Advertiser Disclosure
The credit card, banking, and other financial offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us – for example, when you click a link, are approved for a product, or open an account. This compensation may influence how and where offers appear on the site, including the order in which they appear on category pages. It does not influence our evaluations, ratings, or opinions, which are ours alone. We do not include every bank, credit card company, or offer available in the marketplace.
Cutting your bills, premiums, fees, taxes, and grocery costs, then building cash reserves with the difference. Pay less for what you already pay for.
Every few months, audit your subscriptions against your card and bank statements and your phone’s app store, and cancel anything you haven’t used since the last check. Recurring charges keep billing whether or not you remember them. Make your first audit cover a full year, since annual renewals show up only once.
A donor-advised fund lets you donate stock you’ve held more than a year, skip the capital gains tax on its rise, and deduct its full market value now. The money stays invested while you pick charities over time. If you give every year and own winners like that, open one before your next donation.
Your internet, phone, and credit card bills are more negotiable than they look, and most people who ask for a better deal get one. Call each provider with a competitor’s price in hand, say you’re ready to switch, and ask what they can do to keep you.
Bank fees look small one at a time, which is how a monthly charge, a few out-of-network ATM withdrawals, and an overdraft or two can cost you $200 or more a year. Add up the last 12 months of fees on your statements, then eliminate the biggest one first.
If you own a home in Texas or one of the eight other states Ownwell covers, sign up before your county’s appeal deadline. It costs nothing unless your bill drops, the Texas fee is 25% against a typical 40% to 50%, and its edge is widest on homes under $250,000.
A money market account is a bank deposit, insured up to $250,000. A money market fund is a mutual fund that aims to hold $1 a share but carries no FDIC guarantee. Check which one you’re buying before you move cash, and keep money you can’t afford to lose in the insured account.
Open a savings account for your emergency fund at a different bank from your checking. The day or two a transfer takes is enough to stop impulse withdrawals, and the distance keeps the fund safe if a thief empties your checking account or you fall behind on a loan at your main bank.
A standard savings account at a big bank pays as little as 0.01%, while inflation shrinks what the money buys. Move your cash to a high-yield savings account at an FDIC-insured bank, where the same federal protection comes with many times the interest.
Your first savings goal is a starter emergency fund of about $2,000 or one month of essential bills. Until it’s full, pay only the minimums on debt and invest only enough to get any employer match. Without that cushion, the next surprise bill turns into credit card debt.
Cut one fixed bill before you fight another daily purchase. Lowering your rent, car insurance, or phone plan by $100 a month saves $1,200 a year with no further effort, so list your recurring costs from largest to smallest and shop, renegotiate, or restructure the biggest ones first.
End of content
End of content
