MST #10

• Find out what discounts you’re eligible for. I pay my car

insurance premium once every six months. Because of

 this and the fact that we also have our home insurance

through the same agency, I get a 10% discount. If you’re

 unhappy with a service (garbage collection, cable

provider), call and complain. They will usually offer you a

discount to keep your business. If they’re not interested in

 retaining you, there are plenty of other companies that

would love to call you a customer. You don’t have to fork

over your hard-earned money for something you’re not

happy with. Yes, it will take time and probably several

phone calls but it'll be worth it. 

Money Saving Tip #9

• Buy your prescription eyeglasses online. I recently bought some from Zenni Optical. I bought three pairs of single-vision glasses with anti-glare coating for $40.65 including shipping. They were delivered two weeks after I placed the order. All you have to do is get your written prescription from your most recent eye exam. Be sure to have them include your “PD” (pupillary distance) because you’ll need that too. The order form is straightforward and easy to understand. If you’re like me and have no optical insurance then this is definitely a money-saver. I wish I had known about this last summer when I paid $500 for a pair of regular glasses and a pair of sunglasses.

I'm back! (And money saving tip #8)

I know that I’ve been quiet for awhile but I’ve gotten a couple

requests to start posting again. I went on vacation and I’ve

been dealing with some health stuff so I’ve been pretty busy.

Oh, and I also bought a car. But before you write a comment

calling me a hypocrite, let me explain.

It’s hard trying to be “good” all the time. I don’t claim to be an

angel, I’m definitely human. I bought a car because I wanted

it and I know I can afford the payments. I could have waited

to buy it until the remaining $1539.10 of my “old” debt was

paid off but I wanted to drive it up-north on vacation. Life is

short and I don’t regret my decision. My little sister is buying

my old car from me and her twin is going to start using her

old car so it’s a win/win/win situation.

I qualified for a low interest rate and hopefully I will pay the

car off early. I researched the heck out of the cars available

online for sale and decided what would be best for me. I

stood my ground and didn’t sign a purchase agreement until I

 was happy with the deal the dealer and I negotiated. While

applying for the auto loan I discovered that my credit score is

 813. That’s all the proof I need that budgeting works.

This leads me to my next money saving tip:

• Do your research. If you know you’re going to need

something, look around online for the best deals before

you make your purchase. No matter if it’s a $10 fish tank

or a $500 fridge, read up on it and see your options

before you decide to purchase. Many retailer’s websites

will even list what’s currently in stock at your local store.

Read online reviews to see what other consumers have

to say about a product. Don’t let anyone or anything

pressure you into buying before you’re ready to sign

on the dotted line. If you plan well enough to anticipate

your needs ahead of time, you’ll be in a position to wait

for best deal out there and you won’t be at the mercy of

someone else.

Money Saving Tip #7

• Take care of what you have. This was an expensive lesson for me. This winter our furnace stopped working. The repairman took one peek at the furnace filter and gave me a “look.” He asked how often I changed it. Huh, were you supposed to change those?? In seven years I had never changed it…and we have always had pets. Ignorance was my excuse; please don’t let it be yours. Learn from my $1000 mistake! Now I know to replace the 14X25X1 filter every month and will also have the furnace serviced every year in the fall. So get regular oil changes for your car. Keep full-coverage insurance on your vehicle. Get your teeth cleaned every six months. You need to be able to depend on the things you have so you don’t have to spend money later to replace them. This also means doing your best at work. None of us who are employed have the “perfect job” and we’re not guaranteed to have that job tomorrow but we’re lucky to have a job today. Do what you can to maintain that.

Money Saving Tip #6

• Review prior tax returns to see if there is extra money you could be putting to good use during the year rather than paying it in and then receiving it back as a refund. One change I made that helped bump up my income was increasing the number of exemptions I claimed on my Federal W-4. When I first starting working I was taught to claim zero exemptions and always got get a sizeable refund each spring. I started claiming one exemption and began paying slightly less federal income tax each pay period. I will still get a small refund at the end of the year; it just won’t be a big windfall like before. I don’t recommend doing this though if you don’t have the discipline to put your “extra” money toward paying down your debt. Of course, I also don’t recommend going crazy and claiming ten exemptions. You don’t want to have to scramble in April to come up with hundreds or thousands of dollars to pay your tax liability. The IRS has an online calculator (see link below) you can use to find out roughly how many exemptions you should be claiming on your W-4. Be sure to have your most recent paystub handy if you go to the link. I have also included a link to the 2012 Federal W-4. Box #5 is where you list the number of exemptions you want to claim. The higher the number of exemptions claimed, the lower the federal tax that will be withheld from your paychecks.

• http://www.irs.gov/individuals/page/0,,id=14806,00.html

• http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf

Money Saving Tip #5

• Spend your grocery money wisely. My sister and I budget $110 per week for groceries at Meijer. We also spend $26 per week on prescription dog food. I cook dinner four times per week and we usually go out to eat on the weekends. Only buy groceries that you know you will use. Someone I know (who shall remain nameless) likes to buy several random ingredients for recipes she never actually cooks. I prefer to only buy what we need for the upcoming week. I don’t believe we should stock up on a $13 package of paper towels when we can buy a 2-pack for $3 and get by for a few weeks on that. Some people like to go to Sam’s Club and stock up and that’s great if that works for them. I just don’t prefer that. I usually grocery shop on Friday or Saturday. We always get a Meijer ad and make a shopping list. If an item is not on the list then I don’t buy it, simple as that. We do use coupons but we’re not fanatical about them. I won’t buy two $6 products just to get $0.20 off. To me that’s stupid.

Money Saving Tip #4

• Buy your pet medication online. Our dog Petie battled heart failure for years and in the end was on 7 pills per day. I paid less than half of my vet’s price by ordering his pills online from Drs. Foster and Smith. It takes a little planning ahead and you have to mail in a written prescription from your vet. It’s worth it though when you realize how much money you’re saving. Our dog Charlie is on a glucosamine supplement. I paid $60 for his first bottle of 120 pills at the vet. I just ordered his second bottle of 250 pills online for $69. I also order flea and tick preventative online. Amazon sells our dogs’ size for $57 (with shipping) for 6 doses. Walmart carries the new Pet Armour for $50 for 6 doses. I don’t know anyone who uses this though so I spent the extra $7 to get the name brand. Maybe one of you has tried it and can tell me if it works. I take pet health very seriously and would never try to save money by not taking my sick/injured pet to the vet. Their knowledge is valuable and I’m happy to pay for their time. It’s just the medicine that I’d prefer to pay less for.