Cut up your credit cards and be wealthy!

Credit cards are the bane of existence for many people. Once you start it is very difficult to stop, unless of course you miss a couple of payments and then they tend to help you stop! Even a credit card with a good interest rate is still a bad deal! I know, it is for emergencies! You know, like being hungry on the way home from work and seeing a special on pizza or burgers! You run low on gas and don't have any cash on you. Emergencies!

Now days almost every single bank offers you a debit card with a Visa or Mastercard logo. These work everywhere that credit cards are taken. The great thing about them is you can only spend what you have. O.K. Some accounts offer overdraft privileged with their accounts. Let me just say one thing, overdrafting your account is not a privilidge it is stupidity! Last year alone I had over $1700 in overdraft priviledge fees! This year I overdrafted one item in January by a simple math mistake.

Using your debit card instead of a credit card is the way to go, but how do you stop using your credit card(s)? The answer is simple but it may shock you. Take a pair of scissors and cut them into a million pieces! You don't need the card to pay your bill, the credit card companies provide you with a statement eqach month with a bill. Simply write your check and pay the bill. No card needed!

Some people think that if you don't have any credit cards you have horrible credit. Well, credit cards are one of the top 5 reasons people have bad credit. Eliminate paying more for everything you buy! If you buy a $400 item on credit and pay it out you will end up paying much more than $400. Let me share a little story with you.

A few years back after a long struggle getting my credt back on track after a divorce I applied for a Capitol One credit card. The whole resaon for the card was to build credit. I had planned to put around $10 or $20 a month on the card and pay it off each month. Well, my air conditioner went out in the middle of summer. At the time I was living near Houston, TX where the humidity is always around 100% and the summer tempatures reached 105 degrees on a regular basis.

So, I took my new credit card down to Sears. My new shiny, never been used credit card with a limit of $250. Remember I was rebuilding my credit so it was a low limit to begin with. I bought an airconditioner and after tax and all it was $238. Long story short, a few months later the Enron debacle happened and I lost my job. I had a credit card that I could not pay. It went to default.

Six months ago I paid my last payment to the collection agency on that $238 air conditioner. Grand total? $1748.89 with all the fees and penalties and interest. That was the most expensive airconditioner of all times! Cut up your credit cards! Cut up your credit cards! CUT UP YOUR CREDIT CARDS!

Yesterday I mentioned taking a little additional money and adding it to your smallest debt and paying it off. Well, you can see where that would be a good thing now. The economy is bad, yes, we all see that. If you can pay off one credit card you can take the minimum payment that you were paying on it along with the extra money from being frugal and apply it to the next credit card or debt an pay it off! Always pay off the debts in order of amount smallest to largest.

That is it for today. I honestly hope that you can get out from under the thumb of the credit card companies. We'll discuss it more later.





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Start at the Beginning! Save and Get Out of DEBT!

We have talked some about saving money on bills and in every day life. What we haven't touched on just yet is getting rid of debt. With all the tips I have mentioned you should be saving at least $25 a month by now! That is nothing to sneeze at! You are finally building a foundation!

Now, I would like to offer a way to make that $25 a month grow and grow very quickly! I am not talking about putting it in a piggy bank or investing. Well, I am talking about investing but not in the way that you see it. I am talking about paying off your debts with it!

Some of you just read that and thought "What are you talking about?" You probably think I am crazy! O.K. I might be crazy but lets talk about it for a minute or two. How many credit cards do you have? How much do you have in student loans? How much do you owe your buddy at work, or your mom or your dad?

Today try and make a list of every single debt you have. This will be a daunting task. You need to know how much you owe! After you list every single debt, organize them into the smallest to the largest. Remember, $5 for lunch your buddy loaned you last week is a debt. So, list ALL the debts you have!

Now, here is the fun part. Take that $25 you have saved due to the tips you found here and apply it to the smallest debts you have. Keep doing this until the smallest debt is paid off. This is in addition to the minimum payment.

For example lets say you have a credit card with $500 credit limit. It is close to maxed out. If you look at your statement, 1/3 of your minimum payment or more is interest. That means 2/3 of your payment is principle. This of course is best case if you have a low interest rate. So your minimum payment is probably somewhere in the $15 to $20 range. So, you take your $25 and add it to your minimum payment and you can pay that card off in much less time. If you just pay the minimum it will take no less than 36 months to pay off $500 and you will have paid over $200 interest in 3 years on a mere $500!

Interest will eat you alive! So, get rid of it! Pay off all your credit cards and cut them up! If you were to take your credit card payments and put them into a savings account you would EARN money! Call me crazy if you want but I am down to a single credit card and it will be paid off in two months. After it is paid off I am going to apply what I used to spend on my credit card to a savings account and I will have money that is earning ME money, not the credit card companies.

Think about it and let me know how you feel about it!




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Keeping Your Cool Without Breaking the Bank!

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For some of us it has been a very hot summer and the electric bill makes us need to catch our breath when we open it! My electric bill doubled between June and July! Fortunately for me I had already started trying to save money on my electric bill so it was not as big of a shock as it could have been!

One thing I do is set my thermostat to 76 when I am going to be out of the house for more than 4 hours and if I am going to be gone for the entire day I set it to 80. When I get home I turn it over to 68 or 70 for an hour and then set it to 72 before I go to bed. Some of you have programmable thermostats and that makes things much easier.

Another good trick if you have a window unit and not Central Air is to put a box fan about 3 feet away from the unit blowing into the room. This will help to cool things down much faster and keeps your air conditioner from over working. Using ceiling fans also help a lot if you have them. Be sure you have the ceiling fan set to turn the correct direction for summer. In the summer the blades should be turning counter-clockwise.

If you live in a dry area, such as the desert, you may need to add some moisture to the air. This can be accomplished in many ways, the most common way is to put a pan of water on the stove. There is no need to turn on a burner or anything as it will evaporate on its own. Many people also put flower vases around the house. This is a way to add moisture without looking like you are doing it at all!

If you live in a very wet area such as coastal or near a large lake, you may have too much moisture in the air and you may need a dehumidifier. Be sure to not over do it! You want to remove some of the moisture but not all of it. There is a happy medium and it is different for every person.

On cool evenings, when the temperature is in the mid to lower 70s turn the air conditioner off and open the windows! This could save you $8 to $10 a day on your cooling bill! Be sure to close the house up before you leave for work the next day. If you have plenty of insulation in your house you may not even want to turn the air back on until the evenings are hot again.

If you live in a house you can also put a sprinkler on the roof and run it at low volume during the hottest part of the day. This helps to dissipate the heat more quickly. Also an attic fan can be very helpful as temperatures may reach 130+ in your attic. By simply venting out the hot air your air conditioner will work more efficiently.

That is it for today. Please feel free to leave any comments that might help out! If you have questions please let me know and I will do my best to answer them!







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Summer Money Saving Tips!

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Summer is quickly approaching in some areas of the world and other areas are in full summer mode. Finding ways to save money while still being comfortable may sometimes seem difficult. Here are a few things that might help a bit.

Set A/C Thermostat 2 degrees warmer in summer! Just 2 degrees difference can save you hundreds of dollars a year. Your body is going to be unlikely to notice the difference between 70 degrees and 72 degrees. Getting an energy efficient fan or using a ceiling fan to help move the air around should counter act the difference in temperature while saving on the electric bill. Be sure to check the direction your ceiling fan is turning if you have the option. One setting is for summer and the other is for winter.

Change the filter on your A/C intake on a regular basis. Remember if you have pets you may need to change the filter more often. Check to see what the manufacturers recommendations are and check them often. It is also a good idea to get your entire system checked out to make sure all the ducts are clean and clear of any debris. Much like a car, the better care you take of your A/C system, the less it has to work and that saves you money!

Run your washing machine, dryer and dishwasher later in the evening when electricity is less expensive. Turn off your drying cycle on your dishwasher. These things will not only help save money by themselves they will also be producing heat in the evenings when it is cooler and won't cause your A/C to work harder.

If you have a metal roof of any kind consider putting a water sprinkler on the roof and run it at a low pressure during the hottest part of the day. You want to set it so that water is not pouring off your roof but just dripping. As the water evaporates it helps to cool off the roof. Make sure as well that your vent fans on your roof are working properly. You may even want to consider adding exhaust fans to help vent the heat buildup from your attic.

That is it for today. If you have questions or comments please feel free to send them! Saving money gets easier the more you try!




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Save Money Every Day at Lunch!

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How much money do you spend each day on lunch? $5, $10 or even $15? At $5 a day for lunch you will spend about $1,250 a year! At $10 a mean you'll spend $2,500 and at $15 a meal you'll spend $3,750 a year just on lunch! There are ways to bring the pricing down and save some money.

First, take left overs to work for lunch. Sometimes that is not what you want to eat but if you take left overs you are doing two things. One, you are saving money from not buying lunch. Second, you are not wasting your food from the previous evening.

If you have kids, make their lunch for them to take to school. You might get a few complaints but at least you are saving some money. By making their lunch you are also providing them with a healthy meal, at least we hope!

Saving money is not hard to do, it just takes some determination and some discipline. We will have more money saving tips very soon so be sure to check back often!

TIP: Eat your leftovers for lunch the next day! 75% of all leftovers end up in the trash! What a waste!

TIP: Take your lunch to work at least three times a week! The average lunch costs $10! Save up to $50 a week by bringing your leftovers to work for lunch!

TIP: Make your kids sack lunches for school like in olden times! Yes, they will complain, but they are going to complain anyway!









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Money Saving Tips for a Stressed Economy!

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In today's stressed economy it seems next to impossible to put any money away for a rainy day! In fact, for most people it has been raining for months so to speak. It is time to tighten our belts and try to save money anywhere we can! There are some simple ways to save money in your every day life.

I have direct deposit for my day job paychecks. I leave money for my bills in the account, a small buffer for the "oops" factor, then I take out the rest for things like groceries and other items. I keep only $10 and $20 bills in my wallet. Anything smaller than that goes into my pocket. When I get home, all of my change, $1's and $5's go into a jar. At the end of each month I take my jar to the bank and put the money into a savings account! It adds up quick.

I learned a while back that if I cannot afford it I should not buy it. Each and every time I decide to buy something I save up the money needed to buy it. I do not use my credit card any more for things I cannot afford. If I do not have the money on hand I go without until I have the money for it. This saves me a lot of grief! The idea of having a credit card for an emergency tends to cause the definition of emergency to change!

Along the same line, NEVER borrow money to pay off a debt! Most of the debt consolidation ads you see end up costing you more money in the long run. Most credit card companies and utilities companies will accept any payment. Many times you can work out a special payment plan that will keep you from being turned over to collections. Doctors, Dentists and Hospitals also will work with you. You never know what you can work out until you ask!

If you have been with a credit card company for over a year and never missed a payment, never been late with a payment and in otherwise good standing, it never hurts to ask for a lower interest rate. It is amazing how much you can save just by dropping your interest rate a couple of percent. If they say no, you may want to look for a card with a lower rate and transfer the balance. You can at least use that as a bargaining chip!

One of the best ways to save money is to start a budget and stick to it! Equalized billing from the utilities companies is a must for setting a budget. Set up an envelope for each expense you have, rent, electric, water, etc. Even set up an envelope for entertainment! Once the money is gone it is gone. Stick to the budget and you can actually save money!

If you find yourself in need of a little extra cash you could get a part time job. There are many places that just need someone for two to four hours a day two or three times a week. Find a job that fits the time you have available. If you cannot get a part time job try selling your rarely used items on-line. Craigslist or local bulletin boards do not charge a fee and you can sell just about anything!

If you are creative you can sit down and come up with many more ways to save a little money. If you do, be sure to leave a comment so you can help other people as well. Below are a few tips that you can tweet to your twitter account.

TIP: Use cash and put your change in a jar! You'll be surprised how fast your change will add up!

TIP: If you cannot afford it DON'T buy it! Save up money for what you want to buy.

TIP: Never borrow money to pay off a debt! Refinancing to pay off debt is just redistributing your debt not actually paying it off!

TIP: Ask your credit card company for a better interest rate! If you have had a full year of paying on time and your account is in good status why be punished?

TIP: Start a budget and stick to it! If you stick to your budget it has a 100% better chance of actually working!

TIP: Sell rarely or never used items on Craigs list or a local message board! Why keep junk that you don't use and don't need?

How to save Money with your Car!

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The economy is going to get worse before it gets better, or so says the Associated Press. Fortunately, there are ways to form a status quo by saving money and Tightening our Belts! One of the ways we can do that is with your car! Believe it or not, your car costs a lot of money to operate! Here are some ways to reduce that cost along with reducing your carbon footprint!

Changing to oil every 3,000 or so miles is more than just a ploy to get money out of you! By changing the oil you extend the life of the engine and reduce your carbon emissions. Changing to oil does not take a brain surgeon, just look at the guys that change your oil at Jiffy Lube! There was a time when everyone changed their own oil. You can save $20 to $50 by changing it yourself! You can find the information on how to change your oil by doing a search on any search engine!

In addition to changing the oil, a tune up can greatly improve your gas mileage and reduce your carbon footprint! A general tune up costs around $100 to $150 to have it done. Here again, it is not rocket science and you should be able to do it yourself and save $75 to $125! It generally consists of changing or cleaning your air filter, changing your spark plugs, wires and distributor cap and rotor. This can be done in your garage or driveway in less than two hours!

Just by simple regularly scheduled maintenance you can increase your cars MPG by 20% or more, reduce your carbon footprint and avoid costly repairs in the future! Doing the maintenance yourself can save you hundreds of dollars over having someone else do it for you. Learn some simple "wrenching" can save you money and increase the life of your car! Below are a few more money saving tips associated with driving!


TIP: If you live close to work walk when the weather is nice! If you live less than one mile from work you can be there in 30 minutes or less and you are getting exercise! Be sure to check the forecast!

TIP: Start a carpool for work and taking kids to school! You can cut your driving expens by 80% if you find 4 people to join the carpool and take a turn!

TIP: Tell your kids to start riding the bus and stop taking them to school! If you live close to the bus stop walk with your children. You not only save money you get some exercise.

TIP: Drive the speed limit, you'll save on gas mileage! You can increase your gas mileage by 25% or better by driving 65 instead of 80!

TIP: Ride a bike to work or school on days with nice weather. You'll be amazed at how much you'll save on gas for the car! 1 to 5 miles is nothing on a bike!

TIP: Mid-grade and Premium gas tend to give better gas mileage. You may need to experiment with a couple of tanks of gas to see if it saves you money.

As always I would love to hear about your money saving tips! Feel free to leave a comment or send us an e-mail to TightenYourBelt@gmail.com.




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How to Save Money in the Bathroom!!

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Saving money is something that we all strive to do when money is tight. With the current financial crisis in the United States and the world right now, it would behoove each and every one of us to find any and all ways to save money! Saving money in the bathroom is one of those things that is easy to do but we often times forget how to do.

The biggest loss of money in the bathroom is waste. We waste gallons and gallons of water when we do not have to do so. Just by turning off the water when you brush your teeth will save as much as 3 gallons of water a day per person in your household. That does not sound like an awful lot but it adds up quickly! One person saving three gallons of water a day will save over 1000 gallons of water a year, just by turning off the water when you brush your teeth!

Check to make sure that your toilet is not running. The average running toilet can waste 10 to 20 gallons of water a day. Over time this can cost you money! A dripping sink or shower head is the same way. A drippy faucet can waste a gallon or more water a day. If your toilet is running and your faucets are dripping you could be wasting another 8000 gallons of water and that is almost another entire water bill just paying for the wasted water!

Another money saving thing you can do is use your towel more than once before washing it. I know, it may seem kind of gross, but look at it this way. When you get out of the shower or bath you are already clean! When you dry off you are just drying off the clean water! So, all you are really doing is getting the towel damp. Hang it up and let it dry and reuse it. I am not saying use it for two weeks but if you use it for 2 or 3 times before you wash it you will be cutting down on your laundry bill!

Here are some tips that you can Tweet directly to your Twitter Account by clicking on them.

TIP: Turn off the water when brushing your teeth! You will save money on your water bill if you don't waste it!

TIP: Make sure your toilet isn't running and faucets are not leaking! Maintenance can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars every year!

TIP: Use your towel to dry off for 2 or 3 days before washing be sure to let it dry! You are clean when you dry off!


As always I would love to hear about your money saving tips! Feel free to leave a comment or send us an e-mail to TightenYourBelt@gmail.com.



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How to Save Money in the Laundry Room!!

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There are money saving settings right on your washing machine that you may or may not have noticed. It starts with the size of your load of laundry. There is (on most washers) dial that has water saver mode all the way up to large capacity load. Use this setting option don't just set it on large load and walk away!

There is also a temperature setting dial. This dial lists all the types of temperature settings for the different cycles from cold/cold to hot/cold. Read the tags on your laundry and see what the manufacturer suggests for temperature settings on your clothes and use them! Wash in cold/cold whenever you can and it will save on the cost to heat the water.

You can save money on drying your clothes by not over filling your washing machine as well. If you put too many clothes in your washer your spin cycle will not get as much water out of the clothes as you would with a normal size load. This will translate to higher energy usage on your dryer by taking longer to dry.

If you can hang your clothes to dry rather than putting them in the dryer you can save some money on energy. Even if you just hang a few items in the bathroom to dry you'll save a little. I like to hang my sheets outside to dry when the weather is nice. When I do that I save an entire dryer load!

Cleaning out the lint trap before every load is helpful to keep your energy cost down. You should also clean your dryer hose once a month or more. Lint builds up inside the dryer hose very fast and can clog the hose. A clogged vent hose causes laundry to take longer than necessary to dry and that costs you money. If you use dryer sheets the lint trap and hose get clogged up faster. Use an old tooth brush and warm soapy water to clean the lint trap once a month or when you see it start to get clogged.

Here are some tips that you can Tweet directly to your Twitter Account by clicking on them.

TIP #1: Wash clothes in warm/cold not hot/cold when you can! Hot/Cold cycle is the most expensive way to wash clothes. Check the tags and wash things according to the manufactures suggestion.

TIP #2: Use the water saver feature on small loads of laundry! Most washing machines have several water levels. Utilize this for smaller loads. You save water and energy.

TIP #3: Hang clothes to dry instead of using the dryer! Put up a clothes line outside or hang clothes in the shower and save energy.

TIP #4: Clean out the dryer exhaust at least once a month! The exhaust hose tends to get clogged. Cleaning it out at least once a month will make the dryer more efficient.

TIP #5: Clean out the lint trap on your dryer before each load! When drying items that produce a lot of lint like towels you may want to clean the trap out in the middle of the drying cycle as well.

Save Money at the Grocery Store!

Did you know that an espresso maker costs less than 5 espressos from a coffee house? You can pick one up at one of those big department stores for under $30! You can also pick up a coffee pot and a thermos mug for about $15 total! I bought a cup of coffee at a local fast food place and it was $1.78 for just a single cup of coffee! I could hardly believe it! I buy coffee beans for $7 a pound, grind my own beans and brew my own coffee. After the initial investment of about $15 for the coffee maker and $7 for 2 weeks worth of coffee, each cup now costs about $.27!

There are many ways to save money. 99% of the time you are paying about a 70% or higher convenience markup! So, there we have it, you can save money or have convenience. I for one, given those two options, will choose to save money every time! I buy generic food items more than name brand. I have yet to find a great deal of difference with generic foods. I also buy in bulk whenever I have the option.

When I go to the grocery store I try to always eat before hand and take a list. Taking a list is one thin, sticking to it is another! I find that if I am hungry I tend to stray from the list more than when I am not! Sticking to a list will do many things for you. Lets look at the process for making a list.

First I sit down and write a menu for the entire week. I do a menu for each meal of the day. After that is complete I start my list. I try to lump like items together so that I can make my shopping trip take the least amount of time. Only after I complete the list from my menu do I add things like snacks and or deserts. I do not have kids in the house so that makes it a little bit easier for me. If you have children in your house you may want to treat snacks like a meal in your menu.

If I plan to have more than one meal with ground beef/turkey I try to estimate how much I will need. I then buy in bulk. The more you buy the less times you have to pay for packaging. I put a star next to items that I can buy in bulk. After that is complete I look through all the coupons I have. I put a check mark next to each item on the list that I have a coupon for, this makes sure I don't forget to use the coupon. Then I look at all the store specials from the circulars and put an X next to each item that I am going to get price matched.

By the way, I always get my list together on Sunday morning with the newspaper. That way the circulars are current and all the coupons are right there! I have saved hundreds of dollars by taking the 30 minutes to make a list, look for coupons and circulars. Saving on your grocery trip is not hard to do and it gets easier the longer you keep to your routine.

Here are a few tips that you can Tweet by clicking on them.


TIP: Shop less often and buy in bulk whenever you can!

TIP: A $10 coffee pot is far less expensive than a week of Starbucks!

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As always we are on the lookout for great tips and tricks to save money so feel free to leave a comment with your money saving tips!

Saving Money and Being Frugal is Easy!

Welcome back to How To Tighten Your Belt Blog! This week we will be discussing ways to save money in the kitchen. Your kitchen is a hotbed of wasted money! Let us see if we cannot tune it up this week. First and foremost, and this goes for every room, turn off the lights when you leave the kitchen!

Lights use a great deal of energy! You can save up to $10 a month per room by just turning off the lights when you leave the room. That can add up very quickly! Saving on energy usage in the kitchen does not just translate to turning off the lights.

Even if an appliance is off there is a chance that it is still drawing energy. If you use an item a lot, like a microwave or coffee pot it is probably a good idea just to leave it plugged in, but if you have a mixer or toaster or breadmaker you should unplug them when you are not using them. You may only save pennies a week by doing this but it is pennies that you otherwise would not have!

As for large appliances, such as the dishwasher, there are a few things you can do to cut down on the cost of using. Turn off the drying cycle on your dishwasher and run it at the end of the day. Dishes will naturally dry and most all dish washing liquid for the dishwasher has an anti-spot additive. Just the drying cycle alone can account for more than half the energy used by the dishwasher.

Make sure that the dishwasher is full. Running the dishwasher for 1/2 loads cost you the same as running the dishwasher full. Now I am not suggesting overfilling the dishwasher. Just fill it up to full. If it takes two days to fill it up then so be it! Be sure to rinse your dishes off before putting them in the dishwasher and you can use cold water to rinse them because they will be cleaned in hot water.

That is it for the day! Come back tomorrow for more useful money saving tips and tricks! Here are some tips that you can click on to directly tweet them!

TIP: Run your dishwasher only when it is completely full!

TIP: Run your dishwasher at night and turn off the heat drying cycle!

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As always we are on the lookout for great tips and tricks to save money so feel free to leave a comment with your money saving tips!

Tighten Your Belt and Save Money!!

In today's failing/failed economy everyone is looking for ways to survive the recession/depression. Though I would love to give you the one good answer to how to make extra money to make ends meet, I cannot. I can however share with you my experiences in saving money. Saving a dime is like making a dime! If you save a dime ten times a day, you've saved a dollar!

I will share plenty of ways to cut down on your expenses and suggestions to put that savings to good use! I welcome any questions and comments and discussion you may have. President Obama has started his stimulus package and many people are seeing $8 to $15 a week extra on their paychecks. My first tip is to take that extra money and put it into a savings account! Let your money draw some interest. You did not have the money before so you won't even miss it. I personally put $10 a week into a savings account. That is $520 put into savings every year.

Finding the right savings account is not always the easiest thing. I suggest finding a savings account at a bank that does not charge you a maintenance fee. Too many banks charge you $3 to $5 a month to save your money. If that is the case it would be better to put your money in your mattress! Some banks will charge toy a maintenance fee if you have below $100 in your account. So, stick your money in your mattress until you have $100 then put it into your account and forget that it is there.

If the bank offers you a debit card or checks for your savings account, decline the offer. If you have the ability to take your money out of the account it makes it that much harder to save! Many people that I know put 10% of every paycheck into a savings account. This is great if you are able to do that, but most people are not well off enough to part with 10% of their paycheck. I hope to get you to the point where you have saved enough money on utility bills and such that you have an extra 20% to put into your newly opened savings account.

I will never ask you to buy anything or join anything! Just press ctrl+d and bookmark the blog and come back every day or subscribe in a reader or via e-mail. I will have those options set up very soon. This being my very first post it will be up for the week and I will have new posts starting on March 20, 2009. That is the first day of spring and a great day to start saving money! Until then, let me know if you have any ideas you'd like to share or questions you'd like to ask.

Click on any tip to tweet it!

1. Turn out the lights when you leave the room, ESPECIALLY the Bathroom!
2. Use cash and put your change in a jar!
3. Turn off the water when brushing your teeth!
4. If you cannot afford it DON'T buy it!
5. Never borrow money to pay off a debt!
6. If you live close to work walk when the weather is nice!
7. If you only need one or two items walk to the store and back!
8. Turn your computer off when you're not using it ESPECIALLY at night!
9. Shop less often and buy in bulk whenever you can!
10. Start a garden in your window or on your deck!
11. Ask your credit card company for a better interest rate!
12. Over 55? Become a member of AARP and get discounts everywhere!
13. Got a fireplace? Buy firewood in the summer it is cheaper!
14. Buy next years winter clothing at the end of this winter!
15. Charge your cellphone at work ESPECIALLY if it is a company phone!
16. When your lights burn out switch out light bulbs with fluorescent light bulbs!
17. Unplug appliances that you do not use often!
18. Set your refrigerator thermostat to warmer!
19. Set A/C Thermostat 2 degrees warmer in summer 2 degrees colder in winter!
20. Keep the refrigerator and freezer 75 percent to 85 percent full!