Expenses

Credit Card Companies Are Raising Your APR – Here’s Why & What You Can Do

Isn’t it always a blessing to come home, check the mail, and be greeted by a handful of bills! Don’t you just love that?
Today I had the pleasure of getting an extra special treat from Capital One; one of my ever so thoughtful credit card providers.
According to the literature, Capital One is raising my APR by nearly 7% due to “the challenging economic environment”. This is an incredibly steep increase in interest that has been implemented in order to pass the brunt of these tough economic times from the shoulders of a credit card company over to my shoulders! I suppose they assume I have broad, strong, healthy, able shoulders!

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Manually Report Utility Meter Readings To Avoid Being Overcharged

by Matt Jabs

I strongly urge you to read this post. It will help you avoid being overcharged as I was.

By calling in and reporting my gas & electric (I have one provider for both services) meter readings manually for two straight months I was able to reclaim a total of $160.13 of errant charges. Was this happenstance, or is my utility company using this practice on many of its customers to pad its bottom line in rough economic times? What do you think?

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Hot Water Savings – DFA Tip of the Week – 5/11/2009

by Matt Jabs

There are many ways to reduce costs in our every day lives, so to help do just that each Monday I will post a money saving “Tip of the Week”. “And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.” Luke [...]

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Financial Philosophy & Sacrifice to Create Wealth & Live Off Your Interest

by Matt Jabs

Do you have a Financial Philosophy? How much are you willing sacrifice to become debt free?

Over the course of the last week or so I have drawn several noteworthy conclusions about myself, my life, my family, and my financial goals. I recently discovered that my financial mindset was faulty, in several distinct ways…

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Quit Your Costly Habits & Invest Your Proceeds – DFA Tip of the Week – 5/4/2009

by Matt Jabs

This weeks tip involves…quitting a costly habit to save money!

For the purposes of this article we are defining a costly habit as any unnecessary or noncritical product, service, or practice that consumes your money on a regular basis.

What costly habits do you have? Have you ever compiled a list of habits that cost you more than you want to pay? Today I challenge you to make that list, kick those habits, and invest your proceeds! I’ll get you started by listing a few expensive habits.

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Free Haircuts = Save Money – DFA Tip of the Week – 4/27/2009

by Matt Jabs

I have always hated having to pay for haircuts. To me getting my hair cut is kind of like mowing my lawn, it just keeps growing & we just keep cutting, over & over & over. If I break it down, including tip haircuts were costing us around $20/month. Here is what my wife & I did to cut that down to $0/month!

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Beans Beans and More Beans – How we plan to reduce our grocery bill

by Matt Jabs

We stopped going out to eat which is saving us over $5,000/year. We subscribed to Netflix and stopped going to the movies which saves us $600/year. We are working diligently to reduce our monthly bills which has helped us cut at least another $600/year. All told, since January of 2009 we have reduced our monthly spending by over $500!

I of course keep pushing by wondering…how I can cut this down even further? Looking over our budget it appears that one of the few categories I can still reduce is our monthly grocery expenditures. Enter “Beans Beans and More Beans”!

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Automatic Bill Pay Concerns – DFA Tip of the Week – 4/20/2009

by Matt Jabs

This weeks tip involves…reasons NOT TO USE automatic bill payments.

Automatic bill payment can be one of the best ways to repair bad credit and is a very good thing 90% of the time. It is the other 10% I would like to focus on today!

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Help When Overwhelmed by Personal Finances – DFA Tip of the Week – 4/13/2009

by Matt Jabs

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!” ~Lao Tzu

All of this Personal Finance business can be overwhelming! Debt repayment vs. Reduce Monthly Bills vs. Saving & Investing, etc.
Follow these guidelines to avoid becoming overwhelmed.

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Reduce Monthly Bills – Trash Edition

by Matt Jabs

**Update – 5/28/2009** I took out my trash for the first time in a month & a half so our garbage bill has been lowered from $15/month to $1/month. Not to bad! **Update – 4/22/2009** This article was also featured on the Carnival of Pecuniary Delights #4 – Living Green Edition! **Update – 4/21/2009** This [...]

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5 Minutes to Lower Monthly Bills – DFA Tip of the Week – 3/30/2009

by Matt Jabs

There are many ways to reduce costs in our everyday lives, so to help do just that each Monday I will post a money saving “Tip of the Week”. “And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.” Luke 19:17 [...]

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