Money Saving Secrets from the Pros - Managing Money, Entertaining Advice, Dining Discounts - Start Making Choices


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Money-Saving Secrets from the Pros
Get better deals when shopping, dining, decorating, entertaining, and more.
Shopping
  • Search for deals. At outlet malls, ask at the information booth for coupons for the regular retail stores. Also, look for coupons and discount codes at dailycandy.com, topbutton.com, and thebudgetfashionista.com.
  • Request the designer's discount. Often you will get a typically 10 to 15 percent discount when buying furniture. If not, ask for perks, like free delivery.
  • Consider used instead of new. The value of a car can fall by 15 to 40 percent within the first year. Look for certified pre-owned cars (reconditioned and with a warranty) that are about two years old and have about 20,000 miles.
Dining and Entertainment
  • Look online. You can find discounted tickets to shows and plays on goldstarevents.com, broadwaybox.com, and playbill.com.
  • Ask to BYO. At restaurants, see if you can bring your own wine and pay a corkage fee (from $10 and up). Also, bottled water can be marked up by as much as 300 percent, so order tap.
Home Decorating & Renovations
  • Buy designer. Select a high-quality paint marketed under a decor-focused brand name like Benjamin Moore's Pottery Barn line. These manufacturers employ designers to select the color ranges and schemes for the rooms in the brochures. Consider it off-the-shelf decorator advice.
  • Cut out pictures. Frame pages from an art or architecture book. (Samflax.com has some inexpensive frame options.)
  • Think opposites. Upgrade air conditioners in winter and heating units in summer.
  • Consolidate home-renovation projects. Don't do just the bathroom if you plan to make over the kitchen. The bigger the project, the lower the margin the contractor has to make money off it.
Entertaining at Home
  • Slow-cook. Stewing uses inexpensive cuts of meat, but the results taste great and you get to spend more time with your guests.
  • Skip costly desserts. Serve premium ice cream. Or fill a fluted glass with an inexpensive Prosecco and drop in a scoop of sorbet.
  • Buy wine by the case. Many stores will give you a 10 percent discount. Ask the manager if you can mix different wines.
Managing Money
  • Maintain low debt balances. It will translate into a higher credit score because it means you're a good manager of credit. Lenders frown on a person's having too many cards, but don't cancel all unused credit accounts. If you close them but maintain the same amount of outstanding debt, your debt-to-credit-limit ratio goes up, and that's not good for your score.
  • Pay bills on time. Nothing is too small to screw up your credit—not a library fine, not a parking ticket.
  • Start simple. Beginner investors should start with index mutual funds, such as one pegged to the Standard & Poor's (S & P) 500 Index. Because the fund is automated, investors aren't saddled with big fees to cover a high-level fund manager's salary. Check out the Vanguard 500 Index mutual fund (vanguard.com).
  • Bank online. Companies can offer higher rates (4 percent or more) for online accounts because they save on overhead. Try ingdirect.com and emigrantdirect.com.
  • Reshop your life insurance. Prices continue to go down, so if you bought a policy several years ago, you might be able to get a better deal now. Try insure.com or accuquote.com, which is good for finding insurers who won't balk at preexisting medical conditions, such as high blood pressure.
Copyright 2012 Time Inc. REAL SIMPLE is a registered trademark of Time Inc. Used with permission.
Companies named in this Real Simple article are not affiliated with Start Making Choices.







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