12 Ways To Care For Money - Part II

Out of season items

Most often we buy out of season items for the next season at more than 50 percent discounts. For example we buy our warm clothing from Feb to Apr for the next winter and our warm clothing in Oct to Dec for the next summer and get huge discounts.

Paying for cash

We pay our bills by credit cards. Many times I bargain with sellers for some discount if paid in cash. Everyone loves cash. Instead of paying to the credit card companies they may be willing to pay you for immediate cash. Sometimes we bargain for no tax payments against cash as well.

Credit Card Promotions

Sometimes I get offers from banks for cash advances at 2 or 3 percent rate of interest. I have used this money to pay for Lines of Credit or simply to deposit in higher paying deposits (like GICs etc.). After the promotion period is over, I simply withdraw money and pay back before they start charging me normal rate of interest. I just make some money by reinvesting this promotional offer.

One should make calculations before borrowing this promotional money and then reinvesting. I have been making anything from $100 to $200 in a year by spending some minutes of my time.

Bank A/C Fees

One should also be careful about bank fees. There may be some accounts very sparingly used accounts and one might still be paying bank fees. Banks charge money on any small excuse. One should carefully watch if one is not unnecessarily paying any bank fees. There are ways to overcome the same. For example, one can save fees if one gets electronic statements rather than paper statements.

TV, Internet cable and Telephone Bills

These may be a heavy drain on one’s pocket. One should pay close attention to what one is being charged. If one is not watching too much of a TV or does not need too fast an internet connection, one can save a lot of money by just going for basic TV and internet. Long distance charges could also be heavy. There are alternative companies which offer very cheap long distance plans. So it is mostly better to have a different long distance provider. In my case I have a different long distance provider for landlines only and another for cell phones as this way I get cheaper rates. We talk a lot internationally for about $30 only.

Service Providers

One should always check who is charging how much for different facilities like phone, internet, TV etc. Since there is too much competition in the market, if one finds a cheaper rate somewhere, one should immediately call one’s own service provider and negotiate a better deal. My experience is that at most of the times, one will get a concession. I get many discounts at present only because of this.

12 Ways To Care For Money - Part I

Conserving and looking after the outgo of money is equivalent to saving of money. Following are 12 ways for saving money from being taken away from one’s pocket.

Sale Receipts

After buying things especially bulk things like groceries, one should carefully check the receipts and see if there is no extra item included and the prices are right. I have saved a lot of money by doing this as many times the same item was entered twice, or the quantity was wrong or the prices were not right. Sometimes a product is on sale and instead of entering promotional price, original price was entered.

One should always take a few minutes to double check the bill and to ensure that everything is accurate. I am sure that many times you will find errors.

Utility Bills

Same thing applies to utility bills like gas, electricity, water etc. There may not be many errors over there, but one should pay attention to meter reading numbers. If the numbers are just estimates over a long period of time, these may be working against you. One should understand various items on these bills and how one is being charged. One can eliminate some unnecessary costs. One can also undertake conserving measures as well to reduce these bills.

Credit Card Credits

There are cards which give money back up to 1 percent, some give points, and some air miles. It is better to compare and see which one pays back maximum and when. For example I have one visa credit card which gives money back starting from 0.25 percent up to 1 percent. But for this I will have to wait for a period of 1 year for getting paid. No wonder I use this very sparingly.

Another master card gives me a credit of 1 percent which I use against groceries as soon as I reach a credit of 20,000 points (equivalent to $20). Two of my others are used for collecting air miles and points.

I use different cards for different purposes and try to maximize the benefits. It may be a bit tedious in the beginning, but as soon as one is clear about which credit card to use where, it is fairly easy.

One word of advice. Never carry over any balance on any cards. If you don’t have enough money coming, don’t spend. All of us have heard “cut your coat according to your cloth”.

Gas For Car

Always search for cheaper places and times. No name gas stations are generally cheaper. I found that around mid night or from 10 pm till early mornings, gas prices are less at many places. My most favorable days are Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays. Some gas stations also provide air miles.

Special Promotions

If one follows a trend, one can see that there are special promotions round the year. One should wait and take full advantage of the same. For example we find that tea (bags) is on sale at least twice a year in a particular store for about 50% of the regular price. We generally purchase full quota for up to a year.

We also buy rice for full year when there is a sale and there is one every year. We save at least about 25% of the regular price on this item. Look for grand openings also which provide concessions. Just last week at a grand opening of a restaurant we had a very nice buffet dinner for $5 per head.

Bulk purchases

Bulk purchases save money on many occasions. So look for bulk purchases of vegetables, fruit, eggs etc.

(Continued in Next Post)