allpiggybanks.com

With the economy as it is today, you may be like me and want to employ every means possible to enrich your financial picture. I’ve always assumed I could deal with whatever my financial future holds. Lately though, I’ve begun to feel the gentle rumblings of an impending financial earthquake. So I decided to examine my everyday spending habits and make changes where possible. A dollar saved here and there can add up before you know it.

1. See if you recognize this scenario. You’re at your local Souper W (shopping there to save money by the way) tired and feeling like you could eat everything in sight? Your stomach screams as you load up your buggy with all kinds of mouth-watering goodies. At the checkout, the cashier announces your total of $330.42! What? All you came in for was bread, milk and eggs! Sound familiar? That’s why it’s not a good idea to go to the store when you’re tired and hungry. If you’re not salivating over everything, you’ll spend less time in the store and in return, save money.

2. Every night empty your pockets. Take all your change and put it in anything that can serve as a piggy bank. I actually have two. One is a tall clear plastic bear that some animal crackers came in. That money goes toward paying my grandchildren’s insurance policies. The other is a very tall plastic glass that originally held a huge margarita. When it gets full, I may put it in my savings or use it for something special. The point is that, if the change was still in my pocket, I’d probably spend it the next day and have nothing to show for it. This is a painless way to fatten up the bank.

3. Check to see if your bank has a program that will round up purchases and place the extra in a savings account. For example, if you make a purchase for $5.40 on your debit card, your bank will deduct another 60 cents and add it to your savings account. So you’ll deduct from your checking balance $5.40 for your purchase, as well as the 60 cents that went to you, for a total of $6.00.

4. If you have money in a Certificate of Deposit or are considering one, ask your banker about CD laddering. Say you have $10,000 to put in a CD. Instead of putting it all in one, get several CDs maturing at different times. This will allow you to withdraw money if you have an urgent need for it before maturity without paying penalties on the whole $10,000. You may also be able to take advantage of a higher interest rate as the various CDs mature. I had never heard of that before until my banker explained it to me, and it made sense. Get your banker to tell you the details of it. I’m just relaying it to you as it was explained to me.

5. If you’re self-employed and need business cards, go online and do a search for free business cards. There is a site where you can get 250 business cards for free. You do have to pay shipping, but it’s minimal. I ordered some for myself the other day. Of course, I added a few extras, but that was totally optional. I also took advantage of some other specials and ordered sticky notes, a rubber stamp, and holiday cards, all for free with a minimal shipping charge.

So remember. Don’t go to the grocery store hungry, empty the change from your pockets each night, check with your banker on programs that can help you, and save high printing costs by checking out free sites on the internet. These are really simple things to do, but they can make your piggy bank get fatter before you know it.