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Whether you rent or own the place that you live, chances are pretty good that a large portion of income goes to pay for it. You may find yourself wondering how you can save any more money on your housing. What follow are some ideas to help you save money on renting, buying, or improving your home, as well as purchasing major appliances.

Renting a Place to Live

Rental properties (and rates) can vary widely, even in the same area. Do not limit your rental housing search to classified ads or referrals from friends and acquaintances. Select buildings where you would like to live and contact their building manager or owner to see if anything is available. Remember that signing a lease probably obligates you to make all monthly payments for the term of the agreement. As with most other things, weigh the cost of the rent against other factors, like the area, convenience, access, length of contract, etc.

Home Purchase

When purchasing a home you basically have three options-you can use a real estate agent, you can buy a home for sale by the owner, or you can build a new home. Each has its pluses and minuses. A real estate agent can help guide you through the process, and point out good and bad things about the home you are looking to purchase. He/she can help you arrange financing and handle most of the paperwork, as well as arrange for the closing and turning over of the keys, etc. However, you generally (but not always) will pay a higher price because the agent’s (usually) 6% commission is figured into the price of the house.

If you choose to use a real estate agent, do not choose the agent who represents the home you are interested in buying. If you do, that agent then has a conflict of interest, representing both buyer and seller, and you generally will pay a higher price. Instead, select a buyer’s agent or broker who will represent only you. He/she will be in a better position to negotiate a lower sale price.

Choosing to buy a home for sale by owner may save you money, but will require a lot more time and legwork on your part. You will need to do some research to determine whether or not the home is worth the asking price (information that real estate agents generally have easy access to). You will have to arrange for an appraisal and inspection.

Be sure you fully understand the terms of the seller’s agreement before you sign it because you will be legally bound to it. If you are selling your existing home and buying another, make sure the seller’s agreement on your new home stipulates that your purchase of that home depends on the sale of your other home. Otherwise you could find yourself making two mortgage payments.

Building a home allows you to get exactly what you want, but beware that not all builders and contractors are the same. Do your homework and get referrals. Check up on them. Building is usually a very lengthy process-be aware that promises to build a home quickly often equate to lesser quality. Finally, also consider that when your house is done, you’ll still have all the landscaping to do!

Do not purchase any house until it has been examined by a home inspector that you have selected, preferably one accredited by the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI). Make it a part of your seller’s agreement that your purchase of the home is dependent upon the outcome of the inspection. That way you’ll be able to legally back out if something is wrong, such as termites, mold, structural issues, etc.

When shopping for a mortgage, look for a lender that carries the smallest difference between the interest rate and the Annual Percentage Rate (APR-what you actually pay when you figure in the effects of all the fees). Close on your home during the last two weeks of the month (if you have to finance it). That way you’ll have less interest to prepay, also lowering your closing costs.

Home Improvement

Think of maintaining your home as protecting your investment. Home repairs often cost thousands of dollars and are the subject of frequent complaints. Select from among several well-established, licensed contractors who have submitted written, fixed-price bids for the work. Ask for referrals and check on them. Do not sign any contract that requires full payment before satisfactory completion of the work.

If you choose to do the repairs yourself, be sure you know what you’re doing. People often meet with injury and even death when trying to do their own repairs. Get appropriate licenses and permits as necessary. Take a look at how doing it yourself might affect the resale value of your home. More than one home’s value has been severely decreased by do-it-yourselfers’ projects that didn’t quite turn out right! Decide if the money you may save is really worth the time and the risk involved.

Major Appliances

One of the best ways to find out about major appliances is to consult a consumer information magazine, like Consumer Reports, that is available in most public libraries. It contains information about specific brands and how to evaluate them, including energy use. There are often great price and quality differences among brands. A more expensive, yet more energy-efficient model may pay for the difference in price rather quickly.

Once you’ve selected a brand, check the phone book to learn what stores carry this brand, then call at least four of these stores for the prices of specific models. After each store has given you a quote, ask if that’s the lowest price they can offer you. This comparison shopping can save you as much as $100 or more.

From renting to owning (and everything related) we hope you’ve been able to glean a few ideas on how to save money on your housing. And, as always, remember that an investment of time on your part can generate more money in your pocketbook.

Saving money is not easy and is made more difficult if you have a short-term outlook regarding your personal finances. If, like many people, you are living from one pay cheque to the next, it is difficult to put some money aside for a rainy day or for a summer holiday. But what if you were to change your financial outlook into a medium to long-term one? You might believe that you cannot afford to think ahead and make plans, but in most cases you would be wrong. Most people should be able to save some money and with some effort, maybe even as much as 20 percent of their salary each month.

Income Analysis

First of all it is important to have a handle on where your income is going. Unless, we are on an extremely tight budget or are very money conscious for other reasons, many of us have never really sat down and considered what our money is being spent on – we just know that by the end of the month, it has all gone! You will know if you are consistently spending your money on unnecessary purchases, for example. Having this knowledge equips you with the control to change things a little or a lot.

Saving Money Mentality

Many people have never been taught to save and as children, immediately spent the money they received without any forethought. You often hear people say, “Life is short, if you want something buy it now”, but thankfully for most of us life is not really so short and along the way we will have to deal with both opportunities and challenges. Having some money saved will help you make the most of the opportunities and ride the challenges.

Savings – Seeing the Big Picture

If you could save 20 percent of your salary each month, imagine what that would mean in real financial terms. For example, if you earn 2000 dollars per month and you saved 20 percent or 400 dollars out of every pay cheque, after 12 months you will have saved 4800 dollars! Regularly saving this amount of money would give you the financial freedom to take advantage of more of life’s opportunities. You could plan the special holiday you have always wanted to go on, buy the car that you have been dreaming about for years, or help put a child through college. When it comes to life’s challenges, having a lump sum put away could help you pay for private medical care or deal with an expensive plumbing problem in the home, all without having to turn to the bank for a loan and getting into debt.

How Can it Be Done?

As we have already seen, knowing exactly where your money is going is the starting point. Next, start thinking about the big things you could achieve with some money in the bank. Some people compensate themselves for not having what they really want, by making many frequent small purchases and getting a temporary “feel good” sensation afterwards. Rather than satisfying yourself with small purchases, such as new clothes and CDs every week or always buying the latest mobile phone, think about how much more satisfying it would be to save up and buy or do something special, which you previously thought was out of your reach, but is achievable with a little effort.

When it comes to managing finances, most people would probably receive an F. The truth is, many of us were never taught the basics of money, how it works, and how to handle it. Here are some tips to help get you on your way to better money management.

Handling Your Money

Invent games to play with your money. For example, set aside certain bills or coins and see how long you can keep a $20 (or whatever denomination you choose) without breaking it for gum, a magazine, or some other frivolous item. Have a spare change jar and empty it into your savings account each month. At the end of every day, empty out your wallet and put the change in your jar. Don’t limit it to just coins, toss in those few bills that are lingering in there as well.

Never spend a windfall. Take your income-tax refund (which should be minimal, if you follow the tip below), money gifts, bonuses, rebates, overpayment refunds and any other unexpected money and put it into your savings or investments. Make this money earn money for you.

Use direct deposit and automatic withdrawals to move money out of your checking account into savings or investments on a regular basis, such as every paycheck. You will learn to live on less when you think you have less to spend. Fool yourself into saving.

Avoid Overpayments and Fees

Don’t give the government a free loan by overpaying your taxes. Every time you get a refund from the IRS that is a sign that you overpaid your taxes and gave the government an interest-free loan for up to a year. Adjust your withholding allowances and try to get your refund down to less than $100. Your paycheck may go up a bit in the mean time so be sure to put that extra money in the bank for future purchases or emergency savings.

Avoid unnecessary fees. ATM fees, service charges, and late fees all add up to quite a bit over the course of a year. These fees are rarely worth the reason they were charged. A little planning/budgeting can usually circumvent these fees. Also avoid insurance charges when renting a car. Most credit cards have car rental insurance as a feature of the card. Check with your card issuer for the terms and conditions of rental car insurance.

Keep your checkbook and accounts balanced. You should always have a pretty good idea of how much money is available in your account. Purposely writing bad checks can land you in jail. Inadvertently writing them can sack you with overdraft fees from your bank as well as returned check fees from the store or company you wrote the bad check to.

Shopping

Buy on sale as often as possible. When you want something wait a week to see if it is going to come on sale. Or ask the store when the item will be on sale. Buy clothing out of season for the best bargains.

Haggle. You never know when someone will be willing to lower their prices or throw in something extra. Just ask. It may be hard to find a person who can make a pricing decision but when you do, give it a try and see what happens.

Throw away your mail order catalogs. Don’t even look at them. Looking leads to wanting and wanting to buying. Most catalog purchases go on your credit cards and that is the last place where you want to rack up debt for what is usually more junk. Remove yourself from their mailing lists (which lists are often shared with other mail order companies). In addition, when filling out customer response cards (such as for warranties, etc.) give only the basic information they need such as name and address; skip the “getting to know you” questions. The answers to those questions are farmed out to mail order companies, increasing your junk mail even more.

Use coupons, apply for free samples, stock up on sales (if you have some extra money to do so), shop discount stores, day-old bakeries/items. Buy store-brand over name-brand items. Forgo brand loyalty in favor of better prices. For the most part, the most expensive part of a product is its packaging, so don’t be swayed by fancy designs in beautiful colors.

Shop less frequently. Each time you go to the store, you increase your chances of purchasing an impulse item. Try to limit your grocery shopping to once a week and prepare a list beforehand and stick to your list. You’ll be amazed at how much this little tip can save!

Investing the time to learn how better to manage your money is an important step toward gaining financial freedom. Improving money handling, avoiding unnecessary payment of fees, and shopping more wisely are all integral parts of better money management. Take the time to implement some of these tips and watch your money grow!

Do you always worry about money? Are you always playing catch up with your bills? Here are some tips on saving money in case you are one of the millions of Americans who are struggling with some type of debt:

CREDIT CARDS

Pay your credit card balances in full each month.

Do not use credit card for things like groceries or dining. If you cannot afford to pay cash for it, you can’t afford it, period.

Always review your credit card monthly statement to make sure charges you never make do not appear.

BANKING

Do business with a bank that does not charge monthly services fee.

Use only ATM machines that are affiliate with your bank.

INSURANCE

Review your medical coverage and auto insurance policy.

Shop around for cheaper rates and see if you can save money by getting higher deductibles.

SHOPPING

Do major comparison shop and only buy when you have found the lowest price possible for that item.

Clip coupons.

Take advantage of rebates or shop at store that offer instant rebates.

Go to discount stores for toys and clothes.

Eliminate impulsive purchases by “sleeping on it.” Especially when buying clothes or any major purchase.

Garage sales are also know to be a good choice on certain items you need.

TELEPHONE

Cancel call waiting, caller ID, and three way calling from your telephone.

Shop around for the best long distance carrier.

Use phone cards to call international or long distance.

Use your cell phone only for emergencies.

ELECTRICITY, GAS, WATER

Cut down your water use, especially hot water.

Lower your thermostat by 1 or 2 degrees.

Add ceiling fans.

FOOD AND BEVERAGES

Buy you soft drinks by the 12 pack instead of vending machines or fast food drinks. That will save you a lot and you’ll also avoid the bacteria.

Brew you own coffee instead of going to a fancy coffee house.

Avoid eating out. Put the money in a fund for saved money or apply that to a bill.

When eating out order water instead of drinks. When you are free of debt you can celebrate.

ENTERTAINMENT

Don’t subscribe to cable channels you don’t watch. Stick to the basic plan or cut out the cable for a while.

Rent videos instead of going to the theater or, if you must, go to the matinee instead of evening showings.

Check out DVD or VHS movies from the library. It’s free.

Commitment, along with patience, is very essential if you want to save money in a profitable manner. It is essential to save while you can, to avoid panicking in a sudden emergency. Money saved is a security that only adds to your level of confidence and quality of life. There are some basic money saving steps that you could follow, from the beginning, to avoid financial problems in the future.

Set financial goals:

It is important to get a clear idea of your current financial situation, in order to set goals for the future. You should keep reviewing your goals and be flexible. Implement change in the savings pattern whenever required, to successfully meet your pre-set goals.

Savings account:

A number of people do not consider a savings account, as they feel it is not worth it. They feel that the account does not earn an interest and grow. However, a savings account is a good start to the saving habit. Make sure that you put away some of your monthly income into the savings account, regularly. When the amount in your account grows sufficiently, you can either use the money to invest in profitable funds or set it aside for any emergency.

Save the coins:

Whenever you receive coins after making a purchase, do not spend the amount. Instead, put them into a ‘piggy’ bank. Once the home bank is full, you can exchange the coins for bills at the bank and maintain the amount in an emergency backpack. It is good to keep a certain amount of money at home, to meet sudden, unforeseen expenses.

Do not rely on tax returns and bonuses for ‘catching up’

A number of people charge to their credit cards unnecessarily, in anticipation that they can pay the credit card bills with the help of profit distribution or the bonus that they are expecting. They depend on this extra source of income to get themselves out of financial issues. But there is a possibility that the expected bonus may not come your way. This would make it very difficult to pay bills and taxes that are due immediately. You should use your credit cards for purchases only when you are sure that you will be able to pay back the amount, within the time frame specified. Consider the use of cash instead of credit cards.

Save the raise:

If you receive a good raise annually, you should consider signing up for an automatic deposit into your savings account and save wisely. The raise will prove very handy in an emergency.

Save money from rebates:

You sometimes receive checks via the mail that are rebates on the purchases recently made. Since you have already paid for the article, you could save the money in your special account. These extra amounts saved could be invested to earn good returns.

It is very essential to save a percentage of your income for the future. If you have a strong determination and you take small, but disciplined steps over a period of time, saving money will come naturally to you.

You spend the most time there, so it makes sense that your house represents your largest expense. Whether it is the day to day upkeep, and operating expenses, repair projects, or the rent or mortgage payment, you allocate a big portion of your income to your home. Because you spend so much money on it, take advantage of the following tips to start trimming your budget.

If you want to possibly save hundreds of dollars a year on your electric bill, make sure that any new appliances you buy are energy efficient. You can find this information on the Energy Guide Labels that federal law requires of all major appliances.

Call your utility program and ask them if they have any cost saving programs such as load management programs or off hour rate programs. Enrolling in these could save you a substantial amount of money.

Ask your electric and/or gas company if they do a free or low cost home audit. They can identify ways for you to save hundreds of dollars a year on heating and air conditioning and often they will help you implement their suggestions for free.

Go over your phone bill and see if there are charges on it for services you don’t use, like three way calling or call waiting. You can save about $50 a year if you eliminate unused services.

When the fireplace is not in use, keep the flue damper tightly closed. A chimney is designed specifically for smoke to escape, so until you close it, warm air escapes—24 hours a day!

If you use electricity to heat your home, consider installing an energy-efficient heat pump system. Heat pumps are the most efficient form of electric heating in moderate climates, providing three times more heating than the equivalent amount of energy they consume in electricity. A heat pump can trim the amount of electricity you use for heating as much as 30% to 40%.

You can cut the amount of water you use showering in one year in half, by installing low flow shower heads.

Insulate your water heater and turn the thermostat on it down a few degrees, to save quite a bit on your bill.

Carefully placed trees can help to heat a cool your house. Studies show that just 3 trees strategically planted to give shelter and shade can save you up to $250 a year on heating and cooling.

Provide high efficiency lighting to your home by using linear fluorescent and energy efficient fluorescent compact lamps in your fixtures. They last 6-10 times longer and use less energy.

Use solar pathway lights in your yard to provide nighttime light. It costs less than using electricity to run security lamps.

Refrigerators with freezers on the top are more efficient and therefore more cost effective than those with freezers on the side.

Switching your washing machines temperature from hot to warm or cold cuts a loads energy use in half.

Gas dryers are less expensive to operate than electric dryers. The cost of drying a typical load of laundry in an electric dryer is 30 to 40 cents compared to 15 to 25 cents in a gas dryer. That savings adds up over the course of a year.

When you are drying jeans in the dryer, throw a towel or two in with them. The towel will draw moister from the jeans, cutting down on dry time.

With a little thought and minimal effort you can save hundreds of dollars a year around your house. Start saving today, and imagine how much more money you will have in your bank account in the future.

Saving money is one of those tasks that’s so much easier said than done. There’s more to it than spending less money (although that part alone can be challenging). How much money will you save, where will you put it, and how can you make sure it stays there? Here’s how to set realistic goals, keep your spending in check, and pay yourself first.

1. 

   Set savings goals. For short-term goals, this is easy. If you want to buy a video game, find out how much it costs; if you want to buy a house, determine how much of a down payment you’ll need. For long-term goals, such as retirement, you’ll need to do a lot more planning (figuring out how much money you’ll need to live comfortably for 20 or 30 years after you stop working), and you’ll also need to figure out how investments will help you achieve your goals.

   • Kill your debt first. Simply calculating how much you spend each month on your debts will illustrate that eliminating debt is the fastest way to free up money. Once the money is freed from debt payment, it can easily be re-purposed to savings.
2. Establish a timeframe. For example: “I want to be able to buy a house two years from today.” Set a particular date for accomplishing shorter-term goals, and make sure the goal is attainable within that time period. If it’s not attainable, you’ll just get discouraged.
3. Figure out how much you’ll have to save per week, per month, or per paycheck to attain each of your savings goals. Take each thing you want to save for and figure out how much you need to start saving now. For most savings goals, it’s best to save the same amount each period. For example, if you want to put a $20,000 down payment on a home in 36 months (three years), you’ll need to save about $550 per month every month. But if your paychecks amount to $1000, it might not be a realistic goal, so adjust your timeframe until you come up with an approachable amount.
4. 

   Keep a record of your expenses. What you save falls between two activities and their difference: how much you make and how much you spend. Since you have more control over how much you spend, it’s wise to take a critical look at your expenses. Write down everything you spend your money on for a couple weeks or a month. Be as detailed as possible, and try not to leave out small purchases. Assign each purchase or expenditure a category such as: Rent, Car insurance, Car payments, Phone Bill, Cable Bill, Utilities, Gas, Food, Entertainment, etc.

   • Keep a small notebook with you at all times. Get in the habit of recording every expense and saving the receipts.
   • Sit down once a week with your small notebook and receipts. Record your expenses in a larger notebook or a spreadsheet program.
5. Trim your expenses. Take a good, hard look at your spending records after a month or two have passed. You’ll probably be surprised when you look back at your record of expenses: $300 on ice cream, $100 on parking tickets? You’ll likely see some obvious cuts you can make. Depending on how much you need to save, however, you may need to make some difficult decisions. Think about your priorities, and make cuts you can live with. Calculate how much those cuts will save you per year, and you’ll be much more motivated to pinch pennies.
   • Can you move to a less expensive apartment or house? Can you refinance your mortgage?
   • Can you consolidate your debts so that you’re not paying as much interest?
   • Can you save money on gas, or give up a car altogether? If your family has multiple cars, can you bring it down to one?
   • Can you drop a land line and only use your cell phone?
   • Can you live without cable or satellite TV?
   • Can you cut down on your utility bills?
   • Can you restrict eating out? Buy food in bulk? Cook more at home? You might be able to save a lot of money on food.
6. Reassess your savings goals. Subtract your expenses (the ones you can’t live without) from your take-home income (i.e. after taxes have been taken out). What is the difference? And does it match up with your savings goals? Let’s say you’ve decided you can definitely get by on $1500 per month, and your paychecks amount to $2300 per month. That leaves you with $800 to save. If there’s absolutely no way you can fit all your savings goals into your budget, take a look at what you’re saving for and cut the less important things or adjust the timeframe. Maybe you need to put off buying a new car for another year, or maybe you don’t really need a big-screen TV that badly.
7. Make a budget. Once you’ve managed to balance your earnings with your savings goals and spending, write down a budget so you’ll know each month or each paycheck how much you can spend on any given thing or category of things. This is especially important for expenses which tend to fluctuate, or which you know you’re going to have a particularly hard time restricting. (E.g. “I will only spend $30 a month on movies/chocolate/coffee/etc.”)
8. Stop using credit cards. Pay for everything with cash or money orders. Don’t even use checks. It’s easier to overspend when you’re pulling from a bank or credit account because you don’t know exactly how much is in there. If you have cash, you can see your supply running low. You can even bundle up the predetermined amount of cash allocated for each expense with a label or keep separate jars for each expense (e.g. a bundle/jar for coffee, another for gas, another for miscellaneous). As you pull money from a jar for that particular expense, you’ll see how much remains and you’ll also be reminded of your limit.
   • 

     If you need to have credit cards but you don’t want the temptation of having them available to use day-to-day, restrict that section of your wallet with a note or picture reminding you of your savings goals.

   • Credit cards are not inherently evil; it’s all about your self control. If you use them responsibly (i.e. completely pay them off every month), you can benefit from them. But the reason most credit card companies make money, however, is because people end up spending money that they don’t have. Unless you are one of the people who can religiously pay off the balance in full every month, you’re better off foregoing the promotions that credit card companies use to lure you in (cash back, introductory APR, airline miles, and so on).
9. Open an interest-bearing savings account. It’s a lot easier to keep track of your savings if you have them separate from your spending money. You can also usually get better interest on savings accounts than on checking accounts (if you get interest on your checking account at all). Consider higher-interest options such as CDs or money-market accounts for longer savings goals.
10. Know where your money is. And how much of it, too. If you accidentally overdraw your bank account, you will incur hefty bank fees; worse yet, the place you paid with that check may slap a bounced check fee on top of that, and send the check in again, resulting in a second overdraft fee from the bank! So just a few cents missing to cover that check could result in over $100 in fees. To avoid that, you should always know how much money you’ve got in your account(s), so you never cut a check for more than what you have.
11. Pay yourself first. Savings should be your priority, so don’t just say that you’ll save whatever’s left over at the end of the month. Deposit savings into an account (or your piggybank) as soon as you get paid. An easy, effective way to start saving is to simply deposit 10% of every check in a savings account. If you get a check or sum of cash, say 710.68, move the decimal point one place to the left and deposit that amount: 71.07. This works well and requires little thought; over several years, you’ve a tidy sum in savings. Over decades, you’ll be a millionaire.
    • You can set up an automatic transfer from your checking account to your savings account.
    • Many employers allow you to deduct savings from your paycheck. The money is directly deposited in your savings account so you never even see it on your paycheck.
    • You can also have investments for retirement taken directly out of your pay, and the taxes may be deferred with this option.

Warnings

• Do not go out “window shopping” with any money on you. You will only be tempted to spend money you cannot afford to lose. Only shop with a predetermined shopping list.
• After a long week of working, you may want to indulge in some luxury, telling yourself, “I deserve this”. Remember that the things you buy are not gifts to yourself; they are trades, products for money. Say, “Of course I deserve this, but can I afford it? If I can’t afford it, I’m still a worthy person, and I still deserve to meet my savings goals!”
• Unless you’re in truly desperate financial straits (like 10 seconds from eviction and your three children are starving) don’t try to cut corners connected to health. Basic preventative care for yourself, your family, and your pets might cost you a $60 office visit or a $30 heartworm pill today, but the skipping it will contribute to expensive problems and heartache down the road.