From heating to haircuts, food to flights, the March issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance has found ways to trim costs, delivering big gains with little pain. Kiplinger’s 50+ smart money moves, totaling $18,250 per year in savings, include:
Boost Your Deductibles. Increasing the deductibles on your comprehensive and collision auto coverage from $500 to $1,000, or even $2,500, can reduce your premiums by 12% to 18%. ANNUAL SAVINGS: $648
Install a Smart Thermostat. Why heat or cool your home when you don’t need to? With a programmable thermostat, you can put your temperature preferences on autopilot.
ANNUAL SAVINGS: $180
Master Tickets. Online reseller StubHub.com often beats prices on TicketMaster.com and TicketsNow.com, especially for games that season-ticket holders want to unload. For instance, best priced tickets to a New York Knicks vs. New Jersey Nets game run $91 on StubHub—while comparable seats at Ticketmaster are $196.
ANNUAL SAVINGS: $315
Belly Up to the Bar. You can eat well at a fraction of the price if you stick to the bar menu—and we’re not just talking wings. For example, at Morton’s Steakhouse, a New York strip steak entrée runs $86 compared to the bar’s petite filet mignon sandwiches at $30.
ANNUAL SAVINGS: $410
Lose the Locks. Salons charge $90 or more to trim women’s tresses. Dropping in at a beauty school such as Paul Mitchell’s with a stylist-in-training chops that cost to $17.
ANNUAL SAVINGS: $292
Get Free Checking. Brick-and-mortar banks charge an average fee of $12 per month in checking accounts and require an average minimum balance of $3,500 to avoid it. With an online bank such as Salem Five Bank, pay no monthly fees and earn 2.75%.
ANNUAL SAVINGS: $144
Travel Last-Minute. Whet your wanderlust and save big by booking an impromptu, package-deal vacation on LastMinute.com. Reserved a week or two before departure, a trip for two from New York to Amsterdam costs $2,000—compared to booking the same trip several months in advance at $2,500.
ANNUAL SAVINGS: $500
Switch Supermarkets. Six-word strategy for saving on food: Get in car. Drive to Costco. Kiplinger’s compared prices on 37 staples at Costco, Safeway and Whole Foods—and found a substantial price discrepancy (even factoring in Costco’s $50 annual membership fee).
ANNUAL SAVINGS: $1,790
Swap Sitting Services. Round up another family or two with cabin fever and take turns baby-sitting the kids. If you go out for four hours every month, paying a sitter $10 per hour, you can save $40 per month.
ANNUAL SAVINGS: $480 "
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2 comments:
Good list! Unfortunately, I think Kiplinger sort of missed the mark. There are an awful lot of us out here that can't afford $90 haircuts, event tickets, yearly vacations and expensive meals out to begin with. I don't feel too sorry for people who have to cut back in these areas. Instead, I say "welcome to my world!"
Sharon; I used to get cheap haircuts at chains but local small barber shops and beauty parlors are hurtin' for certain and I pay about $15 for a haircut and it looks great. Same thing with my wife and daughter ... when they don't do it themselves.
I also got my daughter a prepaid cell phone. I make it a part of her allowance an she actually got into budgeting it so that she doesn't run out of minutes before the end of the month!
Ha! It's a good way for her to learn the value of money and staying within a budget, too.
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