft fees are no longer charged by Ally Bank to any of its clients. Starting in April 2020, the bank will temporarily eliminate certain overdraft costs due to COVID-19 problems. This is a more permanent change for many big banks, and it is the first of its sort.

Ally CEO Jeffrey Brown stated in a message to customers: “Overdraft fees are a source of frustration for many consumers, but they are especially burdensome for others. It’s past time to put a stop to them.”

This is fantastic news for clients, and it might herald a sea shift for giant banks. Those who have long profited handsomely by charging tiny fees to large customer bases. Overdraft fees have long been seen as one of the most inconvenient and inevitable aspects of banking in the United States, but that perception may be changing.

What is an overdraft charge, exactly? Consider the following scenario: you write a check or are charged for a regular online payment, but your account balance is insufficient to cover it. Banks will often charge you an “overdraft fee” if you force them to pay the amount for you.

Why No More Fees?

Overdraft fees alone brought in $4 billion for America’s top four banks: Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi, and Bank of America. They make a lot of money only from overdraft fees, as you can see.

A bank may handle a rejected check for less than $1  and sometimes even less than that. Banks have progressed beyond passing on those costs to charging a huge, profit-driven multiple of their own costs.

Lower-income families are more likely to be harmed by these fees since they are more likely to be short on cash. According to a poll released recently, those who lost money during COVID-19 paid more than four times as many fees to institutions.

According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 5% of checking account customers overdraw their accounts more than 20 times each year.

Ally has consistently been called one of the finest online banks in the country. They receive high marks from customers across the board. Clark likes online banks over conventional banks, along with credit unions, since the excellent ones have low costs.

This isn’t the first time Ally Bank has taken such a step. Fees were removed by Discover Financial in 2019. Some banks that claim to have eliminated overdraft costs, simply do not accept overdrafts. Others provide “overdraft protection.”

Consumers will be pleased with Ally’s decision, and it may be a splash that will reverberate across the banking industry.

Overdraft fees have long been seen as part of the price of doing business with banks. However, this change with Ally shows that might not be the case much longer. After the wonderful reaction Ally got, it is likely that other banks might follow in its foot steps and eliminate their own overdraft fees soon.

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Financial Savings

Budgeting: 7 Things That Will Hinder Your Finances

7 Things That Will Hinder Your Finances

Coffee is widely spent on, especially if it’s a Starbucks. One cannot go by the day without coffee. While, it has become a support system in our lives, it is also one of the causes of wreaking chaos in our financial management. That being said, you cannot just manage your finances by cutting back on coffee. Here are 7 things that are possible hindrances to your finances:

1.   Neglecting budgeting

This should be a no-brainer. You can watch your money being spent but you don’t know where half of it went. When you start budgeting, you will know where your money went instead of just wondering about it. This will also help you in avoid buying unnecessary things.

2.   Working on a consistent salary

You need to start thinking of yourself as worthy enough to ask for a raise. If you have been working in a company for almost 3 years and you are still on the same salary package, it affects your finances. With inflation everywhere, your stable income won’t be of any use to you unless you buck up and ask for a raise. 

3.   Buying things you cannot afford and budgeting

Do you really need that car? Or a new place to move into? All of these decisions impact your finances. Buying things that give you no value can be cut back. The money can instead be put in a savings account. If you are taking loans just to fulfill your materialistic desires, it will affect your life. You will eventually be caught up under the pile of loans.

4.   Remove your Starbucks addiction from your finances

You don’t need to give up on coffee altogether. However, you can simply cut back on the number of coffees you have every day. If you have 4 cups of Starbucks, cut it down to three, two, and then one. You will notice how much money you save just by cutting back.

5.   Ignoring credit

You need to build up your credits. If you don’t focus on that, you can’t qualify for easy loans and low interest rates. A good credit history and score can help your finances in a number of ways. Building credit is not a day’s work but takes years to do so. So, start building your credit for your financial benefit.

6.   Not setting your financial goals

Not setting your financial goals also impacts your finances. You can get into spending loads without even thinking about the future. Set a savings goal every month. This will help you in spending money within your set limit. This will also help you to achieve future financial goals.

7.   Taking the same route

This might sound funny, but changing your daily route also helps. Take a route that doesn’t have Starbucks right around the corner. It will automatically help you control your urge to buy coffee every time you pass around it. Believe it or not, this will save you money and create a positive impact on your finances.

Saving up and helping your coffee addiction are parallel concepts that are linked together. So, don’t give in to your addiction and save your finances!

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Financial Savings

10 Ways To Save Money During The Holidays

10 Ways To Save Money During The Holidays

In the trail of creating a holiday budget, most people end up overspending and buying products that they don’t usually need other than for a few days. If you think that you might be on the overspending wagon this holiday season, you can practice the 10 tips below to become a money-saver.

Saving money is undoubtedly one of the best personality traits of the most successful people. Besides, there’s no better way to enjoy your holidays than knowing that you spent less without missing out on the festivities.

1.    Track Spending through Cash

On a card spending spree, it’s hard to know that you have overspent until you receive the bill. Running to the ATM and then back to the mall will ensure that you’re mindful of how much you’re spending.

2.    Double-Check Shopping Checklist

Done with the shopping checklist? Double-check it attentively and think about the things you’ve listed down. Do you really need them all?

3.    Plan for the Holiday in Advance

Don’t forget the power of budgeting because that’s how you can set a monitoring framework to know how much you should spend to save a certain amount.

4.    Try Home-Food and Less Treats

Holiday seasons bring a joyous mood. So much so that you forget to track how often you’re treating yourself. Avoid going for “lunch-outs” so you can save more money.

5.    Go for Homemade Presents and Gifts

Showing up on a party with the most expensive gifts is amazing. However, bringing a homemade cake that you put effort and time into shows the same if not more gratitude.

6.    Use Real-Time Spending Trackers

Don’t worry if you’re not well-versed in monitoring financial spending because there’s a sea of applications that can let you know when you’re about to go overboard with your spending.

7.    Shop in Advance for Discounts

During off-peak seasons such as months before holidays and festivals, companies sell products and gift-like items at lower prices. Plan to shop accordingly and benefit from discounts.

8.    Go for Bulk-Shopping

If you really have a long list of household and holiday essentials, the best course of action is to visit cheaper stores. While you may get more than you need, you will also save money in the long run, especially when it’s toiletries and cooking ingredients.

9.    Avoid Sending Physical Post-Cards

You can send e-cards and e-postcards to friends and family, especially if you’re out of the country or city. Electronic messages show the same gratitude but are cheaper financially.

10.  Plan on Gifting Cookies

Christmas and New Year’s Eve have always encompassed cookie gifts, so cut back on the expensive gifts if you’re on a tight budget because cookies can make the neighbors smile just as much.

Conclusion

Don’t underestimate the power of saving loose change regularly because a dewdrop is what creates an ocean, as most successful people have believed. In addition, if you think that you’ll miss out on a special occasion or festivities due to a low budget, try going for alternatives to keep the excitement and fun constant. In other words, aim for the long-term!

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Health & Home Recreation & Leisure

How To Turn Your Car Into A Tiny Camper

How To Turn Your Car Into A Tiny Camper

With the prices of hotels and flights on the rise, many people have chosen to begin traveling with their own car both for transportation and housing. It’s a simple and quick way to travel and keep all your belongings in the same place. Even if you have a small car, you can turn it into a camper and use it for your upcoming travels. Learn how with this complete guide!

Pack Your Things

This might seem like a step to do after you have turned the car into a camper, but it’s actually a better idea to do it before you start transforming your car. If you pack everything first, you will be able to see how much space your items take up in the car and how much space you have leftover.

Make a Seat Extender for the Trunk Of Your Car

Folding down the seats gives you extra space in the back that will allow you to pack more things. Many cars have seats that fold down completely flat and then you place a mattress or other sleeping surface right on top.

Making a seat extender is an easy DIY project that involves placing a piece of wood or other flat surfaces across the seats to give you a stable and flat surface to sleep. You can also buy car extenders from places like Amazon and Walmart if you don’t want to make them yourself.

Male sure you attach the extender to the seats or the headrests on the front seats. You can use simple straps and tie them around the headrests. This gives your sleeping surface a stable and fixed place.

Use Storage Bins for Packing In Your Car

Although you might be used to packing with suitcases or bags, storage bins are much better for cars. They can stack on top of each other much easier which will allow you to make more use of space. Stacking them in clear containers will also allow you to see what’s inside easily so you don’t have to move every box and rummage through them all when you need something.

Use Memory Foam

Some people are tempted to put a mattress into the back of the car, but this isn’t the best option for space reasons, although it might be the most comfortable. Memory foam can be just as comfortable as a mattress though and will be able to roll up and give you more room in the back of the car.

You can also buy a sleeping pad from a camping store to save space. You will need to inflate it when you are ready to sleep through.

Personalize and Enjoy your Time

Add special touches to the camper like sheets from home, colorful pillows, or a soft blanket. You can also bring along small items like books and photos to decorate the camper and have things that remind you of home while you are traveling.

Adhesive hooks on the side of the car can be great places to hang small lamps or photos.

Categories
Children Family Financial Savings

Mother’s Day Gifts You Can Save Big On

10 Mother’s Day Gift You Can Save Big On

Some of us tend to leave things typically at the last minute even though we all highly prize the day we can celebrate the woman who gave us life. But year after year, we do find ourselves stuck for gift ideas that won’t break the bank a few days before the big day. In this article, we’ll share the top ten Mother’s day gift ideas that will help you save big time.

1. Snack Box

No matter how health conscious mothers are, even they like to indulge in occasional treats. But why not give her something that honors her health consciousness but still feels like a treat? A snack box of healthy snacking items sounds great to us.

You could stuff in all-natural and non-GMO goodies for her.

2. Shower Steamers

After all the hard work she puts in daily, surely she deserves a shower that feels like a calming oasis. You can gift your mom a set of shower steamers that emit a variety of scents from essential oils. Lavender and eucalyptus always tend to please moms.

3. Caviar Package

Every mom is undeniably elegant, charming and classy and surely yours is too. A caviar package sounds just like the sustainable and luxurious gift she would enjoy.

4. Plantable Greeting Card

The written note from you will warm her heart while the seed paper on the front that she can tear and plant in her garden will delight her soul. Imagine her joy when herbs and wildflowers grow out of those seeds.

5. Beauty Tools

Every woman deserves indulgence and the best way to give her that is by gifting her a beauty tool. Some great ideas include a face massage roller, rose mist sprays and eye masks etc.

6. Neck-back Massager Pillow

Such a gift will soothe away the tension she feels every night in back, neck and feet. The portable massager will take her tiredness away each day and that sounds like an ideal gift for her.

7. Supplements

We’ve surely transformed into a health conscious society now and moms are in the lead. Supplement companies have come up with effective nutrients and you could find a package for her that boosts her health every day.

8. Essential Oil Diffuser Bracelet

This bracelet comes with a reusable refill pad in which she can drop her favorite essential oil. The bracelet will then keep relaxing her, reenergizing her etc. as she goes about her day.

9. Eyeshadow Palette

 Eyeshadow palettes are getting all the attention now that mask-wearing is mandatory. You can gift your mom a rich eye colors palette from her favorite brand. Cosmetics never fail to please a woman, regardless of her age.

10. Preserved Rose

This gift option is a step up to the fresh flowers that wither and die in a few days. A preserved rose comes in a fancy box in multi colors and can last up to five years in its stunning flower-shaped case.

Final thoughts

Short of time and budget doesn’t mean you have to compromise on the uniqueness and thoughtfulness of the gift you give your mom this Mother’s day. Our list of ideas will help you grab something she will absolutely love if you remember buying it at the last minute.