Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 8:15 pm Post subject: How to save money?
I have faced lots of ups and downs in my life financially. Although I had started budgeting in my college days but that time, I could hardly save much. I just learnt to save for my basic needs.
I continued this practice even after my college days for quite some time. And because of this, I often found myself in trouble at the end of every month. But thanks to my parents who helped to come out of this and gave me some invaluable saving tips. I have discussed a few of them below. You can check them out for your benefit.
Understand the difference between your needs and wants:
You will save a lot of money if you can simply distinguish between your needs and wants. Needs are pretty much those items required for a basic living, that is, shelter, food, clothing and transportation. And wants are those items which can improve your standard of living, such as plasma TV or music system.
Avoid silly purchases:
Try to avoid buying items that you rarely use. Before you buy an expensive item, try to borrow it or rent it from someone and see if it's worth spending on that item.
Mortgages:
Most of us dream of having our own home and generally, a mortgage will be the largest single expense in your budget. And it's important that you get the best deal. For this, you need to shop around well and compare rates offered by different lenders. Not comparing can cost thousand of extra dollars.
By now, I am sure that most of us will know how important it is to have a proper savings plan.
Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 10:25 pm Post subject: Re: Save money in home related issues
Hi Jerry,
Here I just want to share my thoughts how we can save money in home related issues.
Home Purchase:
Employ a buyer broker and try to negotiate a lower sale price. Always asks your buyer broker to tell them whether they are showing the property that they have listed or not. Since, there may be conflict of interests.
Always purchase the house after it has been examined by a home inspector.
Home Improvement:
Try to purchase home from a well established and licensed contractor who will give you a written fixed cost offer for the repairs and maintenance. It will save your thousands of dollar in future for home repairs.
Never sign the contract with the contractor where they are charging the full payment before satisfactory completion of the work.
Homeowner Insurance
Always try to purchase insurance from a low price licensed insurer. You can collect the details of different licensed company along with the charges from your state insurance department. This way you can save hundreds of dollars in a year.
While purchase insurance, make sure that it will be enough coverage to replace your home.
Lot of money can be saved if we meet our bills on right time specially the credit card bills. Generally lot of interest is charged for late payments on credit cards. And more over late payment on one card can have it's affects on fees and interest rate of other cards.
Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 1:16 am Post subject: Re:Save Money while shopping for a mortgage
Hi,
There are few points to keep in mind while shopping for the home loan through which we can save money:
You can save thousands of dollars in interest charging by selecting a short term period mortgage. But you have to bear higher monthly payment.
Always try to choose a lender who is offering a lowest rate with the fewest points that makes you to save hundreds of dollars.
Before negotiate the lenders with the mortgage rate first make yourself updated the current mortgage rate from the local newspaper and internet.
Consider refinance your mortgage only if you are getting a new mortgage loan at lower rate than earlier and you are willing to keep this mortgage for at least several few more years.
If you are looking for Adjustable Rate Mortgage, then ask lender about the highest possible monthly payment that you may need to pay. Because, In ARM the rate can vary over the lifetime of the loan and it may cost you hundreds of dollars more.
jerry
