Bank It or Plank It 2019

I have found out that if I learn something new, a little bit at a time, it can be very empowering when it comes to finances. Over a period of time, there is less stress!

Our work unit is going to share ideas for saving money. I would love to hear what others do to save money too. Please share what works for you, and I will be happy to divulge as well. Together, we learn and grow!

Try to only use "cash" when paying for things. It will bring you back down to earth after using credit cards and checks.

Replace all incandescent light with LED lights. It has reduced my electric bill by 50 a month. $600 a year. Initial cost is high buying LED's but lately the LED prices has come down substaintally.

That is amazing! Thanks for including real life numbers. Now I need to double check the status of all the bulbs in my home.

When I was thinking about ways our family saves money, three things came to mind right away.
1. I have a lot of landscaping and use a lot of mulch. I purchase mulch from a local tree trimmer. He delivers a HUGE truck load for $40. It saves me money and a lot of time.
2. There are a number of stores that price match. When shopping at Scheel's, I always look up the price online, and the clerks are always happy to match any lower prices I find. I get great customer service, shop local, and save money.
3. Date night no longer has to be a Saturday night. If we go out to dinner, we take advantage of local deals during the week and save a bundle.

I decided to put away two credit cards (dated yesterday) to see how much I really use them. If I haven't used them for 6 months, I will probably get rid of them. I often keep cards because I can get savings when I shop. Wondering if it's really worth it. Thoughts?

I keep only one credit card and pay it off completely each month. Only reason I keep one is two reasons; payments on line are safer with CC vs. Debit Card for fraud reasons. CC Companies will cover you for fraud /Debit loses as far as I know of based on the bank is your loss. The rebates from CC is excellent way to make your money work for you but I make sure I don't fall in the trap of spending more than what I can pay it off completely each month (this can be hard). CC companies will go nuts when you do this and often will keep trying to increase your credit limit so it gives you a false sense of extra money available so you spend more than your means. I often deline Credit limit increase requests but just recently they started increasing it without my consent. So... They are getting cleaver and I found when I was younger they were much harder to manage then now that I am older and understand their tactics on how they try to squeeze you from your money.

Thanks! I follow your same tactics 🙂 I do use one card to gain "points" for flying which has paid off.

I need to build my credit rating here in the states - I will be applying for a credit card, use it for daily expenses and pay in full each month. Are there any other products I need to build my credit score? Thanks!