I run into a ton of people who want to begin saving, but think they have to create this elaborate plan in order to do so. You do not have to get 5-6 jobs to begin saving (although I do believe in having multiple streams of income). Most times, saving starts with taking baby steps and doing the small things right. Here are a few simple money saving tips you can incorporate today to begin saving for a rainy day!

#1 Save the Change

My husband is a pro at doing this. All throughout the year, he collects his change and dumps it in his “change jar.” Not only has this become helpful around the holidays in purchasing gifts, but at one point in our lives, the spare change came at a time when there was “more month than money.” Spare change may not be enough to pay your mortgage or rent, but for us, it was certainly enough to buy pull-ups and put food on the table. Save your change. You never know when you will need it! 

#2 Wait for the Sales

Patience is still a virtue that I am slowly learning to develop. I have always been one to want something and want it now (which is one of the reasons we accumulated so much debt, sigh!). But in my quest to change money mindsets, I realize the importance of “waiting.” Waiting to determine if what I want is a need or a want or even waiting to make a purchase because I know if will be on sale “soon and very soon.” This year really tested those skills. Our printer broke, neither one of our vacuums acted like it wanted to pick up anything, my laptop was on its last leg and each one, at least in my mind, was deemed a “need.” However, I knew if I could be uncomfortable for a few more weeks (go somewhere else to print, taking longer than usual to write a report, or even using the broom), I would be able to purchase all of these “needed” items at a heavily discounted price on Black Friday! It was extremely difficult to wait, but I did it and as a result, I saved hundreds of dollars. My patience literally “paid off” all because I was able to be “uncomfortable” for a few weeks and wait for the sales.

#3 Use Deals like Ebates

I absolutely love Ebates. Since I do 99% of my shopping online and I do not coupon (which is something I need to start doing), Ebates is how I save money. When I make an online purchase, I make sure I use the Ebates website (or Google Chrome extension) to earn money. How Ebates work is you can get a certain percentage of your purchases back in a form of a check that they issue to you quarterly. The last check I received was for $144. If you shop online, this is a great tool to use to save (or get back) money. If you want to sign-up, here’s my link (Ebates).

All in all, waiting for the deals and using online shopping tools like Ebates are great ways to begin taking baby steps towards attaining your financial goals. You do not have to start by selling a car or waiting to get a huge raise on your job. Sometimes you can just begin with saving your change! It’s a great start!

If these tips were helpful, share and leave a comment below!

Good credit is critically important because it directly effects every financial decision you will make in your lifetime. Unless you are a millionaire and can afford to pay cash for EVERYTHING, you will need to have credit to purchase a home, buy a car, or now, even have a good job. It is, thereby, imperative to maintain good credit to attain the best interest rates and avoid paying thousands of dollars of interest on loans.

What can you do to improve or even maintain your credit score?

#1 Pay Your Bills On-Time

Ensure you pay all of your bills on or before the due date. This includes mortgages, auto loans, student loans, credit card bills, and any debt that is report to any of the three credit bureaus.

#2 Pay Your Debts Down…Or Completely Off

Part of the calculation for credit scores include your credit utilization. If you are maxed out on some or all of your credit card bills (or close to maxing out), although you may be paying your bills on-time each month, it will negatively impact your credit score. The more you owe on your credit card bills, particularly if you have a balance over 30% of your available credit, it will lower your credit score; therefore, pay off your cards as quickly as possible!

#3 Do not be so Quick to Close Credit Cards

A percentage of your credit score calculation is also based on the longevity of credit cards (or other debt). The longer you have it, the more advantageous it is for your credit score. So, if you have two cards, one card you opened 10 years ago and the second card you opened last year, they take the average (in years) of your cards. So, your average credit card history would be about 5,5 years (10 years + 1 year divided by 2); however, if you close your 10 year old card because you paid it off, you credit history now drops to one year. Think twice before closing the cards you’ve had for a longer period of time.

#4 Have a Mix of Debt

Of course, I am not a proponent of having debt. I want you to pay it all off! But when it comes to credit scores, honestly, your score just shows how well you manage debt. So, creditors want to see how you manage a variety of different debts, meaning having a mortgage, student loans and revolving credit (credit cards) works in your favor when it comes to credit scoring particularly when you are good on #1 and #2. Do not, however, go out and get more debt to increase this section of your credit score calculation. Buying a home, getting an auto loan happens in time. 

#5 Stop Opening Up Additional Credit Cards

You know when you go to a Department Store (or any store nowadays) and they ask you “Would you like to save 20% of your purchase if you are approved for our store card?” JUST SAY NO!!!! Credit inquiries, whether you are approved or not, negatively effect your credit score. Why? Because creditors think that you are trying to get into more debt by applying for more credit cards. Remember, just say no!

In essence, be mindful of how you handle credit. Paying on-time and have little to no balance on your credit cards directly impacts your credit score, which in turn, will directly impact your financial future. It is, however, never too late to begin building, re-building and improving your credit score. Follow these steps (and others) and you will be on the road to having success in your finances…including your credit!

If this was helpful, share and leave a comment below!

The cost of satellite and cable TV has skyrocketed over the last few years. Which is kind of surprising seeing that their competition in most cases is less than half the costs to view the same shows. Nowadays, most people can watch their favorite shows and movies via cell phones, tablets, computer screens and/or Smart TVs by what is called streaming. Streaming is basically “the technology used to deliver content (normally audio and video) to computers and mobile devices using the internet or Wi-Fi” (lifewire.com).

So, what are some of the streaming alternatives to Satellite TV and Cable and how does it all work?

Streaming Devices

If you want to cut cable and/or satellite TV, consider purchasing a streaming device. A streaming device is a device that already has streaming apps (Netflix, Hulu, etc..) and/or streaming services apps (Sling TV, Hulu Live TV, etc.…) readily available on it. Examples of streaming devices would be a Smart TV, a Fire Stick, a Roku Stick, etc.…. My favorite streaming device is the Amazon Fire Stick, similar to the Roku. Both have a ton of apps. From Netflix to Hulu, from Starz to HBO, the Fire Stick has pretty much eliminated the need for us to use satellite TV.

The cost of a streaming device will range. Smart TVs vary in prices based on the desired TV size. The Fire Stick or Roku Stick starts at $39.99 on Amazon (which is significantly cheaper than buying a new Smart TV). If you wait until Black Friday or Prime Day, however, you can normally get the Fire Sticks or Roku Sticks for almost have the price. We have a Fire Stick on almost all of our TVs in our home and have not had any glaring issues with ours so far. We even take it with us when we go out of town over the holidays to plug into our parents’ guest room TVs so we can catch up on movies, TV series or others.

Streaming TV Services

Streaming services is what you can purchase to replace cable or satellite. It typically includes plans similar to cable or satellite plans, but instead of hooking your TV to a cable cord or installing a satellite in or around your home, it is works directly from your Wi-Fi/Internet service. Many streaming TV services include Live TV, local channels, and have various channel packages similar to cable and satellite. Examples of streaming services include Sling TV, Direct TV Now, Hulu Live TV & Streaming Services, Vue, and more. Monthly services can range anywhere from $25 for a basic plan (Sling TV) to about $80. Most of these streaming TV services can be accessed via a Fire Stick or a Roku Stick (among others). When pricing, if you are looking for local channels and live TV, call or check to verify the plans and ensure they have the channels you are looking for.

Streaming Apps

If you have a Smart TV, a Fire Stick, a Roku Stick, or even a video game console like PlayStation, you will have access to streaming apps. Streaming apps are the individual applications (apps) you have to access movies, music or shows. Netflix is a streaming app, so is Hulu, as well as Amazon Prime Videos. And now TV channels all have streaming apps (ABC, CBS, NBC, OWN, CNN, etc…). Here, you pay monthly for each individual app. For example, right now we do not have streaming TV services like a Sling TV, but we wanted Hulu, Netflix and HBO. So, use our Fire Sticks (our streaming device) to watch Hulu, Netflix and HBO, and we therefore, pay between $8 to $12 each for those apps. We also have Amazon Prime, which not only allows us to get Free 2-Day shipping, but it includes Amazon Prime Videos, Amazon Music (limited songs/CDs) and an assortment of perks. It costs about $100/year. So, between Amazon Prime, Hulu, Netflix, and HBO we pay about $30/month by using our Fire Stick. Pretty cheap considering many people between $150-$180/month for satellite TV.

What are some of the cons to streaming?

I could not give you the benefits of streaming without giving you the cons. Although, in my opinion, the benefits outweigh the bad, it is still important to share both sides.

First, streaming is internet (Wi-Fi) based. If you do not have a strong Wi-Fi signal throughout your entire house, particularly in the rooms where you will be watching TV via streaming, then streaming will not work well. You may have to upgrade to a better internet plan/company and even purchase a Wi-Fi Extender which is what we had to do to ensure our Wi-Fi signal was strong in every area of the house.

A second con could be, not all streaming services offer local channels. If you wanted to watch your local news and you decided to go with a streaming service who may not offer local channels, you may need to purchase an antenna which you can get at most electronic store. They normally start at $40.

Thirdly, if you only use a Fire Stick and a few streaming apps like us, you will not be able to watch your scheduled shows on the day and time.  Depending on the show, it will normally appear on apps like Hulu the next day. For example, if “This Is Us” comes on every Tuesday at 9pm, you will not be able to watch it until Thursday morning (the next day). It works well for me because most days I am unable to actually watch a show when it is on. I normally have to catch up over the weekend or during the holidays.

A fourth con is since streaming is tied to your internet or Wi-Fi service, if for some reason your internet goes out in your home, you will not be able to access any of the streaming services or apps on your TV since streaming works directly via your Wi-Fi. Although you could stream from your mobile device, if you do not have an unlimited data plan, watching movies on a mobile device can become costly.

All in all, using streaming devices (Fire Sticks) along with apps (Netflix, Hulu) has worked for our family. If you are contemplating getting rid of cable or satellite, do your due diligence, research, compare plans, price-check and ask friends and family members about their experiences. If your cable bill can change from $180 to $80 per month by streaming, I believe it is worth saving that extra $100/month even if it means watching your favorite shows the next day (delayed gratification at its best).

Happy Streaming!