1. Consider staying in a condo or vacation rental home.

These homes are fully furnished & equipped with most amenities including a kitchen, laundry & many of the comforts of your own home & reasonably priced. Check out vrbo.com (Vacation Rentals by Owner)

2. Keep snacks, drinks and mini-meals in your room

If you do stay in a hotel room, utilize the small refrigerator in your room, store milk for cereal,sandwich fixings for lunch, beer for happy hour, & fruit for snacks. If you have an in-room coffee maker, heat the water to mix up instant oatmeal for breakfast.

3. Check out airline sales or offer pages

Go direct to an airline’s specials page & you might find a deal not typically found on a general travel website. You can also sign up for discount travel emails that consolidate many specials from various airlines. Try smartertravel.com or Travelzoo.com

4. Avoid extra airfare costs like baggage fees

Try & stick to a 1 bag vacation. This will avoid baggage fees, improve your mobility, & reduce the stress of lugging multiple bags on your journey. Shoes & heavy coats are space grabbers so try & limit these. Other clothing can be rolled up for maximum space efficiency.

5. Get Travel Insurance

This may sound like an unnecessary expense but can save you thousands if you were to get sick or miss a flight while on vacation. Many travel insurance companies offer cheap policies & will give you peace of mind. Check out companies like Travel Guard & Travelex Insurance for good but inexpensive coverage.

6. Eat like a local

If you’re not on an escorted tour or staying at an all-inclusive resort (where meals are included in the price of your vacation), find neighborhood restaurants or pack lunches made from items picked up from local grocery stores, and you’ll save money.

7. Bargain for souvenirs

In places like Asia, Mexico and the Caribbean, don’t be afraid to bargain at a street market. Just don’t come down too low if you’ve found an item you really want.

Enjoy these tips for saving money for your vacation! For more tips, visit click here

Tags: baggage fees | saving money on vacation | travel insurance | travel specials | vacation condo | vacation tips

Just like trying to lose weight, saving money can be an elusive goal. Studies show that the more complicated the process, the less likely someone will stick to the plan.
Budgeting is no different & there are countless books, software, & programs that promise budgeting nirvana but many of these fall down in their complexity to use. Complexity takes time to learn & time to use & in today's world time is one of the most precious assets you have.
Finding a balance between spending time working on a budget to actually achieving positive financial results is the key. Most programs require either hours of reading, learning, set up or all of these activities & even then lots of upkeep to maintain & review progress.
The Spendtracker has a distinct advantage to other budget programs: you take it with you as you shop & with it, you can proactively manage what you decide to spend your budgeted money on.
This is a simple but powerful concept that removes any timing excuses as to when the budget was set to when the money was spent. Knowing how much you have in your budget by each of 10 separate categories when you are out shopping gives you the knowledge & power to eliminate overspending. The Spendtracker takes minutes to set up & seconds to use yet will give you complete & constant control of your money.
It is the simplest, most effective budget tool all for the cost of a few gallons of gas!!
Order the spendtracker now & take back control of your spending.

Tags: saving | budget | money | overspending | shop | budget plan

 

The steps you need to take to improve your credit score aren’t terribly complex, but yet still many people make common mistakes that set them up for higher interest rates down the road.  But just not making a few simple and common mistakes, you can save your hundreds or possibly even thousands of dollars in interest, not to mention make it easier to get loans in the future.

 

If you want to protect your credit score from dramatic drops, don’t make these simple mistakes:

 

Maxing Out Your Credit Cards – Even if you never go over the limit, having balances that go very close to limit of your credit cards can have a seriously negative effect on your credit score. Generally, you want to make sure that the balances on your credit cards are less than fifty percent of your total available credit.  It is also important to remember that credit bureaus typically look at all of the accounts together rather than each account individually.

 

Paying Your Bills Late - This has the most negative effect on your credit score. What worries lenders more than anything else is the risk of default, and lenders believe that late payments are a big sign that you may default on your loans. As far as your credit report is concerned a late payment is defined as any bill that is reported as being 31 or more days late.

 

Having No Savings -  Not having an “emergency fund” can hurt your credit because whenever disaster strikes, such as you when you need to make expensive repairs to your car or have unexpected medical expenses, you are forced to lean on your credit cards.  You should tuck away at least $1000 into a savings account that you should only use as a last resort.

 

Buying  a House Beyond Your Means -  Everyone wants to live in a nice, spacious house.  But if you don’t look at you r real financial situation before you leap into a nice home, it could spell disaster for your credit score and your future finances. And since home loans are so large and take so long to pay off, this is one error that is not easily correctable.

Tags: credit score | savings | credit card | bills

It's well known that one of the best ways to cut costs is dining out at restaurants less often. Unfortunately, even eating at home can be expensive, although it doesn't have to be. Savvy shoppers can slash their weekly grocery bills by taking advantage of several strategies.

 

1. Use coupons - The most tried and true method of saving money, coupons can be more trouble than they're worth if used incorrectly. The trick is to not only use them, but maximize their potential. Keep a coupon book for organization and easy access. Take a look once a week at the Sunday newspaper advertisements or the local grocery store circular mailings.

Do not get lured into buying more than you need with an overload of "Buy one, get one 50 cents off" coupons. If you see a good coupon offer, try to buy that item in bulk, if your home's storage space allows. Also take advantage of double and triple coupon days at local grocery stores. If you ask, store staff will gladly provide information on the days this deal is available, allowing you to save up to three times what you expected.

 

2. Plan - While planning and organizing your coupons on a weekly basis, plan your menu for the week as well. Taking stock and taking advantage of the deals on more expensive items like meat will lead to drastic cost savings each week. Throughout the week, keep a list of needed household items as their supply runs low or disappears completely. You will then have an idea of which products to watch for when browsing coupons.

 

3. Reliable recipes - Create a large stash of tasty meal ideas - recipes that are relatively easy and inexpensive, yet approved by the family. Ideally, they should have some commonality of ingredients, yet enough diversity to avoid repetition. After all, nobody likes to eat the same thing over and over! This is a sensible approach to striking that needed balance, because trying out new recipes often means buying new - sometimes even obscure - ingredients, and that can add up fast.

4.Double your batch - Just as you double up on buying items when you find a good sale or coupon, you can double up on meal preparation as well. Try to think of recipes for meals that will freeze well. Doing so will save time and money. For instance, you might find a buy one, get one half-off deal on meat or a two-for-one deal on canned vegetables. This is the perfect scenario to double a recipe at very little extra cost to you!

 

5. Know your stores - As mentioned before, you should always know which stores offer double and triple coupon days. You should also know which stores have member cards and loyalty rewards, and be sure to take advantage of those. Also consider buying the store brand or generic brand products to cut costs.

 

It's true that grocery bills can take their toll on a budget, but a little pre-planning, organization, and know-how can put a big dent in the cost.

 

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Spendtracker USA is dedicated to providing individuals & families the opportunity to easily & conveniently manage & stick to a budget.

 

The key difference with Spendtracker & other budget tools is that you can take it with you when you are out shopping so you always know how much you have spent & just as importantly how much you have left to spend.

 

Thousands of people have already succeeded in managing &, in many cases, taken back control of their spending. By always knowing how much money you have to spend, you are in constant control of your financial position.

 

We urge you to try the Spendtracker & see how this little device can make a BIG difference in your ability to manage your money.

 

We wish you all the best in your financial future !

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