That being said, it isn’t always easy to find ways to save money.  Many family expenses seem pretty fixed and finding ways to make cuts can be hard.  The savings tips and saving tricks found in most money magazines, newspaper financial sections, and finance websites have been around the block a few times.  Many have lost their effectiveness, others were just never very helpful in the first place.

Saving Tips and Tricks Section

I’m happy to announce that today the Finance Gourmet website will begin building a new money saving tips section for our readers.  We’ll repeat some of the oldies but goodies (there is, after all, a reason that they are oldies but goodies).  However, we’ll also tell you about money saving tips that you might not already know about.  Some of them are easy, and some of them are harder, but they will all be worthwhile tools to add to your financial knowledge arsenal.

And, I guarantee that it won’t be the same old, "Make a budget, and cut back," advice you’ve seen a thousand times before.

Keep an eye out for our first money saving tips later today!  Or, do yourself a favor and grab the Finance Gourmet Feed instead.  That way, you won’t have to remember to get your tips, they’ll come automatically to you.

— The Finance Gourmet

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Money Saving Tips and Tricks for the Whole Family originally published at Finance Gourmet

Not long ago, big box electronics shops like Circuit City began competing against the lower prices and better deals found online by offering just as good of prices.  However, that meant they didn’t make very much profit because of the overhead of running a store.  They countered that by aggressively selling extended warranties to their customers.  Soon, virtually all of the profit from an electronics chain was from warranties. 

Unfortunately for them, but fortunately for everyone else, customers soon caught on and came prepared for the warranty hard sell and more importantly, came prepared to say know.  In the process they saved themselves from wasting a fortune, and at the same time put Circuit City and others out of business.

That doesn’t mean that retailers have stopped trying to sell extended warranties, far from it.  Particularly on electronic goods, appliances, and televisions, most purchases come with at least a quick offer to purchase a warranty, if not a much harder sale.  Either way, extended warranties are almost always a bad deal for consumers, not because a warranty is a bad idea, but rather because they are almost always overpriced. 

The ones that are not outrageously expensive generally have “features” that make them unattractive as well such as getting a percentage of the cost based on how long you’ve used it, or worse, getting an “equivalent” replacement that usually isn’t.

But, thanks to a company called Square Trade, you no longer have to choose between worrying about what happens if your new purchase breaks, or overpaying for some 50/50 shot on an extended warranty.

The premise behind SquareTrade is that it is possible to make money on warranties by aggregating failures and spreading out risk like insurance companies.  Then, selling the warranty at a fair and reasonable price assures that more warranties will be sold.  Since nothing happens to most items, there is plenty of money to be made without treating anyone like a sucker.

The best part is that instead of having to keep receipts and paperwork and hope you can find them if something goes wrong, you setup an account at Square Trade and use it to manage all of your warranties in one place.

Chances are a Square Trade warranty will cost you half of what the retailer is offering you and unlike the retailer warranty, there is no high pressure to buy now.  Sleep on it and buy the warranty in the morning if you think it is still a good idea.

Now, you can be covered, and not get robbed.

Don’t forget to see if you credit card offers some form of protection for your purchases as well.  Generally, this will be for a much shorter term than an extended warranty, but it never hurts to know what savings you could be getting there as well.

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Save Money on Warranties with Square Trade originally published at Finance Gourmet

Every year, everyone from Best Buy to Office Depot to Staples offers great deals when you buy your tax prep software at their store.  The deal isn’t necessarily on the price of the software, and if it is, it is usually on the basic version that may not handle everything.

Although, just a quick tip about TurboTax.  I got a free offer to use TurboTax basic online.  I own my house, and I run my own business and everything I needed was in the TurboTax basic version even though it kept asking me to upgrade to TurboTax Deluxe to make sure I didn’t miss out on any deductions.  Folks, the “hidden” or hard to find tax deductions usually are not going to apply to you unless you have very special circumstance.  In that case, you probably already know about them.  So, try the Basic version and if it doesn’t work out, you can go to Deluxe.  Or, even better, if it is just one extra piece, you can fill that form out manually.

Back to business.

Free Anti-Virus, Free Security, Free Internet Protection, and More

Back to the deals.  The biggest deals you will usually see come in the form of other software packages and programs you can get for dirt cheap, or totally free when you buy your tax program.  Usually TurboTax and TaxACT are the ones that get this treatment.

Almost always, an antivirus program is one of the programs you can get, along with Internet security applications, and things like clip-art, business programs, print shop like publishing programs and so on.  If you get TurboTax the deal can also include a deep discount on Quicken and QuickBooks.  That way, you can get your budgeting and business bookkeeping software at a big discount.

This is how I get my anti-virus subscription for free every year.  I check the ads in the Sunday paper each week and when they have a free McAfee or Norton, or whatever, I buy my copy of TurboTax and uninstall my anti-virus software and then re-install it with the new CD and key, and voilla, free brand name anti-virus software, and it is totally legal.

Check out this Sunday’s paper and see what you can find.

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Free or Big Discount Software When You Buy TurboTax TaxACT or other Tax Software originally published at Finance Gourmet

If you’ve been through your budget and you don’t find anything out of whack (tip: if your cell phone bill is more than $60 and you aren’t a traveling salesman, it’s time to re-evaluate) then we need to pull out some less used tips.

Homeowner’s Insurance Deductible

The dirty secret about homeowner’s insurance is that filing claims will get you and your policy dropped by the insurance company.  Those same claims will keep you from getting a new insurance policy with another company.  Sometimes, as little as 3 claims in 2 years will get you dropped like a hot potato.

Since there is nothing you can do about how insurance companies behave, the next best thing is to work smarter within their system.  Only file large claims and use your savings to pay for the nickel and dime stuff like a few shingles blown off the roof.  Of course, if you aren’t going to be filing smaller claims, then you shouldn’t be paying for the coverage.

Raise your homeowner’s insurance deductible to at least $1,000.  Chances are a $1,500 or $2,500 deductible won’t lower your rates that much more, but check anyway.  Saving $10 a year to raise your deductible $1,000 doesn’t make much sense, but if you can save $50 or $100 then that’s something to think about.

If you are the very responsible type and you have the recommended 3 to 6 months of living expenses tucked safely away in an emergency fund that you never touch, you can even consider a $5,000 deductible which could significantly lower your home insurance.  But, do the math first.  It will likely only make sense if you have a high value home.

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Also, do a homeowner’s review with your company if you have made any improvements or security upgrades.  The new alarm system might be worth a discount.  The same goes for removing anything that raised your rates.  If you don’t have a dog anymore, make sure they know that too.

Be careful that your insurance agent doesn’t use your review to sell you other insurance, or even more home insurance.  You are there for home insurance only, and you don’t want to talk about life insurance, car insurance, or any other insurance, no matter how good of time it is, or how great the deal is.  You especially don’t care if rates are going up next month (a common insurance salesman line). 

Also, there is no need to insure your home for full replacement value.  Laws very from state to state, but generally, a homeowner’s insurance policy provides for 120% or so, of coverage should your whole house need replaced.  But, that kind of event is relatively rare.  Even if you have a fire, chances are you’ll be repairing the house, not rebuilding it from scratch.

Flood Insurance

A major mistake many homeowners make is not getting flood insurance.  Your regular home owner’s insurance does not cover flooding.  That includes not just a river flooding, but also a water main break, a broken pipe (outside the home), and many other issues.  If you live anywhere near a river, lake, or ocean, flood insurance is a no brainer.  But, don’t assume you are safe if you don’t.

Check your city planning office to find out where your home is located.  Residentially zoned areas are generally categorized by flood plain status.  If your home sits in a 100-year flood plain, you might risk it.  But, don’t assume a 50-year flood plain equals safety.  The statistics don’t quite work that way.  Check with an expert.

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Quick Money Saving Tip originally published at Finance Gourmet