Save Money on Gas

Filling up your gas tank is expensive.  Even when you have a hybrid vehicle.  Diesel vehicles, or some tricks may get you better mileage but this post is not about reducing cost by getting better mileage.  There are a number of things that you can do to get cheaper gas at the pump.  Driving less would save a ton on gas.  Once again not the focus of this post.  So how do you reduce the price you pay at the pump.

Start by finding a cheaper gas station – Sites such as GasBuddy or MSN Gas Prices track gas prices for you.  By checking the gas map before you head out on your errands you might see a station that saves you money further along your route.  You can look and see that gas in some town is cheaper and a much cheaper place to fill-up on your road trip.  Both of these sites are Web 2.0 apps where users update the prices.  Both sites are great resources but driving out of your way, across town, to save a few cents might just cost you more.

Using a Gas Station card – You can save 5 cents a gallon by using a Valero Card to pay for your gas.  Shell, Texaco, Exxon all have their own cards.  You can usually save 5 to 10 cents per gallon with these cards.  These cards have the problem of tying you to a certain gas station.  You can get around this by just carrying a card for each station that has one.  Is that worth it to you?

Get your gas at your grocery store – Safeway and Albertsons both have gas rewards programs that save you money when you show at their store.  Costco passes their saving on in the listed gas price.  All require your membership rewards card.  Because they can track your every purchase to better market to you they sell you cheaper gas.

Pay with cash – Some gas stations give the same 5 cents per gallon discount when you pay with cash that they give with their credit card.  You are then not tied to the station you have the rewards or credit card for.  You will likely have to pay inside where your are more likely to make an impulse purchase on that candy bar since you saved money.

Look for coupons – Every week my parents pickup the local Nickel Ads because a local gas station has a new 5 cents off per gallon coupon.  This coupon requires you pay inside with all those tempting impulse purchase items.  Some stations even took other station’s coupons so you might not be limited to just the one that puts out the coupon.

Use your rewards credit card – The Discover Open Road (no longer available) credit card gave 5% cashback for gas station and automotive purchases.  Using this with my Safeway Rewards saved me much more than many other options.  With gas over $2.00 per gallon I saved more than paying with the Gas Station card or cash.  I could use it with my grocery rewards or coupons.  Discover might not be accepted at some establishments locally but every gas station and bar in town took it.  The same seemed true for American Express.  The one restriction i ran into was only getting 5% on my first $100 of gas purchases each month.

 

By using these methods i was able to save money so i know they work.  What methods have you found to save on the price you pay for gas?

$50 a Month Plus Free HBO

My in-laws finally called the cable company to try to save some money.  I have suggested this a number of times.  Without knowing how much they were paying i was still confident they could save money.  They signed up for the Comcast Triple Play and saved money over their current bill.  They currently had local phone service from Qwest and had cable and internet from Comcast.  The Triple Play package moved phone to their Comcast Bill.  The promotion also included free HBO for a year.  This left a larger cable package and a smaller bill.  As you likely guessed they saved $50 total.

If you are interested in lowering your cable bill there are some things you can do.

• Identify what specials cable and satellite companies are running so you know where you can negotiate.
• Call your provider and ask what specials they can give you.  Some companies have packages and specials for current customers.
• Tell your provider that you can sign up with their competitor for the best deal you have found.  Ask them to match the deal.
• If they can’t or won’t match the deal tell them you want to cancel.  You will usually get transferred to someone that can make you a better deal.
• Most cable or satellite providers have 2 layers of management for those who want to cancel.
• If your current provider won’t try to work out a deal then jump ship.  You will be much better off.

I Will Teach You To Be Rich

Today i finished reading I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi.  Much like Dave Ramsey has his plan for financial success, Ramit Sethi has a plan for financial success. His 6 week plan sets up financial automation, replaces a budget with a Conscious Spending Plan, and starts a retirement fund.  He frequently points out the biggest (and possibly only) hurdle to being rich is planning and getting started.

Ramit asks his readers “Would you rather be rich or sexy?”  He does this because often the path to riches are not sexy.  Sure some people play professional sports.  Some win the lottery.  This book is not for them.  This book is written for people under the age of 35.  He gives advice for every age group but expects the 20-35 group to be the ones reading.

Having followed the blog at IWillTeachYouToBeRich.com the first chapters sounded real familiar.  Ramit uses the same examples on his blog as in his book.  I have no problem with this as it reiterates what he is saying. His plan and the advice on his blog is great.  The biggest problem with the book was it was hard to finish.  With all the action steps i’d read something, put the book down, then go do what Ramit said.  I’d then start doing something else and have to come back to the book later.  This book is top of the three i’ve reviewed so far.

 

Have you read this book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad or The Millionaire Next Door (check out my reviews)?  Give your thoughts in the comments.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Being another staple in many financial libraries my next read was Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter.  This book is subtitled ‘What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!’  This book left me with conflicted feelings.  While reading it was suggested that the Rich Dad was made up.  I did not have a problem as he was a means of teaching the points of the book.  For the first half of the book all the points are backed by a story of how Rich Dad taught through practice then followed up with the lecture.

The second half of the book the feeling changed.  The points were no longer about Rich Dad as much as they were “Here is how i did it through Real Estate speculation.”  Each example through real estate was followed with a caveat of don’t do it this way.  Just learn the principle.  The last couple of chapters suggest to learn the process for real estate speculation go to seminars.  I was not surprised to learn that Richard Kiyosaki has a series of seminars on learning real estate.

Anterior motives aside, the principles seem sound.  The book does not ever teach you how implement the principles.  This is a good thing.  It allows the book to remain relevant longer.  Implementation is also dependant on your situation.  Many other subjects teach in a similar way.  Computer Science is one; the implementations change over time so principles are more important than thing to do.  There is a chapter at the end on things to do.  It is sparse and seems an afterthought.

Have you read this book or The Millionaire Next Door (check out my review)?  Give your thoughts in the comments.

New York Number

I was reading a post on Consumerism Commentary.  Flexo’s post Let’s Stop Envying Millionaires suggests with the increase of millionaires in the world that we should look at a lighter level of savings  He also suggests that $1,000,000 won’t be enough to retire on.  He also introduced me to the best retirement calculator i’ve seen.  This calculator asks a few questions about your preferences instead of asking about money.  Based on your preferences it calculates your recommended retirement amount.  This calculator is your New York Number.

My score from this questionnaire is 20 correlating to a $1 million retirement amount.  This amount makes me feel more comfortable with the What is your current salary and how long until you retire based projections.  My normal range was $700,000 - $2,000,000.  One thing i don’t like about most retirement calculators is they want you to predict what rate of return your portfolio will have until you retire and the rate after you retire.  If i could predict the markets that well i’d be rich enough to not need to worry about financial planning.

What you you think?  How much are you planning to retire with?  How did you determine the amount needed?

Spending to Save Money

How much added savings do you require to be willing to spend money on a money saving device?  I had always thought it was silly to spend money for devices to save money.  Recently i realized that even though i scoff at the idea i have been doing this for a long time.  I looked at these devices as scams and fake.  Look at your own feelings on the thought of spending money on something to save you money.  Buying “money saving” devices is throwing money out the door.  But maybe not…

 

Gift Cards

There is a thriving online community in the gift card trade.  You can trade your old gift cards with a full or partial balance for cash or other gift cards.  You can often buy gift cards online at a partial cost of the amount on the card.  Some locations even give free gift card of say $5-10 with the purchase of a $25-50 card.  If you are planning to shop at this store it might be worth buying the gift card to get the free one then getting back in line with your purchases to use these cards.  I recently bought a $100 gift card on ebay for $50.  This can be risky.  I did my homework and bought from someone with over 10,000 positive feedback and 0 negative.  This made my purchase at that store 50% off.  Pair this kind of savings with % off coupons or sales and you’d could have $150 or more in merchandise for pennies.  Buying a gift card for half off is not uncommon.

 

Coupons

Ebay also allows for the sale of coupons.  They require you to mail the actual coupon not just email a copy.  My sister recently bid on and won a $75 off $100 purchase at Old Navy coupon.  Coupons can just as risky as gift cards.  With proper checking these might be ok as well.  A problem might arise as most coupons state not valid for transfer or resale.  The Old Navy coupon did.  The coupon my sister bought had an individualized barcode and Old Navy accepted her coupon.  They could have just as easily said it was invalid and left her to battle ebay and the seller for her money back.  Her cost for the $75 savings was just $12.  Coupons can be found for 75% off or better.  You might just get a stack of them for free.

 

Entertainment Book

Buying a book full of coupons be worth the investment.  It is important to make sure that you will use the coupons and that you not buy something just to use a coupon.  If you were otherwise going to buy the things the coupon book has coupons for you might save money.  I have also seen coupon books sold by school groups.  A similar item to a coupon book are varsity cards.  Sports teams will sell a card that has various deals at local businesses.  These often have buy 1 get 1 offers and often have multiple pizza places on there.  I would always buy these to help whatever group is selling them if i planned to use them or not.  And normally with the varsity cards or coupon books you only need to use them 2-3 times to save your costs.

 

Club Memberships

My last group is club memberships.  I have been a Costco member for many years.  I did not group this in a similar category to the Entertainment Book until recently.  There are people that will buy membership at these locations just for 1-2 big tickets items.  If Costco has the HDTV you want for $100 less than any competitor it is worth the $50 for membership just for that one item.  You then have access to all the other club perks and prices.  Costco membership might be worth it just to buy Costco gas.  Like with other saving methods you have to make sure you use if for things you would buy even without the membership.  Also warehouse clubs prices are not always cheaper; you still have to shop around.

 

Spending money to save money can be a great investment if you make sure the “money saving” device will in fact save you money.