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!

We have a jar at home and we normally put all our loose change in it weekly and at times I will trade bills for change just to have extra to add. Something about seeing the jar fill and it is amazing how fast it fills.

My parent saved all of there change and growing up they purchased 2 snowmobiles and carpet for the house. So when I was young I started saving all of my change and when I was 27 paid $4,000 cash from my change for my first Harley

That's awesome! I knew someone who put money in a jar every time cigarettes would have been purchased, and took child on vacation. Win Win!

Hi @ahmedz – a credit card can have a useful place in a consumer’s financial toolbox! It sounds like you are in a “credit building” phase of your life. If that’s the case, I think you’re on the right track: paying off the balance in full and on-time will help build your score. One more piece of advice: I recommend using no more than 25% of the credit limit.
If your credit limit isn’t very high, consider using that credit card to pay one small bill each month (such as a streaming service that you already pay for) and then setting up an automatic payment to pay off the balance of your credit card in full every month.

what is the reasoning behind only using no more than 25% of credit limit?