Some of these may be familiar and some may be new to you, but if you follow through on them, you'll make significant progress in cutting costs in your day-to-day life.
1. Pay off your credit cards monthly. If you can't pay the balance, you shouldn't be charging it.
2. If you must charge, switch to a no-fee or low-fee credit card.
3. Shift your higher-rate credit-card debt to a lower-rate line of credit. Then you can deduct the interest on your tax return.
4. Use a home-equity loan to pay off auto loans. The interest is tax-deductible.
5. Make your mortgage payment biweekly instead of monthly. You'll save interest payments and be able to pay off your mortgage sooner.
6. Pay extra principal payments on your mortgage. r.
7. If your house down payment was for less than 20 percent of the value of the home, cancel your private mortgage insurance once your mortgage balance is 80 percent or less of the value of your home.
8. Lock in a fixed mortgage rate so that you don't find yourself in a position where your interest rate increases to a point at which you can no longer make your house payments.
9. Only use ATMs that don't charge service fees.
10. Pay cash when possible. Psychologically it's harder to spend than using cards. Plus, you'll save on interest charges.
11. Check your credit history. Make sure everything is accurate. If mistakes have been made, your credit might not look as good as it should and you might be paying more in interest charges.
12. If you have a tendency to bounce checks, deduct a cushion from your balance to avoid paying penalty fees. For example, if your balance is $250, subtract $100 that you pretend isn't there. If you accidentally go below $0, you'll hit that cushion rather than pay fees for insufficient funds.
13. Participate in company retirement plans to save on taxes. Your taxable income will go down and you'll gain the power of compounding interest while deferring taxes to the future.
14. Take advantage of a 401(k) (or other retirement plan) match.
15. Don't take a loan from your 401(k). You'll save on double taxation of that repaid interest.
16. Take advantage of company-sponsored reimbursement plans - medical, education, child care.
17. If your company offers free advice for your retirement plan, take advantage of it.
18. Periodically, you can talk to financial planners at no cost. Look for newspaper money shows or local events where this may be offered.
19. Take advantage of free health screenings.
20. Switch to an HMO from a PPO for health insurance.
21. If you are self-employed, consider switching health-insurance plans to a high-deductible plan to take advantage of health savings accounts.
22. Take advantage of medical prescription drug cards.
23. Get multiple quotes on insurance. It pays to shop around.
24. Raise the deductible on your homeowner's and auto insurance policies.
25. Increase the waiting period on your long-term care insurance to six months or longer.
26. Review life-insurance premiums. Can the dividends pay the premium instead of purchasing more coverage?
27. Buy term life insurance rather than whole-life or universal-life insurance.
28. Use a two-checkbook system. Use one for regular recurring expenses and the other for bigger-ticket items. If the money is not there for that next big item, keep saving.
29. Check with the state and federal governments to see if you have money owed to you. If your bank (or other financial institution) hasn't heard from you in five years, your property may be considered ''abandoned.'' The institution is then required to hand over the property to the state. This applies to safe-deposit boxes, savings accounts, checking accounts, retirement accounts, life-insurance policies, CDs and more. To find out more, go to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators' site: http://www.unclaimed.org/.
30. If you are considering moving or retiring, look into places where the cost of living and/or state tax rates are cheaper.
