All Budgeting & bargains Articles

The day after Thanksgiving is known in retail circles as Black Friday, the most popular shopping day of the year. But it doesn't have to be a day where crowds wear on your nerves and not much gets accomplished. Experts recommend the following tips for shopping success: 1. Do your research Sure, sales fliers arrive with Thanksgiving Day newspapers. But you can usually find the information Read more...

Serve up a dining delight without starving your bank account. What better reason than a feast to bring family and friends together? Yet pulling off a well-heeled meal can be a challenge on a shoestring budget. Minimize your load from the grocery store and lighten your food bill with a little consumer smarts. Have a plan First, you need to know how many people you're expecting, what kind Read more...

Shopping for toys this holiday season doesn't have to be a budget buster. With toymakers adjusting to Americans' more frugal shopping habits, this season the price of fun isn't as high as in the past, says Chris Byrne, content director of TimetoPlayMag.com. "A lot of toys are less expensive this year, so a lot of what we're considering the hot toys of the year are really under $20," Read more...

How far would you go to pay off your debts faster? This month's Frugal $ense winner -- Tiffany Rodi of Cumming, Ga. -- and her family cut their cable service and built an HD antenna out of some things in the garage. Bankrate: Why did you decide to build your own HD antenna? Tiffany Rodi: Well, my husband and I are on Dave Ramsey's "Baby Steps" plan and have been since August Read more...

Most of us are well aware of the costs of the seven deadly sins. We may even know the downside of ignoring the five basic food groups. But we probably have never stopped to do the math on our three favorite vices: alcohol, cigarettes and coffee. Talk about a buzz kill, right? These are the personal indulgences we hold near and dear. They provide the moments of sheer visceral pleasure that Read more...

Open enrollment season presents an opportunity for employees to re-evaluate and change their benefits. Nearly 90 percent of all workers plan to maintain or increase their benefits in 2010, despite the fact that more than one-third reported a decrease in discretionary income in 2009, according to a new MetLife survey. Signing up for benefits can save you serious money. Consider these Read more...

For many, the winter holidays conjure up images of giving and receiving: Giving out hundreds of dollars in December, then receiving a stack of bills in the new year. But there's another vision, one of wise consumers planning for this predictably expensive time by saving up, rather than spending away. "I used to hate Christmas because you get this bill in January that said you owe two or Read more...

Many people see huge dollar signs flash like neon lights whenever they hear the words "home improvement," but there are many things you can do to spiff up the old place without spending a fortune. Here are 10 low-cost ideas that can pay high dividends to get you started. 1. Make your kitchen really cook The kitchen is still considered the heart of the home. For a few hundred Read more...

In less than three years, Carrie Rocha and her husband, Marco, paid off $50,000 of nonmortgage debt and accumulated a six-month emergency fund and other savings by clipping coupons, buying store brands and reducing unnecessary expenses. Rocha, of Maple Grove, Minn., says the couple realized they were spending more than they made and started cutting expenses across the board. But rather than Read more...

Automakers may regularly tout their vehicles' fuel economy in ads, but today's drivers often never achieve those EPA-estimated fuel economy numbers, even though the Environmental Protection Agency revised its methods in 2007 to bring its numbers closer to real-world driving. It is a discouraging situation at the very least, but it's also one that affects your wallet and a factor that you should Read more...

Safety is the name of the game when it comes to your savings. The last thing you want when trying to build a savings cushion is to lose it all and return to square one. Fortunately, you can stash savings in a number of safe financial instruments that also reward your efforts with a little free money in the form of interest. While they aren't going to set the world on fire with sky-high Read more...

Applying routine maintenance measures to equipment in your home could prevent an "appliance SOS" and save you lots of money in the long run. In this economy, the last thing any of us needs is having a major appliance breakdown -- especially when a few steps and dollars can extend the life of these big-ticket items. Yet most of us ignore our appliances. Some 80 percent of homeowners Read more...

Strapped for cash? With the economy scaling back, we predict that you will too. Here are 100 tips to help you save money in all areas of your life. Around the Home 1. Get a home energy audit every couple of years with your power company to find ways to cut costs. 2. Save on electricity by trading your standard incandescent bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs. Prices on CFBs have dropped Read more...

Today's record low interest rates will not last forever. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke recently told the House Financial Services Committee that given current economic conditions, the federal funds rate is expected to remain at "exceptionally low levels for an extended period." However, rates -- which have hovered near record lows for an extended time -- have nowhere to Read more...

Thankfully, gas prices are decelerating after years of zooming ahead. Although Americans are enjoying a bit of a temporary reprieve, it's unlikely that rising energy costs -- and growing gas woes -- will go away permanently anytime soon. Employers are becoming increasingly concerned about these higher costs, says Brigette Flood, marketing manager at UrbanTrans Consultants in Read more...

Bankrate's Greg McBride explains where to keep money so it's there when you need it.   Read more...

The good news out of today's economy? It's a great time to buy a new car. "The power is in the hands of the consumer," says Michael Caudill, auto expert and spokesman for NADAguides.com. A tightening credit market, the need for automakers to move metal, and some sizable government and automaker incentives are making it easier for buyers -- who have the money and the credit -- to make Read more...

With gas prices zooming up and down like a roller coaster and financial cutbacks continuing, many drivers are looking for ways to save a few bucks. Whether it's reassessing your insurance needs, reducing fuel consumption or simply putting off that new vehicle purchase for another year, here are 10 good ways to save money behind the wheel. 1. Drive your car longer. The easiest way to save Read more...

In 2009, making financial transactions online isn't just mainstream -- it's quickly becoming the norm. A July 2009 study by Fiserv found that 69.7 million households now use online banking services, and 64.4 million households pay at least one bill online. Numbers on that scale mean cost-cutting banks and other businesses increasingly are focused on taking their services online, and Read more...

When you're getting $3,500 or $4,500 from the government's Car Allowance Rebate System, popularly known as "Cash for Clunkers," to trade in an old, worn-out car worth next to nothing, it's easy to forget to negotiate the best price for the new car you're purchasing. In fact, consumers trading in their clunkers under the program are paying more for their new cars than consumers making Read more...