Personal Finance Universe | PersonalFinanceUniverse.com

Tom Tessin asked:


College can be a tough place to save money but if you know how to find the deals and how to save money, you’ll be able to rack up a lot more money than you could ever imagine. It only takes a little dedication and knowledge on how to find the deals. The sole purpose of this article is to show you how you can save a ton of money while you’re attending college.

Spot the food deals

When I attended college, I could always find the best food deals if I would take carry out orders instead of having them deliver to the dorm room. Most places will charge you about three to four dollars for a delivery charge plus a tip. If you cancel out the delivery charge, you’re paying a few bucks less. A great way to find a good eating deal is to look in your local school newspaper or circulars every week. Remember, it’s always best to save coupons; they can save you a fortune!

Check online classifieds

Websites like craigslist.org are a great place to find used furniture, TVS, games, and just about everything else under the sun. If you haven’t attended college yet and you’re looking for items to furnish your dorm room with, it’s a great idea to check your local classifieds to see if there are any good deals. Most sellers will let you pick up the items locally so this will save you a ton of money shipping wise if you bought something on another website like EBay.

Watch the phone bills

When you attend college, you’re going to realize that most people you start to call are going to be long distance. In today’s world, you can either subscribe to VOIP services or use free phone services like Skype. It’s always best to get your parents to download a program like Skype so that if you need to chat with them, you can call them for free and talk for as long as you want. If you don’t want to go that route, you can get a VOIP service for your room and pay around twenty five dollars a month for unlimited calls.

411 Services

The next time you use 411 services on your phone, think about calling a free service like that such as 1-800-GOOG-411. Google has offered a free 411 service that is free to the public and it is very easy to use. The system is voice activated and you can usually find what you’re looking for ninety nine percent of the time.

When it comes to saving money at college, there are so many ways to save. The tips above are just a few ways to save money. The best ways to save like mentioned above are clipping coupons, looking for special deals and comparisons shopping before you buy a product. Remember it’s up to you figure out creative ways to save your money. If you stick with this game plan, you will be saving in no time.



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John Janney asked:


There are lots of ways to save money, and any method you can add to your money-saving toolbox will help you better achieve your financial goals. Whether it’s putting more money towards retirement, a college fund, a down payment on a home or automobile or that vacation you’ve been dreaming about, reaching your financial goals requires that you make wise financial choices. In other words, reaching financial goals requires you to be frugal.

As humans, we need to eat and grocery shopping typically occupies a big chunk of our budget. This is even truer for larger families or families with special dietary needs. However, you can significantly reduce your grocery bill by employing five basic rules to your grocery shopping tasks:

1. Always shop with a list

2. Plan your meals

3. Buy store brands or generics when available

4. Use the store’s loyalty card

5. Use coupons for additional savings

Always shop with a list

Shopping with a list is vital. While we allocate a certain amount for groceries each week in our monthly budgets (you do budget, don’t you?), we should further regulate food spending by always using a list during our grocery store excursions. A grocery shopping list is a natural extension of the monthly budget. This list is your grocery spending plan just as your budget is your overall household spending plan. It helps you see where you can cut costs, helps you stay on track with your financial goals and helps to curb costly impulse buying.

Plan your meals

A good grocery list will follow a weekly menu plan. Buy items that you can reuse in different dishes and work with your family so everyone agrees on the meals of the week. Schedule dinner so that everyone eats together and make it a habit to save leftovers that will make delicious weekend lunches. Developing your grocery list around a meal plan will also help you avoid dining out, which can be unhealthy as well as expensive.

Buy store brands or generics and use the store’s loyalty card

Buying grocery store brand products will save you money — lots of money. Industry sales research cited by the Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA) shows that American shoppers save about $15.8 billion annually by choosing store brands over name brands. To test this theory, your trusty writer ventured into a local grocery store with pen and legal pad, walked the various isles and documented actual price differences for 20 common grocery items: aspirin, acetametaphin, ibuprofen, green beans, sweet corn, ketchup, mayonnaise, mixed fruit, sugar, condensed milk, cornflakes, raisin bran, facial tissue, whipped cream, ice cream, chocolate milk, graham crackers, cream cheese, eggs and peanut butter.

Including savings from using the store’s loyalty card (another must-have money-saving tool), I calculated a savings of between 13 and 68 percent with an average 42 percent savings. If I purchased all items from name brand manufacturers, I would have paid $74.41. Foregoing the lure of buying brand name items, the total came to $43.45 – a $30.96 savings for 20 items (an average of over $1.50 per item) just for buying store brands and using my store loyalty card.

The difference in prices is what the PLMA calls the “marketing tax” which you pay so name brand manufacturers can promote their products through advertising and other means. However, many store brand items are produced by the same manufacturers that make competing name brand items. You can save a lot of money by choosing to not pay this “marketing tax” and keep that money where it belongs – in your pocket!

Use coupons for additional savings

In addition to store brand and loyalty card savings, you should make the most of your grocery shopping dollars by cutting, organizing and using coupons (check your Sunday newspaper). Coupons are a marketing gimmick, so don’t buy items you do not need just so you can save a little on the purchase. In reality, that’s a waste of money. Use coupons to save money on items you need and use. Try a different brand if a coupon from that competitor can save you money – even if it’s only a few cents because every penny adds up at the checkout counter. Cut and organize coupons on the same day you plan your next week’s meal menu so you can maximize your savings by planning dishes around coupons.

Don’t limit your coupon clipping to your Sunday newspaper. Try coupon websites, like CoolSavings.com. One website, CouponBar.com, even offers a toolbar you can add to your web browser. You can even find people selling sets of coupons on eBay.com.

While it may seem like a lot of planning, the savings add up. Depending on your current grocery shopping habits, you may be able to cut your weekly grocery bill in half – or even more! The key to this strategy, as with any budgeting strategy, is to develop your plan and then stick to it. Once these five frugal habits become a part of your routine, you’ll thank yourself for all the initial efforts you made to develop these valuable money-saving skills.



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Martin Lukac asked:


When it comes to saving money, it isn’t as hard as you think it is. There are many ways to save money without sacrificing what you have. Remember, frugal living isn’t living within someone else’s ideal. It is taking frugal ideas and making them work for your lifestyle. You can use them any way you want. But a warning: over time frugality becomes addicting.

One of the easiest ways to save money is to simply buy things for less. Comparison shop and use sale adds. Buy a less expensive brand. Pay attention to what you are doing. For example, a lot of grocery stores (and Wal-mart) put the cost per ounce on the price label you see on the shelf. This is a great way to tell which brand is really the least expensive. You can also compare different sizes of products.

Take steps to make the items you use last longer. There is a common idea among various philosophies that when you purchase an item, you are now responsible for it. Take good care of what you have. Maintain your car and your vehicles. Keep things clean. Don’t just throw things away. When it comes to food, there are many ways to stretch the expensive items, such as meat. Take the time to learn ways to make things go further.

You could also use things less than you already are. Combine all of your errands into one trip, reducing the usage of your vehicle. Turn off lights. Use a toaster oven or microwave instead of your oven. Make sure that your home is energy efficient and not wasting heat or air conditioning. Don’t just waste the things you have — stretch them out.

Try to use something completely out before you throw it away. Find ways to re-use items. Recycle plastic shopping bags into trash can liners. Use a white t-shirt with a stain under your sweaters. If it is too dingy, use it as a rag. Find ways to get every cent out of your purchases.

Try to find a way to use what you already have instead of heading out to the store at every whim. Substitute what you can. Fix things yourself. Assess whether you can wait or if the item must be purchased immediately. If you can wait a bit, perhaps you will be able to find it on sale or comparison shop a bit first. Try everything you can to lower the cost.

In fact, you may find that it is something you can do without right now. Or perhaps it is something you can make. There are many things you can do yourself, such as cooking, decorating, making gifts and many more. If you have the internet, you have an endless resource in front of you.

There are endless ways to be frugal. They range from the extremely dedicated frugal ideas to those that anyone can adapt to fit their lifestyles.



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Martin Lukac asked:


Living frugally isn’t difficult, you simply have to take a few steps. They aren’t large steps, in fact, they are baby steps. The difficult part is staying on the path.

Step One: Know your destination.

You can’t stay on the path towards your goals if you don’t even know what your goals are. Have you ever gone into a grocery store without a list? You wander up and down the aisles, not really knowing if you are getting what you need. This is a lot like your frugal living. You have to know where you are going and what you need in order to follow the correct path.

Step Two: Don’t take every path.

You will quickly find that if you follow every single frugal path that you encounter, you will go crazy! It just isn’t possible. Not everything works for every person. For example, the busy mom with five small children is not going to have time to make homemade bread and everyone’s clothes. She might simply focus on shopping wisely and reducing the utility bills. The retired homemaker may have time in which to make her own laudnry soap and plant a garden. It simply depends on where you are at in your life — and how much you want to take on. There are some things that are just worth it.

Step Three: Keep searching for new paths.

You know your destination, but you don’t always know how to get there. Frugal living is an ongoing challenge. There is no end to it. You keep learning and you keep pushing yourself to save a little bit more.

Step Four: Budgeting is your gasoline.

You have to know where you are spending your money in order to spend less. It often helps to track every penny that you spend. Right down to the penny. Don’t cheat. Those small expenditures can really add up.

Your budget will keep you working towards your goal and spending less each month. This is where you can really sit down and see what is necessary and what isn’t. When everything is on paper, it is easy to see the changes that could be made.

Step Five: Save your savings.

If you save money on groceries, what happens to it? Do you spend it somewhere else? You should save your savings. Immediately write out a check to your savings account for the money you have saved. This ensures that the sacrifices you made in cutting back really pay off. If you don’t save it, it really isn’t saved money.

One of the best ways to keep on the path to your goals is to constantly strive to be frugal. Read everything you can get your hands on. Look at your world a bit differently. Can you cut money by changing something in your household? For example, would a new dryer to replace your old one save you money on energy efficiency? Should you consider having more insulation added to your attic? Would hanging blankets over your windows in the winter cut your heating costs? Look for all the possibilities and you will find that the path isn’t that long.



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Elizabeth Williams asked:


The younger you are, the easier it is to ignore what’s going on with the economy and the effects of the financial crisis on your personal finances. You can afford to be more optimistic about your financial future because you have so many years ahead of you before you need to worry about retiring.

The closer you are to retirement, the more concerned you will naturally be regarding the amount of money you have in your retirement savings. With every downturn of the economy, you watch your nest egg grow smaller. Here are some practical ways you can survive on less money during your golden years:

Decrease Expenses: You might be surprised discover how many things you pay for every month that are just not necessary. Go through your expenses with a fine toothed comb and make sure you are sticking to the mandatory expenses and not going overboard with unnecessary purchases or subscriptions. Try little changes, like grocery shopping from a list only to limit impulse purchases, take less expensive trips or vacations, get rid of credit card debt or take advantage of a balance transfer offer to save on interest expenses. The money you save can be added to your retirement savings, to help extend the length of time your savings will sustain your lifestyle.

Downsize: Do you have a house that was suitable for a growing family – but seems larger than what you and your significant other really need? Consider downsizing the home to save money on mortgage and/or utility costs. Maintaining a smaller home costs less than maintaining a larger home. You may also be able to move into a condo that involves no maintenance on your part at all, depending on your personal preferences.

Learn to Live Frugally: Cut back on your energy consumption by living by lowering your heat a degree or two, or helping the central air work less by keeping it a degree or two warmer in the summer. Change hot water heating setting to warm, instead of piping hot. None of these small changes will decrease your lifestyle any, and within a week or so you won’t even notice the changes other than in your wallet. Try energy efficient compact florescent bulbs for your whole house to decrease your electric bill, and unplug everything you’re not currently using since many items draw electricity even if they’re not on.

Consider a Part Time Job. If you feel like you’ve reduced your expenses as much as possible, consider a part time job that will let you earn a little extra cash. If you are computer literate you can work from home writing or doing virtual administrative assistant work. Otherwise, many retailers or restaurants are good places for part time work. In addition to boosting your income, keeping your mind active helps keep you sharp and alert.

Improving your financial situation is often as simple as making small adjustments to your everyday spending habits. Not all of the ideas in this article will work for everyone, but using just a few can add up to big savings over the long term.



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Martin Lukac asked:


Being frugal and happy isn’t something society usually puts together. Frugality seems to bring up images of great sacrifice. We think of the miser who lived in poverty only for others to find millions saved after the miser passes away. What was the use?

Frugal living isn’t necessarily what you may think it is. Frugal people live very happy lives. They find happiness in meeting goals, reducing their financial burdens and living stress free.

How happy can you be when you are drowing in debt and struggling to make ends meet? You aren’t living frugally, but you aren’t happy either.

The frugal person often sees each step towards being debt-free or early retirement as a great success. They don’t focus on that sweater they didn’t buy or that new car they aren’t driving. They focus on having spending money left over at the end of the month. They focus on the things that really matter.

Frugality is also a great challenge. You get to be very creative with your money and the way you live. Many people love moving from one thing to another, looking at the way to cut costs for each category. For example, you’ve cut your utilties, now what about your groceries or gasoline consumption?

The goal is what keeps the frugal person going. The daily victories and challenges keep them interested. The penny saved keeps them adding it all up. And the debt free life keeps them stress free.

Imagine a life where you have no debts to pay. All you have are your living expenses. Think about having two thousand extra dollars a month. Dollars that aren’t already spent before you make them. Think about retiring early to do something you enjoy instead of something you have to do. Think about following your dreams. Think about having money left over each month.

Frugality will get you there. Now wouldn’t that make you happy?



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Martin Lukac asked:


Frugal is thrifty in summary. Frugal is summarized as values with traditional backings over belief and lifestyle. Often those who practice frugal restrain themselves and use resources for buying economical services and goods sparingly. The purpose is to make their purchases good last. It seems to fulfill their goals.

Using the cash economical system frugality places emphasis on economy since the money is employed to meet personal long-term goals, communal needs and familial.

In short, frugal is penny-pinchers that use thrifty tactics to save energy, money and the economy. Few of the chief tactics of frugal involve waste reduction. This process changes the common cost expenses or habits. A frugal will suppress spending for the purpose of achieving gratification instantly through means of self-restraining fiscal while striving toward efficiency.

A frugal avoids traps. These people defy expensive items that the common norm society focuses on. A frugal embraces free items, or gratis choices rather than focusing on materials.

Frugal does not have a problem bartering. The barter system is a process that involves many challenges, such as negotiation, bargaining, swapping, trading, exchanging and so on.

In summary, frugal that barters will swap one good in exchange for another item in which the party needs. Therefore, this person only focuses on necessities rather than material, which is a healthy quality.

A frugal will stay informed. These people seek information of current affairs, local situations, including product, service and market changes.

A frugal is a self-sufficient person that prefers to live the simple life. Often these people associate concepts of their frugality as philosophic. This often backs a deeply worried emotion or lack of trust. These people often gain professional knowledge that guides them to understand the commercial realm or the cultures in the corporate world. These people claims to understand economic changes, spiritual interests and materials best.

Various spiritual societies contemplate over the frugality of its virtue or else religious discipline. You can note examples of these people by understanding the Puritans or the RSF -”Religion Society of Friends.”

Common theories back these ideas, which include saving money to make cash more ready for other individuals. Environmentalists often follow the frugal structure in that these people places their virtues on bringing humanity closer. The purpose is to guide humanity back to its roots. This includes the forming into a group to bring things and people together.

It also includes needing and carrying of little and discovering the purpose of nature intentions rather than manmade religions. In short, frugal forms a pattern that attracts followers, supporters, or an audience by accumulating traditions and beliefs that fit the frugality profile.



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Carrie Lauth asked:


No matter what your current economic situation, it’s important to know how to save money. In addition to safeguarding you when hard times hit, frugal practices are often better for the environment. Here are ten tips to get you started on the frugal path.

Buy used.

If it’s not a safety hazard to do so, you should buy things used as often as possible. One great example is children’s clothes. You can save a lot of money if you buy your kids clothes used instead of new. They’re going to outgrow the clothes in a few months anyway and since kids wear out their things so fast, it doesn’t make much sense to buy new.

Cheap is good, free is better.

Sometimes people give perfectly good things away. Check Craigslist and Freecycle regularly to see what free things you can find. There’s no better price than free! This is another way to keep good products out of the landfills.

Careful coupon use.

Coupons can be an effective way to save money if you’re judicious. Always compare prices – sometimes a store special or generic is cheaper than using a coupon. You can also find printable coupons and coupon codes online. Search for coupons or discount codes on various products before buying. You would be amazed at the results search engines will show up.

Eat at home.

Eating out is expensive and typically less healthy than homecooked food. We’re most tempted to eat out when we’re tired or disorganized so be sure to plan ahead. Spend a little time each week meal planning so you always know “what’s for dinner”. Cook double on some nights so you can reheat leftovers. Keep a repertoire of quick and easy meals that you can throw together in minutes.

Develop a hand me down system.

You probably have nieces and nephews that are older than your kids and friends with kids that are younger than yours. You could all form a coop whereby the oldest kids pass down their clothes to the younger ones. This way everyone saves money on kid’s clothes. Try organizing a swap meet in your living room.

Buy out of season.

Most stores start running clearance sales when the seasons are changing. This is the best time to buy clothes. So buy your summer clothes in the winter and your winter clothes in the spring. If you’re buying clothes for kids, buy them a few sizes too big so the clothes will fit your kids the next year.

Make it yourself.

Even if you don’t know how to sew, you have another way to save money. There are thousands of recipes online for homemade beauty products, spice mixes, baking mixes, health remedies, even cleaning products. You can also check out fantastic books at the library with all kinds of do it yourself recipes.

Barter.

Search online for bartering opportunities at bartering sites and places like Craigslist. Instead of spending your cash, you can trade a service or something else of value.

Frequent yard sales.

Usually when people hold yard sales, they are trying to get rid of their stuff quick and get cash. This is a good opportunity to haggle and get good deals on the things that you need for your family for pennies on the dollar. The trick with yard sales is to be organized, since the availability of items is unpredictable. You might have to buy things ahead of time that you store for awhile. Try to anticipate what your family will need in the upcoming seasons and keep running lists in your purse so you can remind yourself quickly. You can even partner up with a yard sale buddy. If you need a bread machine and your friend needs a new printer, you can scout for each other.



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Martin Lukac asked:


Discrete spiritual societies weigh over the frugality of its temper or else scriptural discipline. In short, frugal forms a pattern that attracts retainers, clientele, or an audience by miscellany traditions and beliefs that fit the frugality profile.

Repeatedly those who practice frugal relations will restrain worldly desires to exploit comfort for buying economical services and goods carefully. The purpose is to make their purchases of goods closing. It seems to fulfill the frugality ritual.

Exploiting the cash economical utilidor the frugal follower emphasizes their spending while focusing on the economy. The pocket money is employed to meet secret long-term goals, communal needs and family.

These thrifty souls, goal to save energy, money and the meanness while few of the chief schemes of frugal rivet toward waste decrement, whilst focusing on the changes and common cost matching funds or ethnics. The goal of achieving self-fulfillment based on humane beliefs directly right through means of self-restraining capital at the time striving toward efficiency sets the mark of unique survivors.

Rather than filling their own greed, they focus on fellowship of the human race. Instead of buying materials for having it, they will buy goods or services they need rather than want.

A frugal saves money, time and energy. Not only is these commodities saved for their own need, rather for the need of humankind. Instead of dwelling on fabricated rituals of religion and worldly needs, these people focus on the need of the next man.

A frugal stays informed, especially staying updated with district situations, including products, telephone service and market changes. This is because they use this information to find ways to save money.

Some people call the frugal a stingy person or penny-pincher but the fact is these people are self-reliant, self-sufficient and extremely considerate of other people in the world.

Since our world has caused a major decline in humanity traits, as well being that of desensitized souls, the frugal is someone you want to follow, since compassion is far removed from their souls.

A frugal is a self-sufficient person that prefers to bide the simple life. Often forthwith-family associates concepts of their frugality to that of the philosophic. Some people believe this is because these people lack trust. Their acts are far over the heads of many spectators that fail to see a frugal is someone attempting to bring humanity back to its original state.

The frugal people often gain professional knowledge that guides them to understand the profitable cultures in the concentrated world. Frugality followers and coaches are proposed to claim to have an understanding of the economic changes, spiritual interests and materials, thus understanding this structure better than anyone does. This is according to spectators failing to see the full light of a frugal.



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Nicholas Tan asked:


The word “frugality” has left a more negative connotation for most people than simply being a saver, a cheapskate or tightwad. There is a thin line difference to saving and too much frugality to the point of being awkward and ridiculous. This is where the negative connotation comes from.

But if you are guided with the right principles and reasons in deciding to live a frugal life, you would never go wrong.

If you have decided to live frugally, no need to be worried of insults. Keep your head up high. And keep your focus through these tips.

1. Eating Out – Having gimmicks with friends on a Friday night is fine if you do it once in a while. But this can be expensive if you add them up at the end of the month.

2. Clothing – Naturally, if you are the kind of person who adores signature and designer clothes, do not expect that there will be something left of your take home pay. Instead of being trendy, wear clothes that can easily be matched with your other clothes.

3. Own Home – If you are planning to move out and find a place to settle, do not be overwhelmed by the excitement, instead be practical. As a start, buy a smaller house or try other ways like rent-to-own, do-it-yourself arrangements, and owner financing.

4. Buying Your Own Car – Shy away from sports cars or SUVs. Just stick to your purpose of buying a car which is to transport you anywhere you need to go. Check out also program cars like a new car warranty. Maybe this is not just the best time to replace your car with a new one.

5. Shopping for Groceries – As much as possible do not go with items that are branded. Choose non-brands and try looking for items on the highest or lowest shelves for best prices. Grab the opportunity and shop during sales or use coupons.

6. Family Out – There are inexpensive ways to bond with your family and be entertained like going to libraries, local parks, malling, picnics, visit friends and local church.

7. Buying School Supplies – Stock school supplies at home and do not buy anything fancy.

8. Be contented with what you have and try to live within what you earn.

9. Plan your Child’s College Education – Teach them the ways to be independent and self-supporting by encouraging them to apply for scholarships and “on campus jobs”.

10. Be Aware of your Financial Limitations

11. Anticipate your Failures by Planning – Have always a budget plan so you would avoid impulsive buying.



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