The Save Money Blog

Archive for October, 2009

A couple of people I know were talking about how much their children owed for their educations and I could not believe just how far in debt these kids were as a result of their student loan. I too found myself owing a lot of money when I graduated from university. I was paying off more in interest every month than I was paying for my loan.

My solution was to go to my bank and talk to them about my loan. It was the best thing I ever did and he actually said that If I had come to him a year or two earlier I would have been debt free. How did I pay it off? Debt consolidation. I took my two student loans and a car loan and consolidated them into one loan from the bank. The interest rate was so much lower it was crazy. I paid everything off in about a year. I probably would have been paying those two student loans off today. Talk to your bank and lower your debt.

It's the time of the year that I start putting my storm windows and covering leaky windows with plastic to stop drafts. Like always I started to do a little reading online to see what else I can do this fall to stop the drafts. The one thing I never thought of was how much energy you can lose through your outside wall electrical outlets. It makes perfect sense. Your outlets are cut into your drywall or plaster and go right out to your exterior wall.

Turn the power off at the main to your outlets, remove the covers and see of your outlets are insulated. If they are just wide open then you can really help your heating bill out by insulating them. You can pick up Foam Insulating Gaskets from your local hardware store for next to nothing. I haven't priced them out yet but most sources I have read suggest that they go for a dollar or two at best. You may have to cut them a bit if they don't fit your outlets but they should be a snap.

The Foam Insulation Gasket will help keep warm air in throughout the winter and also keep your air conditions air from seeping out in the summer. If you want to take it a step further you can buy those childproof covers that go into the electrical outlet themselves and really seal the air in.

I was listening to a conversation at work yesterday and a couple of people were talking about how wineter is around the corner and it's time to join a gym. It's the same thing for most people over and over again, same time of year. They sink their money into an expensive gym or fitness membership that they end up using for a month or two at best. It's one of the biggest waste of money I see people doing year after year.

We all know that during the summer it's easy to stay in shape because you can walk, swim or ride a bike and you can do it for free. Just because it's winter doesn't mean your pocket book has to suffer as well. You can stay in shape many ways without paying out high monthly gym fees.

You can always walk or run in the winter time and get your daily cardio. You just have to pick your days and dress for the weather. I love walking the dog in the winter time. I dress warm and the streets aren't crowded. It's easy to get out and go.

You can build a home gym pretty cheap as well. Just look online for the trader or buy and sell sites. There is always a used treadmill or elliptical to be had for a good price. If you can find what you are looking for odds are you can find something like a dip bar or a weight bench from your local health store or online fitness store and put a small gym together cheap. You don't need to spend the farm on expensive equipment you see at the gym. You just need the fundamentals to keep yourself fit.

Are you an electronic or gadget junkie like myself? If you are then you should know that you never have to pay full price for anything that is considered a gadget, in electronics or computer related. Why? Every single major retailer either has something like deals of the day, weekly deals like at best buy or clearance items that you can get for next to nothing. The big sites do this because they want you to become a regular customer and they are willing to give items away to get your business.

I will give you a perfect example. We all know how expensive a good universal remote can be. I picked up on of the top brand name units for under a hundred dollars. The regular retail price was well over a two hundred dollars. I got this from a major retailer that was having a deal of the day week long sale.

Another bonus was that many of them will give free shipping straight up or free shipping when you spend a minimum amount of money.

My advice to get all of the savings is to start with a free gmail address and sign up for their newsletters or email alerts. That way they bother your regular email. You can also get in the habit of visiting your favourite retailer websites everyday so you don't miss a sale.