Money Saving Tips

Your Computer Contains the Power to Save

We all use our computers and devices for work and entertainment, but what about using them to save money? As it turns out, there’s a lot of saving power and convenience offered.

• Before making any purchase at the store or online, always do your research:
  • Check out weekly ads to see what is on sale and plan your shopping. Think beyond the grocery store: stores like Macy’s and CVS also offer weekly specials throughout the year.
  • Before you go to the store, search for free printable shopping coupons.
  • If you plan to dine out, get free printable restaurant coupons.
  • Take advantage of free online financial tools. Many of the big financial decisions you’ll make have lots of factors for consideration. Free calculators are already built to help you. Here are three:

1. Fly or Drive Calculator that helps you figure out the most cost and time effective way to travel; determines the total cost and the total travel time for both driving and flying.
2. Is it Worth it to Buy an Electric Car? Helps you decide if an electric car is the right choice, it will compare the financial and environmental costs of buying an electric car versus buying a hybrid or standard gas powered car.
3. How Much to Spend on a Car figures it out based on the amount of time you spend at home versus the time spent in your car. In other words, the annual cost of your car versus the annual cost of your house should be proportionate to the amount of time you spend in each.

• For the most possible savings opportunities and added convenience, make all your purchases online:
  • Your purchases are delivered straight to your door.
  • You’ll avoid sales pressure to buy unnecessary items.
  • You escape any embarrassment when deciding to put items back.
  • You can find free coupon codes to save money.
  • You can earn cash back for free (a percentage of your transaction deposited into a free account) when you shop through a savings website such as BeFrugal.com.
  • You can use a rewards credit card to earn points or more cash back.
  • Keep in mind that you can save even more when buying online from group buying deal sites.
    • If you purchase Groupons through a savings site, you can earn cash back on top of your savings. The rate today (3/21/2012) at BeFrugal.com is up to 8%.

How do you surf the web and save money at the same time?

This is a guest post by Jon Lal, founder of BeFrugal.com.  BeFrugal.com offers free money-saving resources including coupons, Cash Back, tools, advice, weekly ads and more.  You can get a $10 bonus for signing up for free.