Monday, January 12, 2009

Money Savvy Monday

Finding what works for you.
The same advice will not work for everyone. I read a lot of articles, but sometimes I take away ideas and not actually what they suggest.
I read this article the other day off of yahoo finance by Brett Adams, and thought I would share it with you.
There's no such thing as a hot stock tip right now, but these small investments could add thousands to your bottom line.
History says few people ever beat the market consistently. And even those who do don't beat the market by much.
Any tip that comes close to that would have to be remarkable. Here are seven that will do better. Yes, they will produce a greater return on investment than Wall Street's greatest boom year.
And, unlike your typical investment tip, these returns are pretty much guaranteed. What's more, you won't have to call your broker to make any of these moves:
Buy a bread maker. You can buy one for $55. If it saves you just $4 a week on store-bought bread, that's $208 a year. A 280% return.
Take out a local library card. Cost: Nothing. If it saves you $10 a month on books, that's $120 a year. Return: Infinite. Note: Some libraries now let you borrow electronic books over the Internet as well.
Replace your premium cable package with a Netflix subscription and a $100 set-top box. You can download movies and TV programs as well getting DVDs through the mail. Cost: $100 for the cheapest set-top box, plus $17 a month for a three-movie subscription. If it replaces a $50-a-month cable package, that's a 98% return on investment.

Order a packet of seeds and plant them in a window box or garden. Growing your own herbs, spices, and even vegetables – depending on the amount of space you have – is a great investment. If you spent just $10 on seeds and saved a mere $50 in the year, that's a 400% ROI.

Switch to a prepaid cellphone. Cost: $20 for the phone, and maybe $100 a year for minutes. Move the rest of your talk-time to free Internet calls, and stop hemorrhaging $60 a month on a cellular plan. ROI: 500%

Start making your own coffee to take to work each morning. Cost: $20 for a Thermos, $10 for a filter and papers, and $60 a year for ground coffee. Then skip the $4 a day drive-thru. If that saves you $1,000 a year, the return is more than 1,000 %
Now I have yet to attempt planting a garden, but we do frequent our local library. My son loves to go and get books, cds, and they usually have a craft table. He can spend hours in there and it is free!
See what you can find that will put a little extra of your own money back into your pockets!!
What have you done to help your family save a little extra?

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