Saving money on just about anything

Isn't that what it's all about when it comes to your finances? Do you often ask yourself "HOW CAN I SAVE MONEY?" I know for a long time I did that, and sometimes I still do. It's OK to have to stop and reevaluate what you are doing to see if you can cut back on some expenses. Just recently I have had to do that and I have once again gotten motivated and am ready to save even MORE! It's like a new diet or a new work out plan... you know you NEED to do it, but you don't really want to. BUT, once you start seeing results then you are fired up and ready to do more. Same thing with money. Not always easy or fun, but once you start seeing the $aving$, you will want to do MORE!

I recently saved money the following ways:

1. Dish. I started examining our bill and thought to myself "This is nuts"!!!! We basically watch the main channels (4,7,11) for our news and TV shows and then other than that everything we are watching is RERUNS. I love TV Land, and Nick at Nite but let's face it... we own half of the shows on DVD already! We were also paying for a second dish with 2 dvr boxes in two rooms that we rarely used. So I called to see if I could cancel the 2nd dish with the 2 dvr's we dont use and they said SURE! Shaved 17 dollars off our bill just like that! Then I have spent time evaluating the packages offered by DISH and it looks like we are about to save an additional 23 dollars a month when I downgrade our package. As long as you don't cancel your membership with them then you can make all the changes you want and still be within your "contract". handy piece of info. I didnt think I could do that.

2. Clothes shopping. I am not extreme. I have seen the show "Extreme Cheapskates" and Dear Lord Please NEVER let me be like that!!!" BUT, there is nothing wrong with asking for a deal. I recently found a super cute dress and it had the tiniest of rips in it, but hey--it was worth asking. And I saved an additional 15%! Not too shabby!  Don't hesitate to ask. Also, some places will offer up a discount just for asking. Just an FYI, if you ever shop at Shoe Carnival and they are not currently advertising a "Buy one Get One 1/2 off sale" just ASK. They will honor that ANYTIME if you simply ASK. There are savings right in front of you!

3. Electricity bill. I HATE paying this bill. I DESPISE it with everything in me. It seems ridiculous to pay THAT much just to have electricity, but alas it is a necessity. :) Turn off lights. Turn the heat down when you leave the house. Unplug things. Don't leave fans going if you aren't home. Close doors that you don't use so the heat isn't trying to warm those. Shut off vents! We have done that in two rooms that we rarely go in. What's the point in heating them? Close your blinds and curtains at night to help your house stay warmer and this will allow you to turn your heat down!

4. Call your cell phone carrier. They now have (at least Verizon does) a way to run a little test to see the average minutes/texts/data that you use. I did this and was shocked to learn that I was paying for FAR more than we ever use. $17 dollars saved just by making a phone call.

5. Grocery store. I'm still in the middle of an experiment with our local stores--trying to see which one is REALLLLY the best deal. Avoid Walmart for meat. Go to a GROCERY store. Ask the butcher if he has any markdowns he's about to put out OR ask when would be a good time to come back and get some deals. Ask him what he's marking down. They love talking to customers. They hack meat all day for goodness sakes... they enjoy the break! THIS can save you some serious cash.

Alright, of course there are more things but here are some reminders for you. What can you add to the list? Comment or email me at cararoxanne02@aol.com to let me hear YOUR tips!

Why don't we just ask?

“So baby why don’t we just ask..” (that would be to the tune of WHY DONT WE JUST DANCE!) ha!

Okay…so just ask why don’t cha!?! I have a Discover card that I thought was getting awesome interest rates…well, i was wrong. That ended after 3 years evidentally. I have always been on time on my payments, don’t use it that often, but when I do I am diligent to pay it off. Well I got online to look up what I owed and figure out a payment plan to pay it off and throw it away. And I happened to look at my interest rate… I am just now getting my breath back and that was 4 hours ago!!!

So… I called. “Hello thank you for calling discovercard can i help you?” Ummmm…YES YOU CAN!! I began to spill, in a nice way, about how much I have been a great customer, pay my bills on time, never behind, never too close to my limit… and how I am livid that my interest rate is so high. Her response “I can undertand your concerns but we have no other interest rates to offer you at this time.” Ya see…this is where she and I began to disagree. So I gave my spill about how great it was to have me as a customer b/c I am not a threat to them and well, basically, she blew me off. So I told her to please cancel my card, that I would somehow figure out how to pay it off within 30 days so it wouldn’t hurt my credit(if you cancel a credit card with a balance that HURTS your credit) and immediately she came up with a lower interest rate? Wow! Its amazing how that happens.

So if you are paying through the nose on a credit card and will never see the bottom…then just ASK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! all they can say is no, and then all you have to do is NOT use them anymore. Simple as that.