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There was a list of funny ways to save money on a “frugal living” website. They weren’t necessarily meant to be funny, but were gleaned from real suggestions sent in. Some cheapskates don’t seem to notice that an extra hour at work might put them further ahead than many hours of penny-pinching.
The following are real suggestions, and then there are some funny ways to save money that you really shouldn’t try.
Funny Ways To Save Money – The Real Suggestions
One person suggested ways to save money on weddings that included picking up the leftover flowers at a cemetery. I’m not sue how you can tell which are “leftovers.”
Another creative penny pincher found a way to save money on a car wash. He washed his entire car using the squeegee at the gas station.
A woman confessed that she has the kids stuff their pockets with the free ketchup, salt and other condiment packets every time they were in a fast food restaurant. That’s not all, though. She actually had the kids squeeze ketchup and mustard from the packets into regular jars of ketchup and mustard, and claims she hasn’t bought these condiments in years.
To save money on an umbrella, one man suggests going to the lost and found department of any large public library. Tell them you lost a black umbrella. They will have several, from which you can pick the best one and claim it as your own.
Call people long-distance when you know they won’t be home. Leave a message for them to call. That way, they pay for the long-distance call.
Funny Ways To Save Money – Don’t Try This At Home
Don’t pay baby sitters! Get young couples who are thinking about having kids to “rent” yours for the evening. They get to see what it will be like, and you can get paid instead of paying for sitters.
Turn off the TV and all the lights to save electricity. Tell the kids it’s a game of hide-and-seek.
Train your dog to beg for food from strangers, so you won’t have to buy dog food.
Rub pine needles under your arms instead of buying deodorant.
Take extra napkins from fast food restaurants to save on toilet paper.
Borrow your neighbors toothbrush instead of buying your own.
If I write a book on ways to save money, funny or not, will I make much in sales, or will everyone take my suggestion and borrow it from the library instead of buying it?
The following article covers the liabilities of fraudulent activities for credit cards, ATM cards and debit cards.
Many people find it easy and convenient to use credit cards and ATM or debit cards. The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) offer procedures for you to use if your cards are lost or stolen.
Limiting Your Financial Loss
It is faster and easier to process financial transactions today than ever before. Thanks to the electronic age, check cards, debit cards, and ATM cards give us instant access to funds on deposit at the local bank or a financial institution miles away. This also provides an avenue of opportunity for thieves and scam artists to rapidly deplete our financial reserves as well.
There are laws in place that provide a measure of protection from total financial ruination, but you need to be aware of your rights and responsibilities should your cards be stolen or appropriated for mischief. The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) are two laws implemented on a federal level that can assist individuals targeted by the criminal element. For the laws to work properly, however, you need to invoke the protective measures by doing certain things if your cards are lost or stolen such as reporting the loss or theft promptly to the issuers.
Limit Your Financial Loss
As soon as you discover the loss or possible theft of your credit cards and your ATM or debit cards you must immediately notify the companies that issued the cards so they will have that fact on record and can monitor the cards for unusual activities. You can usually find toll-free numbers for the 24 hour help line on the back of the card or on your billing statement. It is a good idea to make a list of your cards, along with the account identification and the toll-free numbers, for reporting their loss. When you travel be sure to keep this information separate from the cards so you will have access to the information should you have a need to make a report while away from home.
Keep a record of the companies you notified. Follow up the phone call with a letter that includes all of the pertinent information such as account number, when you noticed your card was missing, and the date you first reported the loss.
As a side note, you might want to check your homeowner’s insurance policy to see if it covers the liability amount you are responsible for in the case of theft. If you do not currently have such coverage, you might want to contact your insurer to include this protection in your policy.
Under the Credit Card Loss or Fraudulent Charges (FCBA) act, the maximum liability for illegal use of your credit card is $50 per card. If you report the loss before any unauthorized charges are posted you cannot be held liable for any of the charges. If the charges are made using your account number, but not the card itself, you will not be held responsible for any of the charges. The FCBA specifically says the card issuer cannot hold you responsible for any unauthorized charges and limits your loss to $50 of the charges made on the cards prior to you reporting them lost or stolen.
You should always review your card billing statements for errors, but following the loss or theft of the cards you should be even more diligent. If you notice anything amiss in the statement, send a letter to the card issuer along with a description of the questionable charge. Remind them of the phone call you made and the letter you previously sent notifying them of the loss or theft of the cards. There is usually a separate address on the statement to which you will direct billing errors. Do not send the letter along with your payment unless you are directed to do so by the card company.
The Electronic Fraudulent Transfer Act (EFTA) also protects you from fraudulent use of your bankcards. Federal protection from loss due to unauthorized use of your ATM or debit card depends on how quickly you report the loss. For example, if you report the loss before the card is used, the EFTA protects you from any loss. If the report is made within two business days after noticing the loss you will not be responsible for more than $50 on each card.
If you fail to make a report within two business days after you discover the loss, you could be held responsible for up to $500. If you wait more than 60 days after you receive a billing statement reflecting fraudulent activity to make a report, you risk unlimited loss. For example, if you do not file a timely report on the theft of the cards, you could lose not only all of the money in the account, but also be held liable for the amount of overdraft protection you are granted. You must report unauthorized use, loss, or theft of the cards within 60 days of the mailing of your card statement or face unlimited loss. You are liable for charges made between the date of loss and the date the loss was reported. If the thief only uses your account number and not the card itself, however, you will not be held accountable for those charges.
Protecting Your Cards
To protect yourself against fraudulent use of your cards, you should know where they are at all times and keep them safe and secure. If your card requires a password or personal identification number (PIN), don’t write the number down so the thieves will get the code along with your cards. Do not use your address, birth date, phone or Social Security number as the PIN. Commit the pass code to memory and don’t share the information with anyone.
In addition, the following suggestions may help you protect your credit card and ATM or debit card accounts.
For Credit and ATM or Debit Cards:
* Do not reveal your account number over the phone unless you know you’re dealing with a reputable company.
* Never put your account number on the outside of an envelope or on a postcard.
* Draw a line through blank spaces on charge or debit slips above the total so the amount cannot be changed.
* Don’t sign a blank charge or debit slip.
* Tear up carbons and save your receipts to check against your monthly statements.
* Cut up old cards – cutting through the account number – before disposing of them.
* Open monthly statements promptly and compare them with your receipts. Report mistakes or discrepancies as soon as possible to the special address listed on your statement for inquiries. (For more information on the federal laws regarding FCBA and EFTA, click here)
* Keep a record – in a safe place separate from your cards – of your account numbers, expiration dates, and the telephone numbers of each card issuer so you can report a loss quickly.
* Carry with you only those cards that you anticipate you’ll need.
For ATM or debit cards:
* Don’t carry your PIN in your wallet or purse or write it on your ATM or debit card.
* Never write your PIN on the outside of a deposit slip, an envelope, or other papers that could be easily lost or seen.
* Carefully check ATM or debit card transactions before you enter the PIN or before you sign the receipt; the funds for this item will be fairly quickly transferred out of your checking or other deposit account.
* Periodically check your account activity. This is particularly important if you bank online. Compare the current balance and recent withdrawals or transfers to those you’ve recorded, including your current ATM and debit card withdrawals and purchases and your recent checks. If you notice transactions you didn’t make, or if your balance has dropped suddenly without activity by you, immediately report the problem to your card issuer. Someone may have co-opted your account information to commit fraud.
Paying For A Registration Service
There are service providers who, for an annual fee, will contact all of your credit card and ATM bank card issuers in the case of theft or loss of your cards. This service will notify the issuers and request new cards for you, but other than allowing you to make one phone call and saving you from making numerous phone calls yourself, you do not need this service.
The FCBA and the EFTA allows you to contact your card issuers’ customer service department directly to notify them of the theft, loss or unauthorized use of your cards. If however, you would enjoy the convenience of a notification service to make the calls for you, be sure to compare the companies’ offer versus the fees they charge. Be sure your card issuer will work with such a service and find out if the service pays any fees if they fail to notify the card company in a timely manner and you incur charges on your card.
If you decide to purchase service from a registration company, compare offers. Carefully read the contract to determine the company’s obligations and your liability. For example, will the company reimburse you if it fails to notify card issuers promptly once you’ve called in the loss to the service? If not, you could be liable for unauthorized charges or transfers.
As Americans face rising fuel prices, many are looking for ways to save money and energy in their homes.
The pressure to reduce energy consumption and costs is inspiring homeowners to challenge the relevance of old heating and hot water solutions and consider other cost-effective options, such as wall-hung boiler technology.
Wall-hung boilers have been common in homes throughout Europe for the past three decades and are now emerging as a popular alternative for heating homes and businesses in North America.
Baxi Luna wall-hung boilers, for instance, are helping homeowners throughout the U.S. cut their home heating and hot water fuel consumption in half. These boilers are fully modulating, meaning they start at a preset, high-fire position and gradually reduce fuel output until the heating demand is met. At this point, the boiler automatically shuts off.
Billed as one of the quietest boilers on the market, Baxi Luna boilers are fired by propane or natural gas. No bigger than a kitchen cabinet, a Baxi Luna boiler can be installed in the closet – saving valuable living space in homes of up to 6,000 square feet.
The boiler also is making commercial buildings more efficient. For example, this year a heating specialist in Biddeford, Maine, installed eight Baxi Luna high-efficiency condensing boilers in the City Hall and City Theatre. People living in the city expect the new heating system to reduce fuel use by at least 50 percent and save taxpayers money even in the face of rising fuel costs.
Baxi Luna wall-hung boilers are approved by the American Gas Association and Canadian Standards Association. Consumers can take comfort from the boilers’ Energy Star certification (for energy efficiency) and H-Stamp rating (for operating effectiveness).
These environmentally friendly products are quiet enough to install in the back of a large closet, even in the master bedroom. They are ideal for in-floor radiant heating systems and are compatible with any type of air handler, wall or baseboard radiators and custom radiant applications, such as heated towel racks or snow melt.
If you understand and follow the basic principle of “Cash is King” you can change your life forever. Your life will be less stressful financially and you will be taking your first major step toward “financial peace of mind”.
“Cash is King” is an easy principle to understand; however it may be difficult to follow. This principle is the key to less stress within your financial life. Many things tell us how to manage our finances and it seems that none of them address the “root cause” of our financial problems.
The biggest problem is that we live in a world of plastic and for all practical purposes we do not respect or understand the value of cash.
If you follow this simple but different principle of “Cash is King” you will start on the road to “financial peace of mind”. Here are two basic suggestions on how to follow the principle of “Cash is King”:
When you are paid make sure you allocate enough money to pay your rent/mortgage, utilities and any other fixed expenses you may have. Any amount of cash that is left should be withdrawn from your checking account to be used for food, clothing, gifts, entertainment, gas, etc. The best way for you to control this cash would be for you to divide and allocate certain amounts of cash for each variable expense and store this cash in labeled envelopes, like the envelopes found in the BUDGETkeeper SYSTEM.
Now remember that this cash is the only way you can spend. Once you have used all your cash there will be no spending until your next paycheck. This is tough! No credit/debit cards? You must be kidding! How will I ever get through to my next payday without using my credit/debit cards? They say smoking is hard to give up, I think sticking to the principle of “Cash is King” may even be harder!
Stick with “Cash is King” and manage your money. You will start by finding the cheapest places to buy gas, run your errands more logically and take your morning coffee from home instead of buying that latte every day. You will have to find many new ways to manage your cash and the first few weeks will be the toughest. You may even run out of cash before your next payday, however, you will stick to the principle “Cash is King” and eventually find “financial peace of mind”.
After several weeks it will get easier to manage your cash and you will be surprised to find extra cash available before your next paycheck. What will you do with that extra cash? Many say put the extra cash into a savings account or pay a little extra towards one of your debts. I say put it in a coffee can and let it accumulate then take yourself out and have one great party!
If you can follow this principle, you will be on your way to establishing a personal/family budget. Let the BUDGETkeeper SYSTEM show you the way to “financial peace of mind”.
Well, we’re all reeling from our utility bills. So, what can be done to cut energy costs?
Obviously, the best way to cut your utility bill is to go with a non-utility company source of energy. Solar power can be used to warm your house, while geothermal can be used to cool and heat the home. While these are great choices, there are a few simple steps you can take to cut that monstrous utility bill.
Vent Covers – In most homes, there are rooms that rarely get used. A very simple and very cheap way to cut your heating costs is to isolate those rooms from the rest of your home. To do this, you should close the vents in the room. The vents, however, rarely close well. To make the strategy effective, you should buy vent covers and place them over the vents. The covers are a form of plastic and keep heat from coming out of the vents. Next, close the door to the room in question and leave it. By using this strategy, you can effectively make your home smaller by excluding the square footage that has to be heated. The smaller the area, the small the amount of money to heat the home.
Windows – Windows are the single biggest energy wasters in your home. Your windows must seal tightly. If they don’t, heat will escape out of them causing your heater to fire up over and over. If you make sure your window fit tightly into the frame when closed, you can significant cut the utility bill. It sounds like a small thing, but it really ads up.
Programmable Thermostat – Heating your home accounts for fifty percent of your utility bill. While a warm home is necessary for basic living in the winter, the home doesn’t need to be heated all of the time. If there are periods during the day where nobody is home because of work or school, a programmable thermostat can be used to slash your heating costs. Simply program the thermostat to turn off during the relevant time and turn back on before anyone gets home. Cutting four to eight hours off of your heating needs each day will add up quickly on your utility bill.
If your utility bills are completely out of control, there is something fundamentally wrong with your home. You need to go ahead and get an Energy Audit. An auditor will come out and inspect your home. They can then identify the problem, what should be done and provide other tips to slash your bill. Depending on how bad your situation is, an energy audit can cut your utility bill by 50 percent or more.
Power costs are high and expected to continue to increase for the foreseeable future. Take steps to cut your utility bill now and you’ll reap the benefits for years.
