Are you struggling to get by?

Date: 03/31/2012 Solely For: (gano@oildrops.com) 3/31/2012 IMPORTANT NOTICE: Only use trusted sites when using banking services online These days are tough on everyone. Sometimes you need a helping hand. We are here to offer that hand. With flexable repayment plans and up to a hundred days to make repayment, we provide the help and security you need to get back on track http://exchange.djangospub.com/index.aspx?part=77499051817&uy=871306914&ppo=415954890 Check us out and get your money as soon as today! http://exchange.djangospub.com/index.aspx?part=77499051817&uy=43560112&ppo=415954890 Kind Regards John anderson We�ve compiled a list of the best practical money saving ideas. Start with the tips below and then proceed to our�ten step checklist to save money. Get�car insurance quotes�and make sure that you have�health insurance. Buy generic everything. Many generics are exactly the same as brand names. Get a�mortgage refinance quote�to see if you pay too much for home payments. Get�free offers here. Buy in bulk and get rewards cards at the supermarket. Insulate your home and use fans and ventilation instead of AC. Walk or take the bus and sell your car. Create a�budget. Use�Skype.com�if you talk on the phone a lot, especially internationally. Travel cheap. Stay at�hostels,�Couch Surf�or�Air BnB. Pack lunch and bring coffee to work. Have a drink at home before going to the bar. Get a rewards credit or debit card. Invest your money.�Vanguard�or�Scottrade�is a good place to start. Get a credit report at�AnnualCreditReport.com, the government sponsored credit reporting website. Ask for a discount on large purchases like a refrigerator or washing machine. Take advantage of federal tax credits for energy efficiency with�Energy Star. Use the library. They have plenty of books, CD�s and DVDs. You can also request that the library buy certain books. Make saving a game. Set goals and give yourself a reward if you reach them. Don�t follow your impulse. If you feel the urge to buy something, wait a few days and see if you still want it. At the grocery store look down. Items below eye level are often cheaper. Print a grocery list�and stick to it. Take up hobbies that don�t cost money. Set the thermostat when you�re not home to save energy. Use open source software. It�s free and usually as good. For example use�Open Office�instead of Microsoft Word or Excel. Quit smoking. This�calculator�shows you how much you could save. Buy a quality used car instead of new. A new car is worth thousands less as soon as it leaves the lot. Food Bank. If you cannot afford food, find a food bank that gives out bags of groceries. Get rid of credit card debt. A $20 shirt could actually cost $200 with fees and interest if you don�t pay your credit card bill right away. Donate and have yard sales for the stuff that you don�t use. Watch for fees. Fees are everywhere; bank fees, atm fees, cash checking fees, late fees. These can add up over time. Group discounts. Try to get a bargain on everything and ask if you can get a discount, especially if you have a large group. Instead of buying things new, get them used or for free on�Craig�s List. Lotto and Gambling. Generally, people lose money on the lotto and especially gambling. If you quit or limit this, you will save money. For me, the hardest part about learning to save was changing my relationship with money. I understood intellectually that I needed to spend less than I earned, and I could see the debt accumulating as I spent, but money management isn�t just about knowing the math. It�s mostly about knowing yourself. It�s about building self-discipline, and about learning to see money in new ways. While browsing at�Passion Saving�the other day, I discovered an article featuring�ten unconventional money-saving tips. Each of these offers a new way to see money. Here are author Rob Bennett�s ten tips along with my comments. (Note that I�ve re-ordered these from the original article.) Pursue short-term saving goals.�While saving for retirement may be the ultimate goal, it�s not always a motivational one. Break long-term goals into chunks. Find saving goals that can be completed in just a few years. Don�t save in pursuit of vague and general goals � save in pursuit of a particular change to enhance your life.�Make savings matter by setting money aside for lots of specific little things throughout the course of your lifetime. You�re not just saving to be able to do what you want at the end of your life, but to also to be able to do the things you wanttoday. Pursue intensely personal goals.��The trick to becoming an effective saver is identifying [with something, a] saving goal that provides you with the motivation needed to get the job done,� Bennett writes. �To save well, you need to direct your money management energies to the pursuit of a goal that hits your emotional hot buttons.� Stop thinking of saving as something that only misers do well.��There�s nothing small or cheap or sick about effective saving,� writes Bennett. �Not if you�re doing it right. Save for the right sorts of reasons � life-enhancing reasons � and you will no longer think of saving as miserly.� Don�t pay yourself first. Instead, pay yourself�last.�This recommendation sets a sacred personal-finance mantra on its ear. Bennett says that thinking of savings as something that must be endured makes it seem like eating your least-favorite vegetable. �Pay yourself first� might be a good way to�start�saving, but to really make it effective, you must learn to see saving as fun. You need to pay yourself last � and often. Reduce your spending so there�s as much as possible left to save. Translate dollars spent into the hours you worked to earn those dollars.�This is straight from�Your Money or Your Life. Time literally�is�money. Each dollar in your paycheck represents some amount of time it took for you to earn it. (And it�s�not�just your hourly wage.) Figure out how much time a dollar is actually worth to you, and you can begin to see your expenses in a whole new light. Is that new digital camera really worth a week at the office? Include income tax when determining how much it costs to buy things.�Benjamin Franklin was wrong when he said �a penny saved is a penny earned�. When you consider taxes, a penny saved is usually closer to a penny-and-a-half earned. You have to earn $300 pre-tax to afford the $200 post-tax you need for an iPod. Mentally accounting for the income tax on the money you earn can help prevent you from spending it! Use the�multiply-by-25�rule to determine how much it takes to finance �for life� each of your spending categories.�This one�s a little esoteric. We haven�t talked much about early retirement and��safe withdrawal rates��yet at Get Rich Slowly, but�roughly�it�s assumed that a person can pull about 4% from saved assets each year without depleting them. For every $1000 you invest, you can theoretically withdraw $40 per year (which is 4%, or 1/25th) without touching your starting capital. So, if you spend $40/year on a newspaper subscription, $1000 in savings pays for that subscription for the rest of your life. Remember that you only have a limited amount of income available for saving; when you spend this money, you�re depriving yourself of future freedom.�Don�t think of the money you spend as a percentage of your total income. Think of it instead as a percentage of your potential savings. If you buy one videogame a month, it might only be 2% of your take-home pay, but it could very well represent�25%�of your potential savings. Focus on getting over the $100,000 hump.��Saving your first $100,000 is hard,� Bennett writes. �But the second $100,000 comes easier.� When you focus on having to save a million dollars (or some other huge number) for retirement, it can seem daunting. Focus instead on the first $100,000, and the skills you learn will help you save the rest. (I have to say that even $100,000 seems huge to me � I�ll focus on smaller �humps� for now.) To stop these mailings go here

How did you first become interested in saving money? When I was laid off from well paying jobs twice, became a single Mom and most importantly realised 'Materialistic items are not a necessity in these times." Also, I wanted to try to save for a home and have a small savings which is very hard when your paycheck is cut in half due to companies hiring on at minimum wage. Finally I had NO extra money, no credit cards and I had to survive. So, I became penny pinching and frugal and I love it.. What does being frugal mean to you? Cutting corners everywhere and I mean in all areas. I don't go to the Malls any more just to shop. I make a list and menu for the week before I go shopping. I cook double meals from scratch which is so much healthier and cheaper for me, then I freeze leftovers. I go to the library if I want a book of movie. I CHECK out all the saving and frugal websites online for more tips. I walk as much as I can for exercise ( no gym fees for me ) There are endless ways to save, just for example use plastic containers instead of plastic bags for your lunches or snacks at work, wash out and reuse. Use your plastic bags from the stores for your trash. Use coupons only on what you normally purchase and match from other stores when you shop. Go to Thrift stores if you need a new item first..you can find good deals there sometimes practically new. How has your life changed since you started living frugally? My life has changed for way better. I enjoy knowing that I am not wasting my money like I used to. I have more than enough clothes from my frivilous spending from before, I have the necessities to live, I have a car that gets me to where I need to go. I also realise that now I live simply I am happier because I have no credit cards to pay, and only have a set amount of bills each month. I enjoy knowing and learning new ways to be frugal. It is great to save in all possible areas. I don't have designer stuff any more, I have only what I need for me AND my family. Its great getting older and being wiser with your hard earned money. What is your all-time favorite money-saving tip? Tossing all my change in a jar at the end of the day, sometimes slipping a 1, 5, or 10 dollar bill in when I can. When it is full I count it all out and then put it towards a trip OR something I really want. At this time it will go in to savings as I am trying to save for a home. Every little counts towards something so make a goal and work towards that goal. Do you have any advice for fellow penny pinchers? Just SAVE for the future, its very important in this day and age.. We don't know what will happen in these economic times. Always have a surplus of essential items on hand. There are many frugal and survival websites online that you can go to and receive many tips. Save and save as much as you can and anyway that you can.

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