Save $300 in 30 days– Guest post #2 from Regina Leeds
Budgets aren’t the only scary aspect of organizing your finances. A big area of self imposed mystery are credit cards. Do you know, for example, exactly how much you owe on your cards? Do you know how many cards you have? What about the interest rates you pay? Are you aware of them as well? The banks are raising rates as a hedge against the new credit card consumer protection laws soon to go into effect. Have your rates been altered? Take a minute to get the exact figures. Rather than pull out the most recent statement, why not take a look on line? In fact, it’s a great idea to check your accounts once a week. This is how I discovered someone had used one of my cards without my permission. I reported the theft to the card issuer and the local police two weeks before I received my statement! It only takes a few minutes to register. In fact, while you are there, you can request e-mail statements only and save a tree!
Do you pay the minimum due each month? If you always pay on time and avoid late fees, I salute you. This is a key way to keep your FICO score healthy. However if you’re only paying the minimum, whatever you charge gets a lot more expensive over time. Check out the calculator at www.bankrate.com. You can see how long it will take to pay off your debt with a minimum payment. You will also learn how much interest you will have given the banks when you get to a zero balance. Are you feeling a bit overwhelmed? I have a solution! You have a budget now, right? Run some numbers and see if you can boost your credit card payment amounts. Perhaps you can snip $10 off the monthly food or gas budget and apply that to a credit balance. The sooner these are paid off, the faster you’ll be able to create your six month emergency fund.
In my next post I’ll help you create a file system. After all you have a lot of paper you need to keep for family record keeping as well as our beloved Uncle Sam. The kitchen counter, the dining room table and the floor are screaming for relief.
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Very wonderful suggestions. I just found out a joint account that I thought was closed… wasn’t - just by getting my free annual credit report. I am SOLD on that process. (freeannualcreditreports.org - the rest want to sell you things. If they want you to pay for something - you’re probably not in the right place!) Fortunately my former partner in things is a good guy and was not messing up the credit situation - but it’s great to know how it’s going
And… in a bit I’ll be checking back to ensure they did what they said they would do! Karma PLUS Followup = Good Credit.
Can’t wait to hear more about the file system–I can definitely use some help getting organized.
I did scrutinize my charge card statements yesterday and will be $360 dollars richer soon. On one charge that now is used to carry and pay for a balance transfer, I found reward points that converted to a $110 deprtment store gift card. My current winter coat is 10 years old and my boots leak. With coupons and sales I can easily make that $110 be worth twice as much. After that “find”, I decided to see if my utility and communications provider monthly payments could be paid from the one charge card that I use for all of my expenses (even postage stamps). The utilities do now accept charge payments, but I will need to call with my charge # each month in order to pay. HOWEVER, when I contacted my communications provider, I learned that not only can the bill be automatically paid with the charge card (land home phone, internet and cell phone) but if I converted to their fiber optics system, liked it and kept with it, I will receive a $150 prepaid charge card in 90 days. My utility and communications bill total over $2,000 each year. To add that many reward points is great news too.
So for January I found more than $300 dollars because the Borders New Years Resolution challenge provided an impetus to do so! In February, I will be scrutinizing my budget for the next $300. I know I go to the coffee drive thru more than I should and don’t pay much attention to restaurant coupons and deals. Also, I have never shopped around for oil (winter heat) prices, having been with the same company all my life.
woooohoooo Cynthia.
Another thing I’ve done this week is a spending fast (actually 2 straight days spending nothin!) harder to do that it appears but kinda cool.
tallied savings for last 2 months $321, $361.
Hows your Market Going there?