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Saving money is an essential aspect of personal finance that can help you achieve your financial goals and secure your future. However, many people struggle with saving consistently due to various reasons such as lack of discipline or a tight budget. In such cases, automating your savings can be a game-changer.
Read MoreSaving money is important, but not all savings accounts offer the same benefits. For example, a savings account at your local bank will pay minimal interest, resulting in a few dollars a year, but a high yield savings account can help you reach your financial goals faster. How can HYSAs pay so much? Here’s how they work.
Read MoreDid you know the money you save for healthcare can also save you money on taxes? Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Savings Accounts are two options to lower your tax liabilities and help you pay your medical expenses. While HSAs and FSAs have many similarities, there are differences too. You’ll qualify for one or the other, but not both.
Read MoreUS savings bonds are known to be a very safe investment, but tend to have lower rates. However, if you’ve been watching the news and blogs, as of this year the rate for a Series I Bond is at 9.62% until October 28, 2022. To take advantage of this rate, you must complete your purchase of this bond on the Treasury Direct website by October 28, 2022.
Read MoreA great life skill to teach your kids is how to save money. The things you teach them about money will stay with them for life, so it’s important to teach them all that you can at an age-appropriate level. And what better way to strengthen your family’s bond than to save as a family. Let’s make saving a family tradition by setting a yearly goal and making a plan to reach it. It all starts with a conversation! Take the 10 Day Family Savings Challenge so you can not only save money but encourage money conversations!
Read MoreWhen it comes to retirement, the earlier you plan and save, the better. Because of compound interest and tax deferrals, you can benefit more the earlier you start saving for retirement. Do you know how much you need to save for retirement? How can you maximize your savings? Here are 7 strategies that will help you prepare for retirement and maximize your money…
Read MoreMany people save money as a second thought. When they get paid the money goes to bills, expenses, food, and a bunch of other random things. The only time they saving money is when there is money left over. With this backwards approach there is never enough money to save. Once deposits are made into a savings account automatically and on a regular basis, you don‘t have to think about it and the money is deposited before to going to any bills and expenses. It doesn’t matter if you have $5, $20, or $100, saving automatically will guarantee money is saved every time you get paid.
Read MoreValentine's Day is an opportunity to show others how much you care. Many commercially accessible present choices can be expensive, deterring people from purchasing the items they desire for this special occasion. Use these methods to save money on meaningful Valentine's Day gifts this year.
Read MoreJanuary is National Blood Donor Month and in honor of that, I wanted to share with you a tip that can not only save lives, but can put some money in your pockets if your ever in need of some cash. Many people think you get paid for donating blood, the bucks are in donating plasma! There is no compensation for donating blood because experts feel that people would lie about their health just to make a few couple hundred dollars. And I don’t blame them.
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We all have to do laundry, but it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg to have clean clothes. Doing laundry is more expensive than most people realize. We do laundry so frequently, that even a small savings per load could end up saving you a lot of money.
There are many simple things you can do to cut the cost of doing laundry. When you have more people in your household, it adds up to an even bigger savings.
Do you have the space to air-dry your clothes or hang them on the clothes line outside? If you can avoid using a dryer, you can save approximately $100 each year. You will save money on your electric or gas bill, and your clothes will last longer. The heat and tumbling in the dryer damage your clothing anyway. If you don’t feel comfortable hanging your undies out to dry, do this with certain clothes or just with sheets and comforters. It might not save you $100/year, but it will save you something.
Most people don’t understand all those settings on their washer and dryer. I give this tip to a lot of people and their mind is just blown. Did you know that the spin cycle exists to get the excess water out of your clothes? Yup! If you spin your clothes twice, you can remove that excess water which in turn reduces drying time. [mind blown]
This is something I do every single time I wash clothes. Unless a very expensive piece of clothing insists that I wash it with hot water, I use cold. While hot water works a little better, it costs more. The biggest cost of doing laundry comes from heating the water. You can save a bundle by skipping the hot water choosing to go with cold.
This one is fun and a bit satisfying and rewarding. There are so many “recipes” online for making your own detergent, bleach, and fabric softeners. I’m pretty sure you can find a good thousands on TikTok. Making it yourself is a fraction of the cost of grocery store laundry soaps.
Remember that the companies who make laundry detergent want you to use more than necessary. Then, you’ll have to purchase more. You may have to test this out to see how small you can reduce the amount and still clean your clothes properly. Majority of people use way too much laundry detergent just so their clothes smell cleaner, when they only need to focus on using the right fabric softner.
My daughter was notorious for washing 5 shirts. I was wondering where all my detergent was going and noticed she was wasting detergent and running up my electric bill. The electricity used to fill, agitate, and drain the washer is essentially the same, whether it’s a full or partial load. The same goes for rotating the drum on the dryer. You can save so much money by washing and drying more than just 5 shirts!
Half of a dryer sheet is usually sufficient. Experiment to see what works best for you.
Not only is it a fire hazard, but the excess lint will trap moisture in the dryer and cause your clothes to take longer to dry. The sooner the dryer shuts off, the less money it costs you.
Washers and dryers differ by brand. There are washers that will handle larger loads and use less water. There are dryers that use much less energy. Sometimes these higher efficiency units cost more, but the savings is worth it in the end.
Wash your clothes at a lower setting. Try drying with lower heat. Every load of laundry doesn’t require elaborate settings.
Washing clothes is a chore that many perform on an almost daily basis. That’s why it’s so important to cut costs wherever possible. Wouldn’t it be nice to have an extra $300 a year to spend on something more entertaining than laundry? Help the environment and your family’s budget by applying these cost-saving tips whenever you do laundry.
The more technology advances the more expensive it becomes. With Apple releasing a new iPhone every year, the price tag is only going up. Not to mention the plans you need to have to operate them. Between unlimited calls, text, data, and the cost of the actual phone, your phone plan can cost you $100 or more a month, and that’s just for one phone. Luckily, there are less expensive alternatives that can provide you with the same service!
Read MoreUnexpected things happen all the time and when those things cost, it can be very scary. You have to scramble to figure out what to do and how you can rearrange your life to fix this crisis. The stress from all of this can be unbearable. Here's what could happen if you don't have an emergency fund
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