I came across this the other day and I thought it might interest you. It's called Kill-A-Watt and is from ThinkGeek Gadgets. The Kill-A-Watt allows you to connect your appliances and assess how efficient they are. A large LCD display counts consumption by the Kilowatt-hour, just like utility companies. You can figure out your electrical expenses by the hour, day, week, month, even an entire year. Monitor the quality of your power by displaying Voltage, Line Frequency, and Power Factor. It's pretty inexpensive at $25. You can then compare some of your older appliances against you new ones and see just how much electricity they are eating up.

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I have a bachelor friend that is constantly complaining about the number of phone soliciters that call him. I suggested that he cancel his line and get a cell phone. When I think about it, my tip was also a good one to save him money. You can get cell phones with services pretty cheap these days. Cell phone companies are fighting for your business. When is the last time your phone company offered you a good deal when your term ended? Never. You have been paying the same amount of money since the day you signed up with them. It's something to think about, unless you are a 14 year old girl that is on the phone for six hours a night you really don't need a lan line. Shop around by looking at flyers, search online and even scour through ebay for a used phone and then find a package. I am sure you will find something that will offer you what you need for less than what you are paying now. 

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Something my other half just started doing made me realize how much extra money she is spending each and every day. She started to stop at the local corner store every morning and buys a copy of the local newspaper. The same copy which I read later on when she brings it home. If you are one of those that can't get enough news online and need the print, follow these three tips to save yourself some money.

By buying it everday instead of subscribing we are paying about $1 more than what we could be.  Not to mention that many newspaper companies off huge subscriptions deals if you sign up for a year or more. Check with them and see.

If you have subscribed before then use your spouses name or the name of a friend to see if you can get a new subscriber rate. Newspapers like cable companies will offer better deals to new customers.

Check the internet and see if the copy of the paper you read is offered by any third parties. Like magazine subscription companies that offer magazine at a fraction of the news stand cost the same applies to newspapers.

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I have been surfing around the internet looking at lots of different sites and I am seeing threads on forums, blog posts and journal enteries detailing what they are going to spend their stimulus check on. Sure it's free money and a good chace to pick up that LCD TV or that iPod or that top of line Cell Phone. Those that are looking to save some money or get themselves out of debt shouldn't be looking at what they can spend it on but how they can use it to improve their financial situation. If you are sitting with maxed out credit cards, bad debt or house that is in bad need of repair you should rethink how you are going to spend that money. The government Stimulus Check provides a great opportunity to pay down one of those high interest credit cards, get your bad credit back on track or replace some of those old windows or appliances that are killing your heating and hydro bill every month. I know what you are saying, I have to live to and it's nice to enjoy it but that's looking at the small picture. Use it wisely today so that you can enjoy more of those things in future. Having a nice LCD Big Screen TV doesn't do you much good if you can't pay your cable bill.

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There was a great article of interest today on CNN's website. It dealt with how family's are coping with soaring food and grocery prices and showed how one family is dealing with inflation.

One mother interviewed decided to save money by making her own laundry detergent. " Pond, 26, a stay-at-home mom with an almost 8-month old daughter, does four loads of laundry every other day. "Detergent is very expensive, so I make my own," she said. She grates natural soap, boils it, adds Borax, baking soda and essential oils, and lets it cool overnight."

They also suggested some methods previously mentioned in articles on this blog such as growing your own vegetables, cooking at home and hoarding sales items. All which can add up to big time grocery savings.

Read the rest of the article at the Source for more innovative ways to cut down on your food bill. 

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The number one way to get anywhere, I would highly suggest, I know it’s not sexy but is the number one method: saving money fast. In other words all great investors are great at saving money fast. If you are not saving money fast now then you are never going to become wealthy until you start.

When I was first starting off, I was trying to convince my millionaire mentor to give me some coaching on how to become wealthy and one of the first questions I remember him asking me was how much money I was saving. I said, “Well actually nothing to be honest”. He quickly responded, “Then don’t waste my time. I thought you told me you were committed to becoming wealthy and now you are telling me you are not saving any money, so why are you wasting my time? You are either committed or you’re not”, he said.

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I have always been surprised at how many people I see constantly talk about saving money or the cost of things and then turn around and eat out at fast food joints or restaurants. You can't away from eating fast food or at a greasy spoon these days for $10 and people are doing it two to three times a week.

If you want to save money, eat at home. Period. Take that $50 a week and put it into groceries. You won't spend as much food shopping and the food will last you a lot longer. You will also be a lot healthier and that's worth it's weight in gold.

If you are on the road for extended periods of time, grab a cooler and bring some food with you. Find a hotel that has a fridge so you can store your food overnight and keep your ice packs cool. 

 Not much for tips but people don't realize the money you can save by cooking at home or taking a lunch with them instead of eating out at fast food places or restaurants.

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Every family should have a budget, no matter what their financial status is. A budget tells you exactly how much your have coming in, and how much goes out on a monthly basis for the absolute necessities like housing, food, utilities, insurance, transportation and health care. But what about the future?

That's another place where a budget comes in handy. When you've allotted a portion of the household's weekly income to the necessities, what's left over is your discretionary spending amount. These are the funds available to you for short-term expenses, or long-term investments, like your children's education, and your own retirement funds.

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Have you had credit problems in the past?

Do you have a poor credit score?

If so there are some great products available to rectify that situation, however what about afterwards? There is no point in fixing your credit score only to go and lose it again. There is one way to protect your credit score and credit files from damage and that is efficient budgeting.

Nearly all credit problems can be traced to lack of budgeting skills, people on all income levels get behind in their credit agreement and lose their good credit score, the reason why some people with large incomes have the same financial problems as people with much lower incomes is down to an inability to budget.

Budgeting your monthly expenses allows you the opportunity control what happens to your credit score, it gives you the ability to make instant decisions about whether you can afford that new credit facility or not.

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Saving is one of the most beneficial things you can do to plan for the future. For those that save money on a regular basis, you can find that it is much easier than you think to save for college, buy a home or a large purchase such as a dream vacation. Unfortunately, saving is not easy to do and requires discipline, but if you want to save money, here are two smart and easy ways to do so.

Save Money Using a 401K Account
One of the easiest and most effective ways to save money is through an employer's 401K account. With a 401K account, you can have your employer deduct a set amount from your paycheck during each pay cycle. The good news is that you receive your paycheck with the amount already deducted- this ensures that the amount is saved each pay period. Once deducted, you have the option of investing the money in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, money market accounts, etc. So not only are you able to save a specific amount of money each pay period, but your money will hopefully grow.

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