When you think of e-commerce, what comes to mind? Personally, I think of Amazon immediately. Amazon has dominated the e-commerce industry and set the standard.
What is e-commorce? E-commerce is basically selling goods online instead of in the brick and mortar stores. There are many advantages for companies to do this and it seems to be a general shift in what consumers are looking for.
Coupons seem to have gotten a bad wrap over the years. People attribute using coupons as being poor or cheap, which is quite the opposite. The people using coupons are financially smart for a few reasons. I’m not saying to take 20+ hours a week to make everything free like some people do, but pick up your Sunday paper, spend the 30 minutes it takes to clip them, and purchase what you need with them. I’m not sure how many people can spend $1.75 and save over $20 on goods they normally use.
There are plenty of great tools in order to start coupon clipping. Newspapers are a great source, some retailers will also accept printed internet coupons, going to specific companies websites such as Proctor and Gamble to also get coupons. Personally, I prefer the newspapers on Sundays. They always have great deals in them, I can generally use at least 5 or 10 coupons from the paper, so I get my $1.75 back I payed for the newspaper. Every few months, certain companies will also put additional coupons on to push their own products which equals more savings.
Another reason I enjoy coupons is due to the fact that you’re saving money in an easy fashion. If you end up saving $20 that day, that’s an extra $20 you can put either to credit card debt, car payment, or your savings. Coupons are not cheap or demeaning by any means, but smart to use. Those who want to become financially free use any means they can to save money and reduce debt and this is one classic example. People are too lazy to take the time to cut coupons, see what specials are at stores that they can maximize their return with, and lose out hundreds if not thousands of dollars due to this fact. So please, start saving yourself money. Use coupons!
Do you have a budget set up currently? From what I’ve discovered, not many people do. Budgets serve many purposes, such as cutting back wasteful spending, finding out where your money is going, and making you aware of where your money is going.
Corporations and businesses want your money. This is a fact that everyone can agree upon. That $5 two times a week adds up to $40 a month, which turns into $480 a year. Is that lunch, cup of coffee, or whatever else worth it? What could you do with $480 extra a year? I can think of plenty of things!
So, onto the main topic…budgets. For me personally, this has become the most beneficial way to budget. It’s simple to know what a need and want it, and you know exactly where your money is going.
There are many ways people do budgets. One newer concept that I’ve tried using is three categories:
With this approach, needs would consist of rent, food, vehicle insurance, insurance, etc. Wants would be for fun, a new TV, car, etc. Lastly, Savings would consist of saving 20% of your income. For me personally, this has become the most beneficial way to budget. It’s simple to know what a need and want it, and you know exactly where your money is going.
Do you have any types of budgets that you like? Feel free to comment!
Would you say that you have a rainy day fund / emergency fund? This is a huge fundamental concept that most people neglect from what I’ve noticed. What happens if you lose your job, encounter a vehicle breakdown, health emergency? Chances are you’re probably going to charge it on your credit card even though you’re working so hard to pay that credit card off with it’s high APR.
The first step is establishing a goal of how much to save up. Having a rainy day fund for three to six months is typically recommended in case you lose your job or some emergency comes up. By now you should have a budget of your actual expenses compare to wants and desires. Based off that, see how much you need to save every paycheck in order to reach your goal. For example, if you need $1200 a month to survive(* 3 months = $3600), and take in $1600 a month, Take the extra money and stash it away in a rainy day fund.
There’s a few ways to go about creating a rainy day fund. Most employers offer direct deposit with the ability to deposit funds into different accounts without any work on your part. The biggest decision you have to make is if you want to allocate funds manually to a different account, or to set up your direct deposit to automatically route X amount to another bank account. I prefer the second one because I know it will be taken care of for sure.
Also, when you do receive a pay raise, use those new funds to go into a rainy day fund. You’re already accustomed to living off of X amount so far, so why not take that extra money and have it deposited into your rainy day account? This makes it much easier in order to attain your goal. Once a three to six month fund is created, you can start applying that to your highest interest rate debt and pay that off faster.
What are your thoughts on giftcards? Do you enjoy them, hate them, not sure what to use them for? Personally, I enjoy gift cards as long as people make sure to use them!
In this $50+ billion year industry, one would think that companies are hoping that consumers don’t use the cards. Makes sense too doesn’t it? You give a form of payment whether it’s cash, credit, debit, check, etc, and gain a gift card to be used later at a specific company. The company itself loves them, especially when people don’t use the cards, cause they just made a profit!
What if that company goes out of business for some reason? What happens then? No one has to / can honor those cards. Look at Circuit City when they were competing with Best Buy. One company fails, and the consumer is out of luck. My advice is if you do give a gift card to someone, make sure that they use it quickly! They can be great gifts if you’re not sure what to get or if you don’t want to give cash.
Thanks to a law enacted in 2010, cards that are ‘dormant’ or not used won’t begin to lose money for at least 12 months. In the past they could lose money within a month or more.
So, to summarize:
Gift cards are nice gifts, but make sure that they’re used sooner than later and try to make sure they’re used with big box retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy or companies that have a strong economic moat.
I’ve decided to compile a list of some common financial terms, what they mean, and their relevance in an example. For example, if you’re not sure what APR stands for, how are you going to reduce it through your credit card company?
APR
What does APR stand for? APR stands for Annual Percentage Rate. So, if you have a 20% APR and borrow $100, you would owe $20 on top of the $100.
Interest
What is interest? There’s interest that you pay to people, and interest that you earn. Interest correlates directly to APR.
What would you the reader like me to blog about? Any type of questions, thoughts or concerns? Are you curious how something works? I’d love to be able to help you reach your financial goals and to help you become wealthy.
I initially started this blog in order to help you become financially independent. Some people have more knowledge, and some have less, but we’re all on the same side here. I want to see you do well in life, and I still continue to learn new things every single day. Having questions on something isn’t bad, it’s good since you want to learn how to better yourself and make a better for your life. No question is a ‘dumb’ question. 
I’ve learned many things from first hand experience, how to save money in easy and manageable ways, pay off debt, saving for that big ticket item, etc. I’ve spent many months learning how to clean up your FICO score the right way as well!
Does anyone plan on going to school soon? Either as a new college student or returning, there are great websites you can utilize to save money rather than taking out student loans. There are a few ways to earn scholarships or grants which are listed below.
When I was in high school (many years ago!) I stumbled upon a scholarship website named Fastweb. This website has numerous scholarships, is easy to find and work with, and matches very well to your profile. Basically, you write in your GPA, activities that you did, your favorite hobbies, and they will match you up with scholarships you qualify for.
Another website I’ve used is called Cappex. This website works pretty much the way as Fastweb does, but it never hurts to find different scholarships ahead of time. They will also match you up based upon what you write in your profile. Remember, currently on taxes you can write off $2000 dollars, and then 25% of that ($500) in tax credits for books, education, fees, etc.
Also remember that a 2 year college degree will be much cheaper than going to a big 4 year school on average, but do your research first and sometimes price isn’t everything.
Why do I include a section of book reviews? Well, reading helps increase learning and to help the mind become sharper. Looking outside the frame also helps put the big picture into perspective, which ultimately is financial freedom in life.
While this might seem to be a bit off topic, but one author I have found to help me increase my time efficiency and to help understand others better is Stephen Covey. One of the most famous books he has wrote is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (which can be Found Here Through Abebooks. If you have $3 or $4 to spare, it’s definitely worth every penny!
I have read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective people numerous times. It isn’t meant to be something you rush through in a few days, but a tool to help increase awareness of how to make your time more efficient, and how to better understand your fellow humans. So you might ask how this relates to finances? Well, it has shown how to be more effective using my time that I do have (hence why I’m blogging now on a Friday night) and to appreciate the little things in life that money can’t buy (but it does help having it ).
I love reading, how about you? Reading has to be one of the best free things that you can do. What other tools do you have that you learn while using your imagination?
Years ago, I was looking for a site where I could purchase books that weren’t priced at $15-$20+, and stumbled upon Abebooks. This website has really allowed me to branch out and find just about anything that I want to learn about or read for pleasure.
What makes Abebooks so great? Well, a few things…
One of the first books I ever read about finance was called Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. I included a link directly to Abebooks for you to purchase it and to learn the lessons it has. This book really opened my eyes to how the financial world really works. The basic premise about Rich Dad Poor Dad is about how one father was poor and didn’t have much money while his friends father was wealthy and showed how little changes can make a world of a difference.