Personal Finance and Investment

Do you often worry about money? Are you trying hard to catch up with your bills all the time? Here are some useful tips for saving money for those millions of Americans who are struggling to pay their debts:

CREDIT CARDS

Pay the balances on your credit cards fully each month.

Don’t buy things like meals and groceries with your credit card for. If you cannot find the money to pay cash for those, you can’t afford them, end of story!

Always check your credit card statements to make sure there are no charges for things you never paid for.

BANKING

Choose a bank, which does not charge a monthly fee for its services. To withdraw cash use only those ATM machines, which are affiliated with your bank.

INSURANCE

Review your health and car insurance policies. Shop around to get cheaper insurances that will save you money by offering a higher excess fee.

SHOPPING

Always do price comparison and only buy something when you have found a merchant that sells the item of interest at the lowest price possible.
Discount Coupons

Give preference to shopping at stores that offer instant rebates on regular basis. Visit discount shops for clothing and toys.

Get rid of compulsive shopping addiction by “sleeping on it”. Particularly, when making any major purchases.
Consider visiting yard sales that can be a great option for certain items you want to buy.

TELEPHONE

Cancel extra features on your home telephone such as call barring, call waiting, 3-way calling and caller ID.

Shop around to find the cheapest long distance service provider. Use affordable international calls companies. Use your mobile for emergencies only.

GAS, ELECTRICITY and WATER

If you have a water-meter installed, reduce your water usage, particularly hot water. Reduce your thermostat setting by 1–2 degrees.

Install ceiling fans.

FOOD AND BEVERAGES

Buy your soft drinks in multiple packs instead of getting them from fast-food restaurants or vending machines. That way you could save a lot of money and also avoid germs.

Make your own coffee rather than buying it at a coffee house.

Stay away from eating out. Put saved money in a fund or apply them to pay a bill.

If you do happen to be eating out, order soft drink instead of alcohol. You can celebrate later, when you get out of debt.

ENTERTAINMENT

Cancel your subscription to cable TV channels that you don’t watch. Stay with the basic plan or cancel the cable TV subscription for a while.

Rent DVDs instead of going to the cinemas or, if you do go, choose matinee rather than evening shows.

Check out if your local library rents movies on DVDs - they could be free!

Article Body:
People in debt who would like wish to resort to the services of a debt management company should conduct research before making commitments. A negligent debt settlement firm can cause a detriment to a debtor’s interests in a number of ways, therefore be sure to keep in mind the following 4 issues when choosing a debt management firm to hire:

1. Stay away from any firm that sends you spam emails or calls you by phone: Majority of debt management agencies advertise either in the yellow pages or on the Internet, but do not aggressively pursue clients. Hence, the chance are high that any company which behaves in this way is not trustworthy. Debt management firms, which send unsolicited emails or stick to a cold calling policy is unlikely to present any solid references. Majority of these firms do not even hold a reserve fund that provides a guarantee to the debtors that their creditors will be paid.

2. Non-profit companies are not necessarily a better option: First of all, far not all non-profit debt settlement agencies offer their services for free; some of them may charge up to 15% of the debt sum. That fact that a debt management company is a non-profit organization does not make it a better and more effective service provider compared to those, who charge for the service. In fact, agencies charging for the service are obliged by agreement to set their clients free of debt by the most efficient means as they are making revenue from the results of their work and their profitability is directly related to their trustworthiness and reputation in the market.

3. Never provide your credit card details information on the phone: A decent and reputable debt settlement agency will never ask you to supply your credit card number or bank details on the phone. The reason being is that people who calls can impersonate themselves; besides, the increased online fraud is a serious reason for persons in debt to take extra precautions when looking for debt management companies. Debt settlement firms that are working honestly will never request a prospective or an existing client to provide any kind of sensitive information over the phone.

4. Do not trust any firm that offers a deal, which seems too good to be true - it likely is: Quite often debtors encounter debt settlement deals, which promise to decrease their debt by 50% in a very short time. This hardly ever happens; Nevertheless, the debtor is forced to pay high fees and a considerable upfront sum to the debt management firm. Those agencies also dissuade discourage debtors from talking with their lenders; this is almost always a bad idea and inevitably causes a negative impact on the debtor’s credit history. If a debt settlement firm promises more than some interest decrease and counseling on how to get out of debt and remain debt free, such claims should not really be taken seriously.