5 Simple Money Savers

Saving money isn’t always easy, but it doesn’t have to be impossible either. The key is to set a few small goals, stick to them, and build off of your success. But it takes time. Just as weight loss doesn’t come overnight, neither does a balanced budget. Nevertheless, with a few smart, daily goals, you’ll find yourself reaching your goal before you know it. To get you started, here are five quick and simple money savers that really add up.

Track Your Expenses (The Easy Way). Yes, tracking your expenses can be easy — now more than ever. With free automated services like Mint.com leading the way, you no longer have to dig your way through old receipts or hire an accountant to keep track of what you spend. All you have to do is sign up and the program does the rest. Then, at the end of the month, you’re given easy to read graphs and charts letting you know where your money is going and how you can best save.

Bring Your Lunch To Work. Eating out daily, even if just for lunch, can add up fast. Let’s say you spend $10 a day on lunch (food, drink, tip and tax), multiply that over a year — only including work days — and that totals out at $2,600 a year! Even at just $5 a day you’d still be spending $1,300 each year. As you can see, it adds up. A lunch from home, on the other hand, tends to be in the two to three dollar range — and that’s for a good lunch too. Don’t think you have the time in the morning to pack a lunch? Just pack it the night before. It takes five minutes.

Bundle Your Errands. Gas is expensive these days, especially for larger vehicles. As such, driving everyday just for errands can eventually take a toll on your bank account. Instead, pick one or two days a week to get your errands done. That way you do all your driving at once, and aren’t driving to the store, back home, to the store, back home, and on and on.

Free Entertainment. Going to the movies, concerts and nice dinners can be fun, but they’re also expensive. Instead, look for cheap (or free) entertainment options. Rent a movie and eat popcorn at home, check out the local library (or park or museum), start cooking at home (actually pretty fun!), and so on. Need more ideas? Check the listings in your local paper, you’d be surprised how much goes on around you — and for free!

Online Billing. This one saves you money and time, a two-for-one. Easier now than ever, online billing not only does away with stamps, letters and paper all together, it also frees your time and your mind, giving you one less activity to worry about every month. Plus, you’ll never have to worry about late fees again — those things add up!

For more information on how to save money, check some of our earlier tips or visit our website.

Money Saving Tip: Review Your Credit Card Bills

In these economic times balancing a budget can be tough. Fortunately, even small measures can prove fruitful in the long run. Checking your credit card bills before you pay them, for example, can save you money, and easily — it only takes a few minutes to do, too. Even for those of you not worrying about your next paycheck, a quick review of your bills is still a smart financial move, and an excellent habit to keep. Here below are a few ways in which this easy practice can save you money. (Tips courtesy of the SaveMoneyBlog.)

Duplicate Charges. As much as we’d like to think technology would protect us from a double charge, it still happens. Whether by human error, equipment failure, or even malicious intent, double charges are known to appear on your bills from time to time. Some banks and credit unions check for these, but even still it’s possible for one or two to get by — trust me, they appear more than you might think. So be sure to check your credit card bills (or other bills) and flag any duplicate charges and alert your credit card company or bank.

Charges You Didn’t Make. Credit card fraud happens. In most cases your bank will take of you, fortunately, however, the bank may not always be aware of an unauthorized purchase, and unless you check yourself, you may find yourself unwittingly out of money. To protect yourself, just take a minute to scan your credit card bill for any purchase that looks strange or out of place.

Charges That Don’t Match Your Receipt. Often an honest mistake, it can still prove costly if you’re not paying attention. While it does take a little more effort to keep on top of this one — you have to keep your receipts and then check them against your bill — it is still a worthwhile practice for those looking to keep a balance budget.

Anytime you do find a mistake, honest or not, it is up to you to make the next move. In the United States all cardholders have up to 60 days from when they receive their statement to notify their credit card company. Your credit company then has to pay you back, or prove that the payment was authorized and legitimate within two payment cycles.

For more money saving tips, check our sister blog Smart Payment Plan Review or our parent site Smart Payment Plan.

How To Prepare For The Credit Card Act

Signed into law last May, the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act (CARD) will officially go into effect February 22, 2010. Once so, the law will (a) prohibit credit card companies from charging fees to customers who pay bills online or by phone, (b) prohibit interest rate hikes to customers who are less than 60 days late, (c) notify customers if they’re about to overdraft their account, and (d) target payments toward the highest interest rate first, if there is more than one interest rate on a customer’s card. All together, the CARD Act is designed to curb the worst practices of the credit card industry.

Not one to give up without a fight, however, some credit card companies have come up with new methods by which to capture profits — and some are trying to sneak these new provisions through before the CARD Act goes into effect next week. It’s not too late to act, though. Here are three suggestions, from billshrink.com, to stay ahead of the game.

1.) Annual Fees. Annual fees are predicted to become more and more regular, especially for customers with good credit. Already, both Bank of America and Chase are increasing the number of cards that will require an annual fee (usually between $50-100 a year), and there’s a good chance the other banks will follow suit. For customers with large existing balances and good rates, this shouldn’t be too problematic, but for those with smaller balances — or who rarely use their cards — these fees can start to add up, especially if you have more than one card.

2. Even More Hidden Fees. As the CARD Act knocks down some hidden fees, more have popped up in their place. Fees for inactivity have already started appearing, so to with reinstatement fees. And, again, if you have more than one card, this starts to add up, and quick.

3. Increased Balance Transfer Fees. Looking to move away from exorbitant new fees? Well, some credit card companies are increasing the fee for transferring your budget from one card to another, trying to skim off your balance even as you make your leave.

In all three cases, the solution is generally the same: consolidate your cards, moving from several cards to one or two. For more information on how to best consolidate your debt, try our main website www.smartpaymentplan.com.

About Smart Payment Plan

When consumers use loans to pay for houses, vehicles, college educations, healthcare, or other products and services, they often forget that monthly loan payments are long term commitments that can take a hefty toll on their budgets. SMART Payment Plan helps alleviate that burden by using biweekly half payments instead of full payments that are due at the end of each month. This often benefits consumers, but can also have a positive impact on dealers and lenders as well.

How SMART Payment Plan Helps Consumers

SMART Payment Plan uses biweekly half payments because it is easier for people to afford small payments every other week than large ones once a month. One of the reasons that it is easier for many SMART Payment Plan clients to make their biweekly payments is that they get paid every other week. They set up their SMART Payment Plan accounts to make their half payments when they know they will have plenty of money in their bank accounts. That way they never have to worry that they do not have enough or that they will unintentionally overdraw from their accounts.

SMART Payment Plan also helps consumers pay off their loans faster. Making 26 half payments a year leads to 13 full payments. That’s one more than consumers who use the traditional monthly payment schedule favored by most lenders. These extra payments through SMART Payment Plan means consumers can pay off their debts more quickly, which reduces the length of time that they have to pay interest on their debts.

How SMART Payment Plan Helps Lenders

SMART Payment Plan uses automatic bank deductions to make sure their customers make loan payments on time. This helps lenders because they do not need to worry that the debts will go unpaid. Since lenders can rely on SMART Payment Plan to transfer funds from client bank accounts with the most secure technology available, they do not have to worry about late or missing payments.

How SMART Payment Plan Helps Dealers

SMART Payment Plan helps dealers of products and services give their customers better payment options, which means more people will buy from them. Dealers who sell high priced items like houses and vehicles know that monthly payments are an important consideration for thoughtful consumers who do not want to overspend. These consumers think about whether they can afford the monthly payments and whether they are getting a good interest rate on loans.

SMART Payment Plan gives your customers one of the best possible payment options. The biweekly half payments are much more affordable for most people than full monthly payments. When your customers hear that they can even lower the amount that they spend on interest by using SMART Payment Plan, many of them will be much more willing to purchase items that they otherwise might not believe they can afford.

Using SMART Payment Plan

SMART Payment Plan is a win-win loan payment option for consumers, lenders, and dealers. Even if you are already making monthly payments on a loan, you can still switch to SMART Payment Plan’s easy-to-use system without even having to refinance.

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