Smart ways to save money

I have a skype client on my iPhone, its awesome, but I dont get to use it too often, not enough people have it.
 
I haven't checked out skype yet..

another thing about credit cards... call the company up and ask if they will lower your interest rate. I saw this tip on the news and a lot of people can lower their rate to under 11% (they interviewed a bunch of people, had them call the company on the spot, and I think a majority of those who called had their rate lowered). the reason being, that credit card companies want to keep you as a customer. crazy!

I also started baking my own cookies and scones for snacks instead of buying them at the caf.. that's pretty much like brown-bagging though.
 
when its cold, instead of paying electricity for heating or electric blankets, find a random member of the opposite sex to share your bed with
 
Skype is really good for international calls. At least it used to be, didn't they start charging?

I had a crazy Taiwanese girlfriend who kept trying to call me with it all summer.
 
I get 5 water bottles, and keep them in the fridge/in my bag instead of buying bottles of water all of the time. I bet it saves me a bunch during like a month. Don't pay for food when you have food at your house, that's a good tip too. A savings account probably isn't that bad of an idea either.
 
Good article Kip.

i know probably everybody does this, but save your change. i cash my jar in every couple of months and i usually have somewhere between 20 and 40 dollars (most change comes from money i use at school and just small purchases).

oh, and somebody said that you can get money back on each purchase if you use a certain type of credit card. this does hold to be true and alot of companies do it, however, i recieved a card that you could earn up to 3% cash back on qualified purchases and 1% on all other purchases. The catch was that in order for me to recieve this money I had to spend at least 3,000 a year before those "transactions" even would take place. Im sure there are other ones that are different as well, but just a heads up, read the fine print.
 
yeah, having a change bucket, is a great thing, i havent cashed mine in for around 1 year, and i am pushing 150$

also something i would recommend people look into, is a CD, if you have money in a savings account that you dont plan on using for a little while. get a CD, i have around 4,000$ in CD'S and i stand to make 250$ in interest, by the time i cash them in this fall to pay for college.

the interest rates are way better than a normal savings account, and you can get them in time spans as short as 3 months, depending on your bank.
 
Forget CDs at that low amount of money. Invest in Mutual Funds...although the economy may be down mutual funds are groups of stocks, makes it hard to actually lose money and the gain coud be much higher than a CD.
 
ahhh, but in as little as 3 months, i can make money, and take that money, with no strings.

i also have a mutual fund, sadly, in this economy, i have lost around 200$ in the last few years.

that is why i chose, a CD to put this last batch of money into, a safe guaranty on making money. and when i have to write a check this fall for community college, i will need that money. that is why i am looking to keep what i have safe, while still making some money.
 
No you are wrong..

generally, mutual funds don't work unless you hold them for an extended period of time. Also, mutual funds are not necessarily composed of equities. Also there is no guarantee that mutual funds will grow over time, if a fund is equity based its subject to the same ups and downs as the market - really it depends on the asset allocation.

If you want to get a better yield on your investment, a money market fund might be a good idea but again they are not FDIC insured.

To get a better rate then a CD would be a money market ETF or a municipal bond ETF. ETF's are kind of like mutual funds in that they are backed by a pool of assets only they are - exchange traded; valuated in real time (as opposed to daily calculated NAV); cheeper to own, lower fees.

But if you are investing over the short term a CD really is the best bet.

 
actually, this i a perfect thread to bring this up in, if you have any capital gains in tax year 2008 2009 or 2010 and are in the bottom two tax brackets (aka you make less than 31,000)you will not be taxed on any of those capital gains income, thanks to the president.

 
Unit Pricing. Usually means Costco or whatever you have. Don't just automatically buy a certain size. Always check the price per ounce or what have you.

Money sitting in your bank account is depreciating. Most banks are desperate for money so will giving you a higher interest rate if you keep a higher minimum balance. You have to balance the high risk/high reward (stocks) with low

risk/low reward (t-bills, bonds, CDs). I used to do T-bill auctions at

treasurydirect.gov when they were at 5% return the past couple

years. Now they're down around 2.5% I think.
 
yeah t-bills work much better in low inflation economies.

a muni-bond from an area where there are no foreclosures (since property taxes fund the coupon payments) is a good low risk investment.
 
wow! that is great, to bad it only covers such a small income range(not that i even get to 1/3 of that in a year) but it would be nice if that was a bigger number.

does that mean i wont pay taxes on the interest i made this year, between my different accounts? when i cash in my CD's.

because the only way i got my taxes back this year, is because i opened my own IRA otherwise i would have had a 200$ tax bill.

 
yeah, you wont pay any taxes this year (2008- 2010) on any capital gains tax if your in the bottom 2 tax brackets, which i assume you are. It is nice if you have large capital gains. I, unfortunately, as well as many others have huge capital gains losses due to the stock market crash in 2001.
 
yeah, i will have roughly 500$ in capital gains this year(CD's and savings bonds)

i have also lost around 200$ in the stock market this year.

would this mean, if i won the lottery i wouldnt have to pay capital gains taxes on it? after all my "income" before my "capital gain" was only 6,000.

not that i plan on winning the lottery. haha
 
gambling and winning the lottery are different. Capital gains only come from things such as investments. (gambling and the lottery are not considered investments). However they are included in as money earned and is added up in your income to reach your AGI (adjusted gross income).

The up side of gambling is that you can deduct your losses to the extent that you have winnings. That means if you lost $1,000 and won $500, you can only deduct $500 of your losses.
 
aren't mutual funds best for really long term savings? since the economy fluctuates too much to make them worthwhile in the short term.
 
Yea I still do this but from what I heard it isn´t good for you and causes some sort of sickness but it saves me $5 a week at the least just cause I get 1 bottle then refill it rather than buying 1 $1 bottle or more every day...
 
i believe mutual funds are one of the best investments for the long run. (probably at least 10 years min) the basic philosophy is that you invest money into these funds (which are usually composed of sometimes hundreds of different stocks) and they will grow in time, because, i general, the economy is always growing, adding value to your investment. The only down side is you are taxed on the money when it comes out. (capital gains, thats why i posted the no capital gains tax earlier)
 
daveramsey.jpg


he knows his shit
 
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