Finances

Knowing how to shop for life insurance can make all the difference between paying exactly what you should be and getting completely ripped off! Believe me!  I was unfortunately doing the latter of those two options for a number of years ( ... more on that story below ...).  But eventually I wised up, did my research, and figured out how to get exactly what I needed for the right price. Now I'm much happier and secure knowing that my family is fully taken care of without having to spend a … [Read more...] about How to Shop for Life Insurance Using These 14 Easy Tips

Do you have a credit card? If you do, be careful.  Not only can you quickly get yourself into some pretty big trouble with debt, it’s sometimes underestimated how being responsible with credit cards can save you money in the long run. How is that so? Your use of credit cards as well as other loans are the “tests” you undertake to see how creditable you are with your money.  In other words, the bank or financial institution is taking a risk by giving you a temporary loan, and they want … [Read more...] about 21 Ways Being Responsible With Credit Cards Saves You Money

Taxes ... there's nothing fun about them.  They are complicated, tedious, and can take up your time. But more importantly, they can also take up your money if you're not careful.  On one hand they cost you way more than is necessary if you've got a pretty simple return to file.  Or on the other hand they can turn into a costly nightmare if you make a mistake or file them incorrectly.  It can be a scary fine line. Luckily, there have been a lot of advances in tax preparation over the years … [Read more...] about 24 Tips for Saving Money While Preparing Your Tax Return

When it comes to the act of retirement planning, believe it or not this is one place where you can actually "save even more money" while "saving money"!   (Yes, you read that correctly.) What am I talking about?  The IRS likes it when we take it upon ourselves to save money for retirement. As a result, they give you a lot of advantages that you wouldn't normally get with other savings goals. In addition to saving for retirement, these advantages can also be useful in making better choices … [Read more...] about 21 Ways to Invest and Save for Retirement Better

Banks are funny places ... When you're young, you're taught that its a safe place to take your money and save it for a rainy day. But when you get older, you find out that a bank is just like any other business - they're there to make money off of you!  Every time you walk in to one, you're bombarded by advertisments for new accounts, loans, and a bunch of other services that you probably would never normally use. Even if you don't go inside one, they want you to meet certain minimums, … [Read more...] about 15 Things You Can Do to Save Money on Banking

Everyone always says that the first step to saving more money is to create a budget. But how does this really help you exactly?  After-all, isn't budgeting just a list of your expenses and income? Yes, it is.  But there's a lot more to it than just making a list. Budgeting is all about getting your finances organized and operating with a plan.  I can't think of a professional business in the world that doesn't operate with some sort of financial plan.  Why should your home finances be … [Read more...] about 13 Ways That Budgeting Can Save You Money