Money Saving Tips

We're almost 3/4 done with 2009 and some of us still have not met our savings goals for the year. I know there are many ways to save but here are a few that have worked for me.

1. Use Cash : Where ever possible avoid using credit cards.

2. Buy generic where possible.

3. Stay At Home : Dont go out much stop eating at restaurant's and stop your weekend trips to the mall instead stay at home and bond with the family. And also end up saving cash in turn.

4. 30 day list : If you have a sudden impulse to buy anything, put it in a 30 day wait period and after the 30 days are up if you still need it only then buy it.

5. Exercise : Exercise is the best way to keep your body fit and avoid costly medical bills later.

6. Talk to your Spouse : Its important that you and your spouse should be in the same line of thinking about saving cash.

7. Use a Spread sheet for tracking expenditures.

8. De clutter your home : The less stuff at home the less you spend on maintaining it and also it is said in VASTU it lets positive energy flow.

9. Pay Savings and debt first : Whenever you sit down to pay your bills you should first pay off you savings account then your debt account and then the bills.

10. Try To supplement your job Income : Let your income from you job not be the only income you earn, try getting a substitute.

These may sound familiar, but some may be new to others. Give them a try and tell me what you think.

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Protect your Home Today!!!!

Are you one of the millions of Americans who fear that company cutbacks may cause you to lose your job? With the national unemployment rate at the highest in 26 years, touching 9.4% as of early August 2009, it is expected that millions of more Americans will lose their jobs this year before the economy gets better. Though you may not be able to predict the stability of your job, what can you do now to protect your income and mortgage if a layoff occurs for you? Contribute to Savings.

Many individuals and families with good jobs and a mortgage do not have an emergency savings account set in place. To protect yourself and your family from a financial crisis, you should have a savings account set up with at least three, and ideally six, months of living expenses. The system I use will generally use 3 months of savings for a two income household and 6 months for an one income household. That means you should look at your monthly budget and determine what basic costs you will incur, such as your house payment, groceries, car payment, etc. If you have little or no savings at all, start now.

Open a savings account at your bank that you contribute money into each month. The more you can cut back now and put into savings, the better you will feel if you are suddenly laid off from work. Buy Mortgage InsuranceMortgage insurance is available that can help you pay your mortgage while you are unemployed. However, don't confuse mortgage insurance with Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI). PMI is a type of insurance you may be required to pay for each month with your regular mortgage payment. PMI protects your lender and pays them the balance of your loan in the event you default. This is for the sole benefit of your lender and doesn't help you prevent foreclosure.

Find an insurance agent that sells mortgage protection insurance. The type of policy you need is one that will take over all or a portion of your mortgage payment should you become disabled or find yourself unemployed due to layoffs. Premiums may be high, but the alternative could be a more expensive foreclosure if you are out of a job.

Remember, this is general information. Always seek sound financial and legal advice before making any financial decision.

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Whew! It's been a long time. Have you heard?

"Insurers agreed to abandon some of their most controversial practices, like denying coverage to applicants with pre-existing medical conditions."

That's from the first paragraph of today's New York Times "news" story on health insurance. Good news? Maybe, maybe not. Someone's going to pay for it. My take? The old tried and true law school answer..............."It depends!" Great for some and not so great for others.

My faith lies in taking the ability to decide on my or my family's fate out of somebody else's hands. That means getting insured when you have a chance and keeping it.

Even for those out there who feel they don't need it, your safest bet when you can't see through that crystal ball is to make the best investment of your life when you have the health to mitigate the damages of the cost.

For my investors out there, take a look at the ROI (Return on Investment) of Insurance. ROI is a performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or to compare the efficiency of a number of different investments.

A basic calculation of ROI is to take the benefit (return) of an investment and divide by the cost of the investment; the result is expressed as a percentage or a ratio. Trust me, you want a positive number here and the higher, the better. Remember, you will have to calculate this periodically as the number changes over time.

Example: You take out a $300K term life Insurance policy when you are 25 years young ($20/month) compared to the same amount of coverage when you are 35 years of age at ($40/month). Your initial ROI would be 15,000 (25 y/o) compared to 7,500 at 35 years.

Of course, the number will drop each year, but you aren't getting returns like that everyday on Wallstreet, are you? No? Well take the safest bet now and use your good health while you have it. untill next time.................Leave feedback, tell me what you think.

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