Money Saving Habits

Any of you with children will agree that summer is a time that is challenging to get routine things done. My blog has suffered from that challenge. I can't promise that it will be any better the next few weeks, but I am stealing a few minutes today to blog about money matters which is supposed to be my Monday topic. It's been a few Mondays since I was able to snatch the time away from my kids -

Today I want to talk about changing some habits that could end up saving you a good deal of money in the long run. Changing habits is challenging so before reading any more, decide how committed you want to be to saving money. If you are ready to be fully committed and realize that it will require a certain amount of work then read on.

Review Your Insurance Costs - It takes some time to price check. Call around and schedule to have the agents of different companies run some quotes for you. Be sure you are asking about similar coverage levels. We did this a couple of years ago and the company we chose to go with charged a little more for our car insurance but were significantly lower for our home owner's insurance so we ended up saving over $600 a year. To save even more money, we pay the bill all at once instead of monthly. This meant that we had to save some aside each month to have the money ready to cover the entire bill when it comes due.

Check Your Bank Accounts - Many checking accounts charge fees. They seem little $1.00 here and $2.00 there, but these fees can really add up. You are not married to your bank - you don't need to stay with them for sentimental or commitment reasons. Check around and determine which bank can fill your needs without requiring you to pay fees each month. You may also find banks that will pay you better interest than your current one. Go to the work it requires and switch banks.

Limit Your Trips to the Store - Research suggests that you easily spend $20 on impulse buys each time you go to the store. Challenge yourself to stretch out your trips and you'll be saving money at the same time. If you regularly go once a week, stretch it to 9 or 10 days. Get creative with your leftovers. Fill your time with a hobby you enjoy or catch up on some other chores you've been meaning to get to. You'll be saving money and not missing what you could have bought at the store.

Here's just a few ideas. Habits and attitude make a big difference when it comes to saving money. Challenge yourself and see what you can save!