Posts Tagged ‘ utilities ’

Saving Money on Those Dreaded Utility Bills

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Are you paying too much for your utilities? Perhaps the cost has been steadily climbing for some time, at first only slightly noticeable, but now making up quite a chunk of your monthly payments. There are some simple modifications you can make to reduce these costs and help the planet at the same time; it just takes a bit of careful planning.

Change your supplier: Search online to compare electricity prices and take note of companies from which may be able to get a better deal. In light of recent increases in gas and electricity prices, it’s important not to be complacent about your supplier and to check that you’re getting the best deal available – even if you’ve been with the same company for a long time.
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Are “Stealth” Expenses Killing Your Budget?

By Kevin M

Do you ever find yourself wondering—perhaps when you look at your paycheck or even your W2–I make a good living, why don’t I have more money saved up?

You might look at your income and your regular expenses and think that you should be saving more, but somehow it all seems to just disappear, almost as if there are termites gnawing away at both your wallet and your checking account. And perhaps there are a few termites infesting your finances. Call them “stealth expenses”—stealth because we usually underestimate them—if we even notice them–expenses because that’s just what they are.

We all have fixed expenses that we know only too well—house payments, car payments, student loan and credit card payments. There are also day-to-day survival expenses, like groceries and gas. We’re very familiar with all of these, but it’s those others, the variables, that slowly suck the life out of a budget. Those are the stealth expenses, the ones that aren’t always so easy to measure or even to prepare for.

”Where does all my money go?”

China is the No. 1 energy user – what does that mean for your car?

By Kevin M

What does energy use in China have to do with your personal financial situation here in the Western World?

Many of us prefer to believe this is an issue best left to politicians or economists, but hardly worthy of serious analysis or concern by the rest of us. After all, things will play out the way they will right?

Maybe not. We spend time and money planning for any number of future outcomes—our retirement, our health, our careers, paying off our mortgages, our children’s futures—why not map out and plan a viable energy future? World leadership hasn’t done such a good job of this so far, and if energy follows the pattern of the last few years with steadily rising prices over the long term, it won’t be politicians and economists who will suffer the brunt of the problem—it’ll be us.

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Posts Tagged ‘ utilities ’

Saving Money on Those Dreaded Utility Bills

Are “Stealth” Expenses Killing Your Budget?

”Where does all my money go?”

China is the No. 1 energy user – what does that mean for your car?

Financial Management