Learning About Credit

Your credit score is a very important thing in life, it can make or break you financially because it is linked to almost every financial decision you will make. It will give you the chance to get a loan for your first car, secure a decent rate for your mortgage, help you to save money at a larger interest rate for your children or grandchildren. Basically a good credit score can make your life and everything you decide to invest in a breeze and a bad credit score can severely hinder you from your dreams of a car, a house without rent, and the ability to plan for a financially sound future for your children or grandchildren.

So how do you get it, how do you lose it, and how the heck do you find out where you stand in this invisible financial rating scale.

The three credit reporting agencies in Canada are Equifax, Trans-Union, and Experian. These companies monitor your financial history when it comes to loans and debt. There are literally hundreds of different websites that will give you your credit score from all firms. One thing to make sure of is that all scores are present when you check it because one bad score can make a huge difference.

The way that you gain credit is by paying your loans and bills on time, repeatedly. This will show that you are financially stable and are able to support the debt and you accumulate. The way that you lose credit is by doing the exact opposite. Not paying your bills on time or at all will ruin your credit score rather quickly, the one thing to remember here is that although you can rebuild your credit score it takes much longer to rebuild than it does to lose.

Staying out of Debt

Debt can be a very sneaky thing with interest rates being as high as they are today. If you are in debt with your credit cards, or behind on your mortgage payments there are a couple of different ways to either give you some breathing room or making your total payments lower. First off you should always invest in insuring your credit cards, this is important because you never know when you wont be able to make a payment. With this insurance you can miss one or two payments on your credit card while you get back on your feet. Another easy step in making sure you stay in the black is organizing your credit card payments in a strategic way throughout the month. make sure that all of your bills come due on days when you will have the money to pay them (pay days). If you believe that you are going to miss an upcoming payment pay-day loans are a great way to get the cash you need. These are available at places like money-mart, they give you money based on your paycheck amount and front you the money until your next pay day. You can also defer your mortgage payments, most institutions will not tell you about this but each year a customer is allowed up to two mortgage deferrals. A deferred payment is a payment that is pushed back a month and is then put onto the end of your mortgage or loan. This is a great technique because it saves you a full months mortgage payment and judging on your mortgage you may not have to pay this amount back for 20 years. These are all preventative measures for card and mortgage holders in order to cover the payment until a later date. These options are very important because debt can raise very quickly due to compounded interest rates.

Hiring Financial Help

1. Anyone can call himself a planner.
To avoid amateurs, hire a planner who's earned special credentials (such as a Certified Financial Planner or Personal Financial Specialist designation) by meeting training standards or having a certain level of experience.


2. Planning is more than investing.
Not all planners offer comprehensive services. Some just give investment advice or focus on one aspect of planning, such as insurance or taxes.


3. Expand your choices.
When hiring a planner, interview at least three pros to find the one who can deliver the services you need and who's compatible with your style.


4. Personal references are a good place to start - but not the last stop.

A reference from a friend or family member is a great way to search for a financial planner. But make sure you've got similar needs as the person who's giving the referral. Go to groups like the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards and the Financial Planning Association for additional references.

5. Understand how your planner is getting paid.
The three most common set-ups are: Fee-only, fee-based, and commission-based. Fee-only planners don't get commissions for the products they sell - fees are for the advice they give. Fee-based planners may receive commission on some products they sell, but most of their money comes from a fee you pay them. Commission-based planners are paid by the companies whose products they sell.


6. Check credentials.
Check to see if a planner's record is tarnished by disciplinary problems or complaints. Groups that award credentials or state agencies keep tabs on planners and can provide help.


7. Get references.
Ask a planner for two or more of his clients - then follow up and call to find out how a planner performs in specific circumstances, such as during a financial crisis.


8. Express yourself.
The quality of a planner's advice is correlated to how well he or she knows you. Make sure a planner asks questions about your finances, goals, risk tolerance and philosophy. If they don't ask, they probably aren't paying adequate attention.


9. Know what they're selling.
Find out what financial products a planner sells and how much he or his firm earns for making a sale. Be wary of planners who push one product - say, one family of mutual funds or one kind of insurance - as they may not give you the unbiased or comprehensive advice you need.


10. Know yourself.
The best planner will take his cues from you. Before you hire someone, identify the financial goals you want to meet, your assets and liabilities, your risk tolerance, and investment style. Are you self-directed or do you want specialized help?

Things To Do Before Buying A House

1. Don't buy if you can't stay put.
If you can't commit to remaining in one place for at least a few years, then owning is probably not for you, at least not yet. With the transaction costs of buying and selling a home, you may end up losing money if you sell any sooner - even in a rising market. When prices are falling, it's an even worse proposition.

2. Start by shoring up your credit.
Since you most likely will need to get a mortgage to buy a house, you must make sure your credit history is as clean as possible. A few months before you start house hunting, get copies of your credit report. Make sure the facts are correct, and fix any problems you discover.

3. Aim for a home you can really afford.
The rule of thumb is that you can buy housing that runs about two-and-one-half times your annual salary. But you'll do better to use one of many calculators available online to get a better handle on how your income, debts, and expenses affect what you can afford.

4. If you can't put down the usual 20 percent, you may still qualify for a loan.
There are a variety of public and private lenders who, if you qualify, offer low-interest mortgages that require a down payment as small as 3 percent of the purchase price.

5. Buy in a district with good schools.
In most areas, this advice applies even if you don't have school-age children. Reason: When it comes time to sell, you'll learn that strong school districts are a top priority for many home buyers, thus helping to boost property values.

6. Get professional help.
Even though the Internet gives buyers unprecedented access to home listings, most new buyers (and many more experienced ones) are better off using a professional agent. Look for an exclusive buyer agent, if possible, who will have your interests at heart and can help you with strategies during the bidding process.

7. Choose carefully between points and rate.
When picking a mortgage, you usually have the option of paying additional points -- a portion of the interest that you pay at closing -- in exchange for a lower interest rate. If you stay in the house for a long time -- say three to five years or more -- it's usually a better deal to take the points. The lower interest rate will save you more in the long run.

8. Before house hunting, get pre-approved.
Getting pre-approved will you save yourself the grief of looking at houses you can't afford and put you in a better position to make a serious offer when you do find the right house. Not to be confused with pre-qualification, which is based on a cursory review of your finances, pre-approval from a lender is based on your actual income, debt and credit history.

9. Do your homework before bidding.
Your opening bid should be based on the sales trend of similar homes in the neighborhood. So before making it, consider sales of similar homes in the last three months. If homes have recently sold at 5 percent less than the asking price, you should make a bid that's about eight to 10 percent lower than what the seller is asking.

10. Hire a home inspector.
Sure, your lender will require a home appraisal anyway. But that's just the bank's way of determining whether the house is worth the price you've agreed to pay. Separately, you should hire your own home inspector, preferably an engineer with experience in doing home surveys in the area where you are buying. His or her job will be to point out potential problems that could require costly repairs down the road.

Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GIC's)

Gauranteed Investment Certificates work in somewhat the same way as bonds, you buy the certificate from a bank and you recieve payments of interest off of your intitial investment. These can be given out as the investor chooses from either once a year to multiple times a year. Also as the name implies your initial investment is gaurenteed from the bank so there is really no risk involved other than the bank going under which is very unlikely with a stable economy. Another similarity to bond is that most GIC's have a fixed period of time for the investment to mature or for you to get your money back. There are GIC's that allow investors to collect their money as needed but they are also accompanied by lower interest rates. Investment times for these can range from less than a year up to ten years. Interest rates on these investments can range from around 1 percent in the first year up to roughly four percent by the fifth year.

This is just a quick summary of what GIC's are, for more information or if you want to buy one of these investments you can contact any large bank, or if you have any questions please leave a comment and I will get back to you ASAP.

10 Ways to Protect Your Credit Cards

You may think these ten rules are unnecessary. But if you ignore them, you make it easy for the wrong people to use your cards

1. Never leave your cards unattended at work. There are more credit card thefts in the workplace than in any other single location.
2. If your credit card is programmed to access an Automated Banking Machine (ABM), protect your Personal Identification Number (PIN) or security code. Don't write it down, memorize it.
3. Don't leave your credit cars in your vehicle. A very high proportion of credit cards are stolen from motor vehicles.
4. Always check your card when returned to you after a purchase. Make sure it is your card.
5. When traveling, carry your cards with you or make sure they are in a secure location.
6. Report lost or stolen cards immediately. Most fraudulent use of cards takes place within days of their being lost or stolen.
7. Sign the back of a new card as soon you get it. Destroy unwanted cards so no one else can use them.
8. Make a list of all your cards and their numbers. This key information is helpful when reporting lost or stolen cards.
9. Always check your monthly statement. Make sure the charges are yours. Report them to your card company if the entry is not yours.
10. Never give your card number over the phone unless you are dealing with a reputable company. The only time you should give it is when you have called to place an order.

Saving Money on Mortgage Rates

Mortgage rates fell this last month, which is great news for homeowners like me. My mortgage is up for renewal next year. With any luck, this will be the last mortgage contract that I'll need to sign before my three-bedroom detached house in Barrie is paid off in full. The bank says that I can reach that goal in five years.

Since I have a large amount of equity in my home and a good credit score, I’ll be negotiating for the best possible interest rate. Here are three tips on how ordinary folks like me can do that:
Tip 1: Get a copy of your credit report and credit score. The two major credit bureaus are TransUnion and Equifax Canada. Both provide free and fee-based credit reports for consumers.
You usually have to pay for your credit score information, although I recently got both my credit report and credit score for free from the bank that issued one of my credit cards. Ask your bank if they offer any such no obligation deals.
Check for any inaccuracies on your credit report since those could hurt your credit score. Your credit score is key to getting the best possible rate, experts say. The higher your score, the less risk you represent to the bank.
Tip 2: Compare rates. You can compare posted rates at thestar.com
If you are too busy to shop the market, consider having a mortgage broker do that for you. “A mortgage broker has access to virtually every single product based on your profile,” said Ranjit Dhaliwal, a mortgage broker with Mortgage Intelligence Inc.
In addition to great rates, mortgage brokers can provide advice on the contract’s terms and exit clauses. It is important to note, however, that some banks do not participate in the broker network. Among them are Bank of Montreal and Royal Bank of Canada.
If you shop the market yourself, it is important to remember that too many hard inquiries against your credit profile in a short period of time can actually hurt your credit score, Dhaliwal said. That can be a problem for individuals who may have borderline credit scores. A mortgage broker, in contrast, only needs to do one credit check to shop the market.
Tip 3: Understand how mortgage rates are priced in order to get a discount off the posted rate. While variable-rate mortgages are largely influenced by the banks’ prime rates, fixed-rate mortgages are linked to the bond market.
Banks generally try to match maturities when they finance mortgages with bonds. For instance, five-year mortgages are usually paired with five-year government bonds. You can look up interest rates on Government of Canada bonds on the Bank of Canada website.
The spread between those bond yields and what the banks charge consumers is usually between 75 and 125 basis points. (One basis point equals 0.01 per cent).

The truth about credit cards

Low-interest cards
These are the best bets for people who are not able to pay off their monthly balance and have to carry it forward, according to Keeley and Woolsey.
You won't be collecting travel miles or other rewards, but you'll be paying a lot less interest.
“If you can't pay off your balance each month, a reward card is not right for you. Get a low-interest card instead,”. “You want to avoid having a lot of high-interest debt.”
The annual fee is usually minimal, because there is a lot of competition between banks and other issuers. Annual interest rates can be as low as 6 per cent (or as high as 10 to 12 per cent) and are guaranteed for a period (usually three years) as long as you pay your bills on time.

Reward cards
Caution, reward cards are not recommended for people who can't pay off their credit card balances in full each month, because of the substantially higher interest rates (typically just under 20 per cent).
You'll also be paying an annual fee, from $120 to $180.
“For the average consumer, they are not a good choice. They are good if someone is traveling a lot,”
Even so, they outnumber low-interest cards two-to-one.
“A lot of cards have a reward component, whether it's cash back, points or air miles,”
“But by the time you redeem the free airline ticket or merchandise, it may not be to your advantage because you are paying higher interest rates. Merchants also pay more to accept rewards cards, and they pass their higher costs on to their customers.”
Consumers have to decide what kind of rewards are best for them,  “Is it discounts on everyday living items like gas or groceries or aspirational goals like a vacation or a new TV or a cheque for $100?”
If you travel a lot, a travel rewards card might be for you: certain airline cards provide substantial sign-up bonuses and often have partnerships with car rental agencies and hotels.
You have to use reward cards wisely, “Reward cards tend to make people spend more and cause them to shift away from paying by cash or cheque,” he explains. “They tend to spend more in general and justify it because they are earning points or another reward.”
“If you have to carry a balance on a card, reward cards aren't right for you.”

Cash-back cards
These cards are a type of reward card, where you receive a percentage of cash back for what you spend on purchases.
Typically, it's one per cent, although some cards offer teaser rates, like 5 per cent for a limited time.
If you use your card to buy things like gas and groceries, it may not be a bad idea “as it's really a way to increase your bottom line.”
The downside is that like other types of reward cards, there is a higher interest rate attached (about 20 per cent).

Secured or instant approval cards
These function like a regular credit card, but are collateralized and require a security deposit. If you don't pay your monthly bill, your cash deposit can be seized.
These typically are for people who can't get approval for other types of credit cards or have a limited credit history in Canada.
“Depends on how the banks rate each individual, some security deposits could be $75 or $300 or more,”.
“These are a good option for someone who wants to build or repair their credit history,”. “This can potentially be the only avenue for them and are a better option certainly than a prepaid card (see below).”
The credit limit will generally be low but these cards offer an opportunity to use a credit card responsibly which may help strengthen your credit history.

Charge cards
These cards are not technically credit cards, though consumers may perceive them as such. The most widely recognized charge card is American Express, which has no pre-set spending limit and offers complimentary insurance program, travel benefits, a loyalty program and hotel and airline discounts.
There is an annual fee attached and the catch is you must pay off your balance in full each month.

Pre-paid cards
These aren't credit cards per se, but operate in a similar fashion and are quite prevalent.
“They make sense for teens or post-secondary students, or immigrants who are working,” he notes. “You can load cash onto the card and use it anywhere you might use a Visa or MasterCard, you can buy items online or send cards to relatives in other countries. Or you can load up your child's card if they are attending school out of town. ”
The cardholder can't spend more than the amount loaded onto the card and it's not a borrowing vehicle, so it won't build a credit history.
“It's safer than carrying cash,” he adds. “It's like a portable chequing account but it's fairly fee intensive ($5 to $10 per month or fees are charged per transaction) because there is no interest charged.”

Are your Credit cards going crazy?

Credit cards easily get out of control. You simply don't realize how much you are charging and how little you are paying. Before you can even think about paying your card off entirely, you have to simply regain control of your credit card debt.
Here are five simple steps that will help you regain control, and eventually pay off your debt. Follow them step-by-step and you will find that they aren't overwhelming or too difficult. In fact, they don't take much time at all.
1. Pay more.
You shouldn't carry a balance on your credit card from month to month, but you probably are anyway. If you are only paying the minimum payment, you are slowly killing yourself. This will stretch your payments out for decades. Yes, decades. You need to start putting extra money to each credit card payment. Even if it is only $15, you are saving time and money.
2. Make a phone call.
Take the time to call your credit card companies and request a lower interest rate. It isn't hard to do. You simply request a better interest rate. If you are a good customer who makes his or her payments on time, you will probably be successful. Tell them that you want the lowest rate possible. You can even say that you have received an offer to transfer your balance to another card at a better interest rate. You want to give them a chance to compete. If they won't lower your rate, consider switching to a card with a lower rate.
3. Say goodbye.
Send your cards on a little vacation. If you have debt and you can't pay it completely off, you need to stop using your credit card for now. Put it somewhere that you won't be able to easily access. This removes the temptation to simply charge this one thing. I suggest a safe deposit box at the bank. This usually always works. If you have a true emergency, you can get it. But it often isn't worth the hassle to get it to just buy a new sweater.
4. Look for money.
Now is the time to start paying that debt off with what you already have. If you have an 18% credit card and money in the bank earning 5%, you are losing 13% each month. Take your savings and pay off your credit card. This will save you interest and a lot of worry. Then work on building back up your savings by having the amount you paid in credit card debt automatically deposited into your savings each month.
5. Vow to change.
Now that you have seen the stress and problems that credit cards bring, you can make a commitment to change. Credit cards aren't the problem, they just contribute. The problem is the way you spend. You need to realize that you cannot continue to shop the way you do. You have to change your spending habits so that you aren't tempted to use your card. It is hard. People slip back into it easily. But you need to find a way to remind yourself that it isn't worth it. Regain control of your credit and turn it around.

Bonds vs. Stocks

The 1990s enjoyed the biggest bull market in U.S. history. During the decade the Dow more than quadrupled.

While stocks, as represented by the S&P 500, have not always performed so extraordinarily -- compounding at a dazzling 15.3% annual rate for that time period -- they have usually been the best performing asset class over time.

Since 1926, stocks have returned an annual average of 9.8% through 2010 -- and that included the most recent horrendous bear market. Over the same period, government bonds returned 5.4%. (This according to the folks at Ibbotson Associates in Chicago.) In other words, if you're investing for the long-term, stocks are the place to be.

But if you're looking to invest money you may need in a year or two, the stock market can be downright dangerous. Look no further than the Dow's 777-point drop on Sept. 29, 2008. Or the 554-point drop on Oct. 27, 1997, and the 508-point drop on Oct. 19, 1987 -- a harrowing 22.6% loss -- to see what a difference a day can make.

Then there are those bloody bear markets, like 1973-74, when the Dow fell 45%. In 2008, the total stock market lost 37%.

To cite a severe example, if you had bought the stocks in the Dow Jones industrial average at their peak in early 1966, you wouldn't have made any significant profit until mid-1983 -- more than 17 years later.

Even that was better than if you'd bought in the pre-crash peak of 1929. After that, it took until 1954 for the market to regain all it lost in the Depression. As for the market woes of the early 2000s, it would take more than five years using an historical average rate of return, for the Dow to return to its glory-day levels from its October 2002 low.

Bonds, of course, are another story. While they won't give your portfolio the kind of kick that stocks will, nor are they likely to give it the same kind of thrashing. In 1994, the worst single year for bonds in recent history, intermediate-term government bonds (that is, Treasury securities with maturities of 7 to 10 years) fell just 1.8%. In the good year that immediately followed, they bounced back an impressive 14.4%. From 2000 through 2002, bonds outperformed stocks every year -- a historic "three-peat" that hadn't been seen in the modern investment era that began in 1929.

Ways of Dealing With Debt

If you have already missed payments on your car, mortgage or car loan it can seem like there is no way of getting away from it, below I will explain a couple of different options you have in this situation.

First a foremost ask friends and family for a loan, this is the best possible way to pay off your bills without paying ridiculous amounts of interest. It's amazing how stubborn or proud people can be in this situation, the fact is that allowing these debts to continue to go past due and accumulate will make the situation worse and ultimately effect your credit score which can limit you in an endless amount of ways.

Second if you are a member of a church or you are aboriginal and belong to a band you can apply for loans from these institutions and organization. These are the second best way of coming accross money to pay off your debts. These loans can have very little to know interest on them and very long payback periods.

Third is a regular bank loan, this only works if this is one of your first times in this situation because your credit score will still be high enough to support your loan. This ultimately helps because it transferes your debt from a high interest credit card to a low interest bank loan. With this you can effectively move your debt from a 19 - 29% credit card to a 4-8% bank loan saving you large amount of money in the long run.

Fourth is a consolidation loan, this is when you put all of your debts into a single bank loan, this means your mortgage, credit cards, and car loan will all be in the same account with a lower interest rate. This also can lowere your total monthly payments on these three loans by a substantial amount while also lowering the amount of interest accumulated on them throughout the month.

Fith is credit counselling services. Many organizations providing this services do so for free, they can help to exhaust many different options for you and also help to reduce your debt significantly, also in some cases they can put a freeze on your accounts, stopping them from accumulating any more interest and allowing you to pay down the remaining debt in installments. The problem with this option is that it is basically like going bankrupt exept you still have to pay off your debt.

Sixth is going bankrupt, this is a very serious option with big implications. This can be done through a lawyer or a trustee. Basically what happends is that all of your debts are cleared however all of your income is then monitored by the government and the trustee in order to ensure that all income is used to pay any possible new debt. This also basically destroys your credit score because it shows you are unable to pay the debt you have accumulated. Your accounts are then frozen in this state for up to seven years.

The good new with your credit score is that it can always be rebuilt, as long as you become financially smart with your spending and pay off any new debt ON TIME!!

Income Properties

One great way of investing your money is to invest into property. This can have a great return over a long period of time but can also give you returns in the short term. Investing in housing around colleges and universities is a great way to make an extra income on the side without very much work. Rent from students especially in a larger house that can fit more than four people can easily cover your mortgage payment every month and give you some extra money to cover any expenses associated with the house. In Ontario rent for a average house can cost anywhere from $300 per month to upwards of $800 in urban areas such as Toronto. If we look at an average of $550 per month across the province in a four person house you can receive $2,200 in rent each month. Other Property investments can be in more rural areas can be a great investment if you have the time and the money to buy and pay the mortgage. With the large expansion of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) any underdeveloped areas around there can still be bought with a relatively small investment and can be sold down the road to make a large profit.

Basics for Investing

1. Over the long term, stocks have historically outperformed all other investments.

From 1926 to 2010, the S&P 500 returned an average annual 9.8% gain. The next best performing asset class is bonds. Long-term U.S. Treasurys returned, on average, 5.4% over the same period.

2. Over the short term, stocks can be hazardous to your financial health.
On Dec. 12, 1914, stocks experienced the worst one-day drop in stock market history -- 24.4% . Oct. 19, 1987, the stock market lost 22.6%. More recently, the shocks have been prolonged and painful: If you had invested in a Nasdaq index fund around the time of the market's peak in March 2000 you would have lost three-fourths of your money over the next three years. And in 2009, stocks overall lost a whopping 37%.

3. Risky investments generally pay more than safe ones (except when they fail).
Investors demand a higher rate of return for taking greater risks. That's one reason that stocks, which are perceived as riskier than bonds, tend to return more. It also explains why long-term bonds pay more than short-term bonds. The longer investors have to wait for their final payoff on the bond, the greater the chance that something will intervene to erode the investment's value.

4. The biggest single determiner of stock prices is earnings.
Over the short term, stock prices fluctuate based on everything from interest rates to investor sentiment to the weather. But over the long term, what matters are earnings.

5. A bad year for bonds looks like a day at the beach for stocks.
In 1994, the worst year for bonds in recent history, intermediate-term Treasury securities fell just 1.8%, and the following year they bounced back 14.4%. By comparison, in the 1973-74 crash, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 44%. It didn't return to its old highs for more than three years or push significantly above the old highs for more than 10 years.

6. Rising interest rates are bad for bonds.
When interest rates go up, bond prices fall. Why? Because bond buyers won't pay as much for an existing bond with a fixed interest rate of, say, 5% because they know that the fixed interest on a new bond will pay more because rates in general have gone up.
Conversely, when interest rates fall, bond prices go up in lockstep fashion. And the effect is strongest on bonds with the longest term, or time, to maturity. That is, long-term bonds get hit harder than short-term bonds when rates climb, and gain the most when rates fall.

7. Inflation may be the biggest threat to your long-term investments.
While a stock market crash can knock the stuffing out of your stock investments, so far -- knock wood -- the market has always bounced back and eventually gone on to new heights. However, inflation, which has historically stripped 3.2% a year off the value of your money, rarely gives back what it takes away. That's why it's important to put your retirement investments where they'll earn the highest long-term returns.

8. U.S. Treasury bonds are as close to a sure thing as an investor can get.
The conventional wisdom is that the U.S. government is unlikely ever to default on its bonds - partly because the American economy has historically been fairly strong and partly because the government can always print more money to pay them off if need be. As a result, the interest rate of Treasurys is considered a risk-free rate, and the yield of every other kind of fixed-income investment is higher in proportion to how much riskier that investment is perceived to be. Of course, your return on Treasurys will suffer if interest rates rise, just like all other kinds of bonds.

9. A diversified portfolio is less risky than a portfolio that is concentrated in one or a few investments.
Diversifying -- that is, spreading your money among a number of different types of investments -- lessens your risk because even if some of your holdings go down, others may go up (or at least not go down as much). On the flip side, a diversified portfolio is unlikely to outperform the market by a big margin for exactly the same reason.

10. Index mutual funds often outperform actively managed funds.
In an index fund, the manager sets up his portfolio to mirror a market index -- such as Standard & Poor's 500-stock index -- rather than actively picking which stocks to purchase. It is surprising, but true, that index funds often beat the majority of competitors among actively managed funds. One reason: Few actively managed funds can consistently outperform the market by enough to cover the cost of their generally higher expenses.

Saving Money with Coupons

The easiest way to save money is to save on everything, the best way to do that is to look in the paper for different deals in different places. This can be done with food and other items and will really ad up. Also buying in bulk helps to save a couple dollars as well. The title of this post is actually a link to a great coupon site that can help you save money every single day. I hope this is helpful to you all.