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Saving on Utilities and Reducing Credit Card Bills
People got so much used to comfort, to living in apartments and houses with all conveniences. Can you imagine living without water, gas or electricity? Like cavemen. Me neither. However, utility bills are among the most avid money eaters on your expenditure list. But most people just make a helpless gesture looking at their monthly credit card statement. That's the way the cookie crumbles.
Actually you can make the cookie rumble the way you need it. You just need to make some efforts and get used to saving on utilities. Keep on reading and you will find several tips on how to reduce your utility bills and cut down your monthly credit card payments.
Let's take the water consumption first. Of course, saving water does not mean that you should stop washing the dishes or take a shower once a week. But what about your washing machine? Do you know that it takes about 21 gallons of water for a typical full load? While for a small load the machine will need 14 gallons. It seems that small loads save more water. In fact, a number of small loads is much more wasteful that one or two of full loads.
Saving on electricity is also possible. Installing fluorescent bulbs in lamps will help you in that. Such lamps imitate daylight, serve much longer than incandescent bulbs and can save you from $10 to $50 a year on household expenses. And just remember to turn off your TV set, computer, lights when you do not need them on. You might be surprised, but this will really help to save money on electricity.
Maintaining the temperature on the water heater between 110 and 120 degrees saves energy as well. Insulating hot water heaters is an inexpensive way to cut your energy costs and it can add $25 a year to your utility savings fund.
And just a parenthetic remark. If you get a no annual fee card or a plastic that offers a beneficial rewards program, you will save the most on credit card payments.
Do not be lazy to wash a couple of glasses, forks and plates by yourself without using a dishwasher. Run the dishwasher only with a full load. Let the dishes dry in a dish drainer instead of using your dishwasher's heat cycle.
As you notice a leak in your taps or a running toilet, try to contract plumbing services company right away. If you do not fix the breakdown as soon as possible, it can result in $25 to $125 losses a year.
A great way to save on energy charges for cooking is using a microwave. You can actually save up to 50% of energy costs associated with cooking and heating meals using a microwave instead of oven. It will be about $50 in cash equivalent.
Installing flow restricting shower heads. It might sound funny in terms of water savings, but in fact the family of four people can save from 8,000 to 12,000 gallons of water over a year. Using warm, not hot, water for doing laundry and cold water for rinsing clothes will pay dividends to your savings fund as well. As much as $50 a year.
These are the basic tips that will allow you to save a good deal of money on utility payments. A little bit here, a little bit there, and there you go! You can save about $200-$250 a year, just having your energy, water and electricity use under control. Besides, if you apply for a lowest APR credit card or for a cash back credit card, you will save even more on your utility bills.
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Most credit tips say that the sooner you pay off your credit card balance - the less money you will lose on interest. On-time payments will favorably bound back on your credit score and payment history. This kind of advice is what we all are used to hear and read on the Web, in financial magazines, in tips columns. But does this financial behavior model really have a positive effect on your FICO score and credit report?
How can it be questioned, you ask? A perfectly disciplined plastic owner that pays off his or her balance before a lender could say Jack Robinson. Is not it any creditor's dream? No, it is not always so. Let's find out why a lender would want a different behavior model from a borrower and when this kind of paying down debts can weigh heavily against a cardholder.
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Indivos Corp. which majors in computer hardware and software development has been working on an electronic system for making payments over a number of years. The thing about this system is that it enables transactions to be made by scanning customers' fingertips. A number of retailers have already expressed interest in testing the new system.
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In the average, every American of these 40% spends $1.2 per every $1 he or she earns. Plastics have changed people's spending habits. These plastic devices allow and encourage people to spend more and more money. Around 18% of all purchases made by Americans involve credit card use. About 24% of the purchases are made with other types of plastics.
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If you are determined to eliminate your credit card debts and you have good credit, getting a balance transfer card is a good idea. You can shift your credit card balances with high interest rate to a card with much lower rate or 0% APR at all. But there is one thing that can reduce your profit from this kind of a deal. It is balance transfer fee.
Most balance transfer cards come with a fee for a transfer. Not long ago you could easily find a plastic for balance transfers with no fee. However, due to the credit card market crisis and economy slowdown, lenders have pulled these deals from the market. And now it is rather hard for a customer to find a balance transfer card that comes with no fee. But there are some ways to negotiate a better balance transfer deal.
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