12 Ways To Care For Money – Part II
This article is in 2 parts. One has already appeared under the category “Spend wisely to save money”.
Out of Season Items
You will find that as a season is over, the prices of the items for that season start dropping by as much as 90%. That could be an ideal time for buying for the next season, if one has a little extra cash for the first time. Latter it will become a routine if done every year. Because of this reason, we buy items for at huge discounts for the next season. For example we buy our warm clothing from Feb to Apr for the next winter and our warm clothing in Oct to Dec for the next summer. This way we have been getting bargains and saving a good amount of money.
Paying for cash
We usually pay our bills by credit cards. Many times I bargain with sellers for some discount if paid in cash. Everyone loves cash. Instead of paying to credit card companies, many times they are willing to accept less for immediate cash. Sometimes we bargain for no tax payments against cash as well. We also use a cash back credit card and get 1% cash back.
Credit Card Promotions
Sometimes I get offers from banks for cash advances at 2 or 3 percent rate of interest. I have used this money to pay for Lines of Credit or simply to deposit in higher paying deposits (like GICs etc.). After the promotion period is over, I simply withdraw money and pay back before they start charging me normal rate of interest. I just make some money by reinvesting this promotional offer.
Occasionally new credit cards are offered at very low introductory offers for cash advances. I have taken advantage of this also. Thus if I get a new credit card for $10,000 at 1.9% for a year, I accept it and withdraw money. I deposit the same money in a GIC or savings account for 4 to 5 per cent rate of interest. I repay the loan at the end of the introductory offer with a profit of at least $200. Simultaneously I would close the credit card as I don’t want to keep many cards. At any time I do not keep more than three credit cards.
One should make calculations before borrowing this promotional money and then reinvesting. I have been making anything from $100 to $300 in a year by spending some minutes of my time.
Bank A/C Fees
One should also be careful about bank fees. There may be some very sparingly used accounts and one might still be paying bank fees. Banks charge money on any small excuse. One should carefully watch if one is not unnecessarily paying any bank fees. There are ways to overcome the same. For example, one can save fees if one gets electronic statements rather than paper statements.
TV, Internet cable and Telephone Bills
These may be a heavy drain on one’s pocket. One should pay close attention to what one is being charged. If one is not watching too much of a TV or does not need too fast an Internet connection, one can save a lot of money by just going for basic TV and Internet. Long distance charges could also be heavy. There are alternative companies which offer very cheap long distance plans. So it is mostly better to have a different long distance provider. In my case I have a different long distance provider for landlines only and another for cell phones as this way I get cheaper rates. We talk a lot internationally for about $30 only.
Service Providers
One should always check who is charging how much for different facilities like phone, Internet, TV etc. Since there is too much competition in the market, if one finds a cheaper rate somewhere, one should immediately call one’s own service provider and negotiate a better deal. My experience is that at most of the times, one will get a concession. I get many discounts at present only because of this.