5 Tips to Saving Money

Use these simple ideas to get yourself into better financial health. Remember a penny saved is a penny earned and even if you don't think pennies are all that valuable, they can add up quickly if you are smart!

1 - With the economy on its slow moving roller coaster, its smart to always be conscience of the state of your financial affairs. Which is the first tip. BE AWARE! Check your accounts regularly. Having access to your account online is great way to keep tabs on what is going on. The once over of the mailed monthly statement is not nearly enough of a watch. By the time you get your monthly statement many times you have forgotten about how you have spent your money and just assume the bank has it right. Remember the banks have a lot of accounts to take care of, well intentioned or not, there will be errors from time to time. If you are aware of what you are doing, you are more likely to pick up on any mistakes that occur with your account. The sooner you catch the errors, the more likely they are going to be less of a hassle to fix. Also with being more aware you cut your chances of over spending.

2 - Save for raining days and later days. One of the biggest mistakes I hear people making is thinking that they can start saving later. The thinking like tomorrow never comes is dangerous. It will hit you before you know it. The key is to start saving early and often. The more the better, but if all you can do is save $100 per month while in college - do it. Everyone alive over the age of 16 should have an emergency savings account of at least $1000.00. This isn't money to tap into when you think its time to upgrade your TV, it is for emergencies like the car breaks down and needs repairs AND you can't afford them with the regular spending money. After you take out money from your emergency savings, you need to replace it as fast as possible. You also should have a retirement savings account and possibly a savings account for things like vacations or life upgrades if you set those goals for yourself. The emergency fund should be forgotten about and protected to help you when you need it most.

3 - Keep medical insurance. Life has a way of giving even the most healthy people slip ups along the way. The car accident may be of no fault of your own, but still you may end up with medical bills. A simple day at the beach may find you going toe to tentacle with a man-of-war that sends you for a vacation in the emergency room. Life happens and you should have some help in paying for the bills when it does. Also the preventative care will help prevent more expensive problems if they are caught early & treated before they develop into worse issues. The peace of mind in knowing that you are covered can lower stress levels, which does wonders.

4 - Credit card interest is paying for nothing but time to defer the payments. Think about it. You are not paying for a thing. The price of the initial item just keeps going up the longer it takes to pay it off. One great tip I learned years ago is never buy on credit anything that will not be around by the time that the credit card bill comes to you. So never purchase meals, drinks at the bar, movie tickets, etc on credit. In extreme emergency situations groceries may be the exception, but it shouldn't happen that often. Debit cards are great to have so that you are better able to fight that urge to just swipe away the plastic. Even if it seems like the same, the payment is immediate coming out of your account so it is less likely that you will spend money you don't have. Better yet, carry cash. Studies prove that people are less likely to make impulse purchases or over spend what they were planning to when they pay in cash. Not so with the plastic credit cards that are always so handy.

5 - Think before you just take that gadget, shirt, etc home. Give yourself 24 hours to consider if you really need an item that you hadn't planned on buying. Many times you will find that you don't really need it and would rather save the money. If you do still feel strongly about purchasing the item, this gives you time to do your research. Check consumer reports to see if it is a quality item. Get prices from other sites or stores to see if it is a good value at the price you saw it for. It will be more rewarding to know it is something you really wanted than to have some thing taking up space that you never use. Rarely is anyone able to resell something for the same price and even more rarely do they make a profit. So why gamble with your hard earned cash?