We all need to learn to spend less than we make, and to save as you never know when unexpected situations will arise that we will need savings to help us get through. Not to mention we all need to plan for the future and invest or put monies away so we can achieve our financial and personal goals.
Below you will see some practical money saving tips that will hopefully help you as you look to save and put money away for you and your families future. Also if you have any good money saving ideas please feel free to comment and I will include them as we could all benefit from new money saving ideas.

1. Buy your needed computer or IPhone refurbished either online through E Bay or through a computer repair retailer which is much less costly than buying your computer new.

2. Don’t charge anything on credit cards that you can not pay off in full at end of each month, as otherwise the high interest charged by the credit card companies will eat away at you monthly budget and eventually be totally out of control.

3. If you have telephone service, and internet service, and cable : then look into combining the services with one company to save money and for the ease of only having one bill.

4. If you buy magazines on a regular basis, look into getting the magazines you feel you must read through subscriptions as the monthly and overall cost is much less. A good source for magazine subscriptions is Amazon.com.

5. Talk to you credit card companies regarding reducing your rates, as at times credit card companies and even mortgage companies will reduce rates rather than risk having you default on your credit cards.

6. Sometimes you can save thousands by transferring your credit card debt to a credit card company that offers 0% on credit card transfers, however be sure to look at the transfer fee that the companies you look into offer as the fee could easily wipe our the interest savings.

7. If you have an electric water heater, consider converting to a gas water heater as they are less costly to use and you will save money in the long run.

8. If you live in an area where you can choose your trash company, look into the rates offered by the competitive trash companies as you trash service provider will likely match the lower cost to keep form losing your business like mine did.

9. When you buy a product with a rebate send in the form the day you buy the item and mark your calender to not the date and the date you should expect the rebate in the mail.

10. If you are looking to buy a car, the internet is the best way to buy the car and save the most money. Find out what vehicle you wish to buy then E Mail all the dealers in your state and neighboring states as then you will truly find the best deal. I had a friend that bought a car in another state and even after paying to have the car transported still saved over a $1,000 versus buying from a local dealer.

11. Look at the possibility of refinancing your mortgage if you can reduce your interest rate by 1% or more. You might start by asking your current mortgage lender, and then look on internet and locally at other banks and lending institutions. Usually if your credit score and situation has improved from when you first got your mortgage you can get a better interest rate which will and can save you money.

12. Find a bank that offers free checking, as with so many banks offering free checking you should have no trouble finding one that meets your needs that does not charge monthly fees.You might also ask your current bank to eliminate your monthly fees or tell them you will move your account to another bank.

13. Look into credit cards that offer rewards that either pay out points or cash depending on your purchases. Many cards that offer rewards do not have any annual fees, my favorite is American Express Gold Card as they have great rewards and do not have any fees either.

14. If you are looking to learn new things and need to find a good book as a resource of knowledge, go to the library as you can check books out for free and simply put you can’t beat free. I do buy some books and if I do usually I buy them from Amazon.com as they offer a huge selection and are priced very compitetively.

15. If you like watching movies and DVD’s, check to see if your local library offers DVD’s to be checked out for free as many do, this will certainly save you money over going to Blockbuster or Netflix to rent your movies.

16. If you have a life insurance policy then look at paying it annually, rather than monthly as insurance companies charge you more to pay the premium monthly or quarterly. If you budget to pay the insurance annually rather than in installments you will certainly save money.

17. If you are one of the few that still have a home phone, consider getting rid of the service and rely on your cell phone for communication. Some keep a home phone for the 911 emergency services which is understandable, however if you do keep a phone for emergencies then be careful not to use it for other calling.

18. If you feel you still need a home phone, then consider VOIP internet phone service as the service is great and the cost is much less than a traditional home phone service. I personally had Verizon home phone service for years and now have phone service through Vonage and have been very happy with the service and savings as well. Phone Power and Vonage are both very good VOIP phone service providers and will save you a lot of money over traditional home phone service providers.

19. If you want to reduce your heating and cooling bills then you might consider shutting vents in unused rooms, as this will reduce your utility bills.

20. Many are making agreements with family, and extended families to limit gift giving and setting budgets on gift purchases to help reduce the huge financial cost and burden of holiday and birthday gift giving in these tight economic times.

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Bank of America was granted a stay by a federal judge in a Quincy, Florida case where it was alleged they aided in a Ponzi Scheme of a local Florida flower shop.

Bank of America in Florida was said to have aided RICO defendents Robert Garner, Andy Bowden and other defendents in in the PONZI scheme, though Bank of America was not named as a RICO defendent in the lawsuit by AdSurfDaily Inc.

Bank of America according to US District Judge Rosemary Collyer showed good cause for a stay in the RICO case regarding the PONZI scheme.

According to US District Judge Rosemary Collyer distribution of funds in the civil case may make moot the Palaintiff’s request for monetary recovery in the case, also the government has seized many documents and is still in discovery and investigating the matter.

Bank of America argued for the stay, by stating that many people made money in AdSurfDaily Inc and the government is going through the records to help give monies back to victims of the alleged AdSurfDaily Inc PONZI scheme.

US District Judge Rosemary Collyer stayed the RICO case, and is filing a case against AdSurfDaily Inc to help regain some of the monies for the alleged AdSurfDaily Inc PONZI scheme victims.

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The world and economy and stock market are very up and down in the economy as we work through these troubling times. One solid investment is precious metals: silver, gold, copper, and platinum are all good and solid investments. With our ever changing government alliances and the pressures inside and outside the country financially you need to find a safe and secure place to invest your monies to secure your future. In the 21st century we are seeing that the actions and policies of a few can easily effect us all, so we have to be prepared and find secure ways to invest.

Financial advisors and experts have been recommending a diversified portfolio to investors for many years and in past suggested that their portfolios include 10%-20% of their assets be vested in precious metals (gold, silver, and platinum) and sometimes much more. In any economic situation buying precious metals us as part of your investment portfolio is a good idea, and even more so in our current economic uncertainty.

We have all seen the US Dollar decline more than 30%, and this is due to a lot of reasons ranging from the huge US government deficit, the war or terrorism and its cost, massive trade deficit, and low world confidence in the US repaying its loans as the debt has been on the rise and now seems to be soaring to new heights with the Obama administration. With the decreasing value of the dollar, the investments tied to the value of the dollar are also losing value.

Precious metals (Gold, silver, platinum, copper) are traded the world over and their value is not tied to the declining dollar and saying this are doing very well even in these tough economic times. If you look at the past economic history of the United States you will see that precious metals have been a very good investment in tough economic times, and times of war, as well as uncertain political situations.

We have all seen the effects of terrorism on our economy, as when we had the tragedy of 9/11 it was devastating to the financial markets. With all the uncertainty in the world and economy many are finding that precious metals are a very good and safe place to invest and are offering high rates of return as well. We all likely remember when the stock market bubble burst and many lost the equity in their investments, the market wiped out trillions of dollars of investors savings and retirement plans.
At the same time stocks and the economy have been falling and uncertain, precious metals (gold, silver, platinum, copper) have increased over 40% which shows the reason to strongly look at investing in precious metals. Many financial experts say that the value of precious metals will continue to increase and precious metals are a very good and safe investment.

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