|
|
Education for Justice |
FACT SHEET C-7 |
Fall
2010 |
TOP TIPS TO SAVE YOU MONEY
1.
DON’T USE RENT-TO-OWN STORES
Most rent-to-own deals are a
rip-off. By the time you make your last
payment, you may have paid 2 or 3 times what the item was worth. If you have bad credit, you are much better
off saving up your money and paying cash, or cleaning up your bad credit.
2.
DON’T BORROW MONEY FROM “PAY-DAY”
LENDERS
Pay-Day lenders
charge high fees and it puts you further behind in your next pay
period.
3.
DON’T BORROW MONEY ON YOUR TAX
REFUND
Sometimes
called “Refund Anticipation Loans (RALS). Tax refund loans charge high fees and only
get your refund to you a few days early.
If there is some problem that takes time to sort out, you will be paying
interest until it is. You can get your
taxes done for free if you have a low-income. To find a VITA site near you for free tax help
call First Call for Help at 211 (or (651) 291-0211 from a cell phone) statewide. Or, call (651) 297-3724.
4.
DON’T FINANCE PURCHASES
It is much better to save your
money until you can pay the full price for something. Most businesses that offer financing charge a
high interest rate. This means that by
the time you pay it off, you have paid a lot more than what it originally
cost.
5.
GET A BANK ACCOUNT
Check cashing businesses are very
expensive. Shop around for a bank or credit union with free or low
cost checking and savings accounts. A
lot of credit unions are now open to anyone in the neighborhood and sometimes
have accounts with better offers than banks do. You may want to start with a
small savings account.
If you have an account you can
usually cash your checks for free. You
will save money on check cashing fees, and you will improve your credit
rating. If you get an ATM card, be sure
to keep track of what you spend so you know your balance. Be careful of ATM fees—they can add up
fast!! You can avoid these fees by using
ATMs owned by your bank or credit union.
If you open a checking account, be very careful not to bounce checks.
You may get charged a fee by the bank AND the person you wrote the check
to. It could cost $50 or more.
6.
GET YOUR AUTO LOAN FROM YOUR BANK OR
CREDIT UNION
When you finance a car loan with
the dealer, the dealer is often making money on the loan. They may make more money if they give you the
loan at a higher interest rate. They may
tell you it is the best they can do, but they may be able to do better. A local bank or credit union may give you a
better rate.
7.
WATCH OUT FOR PAWN SHOPS
The pawn shop pays you much less
than your goods are worth, and charges very high interest. If you have to sell something, sell it
someplace else. Sell to neighbors and
friends, put a sign up on some local bulletin boards, or use
www.craigslist.org. When you have money
again, you can buy a replacement for it.
8.
LOWER YOUR UTILITY BILLS
Call your utility company and ask
for a free energy audit. They will come
to your home and show you where you are losing money. They give you tips and supplies to weatherize
your home. This can lower your bill a
lot.
Pay your bills on a budget plan –
where you pay the same amount every month.
If you do this, you won’t get big bills in the winter that you can’t
pay. Turn off lights, TVs, and stereos
when you are not using them.
9.
LOWER YOUR PHONE BILL
Give up extra
services like call-waiting, caller-ID, and answering services. Write letters or e-mail instead of calling
long distance. Shop around for the
cheapest long- distance service or do without it and get calling cards for long
distance. Shop for a
good price on those, too.
Be careful of
the same extra charges on your cell phone.
Cell phones can make long distance cheaper so you can get rid of your
long distance carrier on your house phone.
Be sure to ask when the rates are low or free according to your
plan. Pre-paid minute plans are more
expensive than a monthly plan unless you don’t use your phone much. Make sure you get all the information you
need and compare services.
9.
DON’T GAMBLE OR PLAY THE LOTTERY
Every form of gambling, including
the lottery, works on a simple plan.
They pay out less money than they take in. ALWAYS. The more
money you put into gambling or lotteries, the more money you lose.
10.
AIM FOR HOME OWNERSHIP
A good way to save money is to
own your home. But buying a home is
tricky. You need expert help to get a
good loan and to make sure the house is in good shape and the price is right. If you don’t get help, you can be ripped off
by home scams or shady lenders. Talk to
a home owner counseling program in your area.
Find out what you need to do to get a home, and don’t buy until you are
ready.
To get help and information about
buying a home call:
First Call for Help- dial 211 statewide or
(651) 291-0211 from a cell phone
The
11.
WHAT CAN YOU DO WITHOUT?
Think about the little things you
can do without. Little things add up to
a lot. A can of pop per day can be $275 or
more per year. Bring lunch from home
instead of grabbing something from a fast food place or deli. Before you buy a more expensive item, think
about whether you could borrow it from a friend or relative, or whether you
could do without it until you have more money.
12.
IF YOU HAVE UNPAID DEBTS, GET HELP
Being in debt is confusing and
depressing. But you can get help. Call Consumer Credit Counseling Service at
(612) 874-8164 or 1-(800) 388-2227.
You might want to consider
bankruptcy or a repayment plan to get your debts under control. Watch out for “credit repair” schemes that
tell you to do things that are illegal, or charge you to do things that you can
do for free. Check your Credit
Report. You can get a free copy every
year at www.annualcreditreport.com. See
our fact sheet C-6
Credit Reports.
13.
MAKE A BUDGET. It helps to know exactly where your money
goes. A consumer or home ownership
counselor can help you do a budget, or you can do it yourself with the form
attached.
|
MN Legal Services Coalition |
Don’t
use this fact sheet if it is more than 1 year old. Write us for updates, a fact sheet list, or
alternate formats. Fact Sheets aren’t a complete answer to a
legal problem. See
a lawyer for advice. |
|
© 2010 Mid-Minnesota Legal Assistance. This document may be reproduced and
used for non-commercial personal and educational purposes
only. All other rights reserved. This notice must remain on all
copies. Reproduction, distribution,
and use for commercial purposes are strictly prohibited. |
|
To find other Legal
Aid Society materials, including the fact sheets mentioned in this
document, go to www.lawhelpmn.org/LASMfactsheets.
MONTHLY BUDGET
|
MONTHLY INCOME |
|
|
BASIC MONTHLY
EXPENSES |
|
|
Rent / House
Payment |
|
|
Heat |
|
|
Electric |
|
|
Phone |
|
|
Water / Trash |
|
|
Home
Maintenance (cleaning, repairs) |
|
|
Car Payment |
|
|
Car Insurance
(divide by 12 months) |
|
|
Car
Maintenance |
|
|
Car
Registration (divide by 12 months) |
|
|
Gas / Parking |
|
|
Bus Fare |
|
|
Child Support |
|
|
Child Care /
Babysitting |
|
|
Food /
Groceries |
|
|
Children’s
School Supplies |
|
|
Medical Bill
Payments |
|
|
Debt
Repayment |
|
|
Laundry |
|
|
Other |
|
|
Other |
|
|
TOTAL BASIC EXPENSES |
|
|
FLEXIBLE EXPENSES |
|
|
Restaurants/Fast
Food |
|
|
Beer, Wine,
Liquor |
|
|
Your Clothes |
|
|
Children’s
Clothes |
|
|
Cable TV |
|
|
Gifts
(Birthday, Christmas, etc.) |
|
|
Movies,
Videos |
|
|
Entertainment |
|
|
Haircuts,
Beauty |
|
|
Lottery/
Bingo, Gambling |
|
|
Cigarettes |
|
|
Other |
|
|
Other |
|
|
Other |
|
|
Other |
|
|
TOTAL FLEXIBLE EXPENSES |
|
|
TOTAL
EXPENSES (add
totals on front and back) |
|
Subtract your TOTAL EXPENSES from your monthly income. If your total expenses are higher, you need
to start spending less. Start by cutting
back on things on your flexible expenses list, maybe eat out less or cut off
your cable TV.