Saving Money on Phone Bills

Saving Money on Phone Bills by Patrick Ort

If you have a cell phone and have a plan that provides you with long distance service you may not need to keep a long distance service on your home phone. You can use the cell phone for all of your long distance calls.

In addition if you have a separate carrier for local and long distance you may want to combine the two. Check your phone bill if you use a separate carrier you will pay some taxes and phone charges twice for each carrier which if combined would save you money.

You may also save money if you use one of the VOIP or Broadband phone services. However, be careful as they all do not work well with the 911 emergency services. Check to see how they supply this service.

Savings On Utility Bills

Saving On Utility Bills by: Amy Allen Clark

Some of our bills can be eliminated as being “extras”, but utilities is just not one of these. If you are noticing an increase in your utility bills it is time to review what you may/may not be doing to cause this increase. Here are some helpful tips for ways to decrease your utility bills.

Water

Check to make sure none of the faucets in your household are leaking/dripping. A slow dripping faucet can accumulate over two gallons per hour.

When watering the garden, set a schedule and try to water in the early morning hours to help minimize evaporation (between 6am-8am)

Take shorter showers. Did you know that a shower uses approximately 6-10 gallons of water per minute? Think of how much money you could save if you shaved a few minutes off of your shower.

Use your dishwasher and washer only when you have full loads.

Contact your utility company to see if they offer reduced rates at certain times of the day and either timer-delay your washer/dishwasher or wait until that time to do your loads.

Recycle your water from fish tanks and use it to water your plants. Fish emulsion is a good and inexpensive fertilizer. It is high in nitrogen and phosphorous- just think that you will save on fertilizer AND water.

Gas

During the winter use your fireplace- this will heat up the room at a much lower cost.

Lower the temperature on your gas water heater. It is not necessary to have your water heated up to 180 degrees. You will find that by lowering it that you will in turn lower your bills.

Invest in a water heater timer if you have an electric water heater. By turning the heat off during the time it is not in use you will save money on your bill without even making a sacrifice.

Turn your thermostat down just three degrees. By doing so you will save approximately three percent on your heating bills.

Weather-strip your doors and windows along with insulating your attic. This will conserve the heat in your home a lot more.

Close off the rooms that aren’t in use in your home. This will help keep the rooms you do use warmer.

Close vents in the rooms that have one or more in them. If one room is always warmer you can close the vent to force air into the rooms that are cooler

Electricity

When purchasing new appliances always try to get the ones that are energy efficient. You can save hundreds of dollars a year by spending the extra money to get the energy efficient models.
Get in the habit of turning off ALL lights and appliances that are not being used. You'll be surprised at how quickly the energy savings will add up.

When not watching television make sure that you keep it off. This is the number one electricity waster in the world.

The dryer will use less energy if you dry loads of clothing one after another because the dryer will already be hot. What an easy way to save money and get your laundry done more quickly.

Use low-wattage light bulbs or energy efficient fluorescent lighting. Compact fluorescents typically last ten times longer and they use 75% less electricity.

Call your utility company to find out if they have off-peak hours and when they are. Many companies charge less for your electricity at night and more during the day. By doing your laundry and dishes during off-peak hours you could easily save money off of your utility bill.

Phone

Compare the prices of various long distance providers. A great place to look up information on lowering your long distance bill is www.lowermybills.com. On this web site you can compare long-distance companies in your area and also see any hidden fees they might have. I am currently with Opex Communications (offered in our area) and they charge 3.9 cents a minute with only a $2.95 monthly charge if I do less than $20 in long-distance calls. I found out about this company through Lower My Bills and when the larger companies call to offer me long-distance and I share my rate with them they always tell me I am getting a better deal then they can offer me. This is when you know you are a smart consumer!

If you have a cellular phone that offers state-to-state long-distance, use this instead of calling. Always make sure that you can call nationwide, the minutes you have available to you each month, and what hours are free (evenings, weekends) before making calls. I have made this mistake before and it was a costly one when I discovered I had no long-distance. Always be clear about the terms of your plan.

Take advantage of the internet and email instead of calling your friends and family. You can also use great instant messaging programs and still feel like you are having a telephone conversation without the high bill.

About The Author
© 2003-2004 Amy Allen Clark. All rights reserved.
Amy Allen Clark is a stay-at-home mother of a two year old son. She is founder and creator of http://www.momadvice.com. Her web site is geared towards mothers who are seeking advice on staying organized, living on a budget, and for those seeking work-at-home employment. Please visit her site to sign up for her free monthly newsletter filled with more great tips to help simplify your life.

amy@momadvice.com

Tax Records - What You Should Keep And For How Long

Tax Records - What You Should Keep And For How Long by: Richard A. Chapo

Many taxpayers are confused about how long they should keep tax records. The term "tax records" refers to your tax returns and the documents that support the information in the returns. These documents can include receipts, bank statements, 1099s, etc. If you are one of the unlucky few to be audited, these records will be vital to fending off the IRS.

Tax Returns

To protect yourself from a nasty audit, you should keep all of your tax returns indefinitely. The IRS has been known to lose or misplace tax returns. While conspiracy advocates argue that this is evidence of a nefarious scheme, the simple fact is that the IRS receives millions of returns over a three-month period and lost returns are inevitable. So how do you protect yourself? You keep copies of every single tax return.

A quick word on the IRS e-file program. If you file your returns electronically, make sure you get copies from the company that filed your return. All such entities are required by law to provide you with paper copies.

Records Supporting Tax Returns

You should keep supporting tax records for a period of six years from the date the returns were actually filed. In general the IRS only has three years to audit you from the filing date. For example, if you filed your 2000 tax return on April 15, 2001, the IRS would have to start an audit by April 15, 2004. Keep in mind that if you filed an extension, the IRS will have three years from the date you submitted the return. As is always case with taxes, there are exceptions to this general time period.

If your tax return looks like the great American novel, the running of the three-year audit period may not save you. Failure to report more than 25% of your gross income gives the IRS an additional three years to pursue you. Using the previous example, the IRS would have until April 15, 2007 to audit your 2000 tax return.

Property Records - Get A Filing Cabinet

You may need to get a filing cabinet if you hold property for an extended period of time. For example, assume that you purchased a home in 1980 for $100,000 and made $50,000 in improvements over the years. You need to keep the purchase records, mortgage statements and receipts that relate to the improvements. When you sell the home, you will need the records to determine the tax consequences of the sale, to wit, your basis (original cost plus improvements) and profit. If the IRS decides to take a closer look at the reported profit, you will need to provide your tax records to support your claims. Once you actually sell the property, it is recommended that you keep all of the tax records for an additional six years.

Divorce

Make sure you keep copies of all of your financial documents, tax returns and supporting documents if you get divorced. You should also keep copies of all divorce agreements and court orders that cover property and financial issues. When couples divorce, the tax and credit consequences can be nightmarish. If you don’t keep records, you will have to ask your ex-spouse for them. Get the records now to avoid doubling your misery!

Hopefully, you will never need to show your tax records to the IRS. If you are one of the unlucky few that is audited, your tax records should keep your feet out of the fire.

About The Author
Richard Chapo is CEO of http://www.businesstaxrecovery.com - Obtaining tax refunds for businesses by finding overlooked tax deductions and credits through a free tax return review.

Ben Franklin Didn't Quite Get It Right

Ben Franklin Didn't Quite Get It Right by: Terry Mitchell

When Ben Franklin said "a penny saved is a penny earned", he didn't quite get it right. Actually, a penny saved is worth more than a penny earned. Do you find this statement shocking? I am about to prove to you that what I'm saying is true.

Most people erroneously believe the best way to strengthen their financial health is to increase their income. On the contrary, saving money by cutting costs will get you there quicker. You see, it's very simple. When your income increases (with some exceptions like the part of it you put into your 401k), that extra money is taxed. On the other hand, any amount you save by cutting costs is not taxed. Therefore, $20 saved by cutting costs is worth more than a $20 increase in income.

The following (although over-simplified) example will illustrate this principle. Let's suppose that Jack and Cindy have identical jobs and incomes. Let's also suppose they shop at the same grocery store and pay about the same amount for groceries each week. Now, Jack gets a $20 per week pay increase and Cindy does not. However, at about that same time, Cindy finds a new grocery store where she is able to save $20 per week on her grocery bill. Assuming nothing else has changed, Cindy is now better off financially than Jack, even though she did not get a raise and he did.

How can this be? It's because Jack has to pay taxes on his $20 raise but Cindy does not have to pay taxes on her $20 grocery discount. Assuming Jack is in the 25% federal tax bracket (and disregarding any possible increase in his state or local taxes), he will be able to put only $15 into his piggy bank each week whereas Cindy will be able to put the whole $20 a week into hers!

Bottom Line: It is more blessed to receive a discount than to receive an equal amount in a pay increase!

About The Author
Terry Mitchell is a software engineer, freelance writer, and trivia buff from Hopewell, VA. He also serves as a political columnist for American Daily and operates his own website - http://www.commenterry.com - on which he posts commentaries on various subjects such as politics, technology, religion, health and well-being, personal finance, and sports. His commentaries offer a unique point of view that is not often found in mainstream media.
terrymitchell@verizon.net