Posted in Money Matters
Real Simple magazine has 20 tips that can save you as much as $3,000.00 per year.
The Leak: Paying bills by snail mail.
The Fix: The average household receive about 15 bills a month. With stamps now at 39 cents each, you spend about $70 a year just on postage — and don’t forget the late fees if your checks get lost in the mail.
The Leak: Subscribing for cable TV, Internet access, and phone service from three different providers.
The Fix: Consider a package deal from your local cable or phone company. You can get digital phone service, which is provided by a broadband Internet connection, high-speed Internet, and digital channels for much less than you’d pay separately.
The Leak: A cell-phone plan that doesn’t match your needs.
The Fix: Too many minutes and you’re wasting money. Too few and the overages can send your cell-phone bill into the stratosphere. On average, according to the consumer research firm J.D. Power & Associates, cell-phone subscribers use only 64 percent of the minutes they pay for.
The Leak: Taking your time to redeem gift cards.
The Fix: Read the fine print on the back of the card: Some cards expire as quickly as six months after their purchase, while others charge $1 to $2.50 for dormancy, maintenance, or inactivity fees if they’re not used within 6 to 24 months. The fees are deducted from the card’s balance, so a $45 gift card could disappear in two years.
The Leak: Letting the water run.
The Fix: Turn off the tap while you’re brushing your teeth or shaving — every minute the water flows wastes up to 2 1/2 gallons, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Money-Saving Secrets Life Skills : RealSimple.com
译文:
二十个省钱小秘诀
发表于 专栏“金钱决定一切”
让realsimple杂志为你提供20个小秘诀，帮助您每年省下多达3000美元。
漏洞：邮递员递送的账单
解决：一般家庭每个月大约收到十五份账单，如果每一份都按照现在39美分的邮资，你将每年花费70美元而只是为了支付这些邮费——还有，不要忘了那些由于账单在邮递过程中丢失，但是仍需由你支付的滞纳金。
漏洞：向三家不同的供应商订购有线电视，网络服务和电话服务。
解决：考虑向你的电话公司或当地的有线公司订购打包服务。你可以得到由宽带连接提供的数字电话的服务，高速网络和数字频道，但是你却只需要支付比以前分开订购时更少的钱。
漏洞：一个不符合你实际需求的手机套餐
解决：套餐里包含太多的通话时间，而你则是在浪费金钱。很少有人能把自己的套餐用到最高价值。通常，根据市场资讯公司J.D.Power公司的调查报告，手机用户一般仅使用他们所定套餐64%的通话时间。
漏洞：不按时使用消费卡
解决：阅读在卡背后印刷的内容：一些消费卡在售出后六个月就过期了，而其他的一些则因为他们在六到24个月内都未被使用，因此处于睡眠状态或是养护状态而会收取1美元到2.5美元的费用。这些费用都是从卡的余额里扣除的，因此一张45美元的消费卡也许在两年里就可能分文不值了。
漏洞：让水龙头一直开着
解决：在你刷牙或是剃须时，关掉水龙头——根据环境保护局的说法，如果不关水龙头，每分钟将有2.5加仑的水白白流掉。
生活技巧之省钱秘诀：realsimple.com