Jan
7
Why don’t we save?
Filed Under personal finance
I caught the New Hampshire debate on Saturday night in between watching the Pittsburgh and Jacksonville game. (Note to the NFL, enough already with the Jeep Liberty commercial with the singing animals.) Where was I? Oh yeah, the debate. While watching the debate I heard the politicians speak about the American Dream becoming harder and harder. They said that health care costs are rising. They said that gas prices are out of control. They said that it’s harder to feed a family today than ever before.
Not once did any of them mention that saving money is no longer a priority in America especially at the government level.
Why don’t we save? Saving is simply a habit. Just like watching television, eating healthy and exercise. Most people just don’t think about saving. Today while checking out my rss feeder, I came across 7 ways to save :
- Look for discounted dinner entrees
- Don’t throw out the Valpak or Money Mailer they’re chock full of coupons for local restaurants. Skip the appetizers and the desserts while you’re at it skip the booze, the alcohol is always over priced and you shouldn’t drink and drive anyway.
- Return unopened, unused items
- Lowes and Home Depot don’t even require a receipt if you bought it in the last 90 days or something like that and they automatically credit your credit card.
- Look for extra grocery savings
- Cutting coupon sucks, ok it sucks big time, but if the coupon says $2 off 5 Lean Cuisine Panini sandwiches and you were planning on buying 5 Panini Sandwiches, go ahead and pick up a 6th, your wallet won’t know the difference.
- Check out materials from the library
- If you live in Denver, our library system has the most unreal DVD collection in the world. Sure you wait a few more weeks for new releases and the mailman doesn’t drop it off or picks it up at your house but it gets you out of your house and you might run into an old friend who looks really good in wingtips but really bad in birkenstocks.
- Bundle cable, phone and Internet services
- Get rid off cable and your phone altogether. Television is just more noise in an already noisy world. Sure you’ll miss watching Family Guy at 1 AM on Cartoon Network but you won’t miss spending $50 each month. To entertain yourself learn how to juggle or get DVD’s at the library. As for your telephone, it will only serve one purpose in 2008 - for politicians start calling you to ask for your support.
- Negotiate with monthly service providers
- Sure the cleaning people clean great the first time. Sure the landscapers mow your lawn great the first time. Wait till they “forget” to show up or when they’re on the 3rd go around, you’ll be less than thrilled with their service and you’ll end up doing it yourself.
- Stash money for easier savings next year
- Money will double in 7 years. I deposited $250 in a mutual fund in 2000 and it turned into $500 by 2007. The money even withstood the dot com and stock market drop off in the early 2000’s. I couldn’t buy a laptop for $250 in 2000 but I can definitely buy one for $500 today.
No more excuses.
Is your rate too high? If you're looking to compare mortgage rates or to get a rate quote on a FHA loan start hereFile this under: commercial, denver, rate, va
Related posts
RELATED SEARCHES:
new hampshire debate, panini sandwiches, lean cuisine, jeep liberty, money mailer
RELATED TAGS:
new hampshire debate, panini sandwiches, lean cuisine, jeep liberty, money mailer
Comments
Leave a Reply