Purchase a home in an area with good schools. Even if you never have school-age children, strong school systems are a top priority for many home buyers. This will make selling easier and increases the chances that your property value will rise.
4-5-2004
Avoid purchasing a home with an "incurable defect." Such things as a busy street or train tracks nearby will most likely get you a discount, but the house's value will not increase as much as other homes in the town, and you will have a much harder time selling it when you are ready to move.
4-2-2004
Avoid using the air conditioning in your vehicle whenever possible. Using the air conditioning reduces your car's fuel economy by 10% to 20%.
4-1-2004
If a large phone service calls and asks you to switch services, don't immediately hang up or accept. Always ask if they can offer more. You may get offered incentives that makes the change worthwhile. Once you've changed, the competition will always call back and you can repeat the same process again.
3-31-2004
If you have fluorescent lights, don't turn them off when leaving a room if you will be gone for 15 minutes or less. It costs more to turn a fluorescent light off and on again than keeping it running for this period. This will also help make the light last longer since turning fluorescent lights off and on wears out their tube.
3-30-2004
If you own a cellular phone, check to see if it offers free long distance calls originating from your local calling area. If so, use it to make all your long distance calls instead of your home phone and wipe out your current long distance phone bill.
03-29-2004
Reducing your credit card interest rate can be as simple as making a phone call. According to a Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) study, 56% of those surveyed reduced their credit card rates simply by asking their credit card companies to do so.
3-26-04
Make your own greeting cards on the computer instead of buying them. Most computers today come with a program already installed for doing this. Save the price of a stamp by sending electronic greeting cards.
3-25-2994
Get in and out of the grocery store as quickly as possible. Surveys show that a person spends an extra 50 cents each additioanl minute they stay in a grocery store beyond 30 minutes.
3-24-2004
Buy clothes at seasonal changes to to get up to 80% off the original price, but only buy items you are actually going to wear. A "great deal" is a 100% loss if you never wear it.
3-23-2004
Instead of turning off the oven when you take your dish out, turn it off several minutes before the dish is completely done. The remaining heat in the oven will finish the cooking.
3-22-2004
Whenever possible, avoid shopping at convenience stores. You'll pay some of the largest product markups on the goods bought there - the price for the store's convenience.
3-19-2004
To truly reap the benefit of using coupons, have the cashier total your bill before subtracting out your coupons. Write a check for the pre-coupon total. The cash you receive back, or your coupon savings, can then be placed in your saving account.
3-18-2004
If you have a window air conditioner, use an fan in conjunction with it to help spread the cooled air more effectively throughout your home. This will keep your room cooler overall with a minimal increase of your power use.
3-17-2004
Consider paying your bills through electronic bill-paying each month. Not only can it save you the monthly hassle of paying your bills, you also don't have to pay for any postage.
3-16-2004
To get a better than usual discount on a car, visit the car lot on a day with unfavorable weather. The worse the weather, the fewer number of customers the car lot will have that day. You can usually get a better deal, and more for your trade-in, than you would when the weather is nice and the car lot is full of customers
3-15-2004
When using your clothes dryer, do full loads one right after another. Since the dryer will already be heated up from the initial load, all the following loads will take less energy (and time) to dry.