If you think you’ll never have a million dollar idea, watch Shark Tank on Friday nights and you might change your mind. I think I relate the most to the parents of little kids who come up with cool business ideas inspired by their children.

On Shark Tank, current or aspiring entrepreneurs present their products to a panel of investors (the Sharks) and ask for money in exchange for a stake in the product.

Show Me the Money

One of the questions the Sharks always ask the entrepreneurs is how much cash they’ve invested into the venture.  I’m impressed by how many people have already invested $50K, $100K, or $200K of their own money into their idea.  It takes courage to take that kind of risk with your money and some of the people are barely scraping by in order to fund their business.

To me, this illustrates the importance of building up a “just-in-case” fund to cover unforeseen events that might develop in the future.  For many of us those unexpected costs come in the form of some accident or misfortune and we spend our “just-in-case” fund to cover some kind of emergency.  However, there’s nothing to say that your unexpected need couldn’t come in the form of some amazing business idea.

Money When You Need It

For example, there have been several cases of mothers on the show who were doing simple things with their kids and had a flash of inspiration that led to a successful product.  As simple as taking their kids to the pool or having a Friday night nail party with their daughters.

Having the money to turn a Eureka moment into a prototype can be the difference between having a great idea that gathers dust in your brain vs creating something cool that helps people and makes your family a lot of money.  You might not be planning on becoming an entrepreneur but if the opportunity arises having some funding to get you started will help you gain momentum.

You can always look for investors but most people are going to want something more tangible than just an idea before they’ll hand over their money – and it costs you money to prototype and test to create something tangible. 

Finding the Money

There are obviously multiple ways to raise money and entrepreneurs have used them all – take out a mortgage on your home, raid your retirement account, sell your soul to your in-laws for startup capital, sell your house and move into your car, etc.

It’s cool that tools like Kickstarter or Lending Club make it easier these days to get some seed money and launch your idea but not every loan or project gets funded.  It’s even more unlikely that you’ll get an opportunity like getting the exposure and the chance to pitch big investors on Shark Tank.

Shelly Ehler, one mom who found success on the show was one of only 52 entrepreneurs who were selected out of 24,000 to make a pitch on Shark Tank – not great odds.

I’m guessing Ehler probably didn’t have a big fund to dip into to start her business since her family was going through tough economic times.  I imagine the deal she made with QVC pro Lori Greiner to fund and advise her business was amazing, but not everyone can land a deal like that.

On her blog, Ehler shares one story of how she promoted her product before Shark Tank.  She traveled from her home in California to New Orleans to show as a vendor at the World Waterpark Association’s Annual Trade show.  Trips like that are great for getting the word out about your vision but obviously they cost money (airfare, hotel, vendor fees, presentation materials, prototypes, etc).

What I’m getting at here is that there are ways to raise money to get your idea off the ground, but you’d have more momentum if you already had a fund established you could dip into.

Your Dream Fund

I know it’s hard enough sometimes just to pay the bills, let alone put away money for things like college or your retirement account.  Most of us can’t really afford to have a “in-case-I-have-a-big-idea-someday” fund but what about starting a “dream fund”? Maybe you’ll never have a killer idea and you’ll just end up using your fund someday in retirement to buy a Harley or take a cooking tour of France.  Or maybe you’ll fund a great idea and make enough money to retire early….

To give you a little context, this isn’t just an idea that I’m suggesting.  The money I’ve made from Money Smart Life since I’ve started the site has gone into my dream fund (after paying taxes of course, blech).  I have plans and projects in the works, all made possible by my dream fund.  You’ll never see me on Shark Tank because my ideas so far have a different slant than what those investors are looking for, but if you’d like to be in that position someday you should consider starting your own dream fund.

What kind of product would you pitch if you were on Shark Tank?

When I was a kid, cable television was a luxury. It was a rare treat only found at hotels and friends’ houses. My parents didn’t want to take on the extra expense and they worried all of the extra channels would turn my brain to mush.

Though it seemed like a grave injustice at the time, I now understand where mom and dad were coming from. When the monthly cable bill shows up I have to seriously question how much HBO means to me. If you feel like you’re spending way too much to watch your favorite shows, try a few of these tips for cutting the cost of cable.

1. Cancel Quickly
Cable companies use special promotions like free trials of movie channels to lure you in. Their hope is you’ll forget it’s only a preview and they covertly start charging you full price when the promotion is over. Your provider isn’t required to send out a notice when the trial is nearing its end, so the responsibility for cancelling on time falls on you. Otherwise you’ll find an unpleasant, expensive surprise in the mail the following month. Set a reminder on your phone or jot the promotion’s end date in a calendar.

2. Don’t Forget the Box
Surprisingly, the cable box is a prime culprit when it comes to running up your electricity bill. This article from The Consumerist notes that your cable box can use more electricity than your refrigerator or air conditioner. Instead of leaving it idle while you’re at work, power the whole thing down. Otherwise, use a lamp timer to program your cable box to turn on when you generally return from work and power down around bed time. This won’t do anything for your cable bill, but this will cut $40 a year per box off your electricity bill.

3. Switch to Streaming
There are lots of options for watching shows and movies online. Devices like Apple TV or Roku allow you to stream movies from the Internet directly to your TV. While streaming service from Netflix only runs $7.99 per month, the shows you want to watch aren’t always available. If you find yourself in this predicament, you can always order digital versions with a discount Amazon gift card from sites like GiftCardGranny.com to reduce costs further.

4. Eliminate HD
Getting high-definition channels can come with an extra charge as well as an extra equipment rental. If you casually watch a couple hours of TV each week, consider sticking with the standard definition package. Your friends might not want to watch March Madness at your place, but they’re not chipping in on the bill anyway. If you don’t even own an HDTV, check your bill closely to make sure you’re not paying for channels you can’t watch.

5. Ask for a Better Rate
There’s nothing to lose from calling up your cable company and asking for a better rate. They’re not going to start charging you more, and with a little hassle they’ll usually put you on one of their current promotions supposedly reserved for new customers. For a few negotiation tips, see this prime example of cable-bill haggling done right from Get Rich Slowly.

6. Swap Service
Sometimes a relationship has run its course and there’s nothing left to do to save it. When your cable provider is unwilling to budge on better price, it’s time for a break-up. Switching service is a hassle, but worth the savings in the long run. If you’re fed up with your current cable company, BillShrink.com has a helpful comparison tool that lets you view standard rates from top providers in your area.

7. Back to Broadcast
There’s no such thing as a free lunch, and the same can be said for TV today. Though there are still broadcast channels that don’t require a paid subscription, they do require a digital converter box or HD antenna. Picking these accessories up is a one-time expense of around $30, but provides unlimited access to major networks like NBC and FOX. Shop online at sites like Amazon.com to find the cheapest options and read product reviews to ensure quality.

How to Save on Football Costs

Saving money on your football fan experience doesn’t have to put a damper on the season. Sometimes you have to cut back, but you can also get creative to lower your costs.

Save Money on Tickets

If you want to see every home game and sit in the same seat every time, you are out of luck when it comes to saving money. Tickets are usually the item that takes the biggest chunk of your football costs, so any savings here can go a long way. Buying season tickets is expensive and many universities require a donation on top of the face value of the tickets. If you aren’t flexible, you can’t save.

But if you aren’t that picky, consider the following:

1) Splitting Season Tickets with a Friend and Go Together. Season tickets come in pairs. You can split the cost of the tickets (and the donation) with a friend and still get to go to every game.

2) Splitting Season Tickets with a Friend and Pick Games. If you each want to bring someone, you could buy season tickets with a friend and split up which games you get to go to. Make sure you even things out so both sides get to go to at least one of the “big games” of the year. You only get to be in the stadium for half of the home games, but you lower you costs significantly.

3) Buy Season Tickets, Sell a Big Game. If you buy season tickets before the season you can sell one of the “big games” that is likely to be sold out before the season. Every season hope springs eternal, and if a big rival is coming into town you can easily sell tickets for 300-500% more than their face value. You miss out on the rivalry game, but the proceeds from the sale can wipe out the cost of the added donation and even give you some games for free.

4) Buy from Scalpers. This is frowned on in many communities, but there is always a group of scalpers selling tickets around the stadium before the game. The closer kickoff time comes, the more negotiating leverage you have with the scalper. It does him no good to be holding tickets during the game, so you can get some great deals if you are willing to wait. This strategy carries some risk because the tickets might be fake or you might not get the best seats, but if everything works out they can be a great deal.

5) Save Money on Concessions

Concession prices are ridiculous. A soda that would cost you $0.50 at home is $5.00 at the game. The prices are set across the entire stadium, so you can negotiate a lower price. The only true way to save on concessions is either to not purchase them (good luck with that) or to sneak in your own drinks and snacks. Be forewarned: many stadiums search your belongings and your person to make sure you don’t bring in alcohol or weapons, so if you get caught you have to throw away what you were going to sneak in.

6) Save Money on Parking

Universities and professional teams alike know that parking close to the stadium can generate significant revenues. Your parking pass could easily add $150 to the cost of a season. The easiest way to save money on parking is to elect to park somewhere nearby for free and simply walk to the stadium. You are trading convenience for cost. If you still want to park close (for convenience or tailgating purposes), carpooling with other friends can help split up the cost of the parking pass.

7) Save Money on Tailgating

There are varying levels of tailgating. There is “having a few drinks and throwing around a football” tailgating, and there is “I spent my life savings on a massive truck or RV, satellite service, big screen TV, and generator, plus I spend $500 every week on food and alcohol” tailgating. Where you fall on this spectrum determines your costs. You don’t have to go all out, and you can share costs with your friends to bring down your costs. Plus, if you are going to have a crazy setup with satellite service, you probably aren’t physically going inside the stadium to watch the game. You’re their to tailgate.

8 ) Save Money on TV Packages and Pay Per View

If you can’t make it to every game you can always buy a TV package that provides access to your team’s games throughout the season. Saving on this cost isn’t easy because your cable or satellite provider usually has a fixed price. However, you could split the cost of the package with friends and have them over every game during the season. This works especially well if you live far from your team and the odds of making it to the actual stadium are slim.

The same holds true for Pay Per View games even if you live in the same city as your team. Some college games get pushed to PPV because your team isn’t really playing anyone significant. The media companies don’t think they can sell enough advertising and draw enough eyeballs to the game, so it goes to Pay Per View. PPV costs vary based on cable/satellite provider and area you live in, but you might be forced to spend over $100 just to watch the game. Don’t fork out that cash alone, invite some friends over and split the cost.

1. Spending More Than You Earn
The root of most financial problems is the inability to control spending. No matter your income level, if you spend more than you earn you will be broke and in debt. Whether you have $10,000 in income or $1,000,000 in income, you must spend less than you earn.

2. Not Doing an Annual Review of Your Finances
It’s “okay” to make a money mistake for a little while if you are unaware of it. Real problems start if that mistake sustains itself for years on end. Sitting down at a specific time every year to review your finances can ward off these problems.

You might notice an extra fee on your cable bill due to a data entry error. Or you can make it a habit to comparison shop your car insurance and home internet costs in order to negotiate for the best rate. They say ignorance is bliss, but it can cost you dearly.

3. Over Paying for Convenience
It’s easy to justify spending money when it is convenient. You don’t plan out your meals and find nothing in the fridge to eat, so you go out to a restaurant and spend enough money to feed you off of groceries for a week. You need your coffee in the morning, but instead of getting up a little bit early to make it for pennies per cup you spend $5 at Starbucks. Paying for convenience is fine, but do it all the time and in excess and you will always wonder why you never got ahead financially.

4. Avoiding Tough Decisions
Sometimes life is tough. Sometimes your income goes down or disappears. Sometimes your bills go up dramatically. During those times you have a choice: you can try to finance the gap between what you make and what you spend, or you can start cutting items from the budget.

Having an argument with your spouse and whether to cut cable or not isn’t fun, so you avoid the conversation even though you could really use $100 per month to buy groceries. At the end of the day if you have the necessities of life: food, water, shelter, clothing on your back, your health, and a way to generate income to live, you’ll be okay.

5. Not Protecting Your Credit Score
A bad credit score can cost you thousands of dollars in interest. People with bad scores are seen as credit risks, there’s no doubt your credit score impacts your interest rates. It might cost you $1,000 on a car loan or $40,000 on a home mortgage to have a bad credit score. That’s a mistake when you can improve your credit score by making your payments on time and lowering your overall debt utilization.

6. Spending Impulsively
A big mistake many people make is buying impulsively. They see something they want (or think they want, thanks to clever commericals), and it is right in front of them so they buy it. A few weeks later they discover they don’t really use what they thought was so important, and have wasted money.

Before making a big purchase, sleep on it. Your emotional craving for the item should die down after a while and you may come to your senses with the realization you didn’t really need it in the first place.

7. Avoiding Preventative Maintenance
Doesn’t it make sense to spend a few dollars now in order to save hundreds of dollars later? Avoiding maintenance is one of the easiest mistakes to make because it doesn’t usually immediately impact you. You avoid some car maintenance and it saves you $300 now, but the engine blows up a year from now costing you $3,000 for it to be rebuilt.

Or maybe you live an unhealthy lifestyle and don’t exercise. It doesn’t cost you much today to sit on the couch, but when you have a heart attack or stroke earlier than you should the cost will be real. Spend the time and money necessary for preventative maintenance and avoid the major costs on the back end.

8. Thinking Everything is an Emergency
It is wise to have an emergency fund handy for when things go wrong. Having 6 to 12 months of living costs set aside really protects you from unemployment or big disasters. But even if you’ve been smart enough to build an emergency fund, you can start to think everything is an emergency. That’s a mistake that can whittle your emergency fund down below what you really need, and when the actual emergency comes along you aren’t financially prepared.

9. Letting Compound Interest Work Against You
Compound interest is a beautiful thing if you are the one with the money being lent out. If you deposit funds into a savings account, you are letting the bank borrow from you to lend to others. They pay you interest for this privilege. On the flip side if you are carrying a balance on a credit card or taking out payday loans, compound interest works against you.

10. Paying Your Bills Blind
A simple mistake to make is to simply pay your bills without looking at them in detail. Every bill you receive has a summary of the charges and then a breakdown showing what you were charged. It is easy for companies to have data entry “mistakes” that throw an extra charge in on your account. If you don’t review the bill it can easily slip past you. While setting up online billpay and automatic payments is a good thing because it helps you avoid late fees, be sure to check the actual statement to make sure you were charged the right amount.

Be aware, not all checking accounts are free, and some of them have hidden fees; those are the ones you want to stay away from. Below are four reviews of checking accounts that are worth your time to consider opening up before you leave for school.

ING Electric Orange Checking Account

If you missed my article about the ING products, go checkout the electric orange checking and orange savings account review. This is a great checking account for college students. You can do all of your banking online, which is definitely a benefit for college students, and there are absolutely NO fees associated with it.

The main downside is that you have to mail in checks for deposit, or set up another checking account to transfer money. (Or you could sign up for direct deposit into your Electric Orange account.)

The Campus Edge Checking Account by Bank of America

Bank of America has some good financial products. This is the account that I had while I was in school at the University of Florida. There are no fees, and all you need is $25.00 for an initial deposit to open up the account. After that, there is no minimum balance. BOA will also enroll you for free into their “keep the change” program which rounds your purchase up to the nearest dollar and puts the change into a separate savings account for you.

They’ll also match give you a 100% contribution match for the first three months. This could make it easier for you to balance your check book, because all of your purchases will be rounded to the nearest dollar, making it easier to figure out your balance. Convenience is the biggest advantage to a Bank of America checking account. Bank of America has a ton of branches so an ATM isn’t usually hard to find.

USAA Free Checking

The free checking account from USAA is only available if you, your spouse, or your parents served in the military or are USAA members.  Since USAA is used to serving service members deployed around the globe it’s easy for them to provide the same great service to you while you’re away at school.  With features like USAA Deposit@Home and Deposit@Mobile it’s easy to deposit checks from school.  The account is very competitive, with free overdraft protection, free checks, free billpay, and no monthly fees.

Perkstreet Financial

An option for college students who want to earn rewards when they spend is the PerkStreet Financial cash back debit card. This checking account provides you with a debit card that allows you to earn cash back on your purchases. There are no fees and no minimums with this FDIC-insured account, and you can withdraw cash from a network of more than 37,000 ATMs. You can have money directly deposited into this online bank account, or mail deposit checks (or transfer from another account). A great way to earn rewards and get a little extra cash as a student.

College Student Checking Accounts

One of the most important things you can do as you establish your independent financial identity is to open your own checking account. If you are a college student, you want to be able to find the best checking account that meets your needs while at home and away. While many banks and credit unions offer “student” accounts, recent developments in banking make it possible for you to open a superior checking account that may not be labeled specifically as a student account.

You will want to consider what is most important to you in a bank as you shop around. If you prefer to be able to go into a bank, an online checking account may not be best for you. However, if you deal mostly electronically, and have no need to enter a brick and mortar bank, an online account can help you dodge the fees that seem to be cropping up everywhere these days. Look for a bank account that has no minimum balance or activity requirements, and try avoid those with monthly fees. If you plan to write checks, look for a bank with unlimited check-writing privileges. You should also consider the reputation the financial institution has for customer service.  Your bank can make a big difference in how you manage your money; choose carefully.

Opening a Student Checking Account
So, get on it. Go and check out these checking accounts. Believe me, sticking your money under your dorm bed won’t work. You never know when your roommate or their friends might need some extra cash and decide to help themselves. Watch out with your debit card, though – it’s so easy to swipe that thing. Make sure you set up a budget for the month, and take out cash for items like entertainment and food. Otherwise, you’ll debit card swipe yourself to oblivion, and non-sufficient fund charges are no fun.

If you’re getting ready to head off to school, check out this article on decorating your dorm room on a budget. We also review the best student credit cards as well as student health insurance options and how you can compare them with eHealthInsurance. If you’re looking for some cash to put into your new checking account, look through the list of ways you can make extra money in college.

This review of the best checking accounts for college students is part of the College Student Money Guide.

Unfortunately for us, author and psychologist Richard Wiseman found that 88% of people who make New Year’s resolutions don’t keep them. Here are five ways that can help you become one of the 22% of people that do reach their money goals.

1) Break Down Your Goal

When you sit down to commit to your New Year’s resolution do you know where to begin? Or you are just swirling it around in your head, overwhelmed by the task? Avoid setting your goal at an unattainable level. We have a tendency to set savings goals that are too high to meet right away.

Instead, break the total goal amount down into reasonable chunks. For example, if you need to save $12,000 for a house down payment, set your savings goal for $1,000 per month instead.

Psychologically, $1,000 a month seems much more achievable and you are more apt to go about doing what you have to do to save that $1,000. In the end, it adds up to your overall goal of $12,000, but seems less daunting than the full amount.

2) Get a Savings Partner

Saving with a partner gives you a cheering squad and someone to make you accountable for reaching your savings goal. If you are married, your spouse can be your savings partner. You can also enlist a friend or family member.

Each of you can set your own savings goal or the mutual savings goal. Schedule check-in appointments to meet or talk on the phone to provide an update to each other. When you have to “answer” to someone, it helps to propel you toward keeping your goal as well.

3) Write Down Your Goal

Write it down. A Harvard study reveals that written goals are accomplished 80% more of the time than goals that are not in writing. Write down your goal and hang it in prominent location where you see it on a regular basis.

4) Play a Savings Game

Learn how to cut spending and reallocate the money to your savings without sacrificing. If you see a new pair of designer shoes you want, wait for the shoes to go on sale before you purchase them. When you buy the shoes, deposit the difference between the original price and the price you paid for the shoes.

If you approach all of your purchases in this manner, it can give you more motivation to save.  Another example would be to review your phone bill and cable bill. Determine if there are features you are not using or packages that cost less money and still fit your needs. Then change the package and deposit the monthly savings into your savings account. It’s like playing a game with yourself to see where and how much you can save.

5) Go One Step at a Time

Take it one-step at a time, rather than trying to implement it all at once or totally changing your lifestyle all at once. Ease into implementing the saving system with one item at a time.

When you take each of these five steps, one at a time, you can look back at the end of next year and realize you have accomplished your goal. Similar to tackling a big work or school project, plan ahead and break your goal down into manageable sections. Planning and implementing your money saving New Year’s resolution with these five steps makes it much more likely that you’ll achieve success.

Bonus – Here’s a sixth way, a New Year’s resolution secret :)

Here’s a look at the basics of how SmartyPig works.

SmartyPig Account Opening

To get started with SmartyPig you open a savings account online, filling out information that you would to open any bank account.  Just like money in a bank, your funds in SmartyPig are FDIC insured. They also earn interest; currently the rate is pretty competitive for online savings accounts. Once you have your SmartyPig account opened then you fund it with at least $25, via ACH from an existing bank account.

Right now there is no way to have joint ownership of a SmartyPig account, which would be nice for couples saving together.  SmartyPig does have a “co-ownership” option but it would be nice to have joint ownership of the account.

SmartyPig Savings Goals

SmartyPig is set up so that you identify savings (or spending) goals, and set a time frame for achieving the goal. The system then automatically figures out how much money each month will need to go into the account in order for you to reach your goal within your stated time frame. You can choose how often you want money moved from your established bank account into your SmartyPig account.

If money gets tight for a while, SmartyPig does allow you to stop making automatic contributions.  Then once your cash flow picks back up you can restart those contributions.  You can also change your contribution amount whenever you’d like so scaling back your savings is an option.

One thing that would be nice is if you could setup ACH transactions from other sources so you could have part of your paycheck regularly deposited into your SmartyPig account.

SmartyPig Withdrawals

When you reach your goal, you can take your money out of SmartyPig, and use it towards what you’ve been saving for. One thing to note, you cannot partially withdraw money from your account. If you decide you want some of the cash before reaching your goal, you have to take everything for that goal out.

Since this is an online account, it can take a while to get your money. Standard ACH times apply like any online savings account, so don’t put any money in the account that you would need to get out in a day’s notice.

SmartyPig Gift Cards

If you choose to receive your money in the form of a gift card from one of the retail partners, you get a cash back bonus on your card.  The cash back percentage ranges from 2% all the way up to 11% depending on the gift card.  So, if you achieve your savings goal of $1,000, and choose to put those savings onto a Macy’s Retailer Gift Card (which pays 11%) you can get a gift card with $1,120 on it.

 

SmartyPig Rewards Card

The SmartyPig rewards card is a pre-paid card that you can fund from your bank account or from your savings goal.  It seems like funding it from your savings goal would actually be working against your goal.  Even though you’re earning cash back, you’d be depleting your savings balance.

Of course, if you fund it from your bank account then it could be worthwhile. You earn cash back when you shop with the MasterCard debit card at certain stores.  The amount of cash back depends on the store; it varies from 2% up to 10%.  The money you earn can either go right back on your card or into your SmartyPig goal.

SmartyPig Friends & Family

SmartyPig lets you announce and update your savings goals to your friends and family through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.  Another cool feature is that you can send out emails with a link to a specific savings goal that other people can contribute to.

This could be perfect if you’re having a baby shower or wedding shower and were trying to save up for one big item, rather than asking for lots of smaller gifts.  Another good use would be for kids or grandkids who are saving up for something big, like college or even just an Xbox.  They could email those goals to aunts, uncles, and grandparents at birthdays or gift giving holidays.

Something else to note is that the system’s been around for a few years and has made a lot of improvements based on feedback from its network of users.

Bottom Line

SmartyPig is a great tool to use if you have a specific savings goal in mind – it helps you take saving seriously.

The features like the higher interest rate, gift card bonus, and rewards card help give your savings a boost, so you have financial incentive to save. The ability to define your goals publicly and keep others up to date on your progress also gives you social motivation to save.

Opening an account and getting started is free, so if it sounds interesting and you think it could help you with your savings goals then give it a try.

I had come on the right day, they had a pallet of HP Deskjet printers on sale for half of the retail price.  They were discounted because the boxes had been damaged. Not damaged as in ripped open or totally demolished but pretty minor dents or scratches in the box.

They assured me I could return the printer if it didn’t work for store credit as long as I kept my reiciept so I had nothing to lose.  I got it home, hooked it up, and it works like a charm.  I sure am glad I stopped by the discount store, saved myself $70!  I guess the moral is that it pays to shop around.

Here are some of the money articles I enjoyed this week:

Energy Costs 

Save on Heating & Cooling Costs @ Free Money Finance

How to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient @ My Dollar Plan

Career

Brush Up on Your Job Skills @ Generation X Finance

Your Take: Your First Job? @ Bargaineering

Investing

Target Date Mutual Funds Getting Cheaper @ Five Cent Nickel

When Your Investment Portfolio Returns To New Highs @ The Digerati Life

Automobiles

Reduce Your Auto Insurance @ Mighty Bargain Hunter

Four Years Without a Car Payment @ No Credit Needed

Other

Taking Baby Steps Towards Financial Goals @ Million Dollar Journey

One Million Visitors @ Lazy Man & Money

Financial Impact of Moving @ Suns Financial Diary

Avoid Being Caught By Scammers @ Get Rich Slowly

Is Getting a Large Tax Refund Bad? @ Frugal Dad

Reflections on 9/11 @ Brip Blap

Small Business Administration’s Top 10 Tips @ Consumerism Commentary

Thanks to the hosts of the following Carnivals:

• Automatic Finances – Money Hacks
• Home School Bytes – Homeschooling
• Modern Tightwad – Money Hacks
• Budgets are Sexy – Personal Finance

Have a great weekend!

Overstock or returned goods can save you a ton of money!  I’ve written in the past how I used to buy merchandise like this, then turn around and re-sell it on eBay for a big fat profit.

However, even if you have no interest in making extra money on eBay, overstock goods and returned items can can score you some really great deals for your own use.

Getting a 64% Discount

For example, our son loves cars and trucks and used to have a blast riding in our neighbor’s Fisher Price Power Wheels car.  After they moved away I thought he’d never ride in one again because they’re pretty expensive but we just bought him one today for 64% off!

The one we found retails for $250 and we bought it for $60 cash (minus a battery charger) at a local overstock store.  Often times these types of stores will have a random assortment of various goods but this one actually had rows of power wheels and other powered kid cars.

Merchandise Brand and Quality

These are the same cars you’d find for sale at Toys R Us. Some of them are returns, some are merchandise that didn’t sell, and some are cars with small defects. For example, ours was brand new but they had lost the battery charger in shipping so I came home and ordered one online for $30. Still, buying a $250 car for only $90 is a pretty sweet discount.  I didn’t have to pay tax or shipping and it was already assembled.  I pulled it out of the back of the car when we got home and our little guy took off down the sidewalk. 

Negotiating Prices

Many times you can bargain with the store owners because they buy the stuff for pennies on the dollar and have room to negotiate.  One of my friends went to the same store last weekend and talked the guy down to $190 on a car he was selling for $250 that retailed for around $400.  Of course, there is often no return policy on goods like these so make sure you test it out well before you buy it.

Finding the Stores

Your best bet on finding stores like this is to simply ask around. I hear about most of these places through word of mouth.  You can also do a web search on the words overstock or overgoods and the name your local cities.

Happy shopping, Hopefully you’ll save a lot of money

I’m not a big book reader, mostly because I don’t have much spare time.  I do most of my reading online where I can pick up small chunks of information pretty quickly.  My wife and son on the other had love books. 

If we had to pay for all the books that they read, especially during the summer, we’d have a pretty big credit card bill.  Instead, they head to the library once a week and stock up on loads of kids books for him and Oprah’s book club for her.  It can be hard to keep track of all those books so sometimes they have to pay late fees and once or twice had to buy a book outright but it still saves us hundreds of dolllars a year.

Free Movie Trials

I’ve written before about the competition between Blockbuster and Netflix and how you can benefit by signing up for both.  Basically you can get a Blockbuster free trial followed by a Netflix free trial and enjoy free movies this summer.

Enjoy the Outdoors

You don’t have to be a camping nut to save money by spending time outside this summer.  Before we had kids we’d hit the river for a canoe day trip with friends, ride our bikes to the park, or just grill out in a friends back yard.  Now we spend afternoons at sprinkler parks or the morning playing in a local creek, cheap fun and he loves it.

Home Improvement Referrals

Our neighbors just discovered a nasty water leak in their roof that’s been dripping down into the wall and has rotted out the wall, window frame, and some of the floor.  The previous neighbors discovered the leak and had someone out to look at it.  Apparently he applied a little caulk here and there without really addressing the issue and now they’re faced with major damage.

One of the best ways to find a contractor who will do a good job and not end up costing you money down the road is to get a referral from friends or family.  Another place you can turn is a service like Angies List.  Basically, its a service that has reviews of local contractors from customers that hired and worked with them.  It is a paid service but you can get discounts with Angies list coupon codes.

Shop Garage Sales

If you have kids, this is a tip you don’t want to ignore.  You can buy kids toys and clothes for pennies on the dollar at garage sales.  My son loves anything with wheels and the majority of his trucks, cars, etc came from garage sales.  Toys that cost $40 retail, we bought pretty much brand new at garage sales for a buck.

My wife also shops a season ahead and buys clothes for our kids.  I don’t know how well it works for older children but for kids 4 and under you can buy almost new clothes for dirt cheap.  Seriously, my wife came home with garbage bags stuffed full of kids clothes for $15.

Happy savings!