Put More Money in Your Pocket With Eight Strategies That Really Work

With deregulation in banking and utilities, as well as changes in the insurance industries, it makes good sense to evaluate certain financial aspects of your life at least once a year. These eight money saving strategies don’t require major lifestyle changes or adjustments to spending habits. Best of all, they are easily achieved in the in the amount of time it takes to make a few phone calls. Whether it’s once a year, once a month, or every paycheck, it all adds up to more cash in your pocket.

1. Review Your Homeowners (or Renters) Insurance Policy

It pays to compare premiums, so shop around--although this doesn’t necessarily mean you should change insurance companies every year. Ask your insurance agent what discounts you are eligible for or what you need to do to qualify for them. Increasing the deductible usually translates into a lower premium and more cash in your pocket. Reducing the amount of coverage you have is not recommended however. It is very important to review your policy carefully to make sure you are not underinsured, especially if you have done any remodeling recently or acquired valuables such as jewelry, art or fur coats since you took out your policy.

2. Review Your Auto Insurance Policy

Insuring both your car and your home with the same insurance company results in a multiple policy discount. Again, as with homeowner’s insurance, higher deductibles translate into lower premiums. If you can swing a $500 deductible, wonderful—if you can swing a $1,000 deductible—fantastic! Paying your annual premium once or twice a year instead of paying monthly installments avoids service charges and saves you money.

Buying a new car? Ask your insurer which cars cost less to insure--different rates apply to different cars. If you have an older car, drop comprehensive and collision coverage. The car may be invaluable to you, but insurance companies won’t pay for damages that are more than the car is worth.

Don’t forget to ask about discounts for safe driving, defensive driving classes, or anti-theft devices. In some states insurance companies give discounts for military personnel, single parents, and for children who live at a school more than 100 miles from home. If you already have health insurance, there is usually no need to have it on your auto insurance policy too, unless mandated by state law.

3. Adjust Tax Withholding

The W-2 Form can be changed at almost any time during the year. Did you have any qualifying “life events” recently, such as marriage, divorce, birth of child, purchasing a home, take pay raise or pay cut? If so, any of these can affect the amount of withholding. Even if nothing in your life has changed, carefully look at your tax records. Wouldn’t you rather have that money in your pocket?

4. Transfer High Credit Card Balances

Many people automatically pay the minimum balance on their monthly statement without thinking about the interest rate. Maybe you toss those credit card “deals” because you don’t have time to sift through the junk mail in your mailbox. Sometimes it pays to look at those offers.

Some balance transfers have low interest rates and no transaction fees with rates that are good for the life of the transfer. Just be careful to read the fine print because transferring balances can easily backfire. If you need a “low-interest” loan in a pinch, this could be a smart move. If you have several offers, then spread the wealth. Credit bureaus look more favorably on lower debts spread over several cards rather than the maximum debt on a single card.

5. Evaluate Your Telephone Bills

With deregulation, you have more choices than ever. Local, regional and long distance service can be through different carriers. Or, you can choose the same carrier for all three. It depends on what your needs are.

The best thing to do is to evaluate your phone bills from the past three months and then find the best plan that fits your needs. Do you have a cell phone? You might want to use it to for all your long distance calls and only sign up for a local and regional calling plan through the local phone company.

The competition is fierce, especially for long distance calling, so it pays to shop around. The number of phone service providers for long distance landline phones is mind-boggling. Use the Internet to comparison shop, but always call in person to verify information.

Phone companies are always changing their calling plans and it pays to call them up periodically to ask about a better plan. Ask about freebie specials such as voicemail or call waiting when you sign up for a different plan--even if you already have service with them. Also, get rid of calling options you don’t need such as call waiting or wire maintenance.

6. Call your Cable TV Company or Internet Service Provider

Utility bills like these are constant and don’t fluctuate every month. Very often you can get a month free or a 25% discount by paying an entire year in advance. It never hurts to ask.

7. Get Rid of Annual Fees

First, get rid of credit cards with annual fees. However, if you can’t bear to part with a credit card that has an annual fee, then call the card issuer and ask to have it waived. There might be a small catch, but it’s usually minor. Try to get a lower interest rate on the card at the same time.

8. Shop Around for a New Bank

Do you feel like you are paying the bank to keep your money instead of the other way around? If you can’t belong to a credit union or a smaller independent bank, there is another option: online banks. If you rarely visit the bank in person and do nearly all transactions via an automated teller machine (ATM), then an online bank will work for you.