Christmas time? Control your money to enjoy it!

With Santa's ringing the Christmas bell at our doorstep, time for a big expense is nearing. No doubt, Christmas makes the best festival time in a year....and also the busiest times. People do a lot of things along with family & pals to live joyful. The list of activities may well include-cooking Christmas meal, Buying gifts, wraps, taking all for a holiday outing etc. All of the enjoyments, cost you pretty well in this pick festive season. Christmas time is very expensive time of year. Therefore, its a wise idea implement a budget plan over your spending as per affordability, & go strict with it, in order to enjoy this festive to fullest & avoid any debt. If we can do a little monitoring our expenses, cut extra spending, we can save up enough for Christmas & come out all smiling.

This is a very common issue of over spending on Christmas occasion beyond capacity & thus incurring big debt on credit cards, & falling in unnecessary financial stress....many people regret this each season & make the same unleashed spending next year. Here I want to share a few simple money saving tips you can take for this season.

1) Gifts....a damn indispensable stuff to spend on now. Of course. But spend on gifts depending on total count of your family members, & depending on your total budget you kept for Christmas . You can consider arranging a secret Santa. Indeed, a nice way to cut down on gift spending. It is a funny process, too.

2) Another way to save up money is make gifts on your own, for loved ones. There are several simple, yet attractive stuff you can make at home...which would cost pretty less, yet they can give the recipient a touch of your cordiality. For example, bake cookies, chocolates, cakes, candies....they are some mouthwatering yet simple food stuff. Or to present something, you can make some craft works you are good at. Things like-knitting, cross-stitching, patch working etc will just be fine. You can also make your own Christmas cards.

In my next post I shall get back with more on this topic. So, keep coming to my blog, & watch out for the next entry…I’ll come back with a detailed discussion on remaining money saving measures.

Getting started with saving money? Little tips are here (3)

This post is the continuation of the previous post I wrote on "saving money".
On my last post, I gave some useful tips on how to save your money at this hard time....those points were not all about this. Some more points are below that I like to share:

1. Almost at all shopping malls free customer rewards programs are being arranged now a days….try and sign up as many of them as possible. At any shopping place you shall get benefited with some coupons and discounts if you have a rewards card….even if you rarely go for shopping at that place. All you have to do for this kind of financial benefit is to create a Gmail ID which shall be exclusively used for sending these emails. Just after collection of a customer rewards card, check that account for extra coupons at the time of shopping.

2. Another good idea is Maximizing yard sales. But it is a fact that the stuff there is often junk. So one has to be careful about what thing he will buy. Try to use own tactics and strategies to find it out and lower the prices Thus you shall get a good bargain.

3. Avoid going for shopping without a pre-made list of articles you are interested in buying and a concrete preset budget of spending on those things. You have to figure those out before going out and more importantly, have to stick strictly to 1) that list of articles and 2) the range or budget of spending on them. Make sure you do not buy anything else except those in your list. You shall find yourself saving on your monthly budget if you honestly follow these tactics.

4. Undoubtedly, it is worth praising to keep the habit of spending for collection of something that is valuable, precious, or has an antique value or may be simply goes with your test and liking……but then you also have to watch out for the true value or usefulness of the thing you are collecting. If it is just something you buy and collect out of your habit, and it has no such utility or value…then, perhaps it is a little waste of money being spent on those things. If you can cut down on your spending on that hobby, you shall be able to plan for savings.

5. It is also a good idea sometimes for saving some money to avoid spending on buying stuff from outside to gift somebody….rather we can easily prepare some gifts at home. Go for making some bread, cookies, mixes, soap, candles etc. at home The positive factors are…. 1) these things are inexpensive and their preparation wont cost you too much, 2) it is quite easy to prepare such things.

6. Whenever you get bored with the CDs you have been long listening to, or the book you have completed reading for the 6th time, you tend to swap those books, CDs, DVDs for the new ones via the internet with others. From next time when doing that, Just use sites like “PaperBackSwap”. What is the benefit factor in trading media using PaperBackSwap? You really do not need to spend money that much on media. You shall get a flow of new books, CDs, DVDs emailed to you - for free.

Getting started with saving money? Little tips are here (2)

This post is the continuation of the previous post I wrote on "saving money".
On my last post, I gave some useful tips on how to save your money at this hard time....those points were not all about this. Some more points are below that I like to share:

1. Almost at all shopping malls free customer rewards programs are being arranged now a days….try and sign up as many of them as possible. At any shopping place you shall get benefited with some coupons and discounts if you have a rewards card….even if you rarely go for shopping at that place. All you have to do for this kind of financial benefit is to create a Gmail ID which shall be exclusively used for sending these emails. Just after collection of a customer rewards card, check that account for extra coupons at the time of shopping.

2. Another good idea is Maximizing yard sales. But it is a fact that the stuff there is often junk. So one has to be careful about what thing he will buy. Try to use own tactics and strategies to find it out and lower the prices Thus you shall get a good bargain.

3. Avoid going for shopping without a pre-made list of articles you are interested in buying and a concrete preset budget of spending on those things. You have to figure those out before going out and more importantly, have to stick strictly to 1) that list of articles and 2) the range or budget of spending on them. Make sure you do not buy anything else except those in your list. You shall find yourself saving on your monthly budget if you honestly follow these tactics.

4. Undoubtedly, it is worth praising to keep the habit of spending for collection of something that is valuable, precious, or has an antique value or may be simply goes with your test and liking……but then you also have to watch out for the true value or usefulness of the thing you are collecting. If it is just something you buy and collect out of your habit, and it has no such utility or value…then, perhaps it is a little waste of money being spent on those things. If you can cut down on your spending on that hobby, you shall be able to plan for savings.

5. It is also a good idea sometimes for saving some money to avoid spending on buying stuff from outside to gift somebody….rather we can easily prepare some gifts at home. Go for making some bread, cookies, mixes, soap, candles etc. at home The positive factors are…. 1) these things are inexpensive and their preparation wont cost you too much, 2) it is quite easy to prepare such things.

6. Whenever you get bored with the CDs you have been long listening to, or the book you have completed reading for the 6th time, you tend to swap those books, CDs, DVDs for the new ones via the internet with others. From next time when doing that, Just use sites like “PaperBackSwap”. What is the benefit factor in trading media using PaperBackSwap? You really do not need to spend money that much on media. You shall get a flow of new books, CDs, DVDs emailed to you - for free.

Getting started with saving money? Little tips are here (1)

I am back again….and this time, I feel that I should come up with something you all are more looking for at this financial recession period….something you are badly in need of. Hey, I know, there is already enough of taking loan, investing money, making payment. Now we all are rather interested in keeping our hard earned money with us, courtesy to this recession…..and not in letting it go. Weak financial time still prevails around us and we need to be helped with our savings in order to save more and more. At this moment, saving is not easy at all….and it is harder for them who are just getting started afresh. But having a rock-solid savings, especially now, would really help in getting over the situation partially and building a strong financial platform under your feet.
I would like to share with you all, especially new ones on the block, some easily-to follow tips for saving money.

1. You can pick up your credit card (of course the one with a balance). Then flip over it…..saw the number of your credit card provider on the back? Call them and ask for an interest rate reduction. Tell them that otherwise you’ll take your business elsewhere. If the customer representative denies, ask immediately for his supervisor. Example: you have $5,000 amount balance left. Even a 3% rate reduction saves you $150 a year.

2. Children feel pleased with any and every kind of gift that carries a value of affection and love, and not of money….so many times, even with the cheapest things, like-a small chocolate cookie, a barbie doll they are satisfied. No need to spend a lot on their entertainment and this way you can save. Instead, arrange something playful but constructive for them and let their creativity develop. And, more importantly, try and spend quality time with them…that is what they want, not your money.

3. Watching television for long hours, also, to some extent, costs you and takes a toll on your total savings. Try to reduce this habit….it is lethal to your money. There are a lot of financial benefits:
1) less electrical consumption
2) You shall get quality time to focus on other works that would help in enriching your savings…may be you look for other ways of earning, start with a new home based trade, etc.

4. My borther is using ING Direct as his primary bank. And his income is roughly 3.4% on his savings account, 3% on his checking account. The banks have never charged him with any fee. I gave this statistics just to establish an example to you all…. why don’t you people also earn some serious interest on your savings accounts? And, just do not spend money on maintenance related costs.

5. Everybody knows that the habits of-smoking, drinking, doping of taking drugs are lethal weapons for your health…..yet we are into these always. I take the pleasure to draw your attention to a new aspect in connection with that; forget health, these habits are damn expensive, man. They ruin your chances of saving on money, if any, flow it away, and you are financially depleted gradually. Kick off these habits right now if you are into….take help of fortitude if needed. My point is, why would you burn up your own money on the tip of a cigar? With nothing in return but silent death?

I am done with today's writing, friends...actually have got to go for a work. But the tips are not over yet....several other ways are there. Would get back with more in next post.