Everyone is looking to save money these days, but every one of us has several money leaks that cost us hundreds of dollars each and every month. Here are the most common money leaks.
Eating out: If you spend $4 dollars per day on your favorite latte and $7 per day for lunch you will be spending over $200 per month. Throw in a dinner or two and you are looking at over $300 per month. If you want to stop the money leak, bring your lunch and brew your own coffee.
Wasting Electricity: Did you know that 40% of the money you spend on electricity for appliances and electronics is for when the appliance is turned off? If you really want to slash your electric bill purchase a Smart Power Strip to manage your electric consumption when your appliances and electronics are turned off.
Shop Your Insurance: I recently shopped my insurance after letting the same insurance agent handle my insurance needs for nearly 20 years. I always felt I was getting a great deal. Imagine my shock when I came to find out that I could save over $1200 per year on my combined home and auto insurance. Shop your insurance every year to two years.
Flexible Spending Accounts: If your employer offers a
Flexible Spending Account you are throwing away money if you don’t use it. For certain expenses you get to set aside pre-tax dollars to pay for them. Spend an hour or so researching what expense you can cover with the FSA and then look back to see how much you spent last year. If you think you will spend it again, put 100% or more of last year’s spend into an FSA. If you are not sure you will spend it this year, put 60% of last year’s spend into a FSA. Every little bit helps.
Ask for a reduction: You would be surprised at how often credit card companies will reduce your interest rates just because you call them up and ask them. You can also do the same with your cable company and many other services you currently use. It never hurts to ask and you could find that you save hundreds of dollars per month for one simple phone call.
The most important thing to do when you are looking to save money is to write up a detailed list of what you are currently spending your money on and then look for ways to reduce every single item on that list. It is not uncommon for people to save $500 per month or more just by spending a few hours going over their finances.
Frank V is a noted expert in eliminating debt having eliminated over $100,000 of personal debt and interest charges. If you are looking for even more information on debt elimination visit http://DebtBeGoneToday.com for thousands of articles that will show you how to consolidate or eliminate your debt.