Nov
30
Creative Ways to Save Money
Filed Under Business & Finance | Leave a Comment
We’ve all heard the usual tips and trips to saving money. Everything from cutting and using coupons to putting 5 to 10% of each paycheck into your savings account. But there are a lot of other, more creative ways that you could be saving money. Here are a few:
In the house
You turn the lights off when not in the room, keep the thermostat down and always use cold water when washing your clothes. So you’re doing everything you can to save money, right? Wrong! With the following household tips you can keep more money in your pocket without sacrificing your lifestyle.
- Halfies - Shampoo, conditioner, hand soap, laundry detergent, dish soap. These are all things that most of us use on a daily basis. If something calls for a quarter sized dollop to be used, most of us will go the extra distance and use more. This is wasteful and you’ll end up using your products pretty fast. Try switching your hair products and your dish detergent to bottles with a hand pump and only use one pump each time you use it. This amount of soap will clean just as well and your products will last a lot longer.
- Double dip your tea bags -Even though most brands of tea are two cup tea bags, most of us will use a tea bag for one cup of tea then throw it out. Using one tea bag per two cups will cut down the cost of tea in half.
- Potluck it - The next time you have friends over, turn it into a potluck. People usually don’t mind bringing something and this will save you from having to spend money on a complete meal.
Out on the town
Just because you want to save money doesn’t mean that you can’t go out and enjoy yourself once in a while! Just make sure that when you hit the town, you’re smart about where you go and what you spend.
- Dine out earlier - If you’re going out to eat with friends, try to meet for breakfast or lunch. Meals can be twice as expensive during the later dinner hour. If schedules mean that you and your friends can only meet after work, try ordering from the appetizer menu. This will cut down on the cost of the evening but still allow you enjoy yourself.
- Water, please - Whenever you do eat out, don’t order a beverage with your meal. Replacing your usually large pop or glass of wine with some free iced lemon water can save you quite a bit of cash
- Stay in - Another option is to avoid going out all together. Whether it’s date night or girls’ night out, why not stay in? You can have just as much fun at a fraction of the cost.
The Necessities
There are some things that you have to spend money on. Whether it’s your car, your home or even your kids, there’s always an opportunity to save money.
- Cut it less - If you get your hair cut every 5 to 6 weeks, why not try going for a bit longer? Even waiting an extra week or two can save you money yearly. And if there is a beauty school in your area, you can get professional services like haircuts, colors or waxing for a fraction of the cost.
- Ask for a better price - When it comes to big purchases like cars, appliances or electronics, the advertised price may not be the best price that you can get. Always ask if there are additional discounts available. And don’t be scared to do some comparison shopping. Sometimes a store will offer an even further discount to keep your business. Regardless of what you’re buying it never hurts to ask for a further discount. The worst that could happen is they say no.
- Go for old - When it comes to TVs, desktop computers, laptops and other electronics, an older doesn’t mean that it’s ancient. In fact it could mean that it was out a month or two ago. If you are in need of a new device, don’t automatically go for the latest version. You can save a slew of money on an older model that is just as good.
What outrageous ways do you go out of your way to save money?
Author Bio:
James Hayes is a freelance writer for Credit Loan. Creditloan.com has been in the business of helping people with money problems for over twelve years. The site provides one-stop access to intuitive articles, reputable service providers and financial calculators. For example, loans come in so many varieties - from debt consolidation loans to payday loans. Creditloan.com can educate you and help you towards the right personal finance decision.
Nov
30
Freezing the Market: Price Protection
Filed Under Business | Leave a Comment
One of the most challenging parts of managing your fleet’s fuel expenses is how difficult it is to predict fuel prices. Although for the most part, the cost per gallon changes very slowly, that is not always the case. Don’t forget about 2008, when fuel prices shot up faster than anyone could have predicted. Suddenly we were paying more than $4 a gallon for fuel. For a fleet manager who is forced to operate his fleet on a tight budget, these kinds of unexpected jumps in fuel prices can be devastating.
What can you do? Luckily, there is something called fuel price protection. This is where you sign an agreement with a company to continue buying fuel at an agreed-upon price, even if the market jumps during your contract period. Most programs will enable you to choose the length of your agreement. This gives you the choice of whether you want to lock in your fuel prices for just a few months, or a year or more. Fixed price fuel programs are available for both diesel and regular gasoline.
Fuel price protection is not a totally new concept, but it is relatively new to smaller fleets. Large fleets have been using their influence to get fixed fuel prices for a while now. With many trucks and substantial fuel needs, the promise of their patronage gives them a valuable bargaining chip.
Small fleets, on the other hand, are starting to take advantage of fuel price protection programs, as well. Even if you don’t have a hundred or more vehicles, you can enjoy the benefits of a fixed price program.
To demonstrate how valuable fuel price protection can be, let’s imagine that we have another spike in fuel prices, as we did in 2008. Your drivers fill their tanks at a fixed price of $3.00 per gallon, while the rest of the country is paying $4.41 per gallon. Let’s say you get 500 gallons a month at that fixed price. That means you are saving $7.05 a month, which works out to be about $8,000 per year if the price jump lasted that long. Could you stand to save $8,000 per year on your fleet budget? Who couldn’t?
There is another advantage to fuel price protection, above and beyond simply saving money if fuel prices jump again. Even when fuel prices only vary by a little bit every week, this makes it difficult for you, as the fleet’s manager, to run an effective budget. With a fixed price per gallon for fuel, however, you can stabilize your fuel costs, and better predict your spending weeks or even months in advance. This enables you to budget out months in advance, and make long-term plans based on your budget.
When combined with other tools for managing a successful fleet, such as assigning Fleet Mastercards to each vehicle for tracking fuel consumption and fleet service, fuel price protection helps you to minimize your fleet expenses and maximize your business’s profits.