How to Save Money Tips – 30 Easy Ways, Part II

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Yes, indeed, there are many ways you can save money, and this being the 2^nd part of our article on How To Save Money Tips in 30 Easy Ways is going to lay out another 10 suggestions to put cash away for your Wedding Day!  So, sit back, read and start thinking about what great things you will be able to add to your wedding reception or your honeymoon with the extra money you will gain when putting these “how to save money tips” into action.

So – How Do You Save Money?  Part II:

1. Consolidate and pay off debt as soon as possible:  This is important also as you start your new life together.  If you can help it, you don’t want to begin your marriage carrying debt, so focus on consolidating it into a lower interest card or get a low interest equity line of credit to transfer the debt to and then pay it off as soon as possible. Money paid in interest is money thrown away! Why spend your hard-earned cash to make the financial institutions rich?
2. Pay your bills on time and avoid late fees:  With the Web and banks having everything online now, you can set up most all of your payments so they are automatically deducted from your checking or even charged to your credit card (get mileage or reward points – but be sure to pay it off when the bill comes in).  So there really is no excuse for forgetting to pay a bill on time and forking out the late fees, but if by chance you do forget a bill, if you are a first time offender, call the company and request politely to waive the late fees, and more likely than not, they will to it for you.
3. Be aware of your bank balance and avoid over draft fees:  If you use your checking account often or have some bills that are paid automatically from your checking account, be aware of your balance at all times to avoid overdraft fees.  And make sure you reconcile your bank account every month to know exactly where you are at in your account.  While we try not to make mistakes or be forgetful, they happen – a check might be written that you were in a hurry and forgot to record in your book or worse … I once wrote a check for what I thought was $350 toward a bill that we owed a few thousand on, but I somehow managed to write it for $3,500 (I was obviously short on oxygen that day) and that messed me and my account up for weeks, and the overdraft and NSF fees that mounted up — UGH!!
4. Avoid ATM fees:  Be aware of the ATM withdrawal fees.  There is no reason to pay these – just be sure you think ahead of time for when you will need cash and get the money from your own bank’s ATMs or just withdrawal the money from the bank.
5. Avoid credit cards with annual fees:  Credit cards with their cash back bonuses and reward points are a great way to save some money. Just make sure that the card does not charge you any annual fees! There are cards that offer fee-free reward plans, so there really is no reason to pay the annual fees.
6. Disconnect land line if possible:  Unless you have small kids in the house or older people to take care of, it is more than likely that you could survive with only your cell phones and can get rid of your land line. I have friends who have survived without a land line for a couple years now without any problems. I have to admit I haven’t made this transition yet myself, but that’s because I’ve had my same land line number for 30 years and it seems like part of the family – I have to get over that as I know it would be a big savings for us!
7. Instead of buying books, borrow books from the library:  Unless you need a reference book that you will look back at often, why buy a new book (in fact, see the next tip on this).  Whenever possible, use your local library to get the novel you want or research something that one you have your notes you wouldn’t need to refer back to the book anymore. Library cards are free and they are generally well stocked.  In many cities, the chain of public libraries is connected and you can check online for available books. All very convenient and affordable!
8. If you have to buy books, check if you can buy it used:  Considering you can get used books for sometimes as much as half the price as it would be new, this has got to be a good option for many books.  They might not have quite the same feeling as leafing through the crisp pages of a brand new book, but really, it’s like a new versus used car, once you’ve used it, it is now used.  My favorite place to buy used books is from Better World Books. Not only do they have great discounts, but they have social, economic and environmental value, collecting and selling books online to fund literacy initiatives worldwide.  Check out their website at Better World Book, Used Books, Free Shipping. Another great option is AbeBooks.com, being the world’s largest online marketplace for books, you are bound to find what you are looking for here, and some books are discounted up to 90%.
   
9. Price check before buying anything expensive:  For any items you are looking to purchase that are on the expensive side, ALWAYS do a price check before buying the item. Having the World Wide Web (“www”) at our fingertips today, there is no reason not to search the living daylights out of any expensive item before making a purchase.  If buying online, you should also check out the Coupon Dork (I only just found out about this cute money saving “dork” myself a few weeks back).  This site has online coupons that you get the code for and “poof,” it’s another easy way to save some money.
10. Avoid impulse buying:  This is REALLY A GOOD ONE – because we’ve all been guilty of this!  Make it a habit to avoid impulse buying. If we had just waited for a day or two on many of the items we thought we wanted to buy just because we saw them, we often determine we are OK without them, and man what a savings that is!!  Also, waiting means you will be able to check prices and make an informed decision to buy it at the best possible price.  And, if you decide to buy it, you won’t have any buyer’s remorse as you will have done your homework!

The final 10 How to Save Money Tips will be published in the next couple weeks.  Check back or subscribe to our website to be notified of when Part III is released.

Incorporate more and more of these tips into your life and the savings will add up, and you will be pleasantly surprised to find out that you can actually save thousands of dollars over the course of a year.

By Cheryl Cox, Editor of YourWeddingDollars.com, See “Note from the Editor” for more information on Cheryl and her credentials.

“Create Your Own Wedding — Own Your Style, Not Someone Else’s — and do it all while keeping money in your pocket!”