Champ Money

There are several ways you can reduce your monthly cell phone bill, but the quickest and easiest is to drop the “insurance” premiums you’re paying each month.

The average cost of this “protection” is $4.99 – $5.99 per month with the largest U.S. carriers. Additionally, should you ever actually need to use the service after your phone has been lost or stolen, you’ll usually be subjected to a deductible, which is in the $50 range for most service providers.

Re-evaluate the need for this added service. Unless you have a very expense cell phone, it’s not likely to be a good value.

Instead, save your old phones after upgrading to newer models. This way, if your newer phone needs emergency replacement, you can always activate the older model.

One of the biggest mistakes in personal finance is lack of organization. Champ Money will be begin addressing this topic through an ongoing series of posts relating directly to organizing your finances.

Several posts will be appearing here within the next week or so regarding this topic. If you are ready to gain control of your finances, rest assured that organization is the very first step.

When looking for inexpensive entertainment, always check your local college and university for happenings and events.

Cultural events at colleges and universities are very inexpensive, and often free. If you happen to live in a college town, there will always be something interesting going on. This is one of the reasons why college towns are so popular with retirees!

Are you paying for unnecessary insurance?

If you’ve got no dependents, you don’t need life insurance.

Accidental death insurance is rediculous. If you need insurance, then you need it all the time – not just for “accidental death”.

Don’t let the pushy sales people talk you into buying an extended warranty for that new purchase. They have been trained to be very convincing, so don’t even get into the discussion. A polite “not interested” should suffice.

It’s no secret that most extended warranties are the primary source of revenue for many businesses. They are overpriced and seldom used.

In a recent report, Consumer Reports recommended extended warranties only for laptop computers, plasma TVs, and treadmills.

When the time comes to get a new washer, purchase a front loader.

Front loaders save water and energy. Front loaders also cause much less wear on clothing (no agitator), which will further increase long-term savings.

Be sure to check with your utility companies for any “energy saver” rebates.

Airline frequent flier clubs are free. Join the clubs for every airline you might fly with, even if you only travel occasionally.

When redeeming earned frequent flier miles, always check first for lower fare offers to the same destination. Using your earned miles is not always the best deal.

Rental car insurance is a large expense, and quite often not necessary.

Don’t take the rental car insurance if you are sure that your own auto insurance covers you – be sure to verify this however, because you definitely don’t want to be driving any vehicle uninsured.

Keep in mind that many major credit cards also have built-in rental car insurance.

The largest consumer issue in the past decade is the lack of individual savings, along with the high amount of debt.

Saving money is just as important as paying debt. Once you begin to build up some savings, you essentially gain an insurance policy against future debt.

Pay yourself first, by putting money in savings; then use the rest of your budget to live on.

While grocery coupons from your local newspaper are not as attractive as they were in the past, you can still enjoy some savings with smart coupon clipping.

Be sure to only use coupons for products that you already buy.

Also, check to see if any of your local grocery stores offer double coupon deals. Again, this is harder to find than it once was, but they do still exist.