Be inspired with devotionals about saving and spending in today’s economy with this free Kindle eBook Devoted to Economizing: Saving in Today’s Economy and Loving It by Mary Ann Kerl.

Product Description

Lift yourself up with these devotionals of practical and down-to-earth advice for how to spend and save in today’s economy.

• True stories to lift your spirit and economical situation.
• Inspirational stories of people from the past who learned to economize and celebrate God’s riches.
• Inspirational stories of people who are presently learning to economize.

• Digital List Price: $2.99
• Print List Price: $13.95
• Kindle Price: $0.00 includes free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
• You Save: $13.95 (100%)

Remember! You don’t need to own a Kindle to get this great free eBook. You can read Kindle books on your computer, smartphone or other tablets like your iPad!

Tags: Finance, Free Kindle Book, Kindle, Kindle Book, Saving Money
Posted in Freebies | 3 Comments »

Who knew?  Apparently, April is “Make A Will Month.”  In honor of the event, RocketLawyer.com is offering a FREE will through the end of the month.  So, if you are one of the purported 57 percent of adults in this country who do not have a will, head on over to their website to scratch will off of your “bucket list” (pun intended).  You can find the offer on Rocket Lawyer’s website at www.rocketlawyer.com/free-legal-will.

Of course, if your will is complicated or you have doubts about drafting one online, you should seek the help of a qualified lawyer in your area.

Tags: Economy, Finance, Free, Free Will, Freebie, Freebies, Frugal Living, Save Money, Saving Money, Will
Posted in Blog, Freebies, Online Deals | 2 Comments »

Written by Tacatcon

Saving, by definition, means reducing your consumption. Investing is a different concept. Investing involves risk in order to grow your capital. And you need to do both!

When you deposit money into a savings account, you know that money will be there (plus a little interest) until you need to make a withdrawal. Part of the reason interest rates are so low on savings accounts, money markets and certificate of deposit accounts is because the money is safe. If you think you may need the funds within five years, you want to put that money in an account that you can withdraw from without penalty.

Consider what you might need money for in the next five years. Your first thought should be to establish an emergency fund. If your water heater breaks, if your car is damaged in an accident, if your child breaks a leg and has uninsured medical expenses or you lose your job-you need a liquid fund for these unforeseeable circumstances. Thinking about purchasing a home in the next five years? You should start putting money into a savings instrument now for the down payment. Want to remodel your home in the next few years? This should be money you put into a savings account, money market or CD.

Many people stop there and think they are doing pretty well because they see their savings account growing and feel comfortable. However, for long-term expenditures and retirement one wants to invest that money where it can grow. Your first investment goal should be to fund your retirement. If you have children, it is tempting to invest in a college fund but unless you have a sizable retirement portfolio that has to come second. Your children can take out loans and get scholarships to pay for college. Who will pay for your retirement?

So just how much do you need to save and how much should you be investing? Most experts agree that you want to have between three and six months of your living expenses saved for an emergency fund. The thought of trying to sock away that kind of money might be overwhelming but start with a smaller, manageable goal of putting away a month’s worth of expenses and building from there. Break that down even further to amounts per week you can have automatically deposited from your paycheck into a savings account until you reach that goal. Don’t get an ATM card for this account or if you do, lock it away somewhere so you aren’t tempted to spend this money for anything but an emergency! And if you are lucky enough not to need it, make sure to take a look from time to time at the amount you have saved and your current living expenses. Maybe five years ago you rented at $500 a month and now you are a homeowner with a $1000 a month mortgage. Your emergency fund needs to be adjusted for that change. Again, this money should be liquid so you can get to it quickly in an emergency and not pay a penalty when you do.

Once your emergency fund is established, you can begin to look at other goals for savings and investing. A major decision is how much to invest for retirement. Experts say you should be investing 10% of your gross annual income to be able to retire and live on 75-80% of what you earned pre-retirement. This is going to depend on how long you have until retirement, how you invest the money and what your standard of living is now and how that will change once you retire. You can use a retirement planning calculator such as this one from cnnmoney.com to help you get a sense of how much you will need for retirement. If you are employed full-time, chances are your company has a 401K or similar plan. If they have a matching program-do not pass up this free money! If you do nothing else, make sure you are contributing enough for the full company match.

Investing in stocks, IRAs, bonds etc. outside your company’s 401K plan can be intimidating. Now more than ever, there is real aversion to risk. However, over the long-term you need to be taking some risk to realize a return on your investment. Though you can buy stocks online these days with a click of your mouse, you really should spend some time reading and educating yourself first. Community colleges often offer courses on investing in the stock market for the novice at a fairly reasonable cost. If you don’t have a company 401K or are self-employed, you will want to look into an Individual Retirement Account or IRA. Knowing what type to invest in and how much you can contribute is key. If you are not comfortable with making these decisions alone, hire a professional.

Whether you are in your twenties and single or in your forties and married with children, it is not too late to take charge of your financial opportunities. Start by establishing an emergency fund and then any short term expenditures you need to save for. Establish a retirement plan before you try to pay for your children’s college and don’t forget to contribute to your company’s 401K plan!

Join us next week for the second installment in this three part series on Investing and Saving!

Tags: Finance, Investing, Investing Money, Investments, Money, Money Management, Saving Money, savings, Series
Posted in Articles, Finance | 2 Comments »

In nearly all states auto insurance is required and carries a hefty fine if you are found driving without it. When a cost in your budget is mandatory it pays to be a smart consumer to get the lowest rate and best service possible.

Here are my top 5 tips for saving money on auto insurance.

1. Do your research – Begin by searching auto insurance rates and quotes on the internet, being sure to write down the prices and sources of where you got the quote from. Next look up the phone numbers of local insurance companies to get quotes from them as well. Get at least three quotes, five to ten is better, from different insurance companies.
2. Compare plans and services – Review your coverage with your insurance agent at least once a year. Depending on your assets and personal preferences, you may not need as much liability coverage as you currently have, or you may wish to reject certain coverages such as uninsured motorist or personal injury protection. For example, if your car isn’t worth much, you may be better off dropping the coverages that protect against damage or theft. You may also be able to drop just collision coverage, which is usually the more expensive of the two. Check your policy to see how much comprehensive and collision costs you, and make sure that if you drop the coverage you have enough money in savings to cover the cost of repairing or replacing your vehical.
3. Look for hidden discounts – Ask insurers if they offer any special discounts. Most insurance companies offer a discount if you are a good driver with a clean driving record, Military and Senior discounts as well. Additionally some insurance companies offer discounts if you have a fire extinguisher and other road safety gear. While you are checking into discounts ask if they offer a discount for employees of whatever company you work for. Recently we were able to get a company discount as well as a safe driver discount which saved us $40 a month.
4. Raise your deductible – If you have a $200 deductible on your policy, raising it to $500 may reduce the cost of collision and comprehensive coverage by up to 30%. Raising your deductible to $1,000 could lower your premium by as much as 40% or more, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Make sure, however that you have enough money in savings to cover the higher deductible amount in case you’re in an accident.
5. Pay in full – One great way to save a few hundred dollars is to pay for your insurance in full for 6 months to a year at a time instead of making monthly payments. If you can swing the lump sum payment you usually can expect a savings of a few hundred dollars.

What are your money saving tips to save on auto insurance?

Tags: Auto Insurance, Car Insurance, Finance, Finance & Budget, Insurance, Insurance Policy, Save Money
Posted in Articles, Finance | 2 Comments »

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average family spends nearly $7,798 a year on housing. Whether you own your home or rent, it pays to negotiate. See if one of these tips can help you pay less.

Ask for a lower rate. Refinancing a mortgage usually requires thousands of dollars in closing costs. If you own, ask your mortgage holder if you qualify for a lower rate; you might if you’ve had the mortgage for at least a year, you’ve made all the payments on time and you have a decent credit score. You’ll be charged $1,000 or so, but you’ll avoid the closing costs.

Talk to your landlord. If you rent your house or apartment, consider asking your landlord to lower your rent, especially if you’ve always paid it on time or you’ve made improvements to your home. You may also get a lower rent if you sign a longer lease. But keep in mind that this may not be an option if the real estate market in your area is hot.

Tags: Finance, Housing, Quick Tip, Refinance, Rent
Posted in Quick Tip | No Comments »

Also Known as “I KNOW I don’t spend that much money!!”

So we’re all about to get into the thick of tax season, right? If that’s not tough enough on a body by itself, it normally also gets us thinking about ways we can be trimming the excess in our budgets, especially if you’re like my family and actually have to pay the government AGAIN.

Ok, nope, this is NOT a rant about the IRS, though you can probably find one of those on HotCouponWorld.com’s Hot Under The Collar section. THIS article is about keeping track of where you spend your hard earned dollars so that you don’t end up at the end of month wondering where in the world all your dollars went. Before you can cut your expenses, you need to know exactly how you spend your money.

Whether you are tech-savvy or not, here are a couple of methods for keeping track of your daily expenditures.

First, there is the time-tested method of keeping your receipts. Easy enough to do, but at the end of the month, it requires that you add everything up to see where everything went. If you go with this method, then you need to have a place to put your receipts that will keep them out of the way in your home and you need a filing system to organize your receipts.

If you are using this method, you need to pick up an envelope-type coupon organizer at the dollar store. You can carry that around with you and immediately file your receipt away as soon as you get it. Then once a week or more often if you are so inclined, enter your receipts into your books at home. Programs like Quicken will help you out a bunch. Once a month or so, go through the organizer and make sure you have all receipts entered, then empty the organizer. Find yourself a shoebox and file them away-just make sure you do keep them somewhere for tax (and REBATE!) purposes. Your task will look much less daunting if you only have a few days or a couple of weeks’ worth of receipts than if you have 3 months’ worth.

The Neat Company has a really cool tool called NeatReceipts. Check it out at www.neatreceipts.com. NeatReceipts is a mobile scanner that inputs your receipts. It categorizes your expenses. It keeps digital copies of your receipts for tax time too. This program has a tool that will extract information directly into Quicken, TurboTax, Excel, or QuickBooks. Talk about doing all the work for you! You can save 50% on a Neat Receipt scanner at Amazon for just $124.99 – a savings of $75 over the regular price of $199.

If you don’t have the money to spend on Quicken or something similar, search for free budgeting tools. There are plenty of offline downloads to help you keep track of your expenditures. The downside to some of these programs is that they require you to have the discipline to sit down periodically and enter your receipts or transactions and categorize them yourself, which I am not able to do. I get tired of all the receipts around my house and throw them all in a box, lock, stock and barrel. However, if you can keep up with all of that, these programs can and will work for you.

If you don’t want to deal with each individual receipt and you just need an overview of your budget and how you spend your money, check out www.mint.com. Mint is a neat little program that hooks to your bank account and automatically categorizes your spending from the moment the money leaves your bank account. You can find discussion about mint.com on the Hot Finance Discussion section of HotCouponWorld.

Mint takes a comprehensive look at all of your bank accounts and if you wish, credit card accounts. Year to date info is available at the click of a mouse, and the program shows you your spending trends as well. Using my custom budget that I created on Mint, I can tell at any time how much of my grocery/clothing/fuel/entertainment money I’ve spent. Oh, and if you have a dangerously low balance, Mint emails you to let you know.

All you need to get started is one of your checks, a credit card statement, and statements from any other accounts that you might want to incorporate.

You don’t have to worry about hacking on this website either, or selling your information to other companies. The information you give them is encrypted, and they specifically state that they do not share your information with outside companies. I’ve been a member of Mint for months, and I haven’t gotten any junk mail or spam from them at all.

And, I can tell you that I spend WAY too much on joe.

Tags: Budget, Budgeting, Excel, Finance, Mint.com, NeatReceipts, Organization, QuickBooks, Quicken, Rebate, Receipt, Tax, taxes, TurboTax
Posted in Articles, Finance | 3 Comments »