And just who couldn’t use (or just love to get their hands on) an extra one-hundred dollars each month? Maybe Paris Hilton would stick her nose up at the thought of it, but for the rest of us, we could find quite a few useful places for that money. If you put an extra $100 per month on the average mortgage, you’ll shave about 7 years off of the life of your loan. $100 could be the difference between paying the minimum balance on your credit cards and paying into the balance. Or, a well deserved night out for you and your sweetie! Any way you look at it, $100 is $100.
Here are a few simple tips to scrape up a few bucks each month, all totaling out to our magic number at the end:
- ATM Fees cost Americans an average of $10.00 per week, or $40 per month. While the ATM you’re withdrawing money from charges you an average $2.00 per transaction, your bank does the same. If you are only taking out $20 at a time, the $4 in fees doesn’t exactly sound fair now, does it. By skipping the ATM altogether and heading right to your neighborhood supermarket or pharmacy that will accept your debit card as a form of payment, you may actually be able to get cash back with your purchase, costing you absolutely nothing in fees.
- Hey Leadfoot…Slow Down! Back in the 70’s when gas climbed to over $1.00 a gallon, there were numerous television ads regarding the importance of conserving auto fuel in order to keep the prices down. But now we’re on our own, as “Big Oil” is enjoying their record breaking profits too much to help us out. So, it’s no secret that driving 55 miles per hour burns the optimum amount of fuel- driving any faster or slower simply causes your engine to work harder. In fact, driving 70 miles per hour burns 15% more fuel than driving 55. Do the math. When we calculate the average commute of 45 minutes (each way), average mileage, average fuel tank size, and all other pertinent information, you can easily save at least $8.00 per week by keeping your speed at “double nickels”.
- The Wrong Cell Phone Plan Costs Money. When your particular plan doesn’t have enough minutes to cover your monthly usage, you are charged upwards of $.35 per minute extra. The same holds true for the reverse, for if you have tons of extra minutes each month, you’re throwing them out the window (along with your money). You can’t rely on your cell phone service provider to keep an eye on your account and let you know that a different plan might suit your needs a bit better, even if they provide this service for your home phone. One point to remember is that your home phone doesn’t come with a contract that keeps you locked in tightly, barely having enough room to breath. Of course, such a change in your plan may result in a new contract, but it shouldn’t cost you money to switch plans. U.S. stats claim that cell phone holders are paying on average, $16.50 extra each month for simply having the wrong plan.
- Skip the Morning Coffee Shop Just 1 Day per Week. Grabbing a “Go-Go” coffee mug and cereal bar from home just one day per week instead of stopping at the gourmet shoppe for a latte and a muffin will save you at least $3.00 per week. Do the math.
Amount Saved - $12.00
Congratulations! You have now scraped up $100.50 by changing just a few, little things in your daily routine. And it didn’t even hurt!
