Happy New Year!! Regular readers probably know about my fondness for making New Year resolutions and the marginal success that I generally manage to achieve as regards keeping those New Year resolutions. This year as well, there are resolutions being made and which specific reference to my financial situation.
So here are my financial New Year resolutions for the year 2012: [Read more →]
The poor economy has made saving money more important than ever before. Luckily, there are several great smart phone apps that are available to download that will help everyone save money. While there are many great money saving apps, these are the 5 that will help you save the most money. If you combine the apps with sim only contracts, then your smart phone will be able to save you more money than ever before.
The Shop Savvy app allows you to easily compare the price of an item at every store it is available. To get the prices of an item, you must use the app to take a picture of the bar code. Shop Savvy uses the picture of the bar code to determine what item you are scanning. After the bar code picture is taken, Shop Savvy will display the price of that item all of the major stores in the area. Using Shop Savvy will allow you to never overpay for anything ever again.
Coupon Sherpa
Coupon Sherpa allows you to find if there are any coupons available for an item that you are about to buy. Coupon Sherpa lets you search for coupons at just about every major store. Once you find the appropriate store on Coupon Sherpa, the app will display all of the stores current coupons. The apps pulls coupons from several different sources and even has several coupons that are exclusive to Coupon Sherpa. All of the coupons on the app can be scanned at the cash register of every store. Using Coupon Sherpa allows you to take advantage of the deals at every store, without having to spend hours cutting coupons.
If you use the GasBuddy app, then you will never over pay for gas again. GasBuddy uses the GPS in your smart phone to determine your location. Once your location is determined, GasBuddy will display the price of gas at every gas station near you. This allows you to be able to find the cheapest gas in the area before you leave the house. If you are not sure where the gas station is located, GasBuddy will even give you directions to the gas station from your location. With the rising prices of gas, the ability to save a few cents is very important.
Groupon
While the previous apps allowed you to save money on gas and retail items, Groupon allows you to save on just about everything else. Groupon displays all of the great deals on all of the various restaurants, hotels, spas and other services in your area. None of the deals featured on Groupon can be used as coupons, but they allow you to buy the services at a discounted price. Gift certificates to restaurants and hotel rooms can be purchased for over 50% the normal price. Groupon constantly updates with new deals, and the good deals can go quickly. Having Groupon on your smart phone allows you to constantly search for great deals to make sure that you never miss out on something special.
Kayak
Kayak is one of the most popular travel reservation websites, and you can now get all of the deals from your phone. Kayak finds you the cheapest price on flights, hotels and car rentals for any destination. Kayak searches every travel site to find you the best deal possible, and everything can be booked on the phone through the app. If you plan on traveling, then Kayak will save you a lot of money. You can even track the status of your flight using the Kayak application.
Sim only contracts are great way to reduce the cost of using a smart phone. Why pay the high costs of a regular contract if you do not have to? Combining the contract with these apps allows for your smart phone to pay for itself, and allow you to have more money for your other expenses.
This is a guest article by Ruben Corbo, a freelance writer for technology, travel, and music production topics. When he’s not writing or making music, he’s enjoying a good post-apocalyptic novel or playing RTS Strategy online game. Ruben’s writing resume includes websites like SIM Only where you can get the best Sim Only contracts as well as other websites that help you save on your tech purchases.
Images courtesy of Todd Barnard, sarahintampa, smgoller, Sean MacEntee and Rob Enslin
Shopping today presents a vast variety and offers infinite options not only in terms of what you can buy but also how and where and when you buy. As so much of our shopping has shifted online, it is only natural that more variety comes up there as well – auctions, discounts, deals, and increasingly now, deal of the day.
One deal a day or daily deal websites are increasing in number and popularity, seeing the kind of success that websites such as Woot.com have enjoyed over the years. At Woot, just one discounted product is offered for sale each day; the main website offers an electronic gadget or a piece of computer equipment at a discount that lasts just for that 24 hour period before being replaced at midnight with the next product.
[Read more →]
Online shopping has emerged as one of the most convenient ways to shop, but fees such as shipping and handling are always a deterrent. I found a site that believes this isn’t how things should be. Bargainjack.com is the best online resource for tech bargains, right from the comfort of your own home. They offer deals on laptops, computers, TVs, gadgets and more.
Gone are the days of waiting in long lines outside stores, clenching a coffee cup that has been your only lifeline for hours, as you ready yourself for the mad dash to one of the 10 TVs in stock at some discount price not worth the amount of time and effort put forth. Now are the days of high-speed internet, where having instant access to deals means saving money is literally at your finger tips. Bargain Jack focuses on this, offering a highly enjoyable user-friendly experience.
I am reading up a lot about alternative therapies and complementary medicines and so on and also speaking to a lot of people who have chosen to go the natural way rather than use pharmaceutical medications for their ailments. This got me thinking and made me realize that there is a lot of be said for complementary and alternative medicine or CAM therapy as it is also known, for a number of reasons, some of them very sound economic ones as well.
Consider why CAM therapies can help save you money –
Medicines Cost Money – Quite simply, it can be an expensive proposition to buy and have medications over a longer term. Consider for instance, if you had high blood pressure and had to go on medication to control that. Rather than medicines however if your doctor prescribed certain nutritional supplements, dietary changes and a strict exercise regimen this may have a beneficial effect on the blood pressure without the medicines and will also have the added benefit of a fitter healthier you without the expense of medicines. Another example – if you learn about the basic acupressure points, you may be able to self heal a headache without having to take a pain killer!
If you are on the wrong side of 60 or even 50, (read on if you have a close friend or relative that age), this can entitle the senior person to a number of different kinds of discounts – there is no need to be diffident or ashamed to demand these since these discounts are yours by right! So own up proudly to the age that you’re at, and demand these discounts –
Lets talk about investments today. All the money that we save up using the great discounts online need to be invested such that it is safe and provides a good return. Right now, the equity markets keep up with their unpredictable behaviour and debt markets look attractive again. It is a good sign to be safe than sorry! So we move away from these asset classes to the one that is rewriting its own history. GOLD!! Lets read on to get a perspective of this shining metal….
Households are the largest gold consumers in the world. The country’s bullion demand almost doubled in the first-half of last year even as prices reached a record high. IRA Gold is the best and safest asset today. It’s the safest bet to save your investment from devaluation. The valuation of Gold IRA is uncontrolled by powers and authorities. Gold stands the test of time in terms of stability and returns.
It is that ‘new’ time of year again and though I got a bit delayed I made some New Year Resolutions this year as well, the way I did at the beginning of last year, to help all of us save some money. So here are some Money Saving New Year Resolutions, some my own, some borrowed from here and there, because, well, they’re just such good ideas!
Save for a Rainy Day – If its bills and expenses that seem to eat up all your earnings, pay yourself something first. Put something aside each month, so that that little nest egg grows and comes in handy when you really need it.
I have done posts about designer look-alikes before and about websites where you can get products that look like the original but are available at a fraction of the price of the original because they are imitations. Many of us however do still hanker after the original when it comes to items such as watches, jewelry and accessories. And for those of us who are like that; for whom the brand is all, there is bidz.com, which is a brand name and jewelry auction, which claims to offer authentic products such as jewelry, watches, sunglasses, and other accessories from luxury brands such as Faberge, Di Modolo, Gucci, Chanel, Carrera y Carrera, Valentino, Versace, and so on.
Now this Tonino Lamborghini watch (date watch with genuine diamonds) that retails about two thousand three hundred and sixty bucks, got auctioned off for just $202. Pretty good deal that, I thought.
Black Friday is a term that dates back to the 60’s and falls on the Friday following Thanksgiving Day – Black Friday officially marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. This year Black Friday is on November 26 and many retailers will open extra early offering shoppers a chance at getting the best possible deals for a limited period.
Many establishments such as Macy’s, Sears, Toys R Us, Target and Walmart open as early as midnight on Black Friday offering door buster deals and loss leaders (items sold at cost price or even lower prices) to draw people to their stores. Though meant to offer people options for their Christmas shopping, many people grab the opportunity of the big discounts that are offered on Black Friday to buy items that they can resell later; most likely online and for a profit.
