Control Your Spending and Borrowing, and You'll Control Your Financial Future

Neither a Borrower Nor a Spender Be

When I was growing up, my mother often quoted William Shakespeare's "neither a borrower nor a lender be." Wise advice, if you can stick to it.

Nowadays, borrowing to buy a home is considered by even the most conservative financial experts to be a good move, but spending is a big problem, as evidenced by the millions of Americans who are in debt over their heads. Nowadays Shakespeare might be more likely to advise us to "neither a borrower nor a spender be."

It's spending, not low income, that is at the root of most financial problems. Sometimes events beyond our control can propel us into debt, like the loss of a job, the death of a spouse, or large medical bills, but let's face it: for most of us, spending is what gets us into trouble. In fact, I believe that the key to having money is learning not to spend it.

Notice that I didn't say "learning how to spend it," but rather, "learning not to spend it.

The more money most people make, the more they spend. If they get a raise in salary--they buy a newer car, or a bigger home, or a bigger, better whatever. But it's not just the big things they buy, it's all the little things they now feel they can easily afford, and those things add up amazingly quickly.

You may find that over the years, although you're making significantly more money, you're no further ahead, or you still struggle to meet your financial obligations.

The words used in the campaign against drugs also apply to over spending: "Just Say No." One of the keys to resisting the urge to spend money is to have concrete financial goals, things that are important to you. Set a timeframe and a dollar amount for reaching the goal. Then when you're faced with the temptation to splurge, think about the goal you're working towards. Visualize it as clearly as you can. See it. Taste it. Smell it. And just say "no."

The Secret To Saving Money

You CAN Save For Your Future
Saving money is a basic concept of personal financial planning, and key to financial success. Yet many of us don't have a formal savings plan. Without such a plan, the chances of ever saving enough money to meet long-term financial goals or achieve financial security are very slim.

It seems simple. In order to save money, you need to have "extra" cash, right? This is a common misconception. Having a spending plan (aka "budget"), will help you create money for savings. Most of us, by setting spending goals, can manage to save regularly, so if you're tempted to hit your back button because you simply don't have enough money to have a formal savings plan, STOP! This article will tell you the "secrets" to savings.

First, set a few short-term and long-term financial goals to work towards, like a down payment on a car or home.

Include the dollar amount and a time frame for achieving the goal. It's much more motivating to save when you know what you're saving for. And remember, a goal that isn't written down is only a dream.

Set up a separate savings account. If you mingle your savings with your regular checking account, you'll almost certainly dip into your savings and may never pay them back. Having your savings in a separate account is a constant reminder that these funds are earmarked for your future, and watching the balance grow is not only rewarding and motivating - it's downright exciting!

If you don't already have a written budget that includes tracking your expenditures each month, begin one now. Whether you make thousands of dollars or hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, you need a budget. Budgeting can be relatively simple and entirely guilt-free. See Budgeting 101 for simple, easy budgeting.

Decide on a percentage of your gross income to designate as savings. 10% is a good starting point, but if you've developed a budget and have analyzed your spending and you honestly can't find a way to set aside 10% for your future, then start out with 8%, or 5%, or whatever you're able to do with perhaps a little bit of discomfort but without great sacrifice.

If possible, have your employer or your spouse's employer deduct a set amount from your paycheck each pay period and deposit it into your savings account automatically. The old adage "out of sight, out of mind" works well here. Having to transfer money to your savings account is a little like giving someone who is trying to quit smoking a cigarette to carry around in his pocket and expecting him not to light up. Why tempt yourself? Make it easy and increase your chances of success with automatic deposits or transfers.

Whenever unexpected money comes your way, put all or most of it into your savings account. Bonuses, salary increases, tax refunds, rebates, overtime pay, income from hobbies or yard sales and other windfalls can pump up your savings account nicely without requiring additional cutbacks.

If you're forced to dip into your savings for an emergency, consider it a loan which must be paid back in a reasonable period of time, and set up a repayment schedule.

That's all there is to it! The "secret" is that there's no magic involved. The key is to start now and stick to it.

From Apply Now

Pretty Nails for a Whole Lot Less...

Hello Ladies!

As many of you out there are guilty for paying expensive nail salon prices, so am I. For the past few years, I became hooked on my pretty french-tipped acrylic nails. I receive so many compliments on them, my fingers look dainty, and my rings look so much prettier when my nails are all dressed up.

Here's the thing ladies, do you realize how much money has gone down the drain for your nail upkeep? Let's look at my situation. For the past year, I've spent $90 a month on my nails. How so? Well, every week I went for my fill-ins, which is $20. So that's $80 a month plus the few bucks I give every week for a tip. That's $1,080 a year!

Now you're probably thinking, I go every week to get my fill-ins, but you go only every 2 weeks. Still, if you're paying about $16-$20 every 2 weeks for fill-ins, that's still $32-$40 a month, which comes out to $384-$480 a year!! That's enough to pay for a utility bill or a car payment!

Anyways, here's the money saving tip from me to you...Do your OWN nails, and here's how to make them look professional...

The last time you went to Walgreens to buy a pack of $5 nails, it was probably back in 1990! LOL! But things have changed, and glue-on "at home" nails have become beautiful and much more high-tech. The trick is to buying fake nails at the drugstore that have a CLEAR base. That means, for instance, if you were to buy french tips, get the nails that are totally clear by the part you glue to your nail, not the ones with the peachy or pinkish color.

The next step is to find brush on glue, NOT the kind that comes with the kit where you dab a drop onto your nail. Get the one you actually have to brush on your nail like nail polish. When you apply the nail, press EXTREMELY tight to get rid of any bubbles that can show through the clear plastic nail. I mean press TIGHT! The tighter you press, the less bubbles/imperfections you'll see. Also make sure you squeeze the nail as close to your cuticles as possible for a more natural look. When you are done, file your nails the way you've studied at the salon. I file mine in a pretty square shape with slightly rounded edges, and I keep them long enough to look feminine but short enough to actually do things with them without looking like I have claws. The key to these drug store nails is to make sure you play with the sizes before you start gluing. Look for the nail in the box that fits best for each nail first. Line them up before you glue them on to make sure your nails match up on each hand, THEN do the gluing. And voila!!

It's amazing how fake drugstore nails have come a long way! My nails don't start coming off for about a week +. The soonest they've come off was a week.

So, you can either throw your money down the drain every week (or every 2 weeks) like I did, our you could go to Walgreens and by some clear french tip nails (or colored nails) and apply them yourself. I pay $2.99 for the nail glue, and I only buy my clear fake french tipped nails when they're on sale. Regular price is $5.99, but I pay $3.19 when they're on sale. I'm cheap, I know, but at least my nails look good and I'm paying less than half the cost. So for less than $10 a month (less than $120 a year), my hands look just as pretty as the other girls and it's not breaking the bank=)
Another plus to doing your own nails is that you don't have to worry about what time the salon opens and closes. I usually do my nails when I'm watching tv after work, and it only takes me about a half hour! I love it! Filing them takes the longest amount of time since it's hard to file the plastic nail, but they come out looking salon-quality!!! Try this at home girls and let me know how it works. I'd love to hear that I helped you all save some money=)

ps. if you're worried about a fake nail falling off, I suggest you buy an extra brush on glue to carry in your purse. However, my nails never just fall off. I press them on soooo tightly that they feel like they're glued for life! When they get weak, you'll know because the nails won't seem as tight on your real nail, and they'll get weak around the edges like acrylic nails do. At that point, redo the nail before it comes off by itself when you least expect it.

Car Related Saving Money Tips

Let�s face it. With the rising cost of living, we�re all trying to save a buck. Whether we shop at discount stores, eat out less or simply don�t spend as much, there are tons of ways that we can save money. In this article, we will talk about how you can save money on car insurance. No, this is not an article about Geico or any insurance company for that matter. It is an article that specifically addresses ways that you can save money with any company. So, without further adieu, let�s discuss several ways that you can save money on your car insurance.

1. Research to find the best insurance company. First and foremost, you have to be willing to research to find the best deals. The best deals aren�t out there saying, �hey choose me.� Instead, you have to be willing to shop around for the best deal. This means getting on the phone and calling companies that you�re interested in doing business with or conducting price comparisons online. Either way, you have to be willing to put in the necessary effort to receive the golden egg.

2. Buy the right car. Buying the right car can save you a ton of money on your car insurance. This is because some cars (ex. sport cars and luxury cars)are stolen more than others and insurance companies have to charge more money for insurance to cover them. Therefore, if you purchase insurance for a lower profile car you won�t be charged more.

3. Increase your deductible. If you�re like most folks, you have a really low deductible on your car insurance policy. Although this is good for the insurance policy, it is bad for you because that deductible although costing you less upfront, it is costing you big money in the long haul. Therefore, you can save yourself a ton of money if you simply raise that deductible and your premium will be increased. Before you do however, make sure that you can actually afford to pay the new deductible.

4. Protect your car. Another way to save money is to install anti-theft devices and to keep your car in a garage. According to John Bailey, a retired insurance salesman, �Insurance companies truly respect and admire customers who protect their cars from thieves and environmental elements. To show their appreciation, insurance companies reward valuable customers with lower rates and tend to honor their legitimate claims.� Therefore, make sure that you inform your insurance company of any alarm systems or fact that you�ll be keeping your car inside your garage.

5. Drive safely and carefully. This may sound like a no-brainer but many people don�t realize that driving safely is very important. Not only for your general health and well being but for your pocket book. Simply put, insurance companies love safe drivers and reward them with the best rates. They also penalize those that file excessive claims. Therefore do your best to avoid accident claims at all costs.

6. Don�t drive too much. Another way to lower your premiums is to simply not drive your car much. For instance, if you only drive recreationally and not to and from work, you may be entitled to a certain reduction in insurance premiums.

7. Request applicable discounts. Just like there are safe driver discounts, there are also AAA, student discounts, anti-theft device discounts, multi family, and multi policy discounts, etc. You simply have to be willing to request discounts. To do so, contact your insurance company and ask them if you�re entitled.

8. Negotiate to get best deal. Another way to get your insurance reduced is to negotiate. If you have written quotes from another insurance company then take it to your existing insurer and see if they would be wiling to match it. Many times they are willing to �make a deal� in order to avoid you going elsewhere for your insurance needs.

9. Consider moving. Insurance companies base their rates on level of crime in your neighborhood. Therefore it is likely that you may be charged less money if you live in what is considered a �safer neighborhood� than one that is not.

10. Consider changing jobs. Insurance companies consider certain professions riskier than others. For example, taxi drivers pay more insurance than other professionals and so do pizza delivery personnel. One way to save money is to not work in a field insurance companies consider risky.

In conclusion, you can save money on your car insurance. You just have to be diligent in finding best insurance company, buy the right car, increase your deductible, protect your car, drive safely, don�t drive too much, request applicable discounts, negotiate to get best deal, and consider moving and changing jobs. If you do this, you�ll not only receive the best deal on your car insurance but you�ll have peace of mind in knowing that you did what was best for you and your family.

No need to buy wrapping paper w/ Kids either

Depending on what kind of paper you have around you can have your dc's decorate the paper before you wrap a gift. We've used whaterver we've had around the house including paper bags. MIL loves it

Save Money on Heating Costs

Reduce Heating Costs With These Money Saving Tips

If you live in a region that is cold in the winter, heating costs take a big bite out of your monthly budget for 25 - 50% of the year. Due to the rapidly escalating costs of home heating oil, propane, and kerosene, you may be paying twice as much to heat your house as you did just a few years ago. You can cut your heating costs significantly by following these money-saving tips.

• Do an energy audit of your house, identifying areas where heated air is leaking out. Check around doors, windows, fireplaces, and other areas that may feel drafty. Use caulk, weather stripping, door sweeps, plastic, and other appropriate means to close off these leaks. If your house is poorly insulated, adding additional insulation will pay for itself in reduced heating costs.

• Minimize your use of ventilation fans such as bathroom fans and kitchen hood fans in winter.
• A bathroom fan can suck all the heated air out of the average house in little more than an hour. Over the course of the winter, ventilation fans can increase your heating costs by a surprising amount.

• Don't heat areas of your house you don't use regularly, such as guest rooms. Close heating vents or turn back thermostats in those areas and close the doors for a painless reduction in heating costs.

• Turn down the heat and use space heaters to heat the room you spend time in.

• Keep your furnace, heat pump, or other heating equipment in top operating condition. Dirty filters reduce the efficiency of your furnace or heat pump. Poorly tuned units are inefficient and use more fuel. An annual maintenance agreement is well worth the money to ensure that your equipment is properly maintained and will last as long as possible.

• Don't turn your thermostat up above the desired temperature. It won't heat up any more quickly and will make your furnace work harder. Also, while it makes sense to turn the heat back when you're sleeping or not at home, turning it down too low can actually cost you more because the contents of the house have to be re-heated in addition to the air. 68 to 70 degrees while you're home and awake, and 60 to 65% while you're asleep or not at home are reasonable temperatures.

• Consider a programmable thermostat to raise and lower the temperature at pre-set times.

• Check the temperature setting on your hot water heater. If you have a dishwasher, your water should be heated to 120%. Otherwise, it can be somewhat lower.

• If your water heater is in an unheated space like an unfinished basement, wrap it in an insulation blanket available at hardware stores to prevent heat loss.

• Wash clothes in cold water whenever possible.

• It's tempting to stand under a hot shower on a cold morning for as long as possible, but cutting your shower time in half can save up to 33% on your hot water heating costs.

• In winter, open the blinds and curtains on the sunny side of the house (the south-facing side) when the sun is shining and close them as soon as the sun goes down to retain the solar heat. Close curtains on the shady side of the house (north-facing side). If you don't have curtains, consider installing some. Curtains made from heavy fabric with lots of folds (fullness) can prevent cold air from seeping in and warm air from seeping out, which reduces your heating costs.

Save Money on Bank Fees

Cut Your Banking Costs by Hundreds of Dollars

You probably don't give much thought to the cost of banking: monthly checking account fees, ATM fees, bounced-check fees, etc., but if you can shave banking expenses, you can save money and put it in your own pocket. Remember: it's easier to find lots of ways to save a little money than it is to earn more income, and lots of little savings add up.

Save Money on Your Checking Account

• If you're paying for the use of your own money by paying fees to maintain a checking account, look for a bank with no-fee checking. Many banks offer no-fee checking if you keep a minimum balance in a savings account or maintain a minimum combined balance in your savings and checking accounts.

• Get information from several banks and choose the one that best fits your habits. If you always dip below the minimum balance, it does no good to have "free" checking, since you'll incur a fee if your balance goes below the minimum.
• Potential Money Savings: $96-120/yr.

• Buy your checks through a discounter such as Checks Unlimited (www.checksunlimited.com)1-800-204-2244; Checks in the Mail (www.checksinthemail.com)1-800-733-4443, or CheckWorks (www.checkworks.com)1-800-971-4223. Discounters charge around $6.00 to $8.00 for 200 checks, as opposed to the $20 to $25 your bank charges. Potential Money Savings: $15-38/yr.

• Balance your checkbook every month and do not bounce checks. Typical fees for a check written against insufficient funds range from $20 to $35. If more checks clear before you're aware of the problem, you can easily bounce two or three additional checks for a total cost of $100 or more. Potential Money Savings: $100 or more/yr.
• If you keep a significant balance in an interest-bearing account, keep it in a bank that uses the average daily balance method for calculating your minimum balance and interest. You're much less likely to be charged a fee if you dip below the minimum balance during the month (as long as your average daily balance for the entire month is not below the minimum), plus you earn interest on all your money. Other methods of calculating interest can cost you hundreds of dollars a year in interest that would have been credited to your account under the average daily balance method. Potential Money Savings: $100-300/yr.

Save Money on ATM Fees

Move your checking account to a bank that has a large ATM network with branches near your home and work. Potential Money Savings: see below.

Use only Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) that don't charge fees. If you withdraw $20 from an ATM and are charged $1.50 by the ATM owner, you have in effect paid a 7 1/2 % surcharge for access to your own money. Your bank may also charge you an out-of-network transaction fee, doubling the actual cost to you. Potential Money Savings: $78-156 or more/yr.

Save Money On Car Expenses

Save on New Car Purchases and Maintenance

You can save big money on your car expenses - thousands of dollars a year. The more cost-saving measures you adopt, the more money you'll save. Potential savings will vary widely depending on your personal situation.

SAVE MONEY ON NEW CAR PURCHASES

• Keep cars longer instead of trading every few years. Not only does the cost of new cars rise each year, but cars depreciate quickly, and when you trade frequently, you lose money on low trade-in values. Buy a good quality car and keep it for five to seven years. Potential Money Savings: $400-1,000/yr.

• When buying a new car, consider smaller models. They're often cheaper, and because they're lighter, they usually get better gasoline mileage. In addition, insurance is cheaper. Potential Money Savings: $400-600/yr.

• When buying a new car, consider the impact that various options have on fuel economy.
• For example, you sacrifice several miles per gallon when using air conditioning on the highway and even more in stop-and-go traffic; automatic transmissions get about five mpg less than manual transmissions; six-cylinder engines get about four to five mpg less than four-cylinder engines. Potential Money Savings: $400/yr or more.

• Don't buy credit life or credit disability insurance through your car dealer when purchasing a new car. Some dealers do a hard sell on these coverages, but they are highly overpriced, and if they're folded into your car loan, you not only end up paying 100% to 500% more than you should for the coverage, you also pay interest on it. Stick to regular life and disability insurance through your employer or an individual policy. Potential Money Savings: $300-500.

• Be extremely wary of purchasing service contracts or extended warranties on new automobiles through your dealer. Many of them have very limited coverage (in spite of what the salesman may lead you to believe) and they cost much more than policies purchased directly from providers like Warranty Direct (www.warrantydirect.com). Potential Money Savings: $500-1,000.

SAVE MONEY ON CAR MAINTENANCE

• Keep your car properly tuned. A poorly tuned car uses between 25% and 33% more gasoline each year. It's cheaper to pay the cost of a tune-up. Potential Money Savings: $150-250/yr.

• Change the oil and oil filter in your car every 3,000 miles, regardless of how often your owner's manual recommends. More frequent oil changes are the single most important factor in extending the life of your engine, and will more than pay for themselves in savings on repairs and engine wear. Potential Money Savings: $500 - $3,000.

• Check your car's air filter monthly. A dirty filter shortens the engine's life and reduces gasoline mileage up to 10%. You can clean the filter by removing it and blowing it with an air hose, or you can replace it. Potential Money Savings: $130/yr or more.

• Use steel-belted radial tires. This can increase your gasoline mileage up to 10% per year. Potential Money Savings: $130/yr or more.

• Unless your car is knocking and pinging, don't use a higher octane gas than your owner's manual recommends. For most cars, premium gasoline offers no benefit. Unless your car has a high-performance engine and your manufacturer recommends a high-octane gas, use the less expensive gas. Premium gas costs 10% to 15% higher than regular. Potential Money Savings: $200-400/yr.

• Check your tire pressure regularly. You can lose up to 6% in gasoline mileage for every pound of under-inflation. Potential Money Savings: $140-400/yr.

• Add thousands of miles to the life of your tires by having them balanced once a year. In addition to destroying the tread, improperly balanced tires can wear out your shock absorbers and damage your suspension system, leading to more expense. Potential Money Savings: $175-250/yr.

• Check fluid levels regularly. Low battery water shortens your battery's life. Also check coolant, automatic transmission fluid, brake and clutch fluids. Potential Money Savings: $50-300/yr.

Cut Your Gas, Insurance, and Other Car Expenses

See Part One of this article for ways to save money on new car purchases and maintenance.

SAVE MONEY ON GAS

• Pump your own gas. Self serve gas is usually 5% to 10% cheaper than full service. Potential Money Savings: $65-130/yr.

• Don't "top off the tank" when pumping gas. Some of the gas may end up overflowing when it expands in the sun or if you park on a hill. Potential Money Savings: $20-53/yr.

SAVE MONEY ON INSURANCE

• Ask your insurance agent how much money you can save by raising the deductible on your auto collision insurance. Often, raising the deductible from $200 to $500 can save you 10% to 30%. If you have a good driving record, you could come out ahead. Potential Money Savings: $50-225/yr.

• Make sure you notify your insurance company of all the safety features that qualify you for discounts on auto or homeowner's insurance, such as automatic seat belts or air bags in your car, smoke detectors in your home, etc.
• Non-smokers or non-drinkers can often get additional discounts. Potential Money Savings: $50-100/yr.

• If you drive an older car, consider dropping collision and comprehensive coverage (don't drop liability coverage). Collision coverage is required if you have a car loan, but for older cars that you own free and clear, weigh the car's book value (what the insurance company would pay you if the car was totaled) against your collision premiums. If your car is over five years old or is worth less than $1000, keeping collision and comprehensive coverage may not be worth what you're paying in insurance premiums. Potential Money Savings: $100-300/yr.

• Before buying a new car, ask your insurance agent whether the model you are considering will require a surcharge due to higher theft, damage or repair costs. Potential Money Savings: $50-200/yr.

• Shop around for insurance. If you're getting good service from your company and are happy with the rates, you may want to stay with them, especially if you have had accidents or tickets. But if your record is good, shop around to see how much you can save, then decide if the savings are worth the switch. Potential Money Savings: $50-200/yr.

• Consider combining your auto and homeowner's insurance under one policy. Many insurers give a discount for multiple policies. Potential Money Savings: $50-200/yr.

• If you have a high school or college student under 25-years old in your household, ask about the good student discount for auto insurance. If your student qualifies, you could save 25%. Potential Money Savings: $125/yr.

• Avoid tickets for speeding or moving violations. Many insurance companies give a discount of up to 20% if you have not had an accident or ticket for three years or more. Potential Money Savings: $100/yr or more.

SAVE MONEY DRIVING

• Car pool to work. By sharing the driving with just one other person, you could save an average of $20/month or $200/year in gasoline alone, if your commute is 20 miles round-trip each day. Sharing the driving with two others increases your savings even more. Savings vary depending on the length of your commute. In addition to savings on gasoline, you'll save maintenance costs and wear and tear on your car. Potential Money Savings: $400-700/yr.

• Another benefit to car pooling is that it reduces the annual mileage on your car. Since this reduces the risk of accident, your insurance company charges you less for your coverage. Potential Money Savings: $25-50/yr.

• Wasteful driving habits can double your fuel consumption. Develop gas-saving habits, such as: (1) always accelerate gently; (2) watch traffic ahead of you so you can anticipate slow-downs and avoid stops; (3)coast up to traffic jams by lifting your foot off the gas pedal instead of approaching at full speed and slamming on the brakes. It takes 20% more gas to accelerate to normal speed from a full stop than it does from four or five miles per hour; (4) don't drive too fast or too slow. It takes 20% to 30% more gas to drive at 70 mph than 50 mph; (5) maintain a steady speed on the highway. Avoid getting stuck behind slow cars where you have to slow down to their pace and then speed up to pass. Potential Money Savings: $390/yr.

• Don't warm your car up by letting it idle. The engine warms up faster when driving than it does when idling, and idling wastes about a quart of gas every 15 minutes. Potential Money Savings: $90/yr.

• Save fuel by combining errands into one trip and avoid backtracking whenever possible. Potential Money Savings: $25-100/yr.

Save Money on Your Credit Cards

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Cut Your Credit Card Costs

You can easily save thousands of dollars a year with very little effort by following even a few of the cost-saving measures in the "Save Money" series. The more cost-saving measures you adopt, the more money you'll save. See the links on the right for more ways to save money.

• If you're paying more than 12% interest on your VISA or Mastercard, you're paying too much. With the prime interest rate in the single digits, lenders that charge 13% to 21% interest on credit card balances are gouging you. With good credit, you should be able to find a credit card rate (as of summer of 2004) for between 9% and 12%. For a list of the lowest credit card rates, visit bankrate.com. Potential Money Savings: $450-1000/yr.

• If you can obtain a lower interest credit card, you can usually use cash advances to pay off the balance on your other credit cards and transfer this debt to the lower rate card.
• Some cards charge a higher fee for transferred balances, so be sure to read the small print before applying, and make sure you can pay it off or transfer your balance again to another card before the introductory period rate expires. Potential Money Savings: $200-500/yr. (more if you have a lot of credit card debt at high interest rates).

• Consider using part of your savings to pay off consumer debt, if you can do so without using all of your available cash. With banks paying less than 1% on passbook savings, and credit card debt carrying 10% to 21% interest charges, you could come out way ahead. Be careful to leave yourself enough savings or borrowing power to fall back on in case of an emergency. Potential Money Savings: $200-500/yr.

• If you don't have enough savings to pay off your consumer debt, consider a home equity loan. Interest rates on home equity loans are much lower than most credit cards, so you win in two ways: (1) you slash your interest costs, say from 16% on the credit card to 6 or 7% on the home equity loan, and (2) you can deduct the home equity loan interest from your taxable income. Be cautious, though. Remember you're putting your home at risk. Potential Money Savings: $1,000 - $2000 yr.

• Look for no fee credit cards (be sure to consider all the other factors such as grace period, interest rate, etc., as well). Even if you are charged an annual fee, you can may be able to get the fee waived by calling your bank and asking them to remove it. Potential Money Savings: $25-50/yr.

• Whenever possible, avoid finance charges on credit cards, especially cards with high interest rates. If you pay down your credit card balance by just $500 you can save $100 a year in interest charges. Potential Money Savings: $100-1,000/yr.

• If you have a balance on more than one credit card, use this money-saving strategy, which I call the Credit Crunch: Pay the most you can afford each month on the card with the highest interest rate, and make the minimum payment on the others. Once the card with the highest interest rate is paid off, begin paying as much as possible each month on the card with the next highest interest rate, and so on. Potential Money Savings: varies

Getting a good deal on a car rental

It is a little known fact that car rental companies often offer extremely low rates to customers who simply walk in without a reservation.

Also, if a car rental company has too many SUVs or too many convertibles etc. they will deeply discount the daily rental rates on those specific car-types.

Thirdly, rental companies secretly call eachother daily to "rate-shop" what the competition is offering. The smart companies then set their rates slightly lower to ensure that customers calling from the airport terminal will chose to rent from them instead of the competition.

The Takeaway:
Book your car as early in advance as possible, then when you get to the car rental counter ask what the rates are BEFORE you tell 'em you have a reservation. If they quote you a lower rate, they must honor it. If they quote you a higher rate...just stick with the quoted price on your reservation.

Save money on carpet cleaning

A home-made carpet cleaning solution that will save you money with household ingredients (great for baby or pet messes):

1 tablespoon of laundry detergent (anyone will do)
2 tablespoons of vinegar
1 quart water.

Spray on stain.
Let sit (longer for tougher stains)
dab with a moist cloth.

Re: Save money on carpet cleaning
I recently had to get my carpets cleaned after looking after my sister's dog for a week. I had purchased many products from the supermarket to try remove the stains where the dog had some accidents. Nothing seemed to work, the products themeselves seemed to leave more stains and so gradually there was a big ring appearing in the carpet around where the original stain was.

When the carpet cleaning man was cleaning the carpet, he was amazed at how much soap foam was coming off the carpet from where I had cleaned. He said this was what was causing the bad staining (dry soap and detergent), he advised that in future I should only use water and that on wool carpets thats really all that should be needed.

Save money today

Millions of pounds are wasted each year by the British public, from food rotting in the fridge to paying too much for gas and electricity. Use the following tips to help you save hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds a year.

On food

• Buy fresh produce from markets not supermarkets, they're almost always cheaper.

• If you do shop at the supermarket, make a list and stick to it, unless you see food that's massively reduced.

• Buy cheaper cuts of meat and tenderise them by cooking them more slowly, in casseroles, for example. They're just as nutritious.

• Make your own sandwiches. The pre-packed sandwich industry is worth £3.3 billion a year! At £2 a sandwich, someone who buys sandwiches for work every day spends more than £40 a month, or almost £500 a year! Home-made sandwiches freeze brilliantly too

• Don't waste leftover food. Be inventive - you can make very tasty and nourishing meals with it

• Batch cook. Cooking large amounts of food and freezing it is much more cost effective both in terms of ingredients and the energy used to cook the food

• Don't buy convenience food. It's usually high in salt, sugar and fat, but it's also very expensive and profitable for the supermarkets that sell it

At home

• Turn down the thermostat on your central heating by just one degree. This could save you almost ten per cent on your heating bill. And, according to the Environment Agency, over the year, this will save about 240kg of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere, equivalent to the amount absorbed by about 80 trees.

• Check your gas and electricity supplier to see if they're the cheapest. An average house could save more than £100 just by switching supplier.

• Don't heat rooms you don't use, or heat them gently.

• Don't fill the kettle full every time. It takes a kilowatt to heat a litre of water by 1°C (1.8°F). Just put the amount of water you need in your kettle.

• Ensure that you don't have leaky windows and doors.

• Fit loft insulation - some councils will offer grants in certain circumstances.

• Don't leave electrical equipment, such as TVs and stereos, on standby. It wastes electricity.

• Turn off the lights when you leave the room.

• Fit energy-saving light bulbs, they're kind to the environment and they save you money in the long run.

• Shower don't bath. It uses a lot less water and therefore saves on heating.

• Hanging out the washing is free, and saves you using the energy-thirsty tumble dryer.

• Buy things from charity shops or even shops at the council tip. They cost a fraction of the 'new' price and are often in very good condition. Toddlers soon grow out of their toys, so buying them ones from charity shops is a cheap way to give them an endless supply.

Going out

• Do you have to take the car? Could you walk?

• Can you buy it locally? Big shops may be cheaper but they might not be once you've added on petrol, bus and train fares. You'll also be supporting your local community.

• Happy hour! Many pubs, restaurants and cinemas have discounts for less popular times of the day. Taking advantage of this can save you up to 50 per cent of the cost.

• Off-peak travel. If you're planning to visit friends by train or bus, check out the savings made by going off-peak. For example, a peak return from Winchester to London Waterloo by train costs more than £35. An off-peak travel card costs just over £22 and if you have a travel card (which costs a one-off £20 a year) it only costs £15.

• Go 'out' to friends. You can have a great night out by taking a bottle of wine and a takeaway to a friend's house, or have them come to you. You'll save a fortune compared with going to a restaurant.

• Car share. If you commute to work, or do a school run, team up with neighbours and share the journey.

• Join a babysitting circle. If you want to leave the children at home, you can save money by joining a group of babysitters. The babysitting is therefore free, you just return the favour. This can save you about £20 for a long evening.

• Carry out research on the internet for the best bargains, before you go out to buy something. It'll save you the hassle of walking from shop to shop, saving time and petrol, and you'll be more likely to find the cheapest deal.

On finances

• Consolidate any debts you have. Don't pay ludicrous credit card interest rates. Talk to your bank about getting a loan to pay them off, or switch to a card that offers cheap rates for transferred balances. This can save you hundreds of pounds depending on the size of your debt.

• Pay all your bills by direct debit. This means they're paid on time, you get used to not having the money and you can budget properly. Often there are discounts for doing so too.

• Ensure your savings are in the best sort of account. If you don't need to touch it, put it in a higher interest account, although this does mean restrictions on getting your cash.

• If you can afford it, make use of your ISA allowances. You can save up to £3,000 in cash in any one tax year, and the interest is tax-free. You can also save in shares and life cover with an ISA. Get advice from a financial adviser.

• Make sure you're getting all the allowances that you're entitled to, including all the child credits if you have children. The Citizens Advice Bureau can help you with this.

• Save loose change. You'd be amazed how quickly coppers and silver in a piggy bank turn into notes.

Six steps to help you save money

You have a nice salary, but you still feel short of money. At the end of each month, you often ask yourselves, "Where has all my money gone"? To help you better manage your salary, here comes some money saving tips. Following them your daily expense will be cut off easily, but still keep the quality of your life.

First, you need to set ambitious goals to encourage you to save money. For example, you plan to have a formal dress in one year, to own a car in two years' time or to buy an apartment in five years.

Second, form money saving habits while stay away from those that waste money. Learn to keep a diary of how much you spend and what it's for. Think twice before using money on expensive skin care products. The best ways to keep your skin in good condition is sufficient sleep.

Third, economize your daily expense. Change electric wares into energy efficient ones and leave no more than one light open when you leave home. Buy vegetables from a market not a supermarket where vegetables are less expensive and more fresh. When going to a supermarket, take a notebook with you. Write down what you wanna buy to avoid buying unnecessary stuffs. For things like shampoo, soap or washing powder, buy the family pack.

For girls, who always spend money on clothes, there are some rules helping cut off the expense. Keep an eye on discounts information, you're likely to buy good summer dress in winter in a reasonable price. Shopping malls issue membership cards periodically. Go and get one if it's free, it may give you special discounts.

Fifth, economize your social life. Package the leftovers for next day when you have dinner in a restaurant. When it's your turn to offer a meal, invite your friends to your home, cook the dinner yourself. If you are to attend a wedding ceremony and an expensive present is needed, ask several friends to go together to share a present. When separate from your boyfriend, send the gifts he sent you to your friends instead of throwing them away

While reducing expenditures, you need broaden your way earning money. Find yourself a part-time job if you are energetic enough, which gives you more working experience. Give birth to your money. If you are not good at making investments, talk to a financial consultant and entrust your savings with him.

Save Money On Medications

If you take prescription medications, check to see if you can sign up for a mail order service. Usually receiving medications in the mail can save you a decent amount of money. Also check with your doctor to see if you are able to take generic versions of your medications. The generic drugs are much much cheaper and usually have the same chemical formula.

5 Tips for Managing Student Loan Debt

1. Take Stock of Your Loans
To best manage your student loan debt you should know:
� How much you owe in student loans
� What your student loan interest rates are
� What you monthly student loan payments will be
You can access information about your Federal student loans on the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), using your FAFSA PIN.


2. Pay Attention to Your Loans While in School
It is easy for students to forget about student loan debt because they aren�t required to make payments while in school. However, as college tuition and the average student loan debt increases, it is becoming more important that students start managing their student loan debt while still in school. Parents are also given the option to defer payments until their children graduate, but this can have a ballooning effect on the loans. Paying down student loans or student loan interest during school is definitely a better financial plan for both students and parents who can afford it.


3. Pay off Your High-Interest Loans First
Some education loans have higher interest rates than others. Typically, Federal student loans such as Stafford Loans or PLUS loans have lower interest rates than private loans. Although a large Federal student loan balance may be more daunting, a few thousand dollars in private loan debt may carry a much higher interest rate. When you have extra money, put it towards your higher interest rate loans and you�ll save more money in the long run.


4. Utilize All Borrower Benefits Offered By Your Lender
Borrower benefits are money-saving incentives that lenders offer to students and parents on their education loans. Lenders use these benefits to reward borrowers who make consistent on-time payments, enroll in an automatic debit program, or utilize tools created by the lender that better manage monthly student loan payments. These benefits can come in the form of interest rate reductions, where a discount is taken off the interest rate. They can also be offered as principal reductions, where the borrower receives a loan credit or money off the total balance of their loan. Taking advantage of these benefits can help you save money and pay off your student loans faster.


5. Consider Student Loan Consolidation or �Refinancing�
Student loan consolidation has recently grown in popularity and is becoming a common method for students and parents to manage their education debt. Whether you have just one loan or 20 loans, you can use student loan consolidation as a tool to manage education debt and possibly save thousands of dollars in the process. Student loan consolidation can:
� Combine your loans into one easy payment (if you have more than one)
� Reduce your monthly payments
� Save you money with borrower benefits such as discounts off your interest rate.

Save Money on Your Home Expenses

Cut Mortgage, Utilities, and Other Home-Related Costs

You can easily save thousands of dollars a year with very little effort by following even a few of the cost-saving measures in the "Save Money" series. The more money-saving measures you adopt, the more money you'll save. Potential savings will vary, depending on your personal situation. See the links to the right for more money-saving ideas.

Save Money On Your Mortgage

• Consider refinancing your mortgage. For every $10,000 of your mortgage loan, 1/2 % difference in the interest rate saves you over $40/year or $3.40/month in interest expense. A $100,000 loan at 9 1/2% refinanced at 7 1/2% saves $142/month or $1,704/year, for a total of $50,991 over the life of a 30-year mortgage. Potential Money Savings: $1,700/yr.

• For even more dramatic long-term savings, consider a 15-year mortgage rather than a 30-year mortgage.
• A $100,000 mortgage at 9 1/2% over 15 years saves $114,747 over the life of the loan compared to a 30-year mortgage at the same interest rate. At 7 1/2%, the savings between a 30-year and 15-year mortgage of $100,000 would be $84,854. A 9% loan of $100,000, refinanced for 15 years at 7 1/2% would add $86/month to your payment but would save you a whopping $135,845 over the life of the loan. Potential Money Savings: $84,000-136,000
• You can achieve similar results by paying an extra principal payment on your 30-year loan each month. (In the early years of a loan, the principal portion of your payment is very small. On a 30-year $100,000 loan at 7 1/2%, the monthly principal payment in the first several years is approximately $75 to $85/month).Potential Money Savings: $85,000-136,000.

• Still another way to achieve these results is to pay one half of your monthly mortgage every two weeks. Potential Money Savings: $85,000-136,000.

Save Money On Utilities - Electricity

• Install the new type of fluorescent bulbs in lights you leave on for long periods. They provide four times as much light and last ten times longer than incandescent bulbs. Potential Money Savings: $10-$50/yr.

• Lower the temperature on your hot water heater to between 110 and 120 degrees. It's not necessary to have it any hotter and wastes energy. Potential Money Savings: $20-40/yr.

• Find out if your utility company offers free energy audits, where they inspect your home for energy effectiveness and recommend inexpensive ways to cut energy costs, such as insulating hot water heaters, weather-stripping, etc. Just insulating your hot water heater could save you $25 a year. Potential Money Savings: $50/yr.

• Set thermostats no higher than 68 degrees in winter and no lower than 78 degrees in summer. Turn your heat down even further at night or when you're not home (unless you have a heat pump, which operates more efficiently at one consistent setting). Each extra degree in winter can increase heating costs by 3%. In summer, each degree can raise cooling costs by 6%. Potential Money Savings: $325 to $500/yr.

• Cut back on the use of your clothes dryer. Not only is it a big energy drain, it can also suck heated air out of your house very quickly in winter. Hang clothes on a clothes rack to dry and use the dryer for towels and other heavy items. Potential Money Savings: $25-50/yr.

• Use your microwave instead of your oven whenever possible and save up to 50% in energy costs for cooking. Potential Savings: $50/yr.

Cut Costs on Miscellaneous Home-Related Expenses

Save Money On Utilities - Water

• Always do full loads of laundry. A typical full load uses about 21 gallons of water. A small load uses 14 gallons. Several small loads use considerably more water than one or two large loads. Over the course of a year, this adds up. Potential Money Savings: $25-$125/yr.

• Run your dishwasher only when you have a full load. Let the dishes air-dry instead of using the heat cycle. An average dishwasher costs $60 to $100 per year to run. Potential Money Savings: $35-55/yr.
• Fix running toilets or leaking faucets promptly. A continuously running toilet can use more than 8,000 gallons of water a year. Potential Money Savings: $25-125/yr.
• Install flow restricting shower heads. A family of four can save 8,000 to 12,000 gallons of water a year.
• You not only save on the cost of the water, but also the cost of heating it. Potential Money Savings: $100-$300/yr.$
• Add fabric softener to your laundry at the appropriate point in the cycle instead of adding it at the end and running another rinse cycle, which can use up to 10 extra gallons of water. Figure out how much time it takes your washer to reach the rinse cycle, and set a timer so you can add softener at the right time. Potential Savings: $25-100/yr.
• Use warm or cold water for washing clothes, and always rinse in cold water. Potential Savings: $50/yr.

Save Money On Utilities - Other

Stick to basic phone service. Extra services like call waiting and call forwarding can almost double your costs for phone services. Potential Savings: $168/yr.

If you can live without cable television, you can save between $300 and $600 per year. If you can't live without it, get basic service only. You can rent a lot of movies for the extra $150 to $600 per year you pay for movie channels like HBO, Showtime, etc. Potential Money Savings: $144-700/yr.

Plant perennial flowers instead of annuals. You incur a one time cost and enjoy the flowers for years, with little additional effort or money. Annuals, on the other hand, require an outlay of cash and effort every year. Potential Money Savings: $100-$300/yr.

If you live in a cold region of the country, heating costs are a major expense. Tips on shaving some significant savings off your heating bill are covered in Save Money on Heating Costs.

How to Save Money on Gas

Gas prices keep going up, and our wallets keep getting thinner. There are many ways you can save money on gas, at the gas staion, and also keep healthy as well.

Steps

1. Don't drive. Don't drive a car when you don't have to. Carpool, walk, take the bike, or take a bus. These will not only save gas, but also will help save our environment and may be better for your health. Do you really need to drive to the store that is only a couple of blocks down the street?
2. Get a credit card. Some right credit cards offer gas savings when you use the card for purchases. This works in much the same way that some credit card companies allow you to earn frequent flyer miles when you use their card for purchases. But watch for interest rate charges. However, some stations now charge a higher rate for using a credit card.
3. Get a better air filter. There are more efficient brands of air filters available such as the K&N air filter. This is a washable filter (so you don't have to throw it away) and some drivers notice improved gas mileage and increased horse power. The filter costs a little more but will last for the life of your car and will pay for itself in less than a year in most vehicles in fuel and air filter savings. Basically about every 30,000 miles you need to wash off the filter and re-oil it. Also by avoiding having to keep buying and replacing air filters this can help the environment too.
4. Get a membership card. Some gas stations offer membership benefits. There are also department and grocery stores that give discounts at the fuel pump when you use their store membership cards.
5. 
   Give your car a tune up. While properly maintaining your car won't actually save you money at the pump, it will save you gas. Using less gas saves you money. Have the oil changed, and have a certified mechanic give your engine a look over.
6. Check the web for deals. Web sites let you find the best deals in your area. Check out the external links below to start.
7. Buy a Diesel. Diesel cars can often get better mileage than comparable hybrids and do not have batteries that need replacing. Getting a Diesel car also allows for use of Biodiesel or even Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO/SVO) fuel.
8. 
   Buy a hybrid car. Not only do hybrid cars give you immediate savings at the pump, the U.S. government and your local state offer tax breaks for people who use gas-saving cars. Federal deductions for using gas-saving cars can be as high as $2,000.00, but check before buying to see if they're still in effect. If you can't afford the growing number of hybrid cars out there, consider getting a regular car with good MPG (miles per gallon), like the Honda Fit. In general, the smaller the car, the better the mileage.
9. Move or Work Closer to Home While you're considering spending all that money on a new hybrid or diesel vehicle to 'save money', you could move closer to your job (or public transportation to your job), or get a job closer to your home. Then you will be able to walk or ride a bike on nice days, and spend a lot less time in the car when the weather isn't so nice. Maybe even get rid of one family car. If you walk or ride almost all the time, it doesn't matter what sort of mileage your current car gets while it collects dust in the driveway.
10. Use the lowest recommended octane for your car. The lower octane gas is cheaper. Most modern cars are engineered to run most efficiently on lower octane fuel, and often forbid you to use higher octane fuel. Check your owner's manual to be sure, as not all car engines should use lowest octane gas.
11. Mix octanes. Using a higher octane has no effect on fuel efficiency and doesn't really gain you anything and costs more. In some areas, the lower octane may be too low for your car and the mid-grade or higher octane may be more than what you need. To avoid overpaying and still get the correct octane for your car you can mix the gas. For example, if your car takes 87 octane and the pumps have 85 octane and 89 octane, then when filling your car, fill half the tank with 85 octane and the other half with 89 octane and this will give you an equivalent of 87 octane plus it will save you money because the lower octane gas costs less. However, if you do not have a way of thoroughly mixing the fuel as it is entering your tank, your engine may receive "bursts" of lower octane fuel, causing problems.
12. Avoid idling. While idling, your car gets exactly 0 miles per gallon. Although it is said that starting the car uses a lot of gas, it is still very little compared to idling for more than a few seconds. Idling to warm up is particularly bad, as the engine needs extra fuel to warm up. After start up, allow your car to idle 15-30 seconds, then drive conservatively until it reaches normal operating temperature. Park your car and go into the restaurant rather than idling in the drive-through. Idling with the air conditioning on also uses extra fuel. Warning: stopping and starting the engine frequently will cause extra wear. Don't stop the engine if you are going to idle for less than a minute. Note: In very cold environments, it is recommended to allow the vehicle to idle and warm up, rather than just start it and take off. You might save gas, but your engine oil won't do its job until it's fully liquid, so you'll spend more money on overhauls.
13. Combine trips. If you can do several short trips in one longer trip, you will save fuel and time. Make lists to avoid having to go back. Call ahead to avoid wasted trips.
14. Walk between stops. Once you get into town, some of your stops may be near each other. Park between some or all of them and walk.
15. Plan your trips in advance. This can prevent wasting fuel and wasting time. Plan to use alternative routes. Often back roads can prevent you from stopping at traffic lights and more importantly sitting in traffic jams.
16. Buy a GPS system. Global Positioning Systems help you navigate to find the fastest and shortest distance to your destination. A good GPS can save you time and fuel. Also the cost of GPS systems has really come down and you can get a good GPS system for around $350. Also, there are some creative ways you can use GPS systems to save money on gas. For example, you could use a GPS to calculate how far away you are from the next state and if you know fuel tax is less in the next state, just put enough fuel in to get you to the next state and fill up with gas where it is cheaper.
17. Check the tire air pressures weekly. Buy an inexpensive air pump and an accurate tire gauge (not a pencil gauge as they are not accurate). Keep all tires inflated to the pressure as recommended for your car. Go by the sticker on the door frame or fuel filler flap or in the manual and not the tire wall. Don't be afraid to experiment with higher tire pressure, as long as you don't exceed the rating marked on the tire. Generally speaking, a slightly higher pressure will improve fuel mileage and handling, but too high will degrade traction and wear the tires rapidly.
18. Drive at a consistent speed Avoid accelerating fast or braking suddenly. Use cruise control when you can.
19. Maintain a safe following distance Don't stick to the bumper of the car directly in front of you. You will brake more and accelerate more to keep that unnecessary and dangerous narrow gap. This also gives you a lot more room to play with when you are timing traffic signals. Likewise, ignore tailgaters. They will tailgate you whether you go the speed limit, or 100MPH over the speed limit. Allow them pass when it's convenient.
20. Slow down. Air resistance goes up as the square of velocity. The power consumed to overcome that air resistance goes up as the cube of the velocity. Rolling resistance is the dominant force below about 40 mph. Above that, every mph costs you mileage. Go as slow as traffic and your schedule will allow. Drive under 60-65 since air grows exponentially denser, in the aerodynamic sense, the faster we drive. To be precise, the most efficient speed is your car's minimum speed in it's highest gear, since this provides the best "speed per RPM" ratio.
21. Clean out any unnecessary items in your car. If you have heavy objects in your car that you don't need, remove them. If your car is lighter, it will use less fuel to get where you're going.
22. Remove unneeded racks. If you have a bicycle or ski rack, remove it when you're not using it. It causes drag and lowers mileage.
23. Don't fill until the last quarter tank. If you do this, it can extend your gas because you are hauling a lighter load as the tank nears empty. This also allows you to buy gas on low-cost days. However, in cold weather, you may not want to do this. Also, running a car with less than a quarter tank of fuel can shorten the fuel pump life, and letting your tank empty completely can cause fuel pump and filter problems. And you never know when you might be in an emergency and need some gasoline in your car!
24. Fill the tank full. If you need to fill up, fill up all the way. The more money you try to save by adding $10 today and then $20 tomorrow will be wasted since each time you will have to travel to the station and wait for a pump. Instead, do it all at once to save time and money.
25. 
    Avoid buying gas with ethanol, if possible. The lower energy content of the fuel will almost always lower mileage. Other additives may do the same, or may increase mileage depending upon your vehicle. Experiment to find out. Also the minimal price difference is often offset by a lower price due to lower fuel taxes or subsidies. Consider using ethanol because it is a lot better for the environment. Note, however, that turbocharged cars often get better mileage with ethanol blends. This is because the higher (over 100!) octane of ethanol permits more boost, which means more efficient fuel usage.
26. Avoid having to stop. If approaching a red light, see if you can slow down enough to avoid having to actually stop (because you reach the light after it is green). Speeding up from 5 or 10 miles per hour will be easier on the gas than starting from full stop.
27. Anticipate the stop signs and lights. Look far ahead; get to know your usual routes. You can let up on the gas earlier. Coasting to a stop will save the gasoline you would otherwise use maintaining your speed longer. If it just gets you to the end of a line of cars at a red light or a stop sign a few seconds later, it won't add any time to your trip. Ditto for coasting to lose speed before a highway off-ramp: if it means you catch up with that truck halfway around the curve instead of at the beginning, you haven't lost any time. (Do not coast to slow down until you're in the exit deceleration lane, unless you have checked your mirror to make sure you won't interfere with non-exiting traffic in the right-hand travel lane.) See: How to Predict Traffic Signals
28. Take off slowly from a full stop. This is one adjustment that will have dramatic effects on your gas mileage; don't tear off from a stoplight! If you move out slowly, it will help save you money at the pump. Also, if you are driving a stick shift, note that 50% throttle at 1200 rpm's uses less gas than 10% throttle at 2500 rpm's. As long as the engine is not lugging or pinging, shift as soon as possible and use plenty of throttle. The engine is more efficient when it does not have to pump air past a closed throttle plate. Warning: this advice is only true for fuel-injected cars or those with constant velocity carburetors.
29. Park in the first spot you find. If you wander all over the parking lot looking for that really close parking space, you'll use more gas. Don't be afraid to walk a ways if it comes to that - the walk will do you good!
30. Stay well away from store fronts Even if there is a space open there, avoid it. If possible, avoid parking lot lanes that bring you near the stores. You will spend significantly less time getting in, and less time blocked in because of pedestrians and other vehicles. More spaces to choose from, and fewer keys and loose carts further away from the doors, too.
31. Walk into the restaurant Don't use a drive-through, waiting in line, trapped, in your car, idling. Just walk in.
32. Use A/C only while slowing. This is sometimes enough to keep your vehicle at a reasonable temperature without using fuel and going easier on the brakes. You can also use the A/C to cool the car and then switch to the fan only. (Turning on the A/C at low rpm's may save the compressor from a "jolt" and additional wear.)
33. Shift into neutral if you are not comfortable with downshifting. Standard transmission vehicles may save gas by shifting into neutral when going down hills steep enough to maintain speed (although engine braking is safer on steeper declines). Do not do this in a Hybrid car, they use this "regenerative engine braking" to generate electricity and charge the batteries. NOTE: This strategy will result in more wear and tear on your brakes. Neither of these strategies is recommended for normal automatic cars. Also, if you own a car with fuel injection, it is more efficient to keep the car in a high gear while going down hills. Simply take your foot off the gas.
34. Park in the shade. Gasoline actually evaporates right out of your tank, and it does so faster when you park directly in the sun - winter or summer. Parking in the shade also keeps it cooler inside, and you will need less A/C to cool off when you get back in. If there is no shade available, park so that your gas tank (the actual tank under the car, not the valve to fill it) is facing away from the direct sun.
35. Drive a small motorcycle or scooter instead of a car. They are cheaper and often get 70 MPG or better. Riding gear is available for most weather conditions. A good example is the Kawasaki EX250, which costs about $3,000, gets 60-70 MPG at highway speeds, and can go 0-60 MPH in under 6 seconds!
36. Use a synthetic oil instead of 10W30 and 10W40. This will cause your engine to run better and give you better mileage..

Tips

• Gas prices are statistically the cheapest on Wednesdays, but this is only statistically true over a large number of days. It won't be true every week.
• Getting a fill-up three days before a holiday will help you save on the price bump.
• At every oil change, check your air filter. Clogged air filters cause engines to work overtime which requires more fuel. Reusable air filters are not recommended, as they can destroy expensive Mass Airflow Sensors if they are over-oiled. A quality paper filter does a better job of filtering.
• Use a fuel injector cleaner or complete fuel system treatment occasionally. Not only will you see a boost in gas mileage, but in your car's overall performance. Fouled injectors vaporize fuel poorly, affecting how completely the fuel is burned.
• Most car modifications do not improve mileage. Extra wings add drag. Power improvements often hurt mileage. However, if your car is turbocharged, chiptuning may result in a mileage boost. The mileage boost will be canceled out if you drive more aggressively due to power improvements.
• So-called gas saving devices don't work. Use these wikiHow tips and save yourself the cost of the snake oil.
• Many of these tips change slightly if your engine is turbocharged or diesel. For instance, diesel engines use almost no fuel while idling. Diesel trucks will often be left idling all night to provide heat or power for the trucker inside the cab, at the cost of relatively little fuel.
• Wholesale unleaded is now a traded commodity. Watch the futures price as it will forecast price at the pump, which will be about equal to the wholesale price plus taxes plus about a nickel per gallon for the station.
• Keep meticulous records of what you spend and how many miles you drive so you can quickly spot changes in vehicle performance. It will also help focus you on the goal of saving.
• Every MPH faster yields you less advantage than the last one. Going 10MPH is a big difference over 5MPH, but there is very little difference between 55MPH and 60MPH, unless you are on a very long trip. Many people mindlessly speed wherever they go, and gain absolutely nothing but a heftier fuel bill. Assuming everything goes perfectly (and when does it?) going 5MPH, even 15MPH faster on a highway for a short trip will yield nothing but aggravation as you keep catching up to slower traffic.
• Slow down a little below the speed limit, and the highway can seem like it is wide open.
• Often the right-most lanes keep moving more than the left-most in areas prone to traffic-jams. Vehicles continue to exit, which keeps leaving 'gaps' to fill in.
• If you weren't already about to buy a car, don't buy a brand new car to 'save money' on fuel, especially if you own your current car outright and there's nothing especially wrong with it. It's hard to burn a new car payment (and additional registration taxes and insurance) worth of fuel savings. A new car loses thousands of dollars of its value as soon as you drive it past the dealer's curb, so consider how many miles you'll need to save in order to save that value in fuel.
• Think especially hard about the 'savings' if you're exchanging a vehicle that has other kinds of utility that you often use (more passenger positions, more cargo, towing, hauling yard debris, etc.) for a small car that offers economy, but only 'basic transportation' and little cargo space. You might find yourself trading in the little car and buying something similar to what you already have now.
• If you frequently need a truck, do you need a shiny, new one for your every day commute? Could you live with a 'junker' truck that you use infrequently for those messy jobs and errands (and maintain yourself through a policy of 'retarded decay'), while you drive a smaller, more efficient car for daily use?
• A manual transmission saves an average $1000 on the cost of a new vehicle, and eliminates routine transmission maintenance that an automatic transmission requires (and most people never do this maintenance once the warranty is up - so a used car with an automatic is a risky purchase). In most cases, an automatic transmission gets significantly worse mileage overall than a manual transmission.
• Neutral is also a 'gear' on a manual transmission, which you use constantly anyway. Learn how to coast between traffic lights, applying power only as needed to keep the car rolling (more or less) with traffic. Learn to judge terrain and use neutral to its full potential to keep the car moving 'for free', and save more gas over time.
• 'Regenerative braking' recovers far less energy than acceleration requires to replace the momentum it loses. To 'coast' further without regenerative braking excessively slowing your automatic transmission equipped hybrid, putting just the right pressure on the accelerator can prevent the 'regen' drag without adding engine power (i.e. if done right the engine won't start AND the regenerative braking won't kick in). With manual transmission hybrids, just leave it in neutral to defeat 'regen' and coast further.
• Try to schedule your trips and errands when traffic is lighter.
• If you are always stuck in rush hour traffic after work anyway, try to find something to do near your work until the traffic dies down, rather than try to fight through it.
• Some cars have a 'zig-zag' shift pattern for their automatic transmission (like certain 'Lexus' models). Many people shift the car past 'D' and into '4' because it 'feels right', then drive down the freeway complaining about bad gas mileage.
• If you want more information about the mileage NOW, and your car doesn't have a real-time fuel economy distraction, there are various OBDII reader devices (like the 'ScanGauge' or 'Equus 3130') that can be plugged into cars with an OBDII port, and provide 'live' real-time information about fuel consumption rate (gallons per hour), engine RPM, speed, whatever you want that's tracked by the engine computer. Some of them also allow the data to be recorded and downloaded to a computer with a serial or USB cable. Some are little more than a serial/USB cable that plugs into a portable computer with software to give you all manner of 'instruments'.
• The more convenient it is to check your tire pressure, the more often you'll do it. If you are dedicated enough to do it with a manual hand/foot pump, fine.
• DON'T TOP OFF. It is wasted money, bad for the environment (releasing extra fumes) and evaporates in 10 minutes of driving.
  • You can spend a little extra on a pretty good self-contained electric one with a jump start and flashlight on it, too, and then consider it a 'safety' purchase.
  • If you have a garage, an air compressor has many uses besides tires.
  • If you have a larger vehicle (with higher pressure truck tires), you will need a 'real' air compressor; the little electric ones made for cars will fail right away, and you'll wear yourself out trying to pump it yourself.

Warnings

• All the fuel savings in the world will not matter a bit if you get wrecked while 'trying to save gas'. Safe driving habits will save a lot more money than risky driving, and maybe even save lives. Slow down. Be careful.
• Nearly all gas-saving devices do not work, and some even decrease fuel mileage. Intake twisters, gas pills and fuel line magnets do not help mileage. Even if the mileage improvement claims were true, they often cost enough to negate any potential savings.
• 'Chipping' the car (changing/flashing the ROM in its 'brain') is usually meant to improve power, but often fuel savings are claimed as well. Be paranoid about it. It usually can achieve the power statistics it claims, but possibly at the cost of dreadfully expensive engine/drivetrain wear and damage. The wrong chip (or a buggy version of a chip) can result in a dead car that's expensive enough to repair that it's 'totaled'. Needless to say, 'chipping' a car definitely voids the warranty.
• Nitrogen is a scam. You still need to check your tire pressure regularly, and putting nitrogen in will only make you complacent and dependent on the shop that did it (so you keep coming back and buying more services there). It is perfectly safe to put normal air in with the nitrogen on passenger vehicles. Nitrogen actually diffuses out of tires faster than standard air, due to the smaller nature of the molecule. Faster diffusion means more costly inflations. Air is mostly nitrogen, anyway. Race cars and airplanes? Yeah 100% nitrogen is still required. Normal car? If it's free with the tire change, don't bother complaining, but it does no good at all.
• Be very careful when shifting into neutral when going down hills. You may find yourself going a lot faster than you thought you would. This is actually illegal in some jurisdictions, so never admit to a police officer you were 'free-wheeling' or 'coasting', or you'll get two tickets.
• Be sure to keep to right lanes if you're not going to keep up with speeding traffic, and allow other traffic to pass. On freeways, watch onramps and try to leave space for merging traffic to get in, without braking if possible. Also, try to remain aware enough of your situation to realize when your right lane will become 'exit only' well ahead of time.
• If you drive slowly enough on a long enough trip to add hours, be sure to take extra breaks.

Things You'll Need

• A car

10 bad habits that lead to debt disaster

Little things add up fast. Learn from these mistakes and try these tips to start paying off your debt.

Sometimes the only way to stop a snowballing problem is to go back to the top of the hill and find out what started it.

If you're up to your eyeballs in credit card debt, take a step back and recount your money missteps. Knowing your weaknesses could help prevent you from falling back into the bad-credit pit and show you a way out.

According to Gail Cunningham, vice president of business relations at Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Dallas, a nonprofit financial-management service, consumers mired in debt make common financial blunders, most of which they can prevent with discipline and behavior changes. Learn from these mistakes and start paying off your debt.

Bad Habit No. 1: Misusing balance transfers

Transferring balances on high-interest cards to lower-rate cards can be an effective technique, but it's easy to make it a good idea gone wrong. Transfer a balance onto a card with a low introductory rate and you can potentially save money on interest if you refrain from charging on it and focus on paying off the balance before that introductory rate expires. But most people continue to charge on the new card and wind up with more debt once the teaser rate expires, says Cunningham. In fact, new purchases may pull an altogether different interest rate. Read the fine print very carefully, and only attempt the balance-transfer maneuver if you can control your spending on the new -- and old -- card.

Try this: If you can't refrain from charging, balance transfers won't get you out of debt. If you're really in the hole, consider getting a part-time job and dedicating your earnings to your debt load. If that's not possible, go back to your budget and cut back on unnecessary expenses such as restaurant outings and cell phone extras. Put the money you save toward paying off your balances. Pay for new purchases with cash or a debit card.

Bad Habit No. 2: Not checking credit reports -- you can't change them anyway.

Wrong. If you have credit cards, pull your credit report at least once a year and check it for errors. Purging your record of inaccuracies can be crucial for getting better interest rates, landing the job you desire and stopping an identity thief from ruining your credit rating. Your credit report also affects your credit score, which determines how high your interest rates will be on future loans. Dispute anything you think should not be there. The Fair Credit Reporting Act allows for the correction or deletion of inaccurate, outdated or unverifiable information, provided that a reinvestigation into the disputed data sides in your favor. Unfortunately, negative but truthful data must stay put. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing, for instance, will remain on your credit report for 10 years, a Chapter 13 for seven years.

Try this: You can request one free copy here from each of the big three credit reporting bureaus, Experian, TransUnion and Equifax, every year. Why bother? Errors on your report, such as a payment marked late that came in on time, could raise your interest rates, lower your credit score and affect your ability to obtain credit in the future.

If you do find a mistake, send a correction letter to each of the credit bureaus that show the error. Experian allows you to dispute errors online, as do TransUnion and Equifax.

Don't bother with so-called credit-repair clinics that aim to charge you hundreds or thousands to fix your credit record. "Anything you can legally do to repair it you can legally do for free," says Cunningham. Of course, if you're not willing or dedicated enough to write those letters and follow up with the credit-reporting agencies, paying someone else to do it for you may not be such a bad idea. Better to have someone dispute the errors rather than no one. But be extremely careful in selecting such an organization -- try to get referrals and seek out others who have been satisfied with the service.

Bad Habit No. 3: Failing to alert creditors about a financial hardship

You heard the rumor: Layoffs are coming to a department near you next week.

Don't wait until it happens to worry about how to pay your bills. Do some damage control right away.

Try this: "The best time to negotiate is before the problem spirals downhill," says Cunningham. Call the credit card company and explain the problem you're about to have. Ask if they could temporarily lower your interest rate or extend your payment deadline. Some issuers have in-house help programs that provide such short-term services to customers.

Bad Habit No. 4: Thinking of 'budget' as a dirty word

The word may call to mind tedious self-trickery meant for those with low incomes, but everyone could benefit from deciding on certain amounts for spending, and sticking to the amount no matter what. It also makes sense to budget for known future expenses, such as quarterly insurance premiums, college textbooks and rent. Not saving up in advance means you'll have to charge expenses or cut into funds set aside for necessities. Budget these fixed costs while you can handle small financial pinches.

Try this: To find out what's draining your finances, keep track of where your money goes for a month. Use a spreadsheet, financial software or a pen and paper and categorize your expenses. Doing this will reveal whether you're spending too much on expenses you could trim, such as restaurant outings and gas. Then you can consider cooking at home more often or consolidating driving trips. Cut back as necessary without cutting out expenses important to you. Cunningham suggests that if you enjoy watching TV, but don't tune in to a majority of the 300-plus channels you have, consider cutting back on your cable package instead of cutting out TV altogether.

For a detailed household spending plan, try this home budget work sheet. Or, get help creating a budget with a budget calculator. (For a really simple budget, try the 60% Solution.) Plan for future costs by figuring out the total amount you'll owe and divide by the number of months you have until that day, says Cunningham. If you have money due next month, divide by the number of weeks you have and save that amount every week.

Bad Habit No. 5: Using retail store credit cards to make use of discounts

Chances are, that card carries a high interest rate you'll be forced to deal with if you don't pay off your balance each month.

Try this: If you must charge your purchase, use your general-purpose credit card, says Cunningham. If you can't pay off the balance, at least you'll pay a lower interest rate. Limit the total number of credit cards you have to just two, if you can: one you can pay off each month and one with a low interest rate for those large purchases you'll pay back over time.

Bad Habit No. 6: Procrastinating on creating an emergency fund

Learn to save for financial emergencies. Even if you feel robust and invincible, a single emergency room trip or car accident could force you to put large balances on credit cards, causing interest to accrue and more debt to pile up. "That rainy day will happen," Cunningham says. "It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when." If your tire goes flat and you can't pay upfront for the replacement, for instance, you're stuck with charging it or reducing funds earmarked for necessities. That's where the emergency fund fits in.

Try this: Maintain an emergency fund of at least three to six months' worth of living expenses, and keep your insurance policies up to date. Work toward that goal by socking away 10% of your take-home pay each month in a liquid savings account, says Cunningham. If you receive a raise or bonus, add that money to savings. Since you're not used to the extra cash flow, you won't miss it.

Bad Habit No. 7: Paying bills in no particular order

While the order may not matter if you can pay all the balances, it will matter if you fall short one month. Say you pay off the balances on your credit cards first, then find you can't make the minimum on your house payment or monthly rent. You've put the roof over your head at risk.

Try this: "Pay for living expenses first," says Cunningham. After the house or rent payment, necessities such as utilities, groceries and medical care should top the priority list. Next comes the car payment -- you want to avoid repossession, obviously. On down the line, secured loans and co-signed debts follow in importance, then unsecured loans and credit cards. "Ideally, everyone can get paid, but if a choice has to be made, paying in this order will do a better job of keeping the home life stable."

Since bills often aren't due in this order, you'll need to work out a payment schedule and set aside money from each paycheck. See No. 9.

Bad Habit No. 8: Charging purchases instead of paying in cash or with a debit card

How many times have you charged services or merchandise when you had the money to pay with cash or debit? Insignificant purchases of $20 and $30 made several times over can quickly add up, particularly if you already carry a balance. Balances you can't pay off each month mean paying interest charges and, subsequently, more money for items you could have bought outright, interest-free.

Try this: Make a habit of paying for purchases under $50 with cash, debit or check. Knowing that the money has to clear the bank sooner could help curb your spending habits. Just be sure to check your balance regularly to ensure that you have enough funds.

Bad Habit No. 9: Making credit payments late

After all, it's only a $39 late fee. Besides wasting money you could've put toward the balance, a payment that arrives at least 30 days past due can throw your account into default and triple your interest rate. Plus, other creditors may start charging you a default interest rate as well, thanks to a universal default clause buried in your contract.

"Creditors are constantly reviewing your credit activity, and if they see you falling behind with one creditor, even if you have a perfect payment history with them, they can raise your interest rate," Cunningham says.

Try this: On a calendar, mark upcoming paydays and payments that should come out of that paycheck, she says. If you're mailing payments, send them seven to 10 business days in advance. Better yet, sign up for online bill pay. Just check that the address on file and the address on the statement match, or the payment might not arrive on time. If you're still late, call the creditor, explain the situation and ask them to forgive the late fee. Check your credit report and be sure the information shows up correctly.

Bad Habit No. 10: Making the minimum payment only

Paying the minimum is better than paying nothing, but it doesn't do much to pay off most balances and forces you to keep paying interest. By paying interest on interest, you lose any savings from buying a dress on sale, Cunningham says.

Try this: If you can afford to pay more or in full, go ahead and pay as much of the balance as you can. You never know when you're going to have a tough month. Pay in full every month and you can avoid interest charges altogether.

Or, if paying more than the minimum proves difficult, consider working an extra part-time job or decreasing your expenses -- or both, says Cunningham. Put all of your extra earnings toward the debt. Use the minimum payment calculator to see how much you're saving in interest charges.

By Leslie Hunt, Bankrate.com

How to pay off $300,000 of debt

I usually steer clear of war metaphors when writing about money, but for anyone who has faced down a mountain of debt, it can indeed feel like a never-ending battle.

By MP Dunleavey

Editor's note: Join columnist MP Dunleavey and a group of women as they seek to strip away the myths around money, liberate themselves from debt and find financial sanity. Follow the quest of the Women in Red every other Wednesday in Dunleavey's column on MSN Money.

How can you possibly win when the odds are stacked high against you?

As a fierce battalion of the Women in Red has found -- call this group Company C, for cocky, courageous and a little bit crazy -- the best way to beat debt is to band together, damn the interest rates and take the enemy by storm.
The birth of the racers
As Becky Purvis, 28, of Raleigh, N.C., describes it, the idea for an all-out assault on debt began in September on the Women in Red message board and gained strength slowly.

Someone suggested forming an online group dedicated to paying off debt, Purvis recalls, "and everyone said, 'Yeah, that's a great idea,' but then nothing happened."

Armed with a good $25,405 in credit card debt, student debt and car debt herself, Purvis started the Women in Red Racers to inspire other women to join a collective effort to vanquish their debt once and for all.

The rules were simple:

* Tally your debts and post them for all to see. Some people included mortgage debt; some didn't.
* Post monthly updates about how much you paid down -- or didn't.
* Don't give up.

A daunting battle
Consider what the Racers were up against:

Collectively, the 80 or so women who joined the thread were carrying more than $2.8 million in debt. Eleven people joined with over $50,000 in debt (most of those women included their mortgages), according to Megan Paterson, 29, a Washington, D.C., area woman who fell into the role of group accountant, keeping a detailed spreadsheet of each person's debt and payments.

"People were in such diverse situations," Paterson says, from a college student with $10,000 in credit card and car debt to a professional couple with $520,000 in debt, including two mortgages and about $130,000 in student loans. The top debtor, so to say, claimed more than $45,000 in nonmortgage debt.

7 radical ways to save money

Want to really save? Take a look at how you spend and change it. Quit smoking, take in a roommate, park the car -- and you'll save as much as $12,000 a year.

By Jennifer Mulrean

It's getting harder to blame savings shortfalls on your measly pay stub.

In fact, how much you save has little to do with your income, research by economists Steven Venti and David Wise shows. It has more to do with whether you want to save and are willing to adjust to boost your saving.

Ventis and Wises 2000 study, "Choice, Chance and Wealth Dispersion at Retirement," found a wide range in how much people at the same income levels were able to save for retirement. The study also pointed out that it wasn't just the higher income folks who managed to save the most. Indeed, people in the lowest income groups were able to save more than some of their middle-income peers -- by about $100,000. (See link at left to read the complete study.)

Their conclusion? "Persons with little savings on the eve of retirement have simply chosen to save less and spend more over their lifetimes."

The key, then, is spending less than you earn.

Tahira Hira would agree with this conclusion. A professor of personal finance and consumer economics at Iowa State University, Hira has spent more than 25 years studying how and why people spend, and why some people get into financial trouble.

"We don't stop and think that earning money is only one part of financial health," Hira says. "The other part is learning how to manage money."

Many people don't have a clue
A big source of money problems, Hira says, is that people just don't know enough about their own financial reality. "They don't know what they earn, they don't know what it takes to live, and they don't know their discretionary income."

Her advice? Educate yourself. Sit down with your monthly bills and statements and figure out your income and outgo. Then, decide if you like the picture you see. If not, you'll need to create a plan for changing it.

To help with the process, Hira recommends asking your self these three questions:

• Who am I? What's my current financial picture?
• How do I want to live? How do I want to use my money?
• How can I make the best use of my money?

Treat managing your money like you would any other household task and allot enough time for it every month.

Hira notes that many of the financial tools that have made life more convenient -- such as credit cards -- can promote bad financial habits and prolong debt when misused. Credit cards should be used as the cash-management tool they are, not a borrowing tool, she says.

"We're spending tomorrow's money when we put things on a credit card," she says. "You keep locking yourself up and losing your freedom."

Her bottom line on financial health? "Stop spending."

7 radical savings tips
To help curb the consumer in you, we've come up with a few of admittedly drastic savings strategies, along with some ballpark figures of their savings potential. (If you're looking for a real no-brainer way to save, arrange to have a certain amount of your paycheck automatically deposited into a savings account. Then, sit back and watch it grow.)

• Hold the mother of all garage sales. Cast a critical eye on the stuff at the way back of your closets. If you haven't used it in six months, chances are you can do without. Same goes for all that junk in storage. (See "The hidden costs of too much stuff." ) Annual savings? Depends on how much junk you have, of course, but one coworker guessed he had at least $5,000 worth of stuff he could get rid of. I'd put my own garage sale potential down at around $1,000. Thats a good number.
• Quit smoking. Pack-a-day habit? In Washington state, that's easily $5 a day -- or about $1,800 a year -- that can go right into your savings, not to mention what it saves you on insurance and health care.
• Tame your driving addiction. In other words, carpool or use public transportation. This saves on gas, insurance and maintenance costs -- not to mention any money spent on aspirin. Using the IRS's 2002 mileage reimbursement rate of 36.5 cents per mile as a proxy for the cost of commuting, you could save $1,141 a year by driving half the time for 50 weeks a year (based on a 25-mile roundtrip commute). For an even more drastic approach, consider getting rid of your car if you live in the city. Some cities are now implementing progressive programs that allow you to have access to a car without the ownership hassles (e.g. "Flexcar" in Seattle, Portland and Washington, D.C. For more on Flexcar, see link at left.)
• Buy used. The average consumer spends about $1,750 a year on clothing and its upkeep, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' most recent Consumer Expenditure Survey. You can potentially cut that in half by shopping at consignment shops and auctions, though the life of the goods may be less than buying new. To account for that, the annual savings may only amount to 25%, or $437.
• Become a homebody. At just over $1,800 a year on average, entertainment spending has a way of quickly eating through the best-planned budgets. Consider the library for books, music and movies. Eat out less often. The average person spent $2,276 a year on eating out in 2002. Try cutting your spending in half on both areas for annual savings more than $1,900.
• Cut your housing expenses. While a move across the tracks may save some money, moves are expensive in themselves. Consider renting out a room. The average housing costs per person in 2000 were just over $13,200. In metropolitan areas such as Seattle, rooms easily go for $400 a month. Figure about $20 of that goes to increases in utility costs, and you've still got an annual savings of more than $4,000 before any income taxes.
• Cut up your credit cards. Build an emergency fund first to handle most unexpected expenses. This allows you to become your own lending agency. (OK, if you're chicken, try cutting up all but one.) Credit cards can be a cash-flow management tool, but paying only the minimum will keep you in debt for years. If you're the average American with at least one credit card, you probably have close to $8,523 in credit card debt, according to industry research group CardWeb.com. At an average APR of 14.4%, it could cost you as much as $1,100 a year in interest alone. By simply waiting until you've saved enough money to make purchases, you could eliminate those interest payments entirely.

If you're really ambitious and follow all the above tips, you could be looking at savings of nearly $12,000 a year. Figuring you can invest it at the historical rate of return at 10% your savings will start to compound nicely -- and rapidly.