Save $100 in 10 Minutes: The Rolling Stones Tell You How To Save Cash

Sometimes as a smart spender, you need to decide when to be a smart saver. So here’s a tip that could save you $100 in under 10 minutes… and you don’t even need to do a thing! Sound too good to be true? Keep reading to find out what we mean and you’ll be able to save as much as you want. When you’re looking to cut your costs, it’s important to decide between needs and wants. For things that you actually need, you will have to adjust your budget accordingly. But in the famous words of the Rolling Stones ‘You can’t always get what you want’. For me, my spending gets out of control when I stop really thinking about what I want (and even convincing myself it’s something that I need). Let’s look at three things I want to get over the next two months, and see where I can make some cuts. (For the sake of explaining here, let’s assume they all cost $100 exactly). -      16GB photo card for my camera -      Renew 3 magazine subscriptions -      Concert tickets to a show in June When I actually

Save $100 in 10 Min: Go On The Hunt… For Cash

Easter is just around the corner and that reminded me about a fun ‘hunt’ that I went on last spring. This wasn’t for chocolate, eggs, or a seasonal bunny – it was for cash. My usual money searches usually revolve around couch cushions, casino floors or jacket pockets, but this one was a little more involved. About a year ago, I saw an ad on TV for a credit union and it reminded me about the account I had at my local credit union when I was a kid. Most of my paper route money went in there, and I used it throughout middle school. Near the end of high school I switched to a bigger bank and forgot about the account. Now – this has obviously been many years, but I decided to check out the dormant account to see if there were any hidden treats. To my surprise, there was $249 in there! It was like free money, even though the 11-year-old version of me totally earned it. Like the smart and responsible spender that I am, I put half of the cash onto my credit card bill and put the other half into my pocket for fun. Take

Save $100 in 10 Minutes: Go on a Savings Bender

When’s the last time you read a personal finance blog that told you to go nuts with your money? Buckle up, because I’m just about to… but not in the way that you’re hoping for. This concept was introduced to me by a friend of mine that likes to live it up on weekends. He takes trips, eats out constantly and generally appears to be loose with his cash. I asked him about it, and he told me that his finances go in two different extremes: He’s either very loose or very tight, and plans them both accordingly. I guess it’s hard for me to notice the times he’s NOT out spending his cash like an episode of Entourage. He’s actually got a smart, automated savings plan; has paid off his student loans and credit card debt; and is actively thinking about his money (even when he’s out on the town). I took a good lesson from this and one of his personal techniques: A Savings Bender. Instead of going out and looking to spend a lot in a short time, he looks to save as much as he can in a

Save $100 in 10 Minutes: New Paycheque Strategies That are Quick and Easy

I know when payday comes, the last thing you want to think about is budgeting, but here are some easy techniques that will help stretch your cash when it hits your account. Getting into these small habits will take about 10 minutes/month and wind up saving you well over the recommended $100. 5-10% Into Savings This isn’t exciting, but you’ll thank me later. If you’re able to sock away this much of your cash on each paycheque, it will make a major difference on your bottom line. As we discussed before, if you’re able to automate this process, you can do it once and forget about it. As soon as the cash is there, it’s safely saved. I do it, and after a month or two, I totally forgot about it. Automatic saving is the way to go. Think About the Bills Again, this isn’t super exciting, but on any given month you’ll need to pay rent, TV, Cable, Internet or any variety of bills. A good time to knock these out is when payday arrives. As a bonus, when you’ve paid those bills, you know how much left you’ve

Save $10 in 10 Minutes: Examine Your Grocery Bill

We all spend money on groceries, and eating at home (instead of dining out) is a great way to save cash each month. But can we optimize our grocery experience to save that extra bit of cash now, for more fun later? Let’s check it out. Being financially savvy isn’t rocket science. Sometimes all it takes is a little bit of research, planning and you’ll be saving cash in no time. Taking a 5-10 minute look at your grocery bill will save you at least $10, if not more. The Check Out Shop as you normally would – go ahead and get your standard groceries. When you’re done, hold onto the receipt. After getting home, sit down and look at what you bought. See where you spent the majority of your cash. Does anything jump out at you as too expensive or more than you thought?  Chances are, you are going to be surprised with at least some of the pricing and where your cash went. Shop Around Do you consistently purchase similar groceries each week? Try the same grocery order at a different grocery store or market. Again, take a few minutes to check out the

Save $100 in 10 Minutes: Set Up Your 1st Automatic Savings Account

Want to save yourself $100 in 10 minutes? Sounds great, right? With this technique, literally 10 minutes of effort could save you $1200 over the year. With online banking, automating your cash is easy and effective. Almost every major online banking site in Canada offers you automatic cash transfers that you can set and forget. You can also check out ING Direct! How to Do it • Decide how much you want to save per month (let’s say $100). • Identify when you get paid (let’s say 1st and 15th of the month) • Log into your online banking • Set up the cash transfer to your savings account ($50 on the 2nd and $50 on the 16th). Most sites give you this option on the “Money Transfer” page • Let your cash slowly start saving *Why it Works * Well, that was easy. All you needed to do was decide the savings level you could afford and make a quick note on your online banking. This is a massive mental step towards saving cash. That little bit of effort ensures that you will save some money each month. Even if you set the amounts for $10 or $20, it could be more than

Save $100 in 10 Minutes: Christmas Travel

The Christmas season is almost here, and that can mean a few things: fun, festive treats, and definitely expenses. As we’ve detailed before, getting in front of your holiday expenses is important. Now it’s time to look at Christmas travel and how you can save cash and still have a great December. When it comes to Christmas, there is a lot of travel. Roads are busy, airports are packed and all of it comes at seasonal rates. If you want to save some cash on holiday travel, check out these tips: Use the Net The day of the travel agent is (almost) dead. Discount travel sites like Hotwire and Priceline can save you a bundle. These sites will get you great last minute travel deals – even during expensive seasons. Let these virtual agents search multiple airlines and destinations for you from your own computer. A bit of time searching for travel deals could save you tons of dough. This is your 10 minute tip to saves $100. Using these sites, I’ve saved upwards of $300 on flights alone! Drive – but be careful of the Canadian winter If your car is in good shape (and you’ve got

Save $100 in 10 Mins: Build Your Credit with Pre-Paid Credit Cards

Credit Cards are a powerful tool for your finances. When you use them correctly, they help build your credit, make purchases easier and help you track your money easily online. When you make a few mistakes with them, you can blow up your cash-to-debt ratio, incur fees and sink your credit score. Learning to use credit cards can be a tough thing, but pre-paid cards are a great solution that can easily save you $100 with a 10 minute purchase. The $100 is going to come from the interest you could have paid on a conventional credit card. Advantages of Pre Paid Cards By saving some cash and loading it onto a pre-paid card, you literally can’t pay any high interest rates from missing a payment – because the payment has already been made. We know that standard credit cards have interest rates in the neighborhood of 19-25% — which is a lot of money. Remove the risk and exercise some smart spending by prepaying the card and using it as normal. Who Can Get a Pre Paid Credit Card? Anyone with the cash! That’s right – with prepaid cards, there is no risk for Visa, MasterCard or other providers, so

Save $100 In 10 Minutes: Grocery Shopping That Actually Saves

This Save $100 in 10 Minutes tip takes 10 minutes of planning and then the usual amount of time it takes to grocery shop. If you’re like me, you know what you like to cook and eat… but when you get to the grocery store your mind is as blank as your 10th grade History test in a nightmare. I walk around, picking up random stuff and have no idea what to cook when I get home and it’s time for dinner. To combat this I started figuring out what I cook/eat on a regular basis (the plan) and what elements of it can be bought in bulk (the savings). Anything that is non-perishable is a great opportunity for long-term savings on groceries. What do I cook? One example: I always cook pasta with some basic ingredients: garlic, diced tomatoes, olives and vegetables – it’s quick, healthy and cheap. Instead of running out to get a single tin of each of those items, I realized I could make a one-time large purchase of all of the items in bulk and wind up saving a bundle. When buying a flat of diced tomato cans (12 cans for $4.