Saving Money by Managing It
When it comes to managing finances, most people would
probably receive an F. The truth is, many of us were never
taught the basics of money, how it works, and how to handle it.
Here are some tips to help get you on your way to better money
management.
Handling Your Money
Invent games to play with your money. For example, set aside
certain bills or coins and see how long you can keep a $20 (or
whatever denomination you choose) without breaking it for
gum, a magazine, or some other frivolous item. Have a spare
change jar and empty it into your savings account each month.
At the end of every day, empty out your wallet and put the
change in your jar. Don't limit it to just coins, toss in those few
bills that are lingering in there as well.
Never spend a windfall. Take your income-tax refund (which
should be minimal, if you follow the tip below), money gifts,
bonuses, rebates, overpayment refunds and any other
unexpected money and put it into your savings or investments.
Make this money earn money for you.
Use direct deposit and automatic withdrawals to move money
out of your checking account into savings or investments on a
regular basis, such as every paycheck. You will learn to live on
less when you think you have less to spend. Fool yourself into
saving.
Avoid Overpayments and Fees
Don't give the government a free loan by overpaying your taxes.
Every time you get a refund from the IRS that is a sign that you
overpaid your taxes and gave the government an interest-free
loan for up to a year. Adjust your withholding allowances and
try to get your refund down to less than $100. Your paycheck
may go up a bit in the mean time so be sure to put that extra
money in the bank for future purchases or emergency savings.
Avoid unnecessary fees. ATM fees, service charges, and late
fees all add up to quite a bit over the course of a year. These
fees are rarely worth the reason they were charged. A little
planning/budgeting can usually circumvent these fees. Also
avoid insurance charges when renting a car. Most credit cards
have car rental insurance as a feature of the card. Check with
your card issuer for the terms and conditions of rental car
insurance.
Keep your checkbook and accounts balanced. You should always
have a pretty good idea of how much money is available in your
account. Purposely writing bad checks can land you in jail.
Inadvertently writing them can sack you with overdraft fees
from your bank as well as returned check fees from the store or
company you wrote the bad check to.
Shopping
Buy on sale as often as possible. When you want something
wait a week to see if it is going to come on sale. Or ask the
store when the item will be on sale. Buy clothing out of season
for the best bargains.
Haggle. You never know when someone will be willing to lower
their prices or throw in something extra. Just ask. It may be
hard to find a person who can make a pricing decision but when
you do, give it a try and see what happens.
Throw away your mail order catalogs. Don't even look at them.
Looking leads to wanting and wanting to buying. Most catalog
purchases go on your credit cards and that is the last place
where you want to rack up debt for what is usually more junk.
Remove yourself from their mailing lists (which lists are often
shared with other mail order companies). In addition, when
filling out customer response cards (such as for warranties, etc.)
give only the basic information they need such as name and
address; skip the "getting to know you" questions. The answers
to those questions are farmed out to mail order companies,
increasing your junk mail even more.
Use coupons, apply for free samples, stock up on sales (if you
have some extra money to do so), shop discount stores, day-old
bakeries/items. Buy store-brand over name-brand items. Forgo
brand loyalty in favor of better prices. For the most part, the
most expensive part of a product is its packaging, so don't be
swayed by fancy designs in beautiful colors.
Shop less frequently. Each time you go to the store, you
increase your chances of purchasing an impulse item. Try to limit
your grocery shopping to once a week and prepare a list
beforehand and stick to your list. You'll be amazed at how much
this little tip can save!
Investing the time to learn how better to manage your money is
an important step toward gaining financial freedom. Improving
money handling, avoiding unnecessary payment of fees, and
shopping more wisely are all integral parts of better money
management. Take the time to implement some of these tips
and watch your money grow!

Chemain Evans is a quality control specialist for Simple Joe, Inc. Income & Expenses PC software is a Simple Joe product that is a quick and simple way to keep track of your expenses and stay within your budget. Learn more at http://www.simplejoe.com


Make Money Off Of The Debt Of Others
Money Off Of Debt
A new business opportunity to get involved and become a private investor with out having to have thousands of dollars to get started.
The concept of buying and selling charged off receivables dates back decades. Until recently it has been so much in the shadow of conventional contingency placement system as to be virtually invisable. Ask yourself, have you ever heard of this business? So now suddenly there is an open market for bad debt,complete with a variety of sellers,several tiers of buyers and even a layer of brokers and middleman.

The selling of debt is measured in paper with a face value of tens of billions of dollars, on a yearly basis. Most of it sells at huge discounts , typically pennies on the dollar.
It is reshaping the face of the credit and collections industry. As the debt buying and selling growth rate of the past few years accelerates, the trend continues to develope into a force in which the majority of debt is sold as opposed to being outsourced to collection agencies.
The concept of the market is simplistic itself. When credit grantors no longer want to own thier charged off debt, they sell the rights to the debt to another party (you)
which will then hire it out for collection to an agency. The age of the paper ranges from early developement of delinquency to being several years delinquent, which is all good in thier own class. Credit card issuers have been the leaders in the bad debt market.
Even more diverse are the buyers of the charged off accounts. Some are the traditional collection agencies, trying to diversify thier operations by adding some debt they own to thier contingency work for clients. Some are collection attorneys. And then there is you, the private investor which will be brought into this industry through a special business opportunity. Over a quarter of the buyers are private investors with no expirience in collections. Most of the investors negotiate with collection agencies to actually work and collect the accounts purchased. This is most profitable for both parties, since the investor lacks the experince in collections, while the agency possesses the resources needed to recover the account recievables.
Become a private investor, find debt for pennies on the dollar, negotiate and hire a collection agency, all while having others do 97% of the work for you.

http://www.moneyoffofdebt.com


Living Within Your Budget
Having a budget and living within it are two different things.
There are always things that we want (or need) and credit is so
easy to get. This article will discuss ways to help you establish
good budgeting habits.
First, determine why you want to budget. You need a pretty
good reason or you won't feel obligated to do what it takes. Do
you want to get out of and/or stay out of credit card debt? Or
save for a new car or big vacation? Whatever it is, you need a
reason so that you won't be enticed to overspend. Write down
your reason or goal where you see it every day.
Second, examine your spending. Are you tracking your expenses
often enough? If you aren't looking at your expenses every few
days, you probably have no idea how much money you have
and where it is going. Spend a few minutes each day or at the
end of the week updating your records instead of saving it all
for the end of the month (or tax season).
Third, recognize why and where you are overspending. Look at
your expenses and see where you've crossed the line. Did you
have a large, unexpected medical, house, or automotive
expense? Does this happen frequently? Establishing some
short-term savings can help cover these expenses when they
occur.
Begin thinking of things in terms of what it costs you over a long
period of time, such as a year. For example, if you pay $3/week
to withdraw money from your ATM, that's over $150/year.
Instead limit withdrawals to twice a month (or less) and that's
over $75/year in your pocket!
Below are some other ways to reduce both mandatory and
discretionary expenses:
-Increase your car insurance deductible to $500.
-Check around for better car insurance rates.
-Conserve utilities when possible.
-Consolidate your credit card and other consumer debt into a
home equity loan and then cancel the cards, cut them up, and
don't apply for new ones.
-If you are renting, try to buy a house; tax advantages for
paying home loan interest often make it cheaper to own than to
rent.
-Eat out less; brown-bag your lunch; find less expensive places
to eat.
-Find cheaper entertainment (rent a movie instead of going out
to one).
-Consolidate errands to use less gas.
-Limit grocery shopping to one day a week; shop at more than
one store for groceries, if time permits.
-Shop around for a better long-distance calling plan or cell
phone plan.
-Borrow books from the library instead of buying them.
Some find it necessary to go to a cash-based system. This is
sometimes called the "envelope method." It involves cashing
your paycheck and depositing only what is needed to write
checks for bills or to cover bills that are automatically withdrawn
from your checking account.
The remaining cash is divided into envelopes marked for
expenses such as food, gas, etc. Once the money in an
envelope is gone, to make any additional purchases you either
have to shift money from another envelope or wait until you get
paid. This really helps to develop discipline.
You may eventually find that there are no more places to cut
and you need to increase your income. This doesn't necessarily
mean getting a second job, although that is a possibility. Below
are some other ways to increase your spendable money:
First, take a look at your tax return. If you're getting anything
but a small return, you're letting the government earn interest
for itself with your money. You probably wouldn't let anyone
else do that! Consider raising your exemptions. You can acquire
a new W-4 form to fill out from your Human Resource
department or manager.
Second, save or invest wisely to obtain dividends. This is money
that you don't have to work for! It's money working for you.
Third, acquire new skills that can help you get a promotion, or
even a new job. Get your GED or college diploma, if you don't
have one. There is a lot of financial aid available, and you may
even be able to attend college for free.
Fourth, consider starting a home-based business. There are a
host of tax deductions for home businesses, not to mention the
extra income that may come from just a few hours a week.
Although a home-based business is not for everyone, you may
enjoy it enough to turn it into your next career!
Living within your budget is possible, but you must have a good
reason to motivate yourself. Track your expenses often. Cut
expenses and/or increase your income if you need to. Decide to
make changes and do them today.

Chemain Evans is a quality control specialist for Simple Joe, Inc. Income & Expenses PC software is a Simple Joe product that is a quick and simple way to keep track of your expenses and stay within your budget. Learn more at http://www.simplejoe.com