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  • Cut your Insurance Bill in Three Easy Steps

    By Dr. Kavita

    I am yet to meet someone who likes to pay more to insurance companies. Considering that we all have a universal aversion to paying more towards our insurance bills, we have to devise efficient ways to cut back our insurance bills.

    Here are three easy steps that will lead towards a cheaper insurance for every one of us:

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    Bundle up all your insurance providers into one

    It makes no sense, at last financially to have several different insurance providers to cover health, life, auto and home insurances for you. Instead, if you opt for a single service provider who has all these types of insurances on offer, then you can save a lot of money simply because of bundling up all your insurance with one provider.

    But let me present a small suggestion at this point. Before you choose an insurance provider to bundle all your insurance needs with, just look around and compare the deals on offer. See which is the best insurance company that gives you the best deal, then you can jump to this insurance provider. Instead of blindly choosing one provider, use the one which provides the cheapest combo deal.

    Higher deductibles

    Higher deductibles seem scary at first impression. Well, that is normal and probably that is because it contains the word ‘higher’ in it. If you get over your initial fear and do your math, choosing a higher deductible will actually prove to be a cheaper deal to you over time.

    Choosing a high deductible means that you agree to pay a higher amount when you put in your insurance claim. As you may already know, deductibles are supposed to be prepaid before you can demand to get your insurance claim amount settled in your favor. Just by agreeing to pay a higher amount towards this deductible will lower your insurance premium rates and thus lead to lower bills each month / year for you.

    Click here to compare insurance offers and cut your bill significantly. Save 100s.

    See if you qualify for any kind of discounts

    Some of the insurance discounts are quite easy to qualify for like you are a non-smoker, or you have installed burglar alarms in your home, you are over fifty and so on. Just find out what kind of discounts you qualify for and then call up your insurance company to intimate them about it. If they are assured about your qualification, they will gladly offer the discounts to you.

    Another way to claim discounts is by taking advantage of your existing membership in certain clubs and organizations that are on the preferred list of your insurance provider company.

    These are three very easy steps to cut your insurance bill by a considerable amount and these tips work for all kinds of insurance.

    Click here to compare insurance offers and cut your bill significantly. Save 100s.

  • How To Lower Your Car Insurance Premium

    By Dr. Kavita

    There is no single magic key to open up a car insurance with lower premium rates. Each of the car insurance companies has a different way of assessing the risks and factors affecting their insurance premium rates and hence it becomes necessary to look and probe around in order to find some cheaper insurance deals.

    While not all of these tips mentioned here will work for everyone, but there sure is something for every one of us to try out. Some of the situations or conditions that contribute towards lowering your car insurance premiums are described below:

    Click here to compare car insurance plans and save hundreds. Free comparison tools.

    You put more candles on your birthday cake

    Age is a single factor that can provide you with some discounts on your car insurance premium rates. Just by celebrating your 21st and 25th birthdays, you become entitled to receive discounted premium rates.

    Your credit score is better off now

    If you are one of the lucky few who have a credit score that has improved over time and is actually now much better than before, then you can expect to see lower rates on your car insurance premiums. The explanation is simple. You are now considered as a lower risk customer and the insurance company wants to reward you with a lower premium rate.

    You just tied the knot

    Not all of the car insurance companies do so, but a few of them do consider a married person to be less risky than a bachelor. So if your latest records show that you have got hitched, then you might be rewarded with a pleasant discount in your premium rates.

    Click here to compare car insurance plans and save hundreds. Free comparison tools.

    You completed graduation

    Some of the car insurance companies like to favor alumni of certain Universities and colleges and provide a discounted rate for them. You can check out if your University from where you just graduated out qualifies for a discounted rate.

    At the same time, there is a general tendency among the insurance service providers to consider a graduate to be at a lower financial risk than a non graduate. So even if your University is not on he list of favored customers, you still will find a discount for the simple reason that you successfully graduated out of college.

    Your miles driven record shows a smaller amount

    The logic behind considering miles driven by a car driver in calculating the premium rates is that more the car is out on the roads, more are the chances of it getting involved in an accident or more is its exposure to risk. So if your records indicate that you have a smaller amount of miles driven by your car, then you automatically qualify for a lower rate.

    You shifted house

    You might already be aware that your geographical location affects your car insurance rates. If you are lucky enough to have shifted home to a State where the car insurance rates are lower, you will be charged less.

    If any of these situations have arisen in your life, you should intimate the car insurance company and get the discounts that you rightly qualify for.

    Click here to compare car insurance plans and save hundreds. Free comparison tools.

  • How To Lower Your Health Insurance Premium

    By Dr. Kavita

    People are often stuck with their health insurance plans, despite having to pay through their noses. The major thought underlying this attitude is that health is a matter of great concern and it is better not to try and opt for cheaper health insurance as it may not offer quality health coverage.

    But lower health insurance premiums do not always mean cheap or low quality health coverage. Rather it is because you are not trying to change your current expensive health plan that you are not finding any good offers. You can get good quality health coverage while having to pay lower premiums if you follow the tips described below to arrest increase in health insurance premiums:

    Click here to compare health insurance plans and save 100s. Free comparison tools.

    Re-assess your health insurance needs

    Health and medical needs change over time and often health insurance cost increases. Maybe your current health is better than before and you do not need an expensive coverage any more. Or maybe your children have grown up in the meantime and they do not need frequent visits to the doctors any more. Assess all these factors before deciding to continue with the existing and expensive health insurance plan.

    Check what your insurance is charging you for

    This tip is especially relevant if you have medical coverage through group medical insurance at work. There could be various factors that have been tied in to the group coverage that might be redundant for many of the employees. Check the factors that are tied to your group health insurance and if there are some of them that can be opted out of, then approach your colleagues and get their opinions about them too.

    If all of you are able to reach a mutual agreement about removing some of the factors, then it will definitely lead to mass savings on premiums for all of you.

    Click here to compare health insurance plans and save 100s. Free comparison tools.

    Will Catastrophic I plan work for you?

    Catastrophic I plan is a medical coverage plan that pays only for emergency medical services and hospital stay. Since this is a limited coverage plan, you will have to be sure that you can manage the costs of the regular health visits to your doctor as they will not be paid by the health insurance company. The deductibles are higher here to the tune of $1,000 for individuals and $2,000 for families, but the premiums are far lesser.

    Try opting for combined health insurance with your spouse

    Group health insurance may not be very economical for every one of us. If your spouse too has group insurance at work, then you should calculate which of the two is cheaper and if your spouse’s plan appears to be more economical, then you can combine your insurance with that of your spouse.

    Keep both your eyes and ears open for better insurance deals that keep popping up with regularity. As soon as you find a plan with lower premiums and good quality coverage, change to the better plan.

    Click here to compare health insurance plans and save 100s. Free comparison tools.

  • Credit Card Fees Explained

    By Dr. Kavita

    Anyone who has been using plastic money for even a short time already knows that there are several kinds of credit card fees that are involved with it. But not all of the credit card users understand what these fees stand for and why and how they are charged. Let us take a quick look at some of the fees and then try to understand how they are calculated and applied to your credit card.

    Click here to compare 0% APR credit card offers. No interest for up to eighteen months, no annual fee, and many other options.

    APR or annual percentage rate

    This is by far the most important type of credit card fees that every user should understand. Basically APR denotes the rate of interest that you will be charged in case you have some balance amount outstanding on your credit card bill. While it is denoted as annual interest, yet the deductions happen on a monthly basis. So if you have opted for a credit card that has 2% APR, and you have an outstanding payment balance of $2,000 towards the credit card bill month of January, then you will be charged APR fee of $40. So now the total due for month of January is $2,040.

    Balance transfer fees

    This is another equally important kind of credit card fee that you should know about. Balance transfer fees are applicable only when you shift your outstanding balance on a credit card that is currently in use to a new credit card.

    There are many offers that credit card companies love to attract you with, like 0 % balance transfer fees and low balance transfer fees etc. But remember that the process is a bit complicated and not as simple as you would be inclined to think.

    The basic idea behind transfer of balance to a new card is to save yourself from the high APR being charged every month on your current card. But you should read the fine print closely because the 0 % interest rate offer is not going to last forever. Your new card will also charge you a certain APR 9which could most of the times be higher than the old card) in about 6 to 12 months after completing the balance transfer. So use this option only if you are sure that you can indeed complete the dues within the interest free offer period on the new card.

    Click here to compare 0% APR credit card offers. No interest for up to eighteen months, no annual fee, and many other options.

    Cash advance fees

    Cash advance fees are those fees charged for every cash withdrawal that you do using your credit card. You should realize that when you withdraw money from your credit card you are actually taking a credit/loan. That money is not in your bank account and you are actually asking your credit card company for a loan. So it is obvious that the money will be available to you only at a certain rate of interest.

    There are two ways in which these fees are calculated. The first is based on the rate of interest applied on the total amount of cash withdrawn. The second method is to charge a fixed amount irrespective of the cash amount. The company will either charge you a rate of interest for amount withdrawn or a fixed amount, whichever of the two turns out to be higher.

    Click here to compare 0% APR credit card offers. No interest for up to eighteen months, no annual fee, and many other options.

  • How To Save Money On Groceries While Still Eating Right

    By Dr. Kavita

    When people hear tips that describe how to save money on groceries, they just jump to their own conclusions that these tips sure would involve some cutting back on the essentials and it is well known fact that nobody likes to cut back when it comes to food and health.

    But the tips that I am going to describe here, definitely do not involve any sort of cutting back on essential food items and neither do they suggest eating cheap food that could affect your health.

    Click here to compare offers and save hundreds of dollars on credit cards, cell phones, long distance, Internet, and much more. Free comparison tools.

    Buy produce that is grown locally

    It always makes lot of sense to buy produce that is grown locally. The first benefit is that it is quite cheaper when compared to exotic products that are imported from other countries or foodstuffs that come from outside the state.

    The second benefit is that such food stuffs are usually more healthy, because they do not have to be packed, processed and preserved like the ones that are flown in from outside.

    The third benefit is that the locally grown products are comparatively fresher than the ones that are transported from places outside, for the reason that they appear in the stores without much of a delay after they were collected from the farms.

    Be selective when you buy organic foodstuffs

    Organic food has become the rage since the last decade and there are many families in the US that are spending considerable amounts of money on buying organic food for their loved ones.  If you want to save money, but still are reluctant to take a risk on the health of your family members, you now have a wonderful solution.

    The Environmental Working Group says that there are certain vegetables and fruits that have higher levels of pesticide content (when compared to the rest) like apples, celery, spinach, strawberries, bell pepper and peaches. Buying just these items from the organic counter and the rest of the veggies and fruits from the non-organic counter will cut your grocery bill by a considerable amount each month.

    Click here to compare offers and save hundreds of dollars on credit cards, cell phones, long distance, Internet, and much more. Free comparison tools.

    Buy in bulk

    Meat and meat products are on the top of the list of items that can be bought in bulk without fear of going bad within a reasonable time period. You just need to store them carefully in the freezer and use as needed. Other stuff that can be bought in bulk without worrying about their expiry dates are sauces, ketchups, noodles etc.

    Avoid packaged and processed food stuffs

    No matter how many times we read or hear about the bad effects of packaged, processed and preserved food on health, we still are connected to such foodstuffs in a major way. I am sure that none of us can pass a single day of our lives without having at least one processed or preserved item popping up on our food table. Try staying away from these stuff as much as possible as they inflate both your grocery bills and your waistline!

    Click here to compare offers and save hundreds of dollars on credit cards, cell phones, long distance, Internet, and much more. Free comparison tools.

  • Save Money But Live Large

    By Dr. Kavita

    Saving money is one of the topmost priorities for the majority of the population. Well, why should not people save money? After all, saving is a good habit. But there is a general impression that saving money entails sacrificing certain things. And not everyone who wants to save money actually wants to do so at the cost of living life by cutting the edges.

    Folks, who are accustomed to living life large, dislike the mention of foregoing their comforts and luxuries, all in the name of saving some money. But today’s post will try to find out practical ways to save money without having to forego any of the comforts and luxuries.

    Click here to compare multiple offers and save hundreds on credit cards, cell phones, long distance, Internet, insurance, mortgages, and more. Free comparison tools.

    Start with the basics

    As always, we start with the basics and the basics of human life is intricately connected to food. Saving on food will make a considerable difference to our monthly budgets, because it often forms the major source of expenditure for most of us.

    If you are out of your house for lunch every day (owing to your work or college), buying food from your favorite fast food joint or nearest deli is the commonest solution. Eating outside can not only ruin your health but also causes a huge dent in your monthly budget.

    But nobody is asking you to give up lunch or tasty food either. Just carry your own home made lunch to work/school. Homemade food can be modified to suit both your taste buds and budget and contribute towards your health as well.

    Click here to compare multiple offers and save hundreds on credit cards, cell phones, long distance, Internet, insurance, mortgages, and more. Free comparison tools.

    Make the most of discount coupons

    You can get online discount and deal coupons for almost everything nowadays. Make sure that you collect your coupons and use them to save money on all your purchases. But a word of caution is needed here.

    Some folks just do not know to draw a line between a true discount and a wasteful hoarding.  Just because there is a coupon available for something, does not mean that you should buy it. Use your coupons only for stuff you truly need.

    Buy in bulk

    There are certain items that you need a lot throughout the month and with regular frequency every month. Buy such stuff at bulk sales to get the best savings. Just like the discount coupons it is easy to misuse this money saving tip. Buy only that stuff that will not be wasted if bought in bulk. A good rule of thumb is to avoid buying perishable items in bulk, no matter how frequently you think you will use it.

    Look out for expiration dates because bulk deals are commonly given as a part of stock clearance discounts. You would be wasting money instead of saving any, if you found that the expiry date is before the anticipated use of the product.

    You do not always have to sacrifice your comforts to save money; it only takes some intelligent planning.

    Click here to compare multiple offers and save hundreds on credit cards, cell phones, long distance, Internet, insurance, mortgages, and more. Free comparison tools.

  • Six Effective Ways To Lower Your Grocery Bill

    By Dr. Kavita

    Grocery items form an important part of our monthly budgets. Reducing costs related to grocery items will have a huge impact on your monthly budget and that is exactly why today’s post is all about six effective ways to lower your grocery bill.

    Make a list of essential items

    The single most important factor that contributes toward a higher grocery bill is shopping without a list. Impulsive grocery shopping is dangerous and can inflate your bills very rapidly. And the fact is that you will more often than not end up with stuff that you either did not need in the first place or worst still, do not need at all.

    Click here to compare multiple offers and save hundreds of dollars every month. Save on everything, from credit cards and cell phone bills to long distance and mortgages. Free comparison tools.

    Compare brands

    A single item like tomato sauce can be priced differently by different brands. It makes good budgeting sense to compare the prices across various brands when you are buying an essential item on your grocery list. If the quality is comparable, then the cheapest of all brands qualifies to be your choice.

    Try store products instead of brands

    If your local store has its own line of products, it will always save you a considerable amount of money if you buy those products instead of the branded one. I suggest that you start shopping at a local store that has a number of its own products.

    Try cheaper alternatives

    There are a number of food items that can be prepared at home for a cheaper price than buying them at a store. The only advantage in buying store products is that you get to save time. But if you have time, then you should definitely opt for the cheaper option and get them prepared at home. Some of the commonest examples are tomato sauces, pasta sauces, jams, French fries and so on.

    Skip to cheaper foods

    We are all aware of how certain foodstuffs seem to be quite expensive and often overshadow the other items in the grocery bill. For example fish and meat are more expensive than vegetables and fruits are more expensive than vegetables. Even if you cannot or do not want to skip expensive food stuffs entirely, you can buy the more expensive stuff less frequently throughout the month.

    Click here to compare multiple offers and save hundreds of dollars every month. Save on everything, from credit cards and cell phone bills to long distance and mortgages. Free comparison tools.

    Eat local foods

    While there is no doubt about the exotic value of the imported food stuffs, they are more expensive when compared to the local produce. Try to use local food preparations as much as possible.

    Following these six steps will help to lower your grocery bill by at least 35 %.

    Related Articles:

    http://www.dontspendmore.com/blog/index.php/grocery-bills-how-to-cut-your-monthly-food-bill-in-half/

  • Unlimited Free Call Methods

    By David

    If you have a cell phone, you are no doubt aware of how expensive they can become. Paying for a plan that includes unlimited calling, texting, and data can be a huge burden, especially for an individual.

    However, using these three unlimited free call methods can help you reduce your cell phone bill without changing your talking habits.

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    Messenger Apps

    The first of the unlimited free call methods is the use of a messenger application on your phone. These applications allow you to talk and text through your data plan, thus freeing you up to significantly reduce or altogether cancel your other services, saving you a significant amount on your monthly bill. The disadvantage of these apps is that in order to contact someone by using the app, the other person must also have and be using the app. This makes them somewhat less desirable for all situations, but is a good way to stay in touch with friends and family who also use the app.

    Click here to compare call methods. Save 100s.

    Wi-Fi Calling

    One of the newer unlimited free call methods is Wi-Fi calling. Almost every Smartphone these days has the ability to connect to a nearby wireless connection for the purpose of streaming data faster than you could through the cell network. Because you are using your own equipment rather than the carrier’s, the data you stream through the connection does not count against your monthly limit. Using the same technology, many companies now allow you to make calls inside a Wi-Fi area without the time spent talking applying against your minutes limit for the month thereby granting unlimited free calling so long as you remain near a Wi-Fi connection. This is a great way to make calls from home for free, allowing you to cancel your land line to save a little extra money.

    VoIP Apps

    Recently, applications that allow you to make unlimited free calls through your data plan without the need for those you are calling or those calling you to also have the application. These apps work much the same way as the messenger apps do, allowing free calling and free texting by utilizing your data so that you need only pay for one service rather than all three. While it is still necessary to maintain an account by paying for a small number of minutes each month, using these apps will allow you to cut back considerably, making your monthly bills comparatively lower than they would otherwise be. The one down side to this type of unlimited free call method is that it is very hard on your data plan and could easily cause you to exceed your monthly data limit, or hasten throttling if you are using an unlimited plan.

    Click here to compare cell phone plans. Save 100s.

    Now that you have a better idea of what is available out there as far as unlimited free call methods are concerned, you are now equipped with the knowledge to choose the right one for you, in order to ease your monthly phone bills burden on your finances.

  • Finding The Best Wireless Carrier

    By David

    If you have been trying to figure out what the best wireless carrier is, then you have likely discovered that everyone has their own opinion on the subject, backed up with all kinds of different reasons for it. This tends to make sense as everyone’s experience is going to be just a little different. As such, it is impossible for anyone to definitively assert one carrier over another as the best. What is possible however is for us to give you the tools to determine what carrier will be the best for you.

    Click here to compare wireless plans. Save 100s.

    Coverage Area

    The very first thing you will want to do as you evaluate the options for potential cellular carriers is to determine which of them has the coverage you need. The best wireless carrier for you will not always be the carrier with the most coverage. What you really need is a carrier that covers where you live, the place where you work, and the places you frequently travel for leisure and entertainment. Obviously, any network that does not cover all these areas without using towers rented from other companies (known as roaming towers) should be eliminated as an option immediately before you look at the companies available plans.

    Plans & Services

    Next, you will want to start looking at the plans available from the qualifying companies thus far to determine the best wireless carrier for you. Most carriers will offer some sort of all inclusive bundle as their best deal. These are great if you are going to be using a great deal of the included features, but they often include many things we do not really need and thus can cost more than their worth. If you find that there are a couple features you would not really use from the bundle, check out the basic plans as well and try adding services to them to get you what you need, without paying for what you do not. Find the cheapest plan that meets your needs for each company being sure to keep their features about on par so the final comparison can be a fair one.

    Click here to compare wireless plans. Save 100s.

    Compare Price

    Finally, take a look at the plans you picked from each company and eliminate all but the cheapest from the running. If you find that there are two or more plans with the same price, you will have to take a look and compare each of their features to make the final determination. As you will want to get the most you can for your money, you will want to pick the plan that has the most feature advantages over the others. Regardless of what plan you end up with, you will have coverage where you need it and the features that you just cannot live without.

    Now that you know how to find the best wireless carrier for you, start shopping around and determine which of the carriers is going to meet your needs, as well as those of anyone else who might be on the plan.

    Click here to compare wireless plans. Save 100s.

  • Few Things You Should Know About Roaming

    By David

    If you frequently use a cell phone, you have likely had to deal with your mobile device roaming before. Most cell phone users are familiar with the extra fees associated with it, but not as many know what roaming is or why it occurs. To explain this, we have put together an informational guide so you can know what it is, what it does, and how to avoid it costing you extra.

    Click here to compare cell phone plans. Save 100s.

    What is it?

    Roaming is a term that simply means you are receiving your cellular network service through a tower owned by another carrier. Typically, your carrier will charge you an additional fee for all talking, texting, and data use that occurs during this state. As a result, those whose phones frequently roam will find that their monthly bills are considerably higher than those of people who almost never step outside their carrier’s coverage. The reason for these extra fees is that your carrier does not cover the areas you find yourself roaming in with any towers they own. However other networks do cover these areas with their own towers. In order to provide you with more coverage, your carrier worked out a deal with the carrier or carriers who own the towers that cover the area in question. This deal typically involves your carrier paying a monthly fee to rent the use of the tower from the other carrier. However, rather than paying the rent out of what it would cost to maintenance their own towers in the area, they charge the user part of this rent to help mitigate the expense.

    Click here to compare cell phone plans. Save 100s.

    What it does?

    Roaming allows a cell phone user to gain access to all of their network’s services even while outside their native coverage area. This is done by utilizing the nearby towers of another company that your carrier is renting in order to allow you to enter a state of roaming. Those towers then communicate back to towers owned by your company.

    How to avoid it

    Because of the additional fees associated with roaming, many people look for ways to try and avoid it. In some cases, the only real way to avoid it will be to petition your carrier to put up a tower of their own close enough to you, so you do not have to use towers belonging to other carriers. There are, however a couple of alternatives available to some cell phone users.

    1. Switch Carriers – Though it may sound a bit extreme, switching to a carrier that provides native service to your area will help you avoid roaming fees associated with using the towers of another company.
    2. Avoid Usage Outside Coverage Zones – If you are unable to switch carriers, you can always avoid roaming fees by not using any of your phone’s features while outside your networks native coverage area. This may mean a little inconvenience, but it will result in a lower bill.

    Now that you know what roaming is and how to avoid it, you can start saving yourself some money on your phone bill.

    Click here to compare cell phone plans. Save 100s.