Smart Saving and Investing

Brush - Floss - Brush - Floss - Brush - Floss!! That is the way you save money on your dental bill.

Recently I’ve been in conversations with some younger folks who have been hit with some big dental bills because of the whole flossing thing.

I’m talkin’ into the thousands of dollars to clean their teeth because they didn’t floss. Well, I hate to sound like a dentist but that’s what you have to do. I did the same thing when I was young, I didn’t floss and I was told to floss regularly. It’s the last thing you want to do when you’re young and invincible. You think you need to do it, and you know you should do it, and ultimate - you have to do it.

Now, I don’t know what all dentists are doing now a days but I know they seem to push more stuff to be done to you than ever before. I could be wrong but it just seems like that.

A Quick Story

When I was a youngster (around10 years old) my family dentist was working on my brother and I. My brother was a few years older than me. I remember my brother accidentally bit the dentist’s hand or finger and the dentist slapped him. DANG!!

That was the way it was done. You know, when teachers could spank kids and the parents sided with the teachers to correct kids behavior. I’m certainly not advocating going back to that day, I’m just tellin’ ya’, that was my experience. End of story.

So that’s how you save money on your dental bill. You floss. And I can’t believe I’m writing a blog article about flossing. But dental bills can get expensive because some folks might not have it covered very well under their health insurance plans.

If you haven’t flossed in a long time, I suggest starting slowly. Maybe once or twice a week - every Wednesday and Saturday would be good. When you first start, don’t dig in with the floss creating a painful, barbed-wire experience. Start slowly and lightly. I also suggest mint-flavored floss so you make it a tasty experience.

I try to floss daily. I still struggle to do it some times and I don’t always do it daily, but if you slow down now and implement some of the necessary tasks in life, you’ll save money in the long run. Just like saving and investing.

Now all you have to worry about is how to save money on the floss.

written by Bill Stevens

So I need a new car. I drive a 1990 Chrysler Imperial everyday to work (see below, except it’s white).

An old trusty (crusty?) car that gets the job done. I’m at that crossroads where the money I keep putting into it is starting to average out to a new monthly car payment.

There’s a list of issues that would cost between $2,000.00 and $3,000.00 to resolve during next year, 2008. Which is not too bad but it’s become more stressful to own the car and I have that gut feeling of letting it go. Besides I’ve driven the beast with no air conditioning for two years. That would be another $1,000.00 to get that fixed. Where I live in the Midwest, the summers can get to 105 degrees.

I could certainly afford a really nice new car but I believe a car is a depreciating asset and I don’t even like calling it an asset.

I don’t need to impress anyone with a nice car because my job doesn’t call for that. I already have a decent looking 1999 Honda Accord EX. However, I do need another reliable car because I travel to some offices for work every other month that are 60 to 90 miles away.

Besides, I’m looking forward to a BMW or some other indulgence in my golden years.

History

I bought the 1990 Chrysler Imperial in 1998 for $5,000.00. An elderly person owned it and passed away. The son was trying to get rid of it. These are the best cars to buy sometimes because for a 8 year-old car it only had 25,000 miles on it at the time and was pretty decent for the price. UNBELIEVABLE!! - to me.

I drive 13 miles to work and back home every weekday for a total of 26 miles a day. I’ll round up to 30 miles a day to allow for stopping by the grocery store, etc. So approximately 150 miles a week and approximately 600 miles a month.

Looking for a New Car

My wife and I went looking for a new car last weekend when I started this post and spent quite a bit of time with car dealers. That can be fun. Anyway, it’s very tempting to purchase a new sparkling car but the idea of starting monthly payments doesn’t set well with me.

Last Saturday morning, before we went out car shopping I looked out our front window and my neighbor had his car up for sale. Something made me smile. I envisioned me walking over there and buying it. Done!! Now on to the weekend.

Well, we spent all day trying some cars we liked and eliminating them to get a better feel for what we wanted. It was a good time since my wife and I haven’t spent that much time alone for a while. She pesters car salesmen and it’s fun to watch.

So at the end of one grueling day we came home and I looked across the street and my neighbor’s car was looking at me, calling out to me. We walked on over and took a gander at the car, started up a conversation with my neighbor and the next thing ya’ know the car is in my driveway and I was ready to take it to a mechanic the next day for a look see.

The Stars were in Alignment

The car checked out just fine. I might have to do some standard work on it but that’s okay. So I bought it!!

The car is a 1998 Honda Accord with 105,000 miles on it. We are now a two Honda Accord family - a 1998 and a 1999. I can’t believe it!! All for $4,500.00.

To think we were looking at 10,000 to 25,000 dollar cars a couple days ago.

I paid by check because you can do that when you’re a saver and an investor for a long period of time. For some folks this might not seem like a big deal but when you’re a boot-strapped individual who had no inheritance, no lottery winnings, no free handouts, a non-working spouse and at one point in my life couldn’t afford a car, completely broke and in big debt, that’s a big deal.

My automatic saving and investing treadmill was uninterrupted and all is well with the car so far. We’ll see how long the car lasts. I’ve been told Honda Accords, as long as you take care of them, will last to and past 300,000 miles. Sounds good to me.

That’s my car story and I’m stickin’ to it. Let me know if you have any good car stories.

written by Bill Stevens

Here’s a trick that a lot of folks know about and maybe some don’t.

Action

Make the decision to cancel your cable tv. Call your cable tv provider and tell them nicely that you want to cancel your cable tv.

When they ask why, tell them that you and your spouse are looking for ways to save money and decided to cut your cable tv out of your life temporarily or possibly forever. Then start crying. Just kidding, you don’t have to start crying.

When they ask you how the quality of service is that they are providing you, tell them that it’s been great and you’ve never had a problem.

Depending on your carrier, they might have to schedule an appointment for a service person to come out and disconnect the service. Sometimes they don’t even charge to disconnect the service because you might be using other services they provide like your phone and/or your Internet service.

If they have the ability to disconnect it immediately, you might want to see if they can schedule it in four or more business days. This is the magic time period where a sales person from your cable tv carrier has the opportunity to win you back.

The Magic

So in that time period before they disconnect your service you most likely will get a call from a sales person almost begging to find out what they can do to keep your cable tv connected. Typically they call in the next 24 to 48 hours. Most likely you won’t have to say a thing.

Out of their mouth will come, “How about we keep your cable tv connected and we’ll only charge you 50% each month on your cable tv bill for three months?” At this point you can either barter with them, which is completely up to you but could make the deal go sour, or you accept his kind offer.

Then start crying again because he’s made you so happy. Just kidding.

That’s where the $60.00 or more or less comes in. If you pay $40.00 a month for your cable tv then 50% of that each month is $20.00. So, for 3 months you get to keep $20.00 for a grand total of $60.00. That’s Slammin’!!

Take the savings to a higher level by putting the $60.00 to work in an online savings account or contribute to your Roth IRA.

The Commitment

Obviously, you have to be in the position to lose your cable tv completely. That’s why you ask them to disconnect it in four or more business days. So you can retract your commitment. You also need to ask if there are any charges incurred if you change your mind.

Some More Magic

Whether you have cable tv or not, you can try another trick that will get you more services out of your cable tv.

Stop by one of those cable tv trucks that are in your neighborhood or where you work or any where else you see them and ask if there are any specials going on for the month. It seems like there’s always something they’re promoting. If there is a special going on you would like to try, ask them for the code so you can call and get the service for free for a certain time period.

written by Bill Stevens

It’s Labor Day Weekend 2007.

If you have a budget that guides you on a month-to-month basis or just a general overview of what’s coming in and what’s going out you can also do “mini-budgets”.

Mini-Budgets are budgets for times like Labor Day where you have the possibility of over spending. A lot of folks have a 3-day weekend and possible cookouts, parties, football games, etc.

These are the times where you can end up spending more than you can or should. So a good way to keep it under control is to make a list of what you’re doing over the 3-day weekend and how that will affect the money you spend.

For great inspiration on being frugal check these folks out:

Here are 5 questions to ask yourself while you make a list of what you’re doing and what you’re spending this weekend:

1. Where are you driving to and how far?

Spend a few moments finding the closest gas station that offers a bit less expensvive gas for your drive?

2. How much food will you need?

Spend a few moments clipping coupons. If you don’t like doing that just clip a few that will make a minor or major impact.

3. How much cash do you have?

Do you have a money jar sitting around that you put loose change in during the week, month, etc.? If so, grab that to use for buying extra stuff for the Labor Day holiday weekend outings.

4. What debt can you avoid?

You know what will make you slide into debt. Be conscious of that and ask, with every amount of money you spend this weekend will it make you slide into a debt hole you might already be in.

5. What do you want for your future?

Think about the goals you have for the future. What you do with your money this weekend can affect your goals for the future. I’m not talking about depriving yourself of fun now and not doing anything now, I’m promoting balance. You need to satisfy your “I want it now!!” needs and still preserve your future goals, wants and needs.

If you have a partner make sure you think of and do these tasks together. If you’re single make sure you sit down with your dog or cat and explain to them what you want to accomplish. Stuffed animals or dolls work too.

Have a great weekend!!

written by Bill Stevens

If you’re a high school student or in college and worked over the summer to make some money, then you can get started on the two actions I talk about at this site - open up an online savings account and start a Roth IRA.

I know you think you need all the money you made over the summer or the part time job your holding during school but it’s easier than ever to start saving and investing when you’re young and it’s crucial to your financial practices throughout your life.

#1 - Open an Online Savings Account

Below is a list of online savings accounts to get started. These types of accounts make it easy for you to open up an account quickly with as little as $1.00. These accounts also make it easy to transfer funds to the account. However, please set this account up so that you are depositing money on a regular basis (for example, monthly) and automatically (say from your checking account) so you’re not tempted to spend all of what you make.

What is APY?

Some online savings accounts currently pay 5.05% APY. APY stands for Annual Percentage Yield. The APY is similar and sometimes confused with APR - Annual Percentage Rate. But it’s different in that Annual Percentage Yield is calculated using the effects of compounding. Typically APY is compounded daily.

Here are some online savings account that allow you to open up an account paying 5.05% APY with a minimum of a dollar to start:

• HSBCDirect
• EmigrantDirect.com
• ETrade Complete Savings Account

There are plenty of online savings accounts out there and if you don’t want to do a bunch of research then one of the above will do you good. Just get going and set your deposits up automatically every month or whenever you can afford to.

However if you would like to do some more research here are a couple sites to get started with:

• Bankrate.com
• Bankaholic.com
• Banking Review on Savings Square

It’s extremely easy to say, “Oh, I’ll just do it when I finish college and get a great job.” Well, there’s more going on here than starting to save when you have money. It gets really hard to do it when you hardly have any money.

This is a common scenario for students who finish college and start a new job with a bunch of school loan debt and possibly bad credit card debt. Your money is your money!! Respect it by respecting yourself by doing the right thing - pay yourself first no matter what!!

The money in your life makes a lot of things happen and makes you act and react to life’s events as they are presented to you as well as the relationships you have with other people.

#2 - Open a Roth IRA

If you’re under age, you’ll need your parent or guardian to open a custodial account for you. After that, if you have or had earned income (money from your job) for 2007, you can invest in a Roth IRA.

Try this mutual fund and follow the steps here to get going. If you don’t like this fund make sure you read this and this before you invest in a mutual fund that you’re interested in.

written by Bill Stevens