Archive for the ‘Personal Finance’ Category
May 26th, 2011 | 
Author: Here you’re going to learn several ways to save money every month by lowering your monthly bills.
There are lots of ways to save money, no matter how much of it you have – or don’t have!
Having struggled for many years paying my own bills, I learned many ways to save money. From simple things like food, gas, and clothing, to bigger expenses, like insurance and your mortgage.
All you need to know is where to look to find the savings.
Several Ways To Save Money
The first thing you need to do is eliminate ALL of your unnecessary expenses:
• eating out on the weekends
• buying lunch at work every day
• magazine and newspaper subscriptions (especially those you can get online and at the local library)
• cable TV (you’d be amazed at how many other ways you’ll find to spend your time once you get rid of cable TV)
• groceries (you can save lots of money with coupons and specials.)
It’s OK to reward yourself once in a while, but if you are really looking to get out of debt faster, you owe it to yourself to save every single penny you can!
To find other ways to reduce your expenses, take a close look at your checkbook and credit card statements. You should also call your credit card companies to see if they will lower your interest rates, even if it is only for a short time.
You’ll be amazed at how many ways you can save money, especially once you start looking carefully at how you spend your money every month.
Shop Around For The Lowest Prices
For those expenses you can’t eliminate, it’s time to start shopping around for the best prices.
Once I realized you can shop around for just about ANYTHING you spend money on every month, I learned how to save myself SEVERAL HUNDRED DOLLARS each and every month!
In fact, by shopping around I ended up saving myself more than $750 a year on car insurance alone!
The same is true of many of your monthly expenses – like long distance telephone service, internet service, all types of insurance, mortgages, and in some places even your utility bills.
It DOESN’T take any special skills. All it takes is a few clicks and you can save yourself a bunch of money in no time at all!
So, if you’d like to save yourself lots of money every month – and who doesn’t – start shopping around and looking for ways to lower your monthly bills right away!
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Replacing windows and doors is the fourth most common home-remodeling project and experts say it can dramatically reduce utility bills. Yet when it comes to choosing more energy-efficient options, consumers might be overwhelmed by the whirlwind of technology, terminology and options on the market today.
Homeowners need to be armed with accurate information in order to make the best choices about the many available options. That’s especially true as energy costs continue to climb. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program estimates that the savings from replacing single-pane with Energy Star-qualified windows ranges from $125 to $340 a year for a typical home.
Since this is the time of year when many homeowners embark on remodeling projects, here are five basic tips for selecting the most energy efficient windows and doors for your home.
* Use Low-E glass. Select windows with Low-E glass, which controls the amount of heat transferred through the window and prevents heat loss in the winter. Jeld-Wen, a window and door manufacturer, now offers Low-E glass as a standard for its wood and clad wood windows and as an upgrade option for its vinyl windows.
* Update technology. Replace older single-pane windows with dual-pane units, which insulate the home from both cold and hot weather. Using both Low-E glass and insulating glass units will reduce home energy costs.
* Consider how they’re made. Choose doors with energy-efficient cores, sills and frames that provide a barrier to energy exchange. Dual-pane, Low-E glass helps ensure that they will be weathertight and energy efficient. For example, studies show that over time, steel doors made with polystyrene maintain energy ratings better than doors made with polyurethane.
* Understand the standards. Efficiency ratings are based on U-factor, which is the amount of heat flow through a product. The lower the U-factor, the more efficient the product. Efficiency also is measured by Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC), which indicates the ability to block heat generated by sunlight. The lower the SHGC, the better. Finally, experts evaluate Visible Light Transmission, which is the percentage of sunlight that is able to penetrate a window or door. Higher percentages mean more light will enter through the glass.
* Focus on efficiency, not bells and whistles. Manufacturers achieve efficiency in different ways. No matter what technology is employed, one of the easiest ways to identify the most energy-efficient products is to simply look for the Energy Star label.
