Extreme Couponing? Can you do it?

There is a lot of buzz about extereme couponing where these people go into stores with hundreds of coupons and walk out the door with virtually paying a few dollars for hundreds of dollars in groceries. Most of us don't have the time nor the will power to make a haul like that.

Coupons are very important and should be taken advantage of. You need to be smart about using them and make sure that they are truly giving you a better price. An example of this was on yogurt last week. I had a coupon for 3 yogurts for $2.00. However, the generic brand was 59 cents. If I would have used the coupon, I wouldn't have saved the 23 cents by just buying generic.

Coupons really come in handy when going out to eat and using services. Groupon and Living Social are good sites to check out and maybe save a little money. Also, don't throw away those coupons that come in the mail. Look through them and you may be surprised at what treasures you may find inside.

Low Income? Talk to your Utility Companies!

Sometimes money can be tight or you could be on a fixed budget, such as unemployment, alimony, or Social Security as your only source of income. If this is your situation, you should call your local utlity company to see if you can qualify for some type of assistance program. It is best to do this before you get into trouble with the ulitity company with late payment of bills. If you are a senior citizen, make sure to mention this as well. Proof of income may be required, so be prepared to show documentation when you apply for the special programs. Every little bit helps!

Refinance your auto loan to give you more cash flow!

For some of you out there, you may be in a position where you need a little more cash each month. If you have a vehicle, and you are not upside down on your loan, have you thought of refinancing? I did that for my last vehicle. I owed $17,000 and my monthly payment was a whopping $733 a month. However, after refinancing, I got it down to $435.

Refinancing did mean that I was going to pay more interest and extend the life of the loan. I was taking great shape of the car and it was in good shape. The extra cash flow a month let me put it into savings.

Save Your Receipts!!! You can get $$$$$

When I go shopping I always save my receipts. Yes, it can be a pain, but it is a way to save money. Last week I went and bought a blazer for $89.99 and I kept my receipt. Today, I see the same blazer at the same store on sale for $59.99. I take it back and get $30 back. This is true with many things, especially around the holidays. This year alone I have been given already $100 back on previous purchases. All of that money I have put away for my vacation. It was easy and cost me no money. I just had to be organized and disciplined in saving receipts.

I have had several readers email me with this tip. Thank you to everyone.

Please email me your tips and I may post them,

Call Your Cable/Satellite TV Service for Deals

I just got a $200 credit on my Satellite TV Bill because I called up and threatened to change companies! You have to know how to work it and be serious about canceling your service. I was planning on switching to another company for a year at a low rate anyways, but I will enjoy the credit for right now. After a few months, I will play the field again to see what I can get.

You can call your service provider and see if they have any specials or rates and see what they can offer to keep you as a paying customer. You may get nothing, or you may get a small windfall like me.

Let me know if you try this and what the result is..... themoneyguru2009@yahoo.com

Save on water, Save on Moolah big time!

Here are a few money saving tips with water at your house to help you save on water and help save you some cash.

1. If it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down. I know you are probably saying, eeeeewwww! But, every time that you are able not to flush, you save on water and sewer charges. Obviously, you only want to do this if you are the only one using a specific restroom.

2. If you have an older home or apartment, invest a few dollars and buy low flow shower heads and aerators for your faucets. They make 1.5 and 2.0 gpm (gallons per minutes) for your bathroom faucets and are cheap to buy. I installed it myself after going to Home Depot and buying them for a few bucks each.

3. If you have an automatic sprinkler system, cut the watering time by a few minutes. Every minute less is money saved.

4. Fix that broken sprkinler! Leaky sprinklers equals leaky pockets and you are wasting money.

5. Buy an egg timer and use it to time your shower. I set mine for 5 minutes and I have already cut more than 20 bucks alone off of my water bill. I love long showers, but now I need to pinch every penny.

Anyone out there have water saving tips? Email me and I would love to share them. themoneyguru2009@yahoo.com

You can search for other water saving and money saving tips right here in my blog! Thanks.

A Little Credit Card Trick Companies Don't Want you to Know!

Ok, this is a little trick that I learned on tv with one of the money guru's. I tried it and it works most of the time and has saved me hundreds of dollars on interest. However, let me warn you that it only for people that have been on-time at making credit card payments. This is what you do: Call your credit card company and tell them you got an offer for another credit card with a lower rate and that you are thinking about closing your account if they can not meet or beat the offer, or even lower your rate. They may tell you about a promotional rate that is currently available or may trasnfer you to the customer retention department. Not every credit card will always have a promotional rate, so keep calling every so often.

One of my credit cards was at 13.99% and I called and got a promotional rate for 7.99% and then I had a new floor put in my master bedroom. The interest rate has been cut almost in half!

Give it a try and let me know your success stories. themoneyguru2009@yahoo.com