Generic vs. Name Brands

If you want to slash your grocery bill dramatically, you cannot be brand loyal. Almost all stores carry a generic brand or a less expensive brand. You should try buying the store brand and test if the taste is the same as the brand you are used to buying. Some things just aren't.

I don't like sodas, but I sometimes as a mixer or on a random craving, it tastes great. However, even though I can't really taste the difference between Pepsi and Coke or Diet Coke and Coke, I can taste the difference between Coke and store brand cola at most places. I've noticed that Publix makes a good soda and don't mind buying their version of Sprite or Coke. However, you must experiment. If you don't try the other brand of hot dogs or cheese, you might not realize that it is the same or even better.

Know Your Worth

The largest asset you have is you. The greatest obstacle for you moving ahead in your financial life is your salary. If you could earn more, wouldn't it be easier for you to accomplish the things you want financially? The answer should be yes if you are not going to inflate your lifestyle with your salary.

Since you answered yes, it means that you must know when to move on. You have to know when you can no longer progress within your company and you have reached the challenge level or the salary level that you can. It might be hard to make a change sometimes, your company might have a 401(k) that's not fully vested or maybe they promised a bonus. However, remember that if you've reached the limit, seeking another job now will make your future 401(k) vest sooner and you will be able to prove yourself faster to get another bonus at your future company. Therefore, make goals of what you want to make in the future and make sure you are doing what you need to, to attain these goals.

If you thought that a particular stock you are holding would not increase in value in the future, but would only provide a stable low dividend, wouldn't you want to sell the stock and buy something that would give you a regular dividend that's larger and would have the potential to increase in value? Think of your job as a stock and see if it helps to analyze it that way.

Tax-Free Holiday

Seventeen states currently have a weekend or a week where, before school begins, you can purchase clothing, school supplies, and some times other items tax-free. This is a great time to take advantage of clothing shopping for yourself as well whether you are a student or not.

See if you state offers tax-free shopping dates and figure out where they are:

Wiki - Tax Holiday

Question Their Authority

Always question the authority or legitimacy of anything you see. I love calculators that tell me how much I should save for retirement and calculators that will help me do away with debt. However, keep in mind that certain factors are assumed in most calculators that are not solely based on math.

For example, the ING retirement calculator tells me I will need $1,000 per month if I want to travel internationally. To me, this seems insane. However, I can always find a deal and maybe some people cannot. Who knows, maybe my standards of living will raise this much when I am in retirement. However, I doubt it. There is always a better way to spend money or give money away than five star hotels.

Also, note that ING and other companies want your money in their accounts because this is how they make money. Maybe they are overestimating the total needed for retirement because they want more of your money. There is such a thing as saving too much for retirement. When you are currently not enjoying life because you are socking 40% of your income into retirement, the situation has gone too far.

Therefore, always think about where your financial knowledge comes from and what is the objective of your source.

Simple IRA Roll-Over

If you currently have a Simple IRA and no longer work for yourself, you can roll-over your IRA into a traditional one. The rule - you can do it after two years have passed.

Free or Cheap Fitness Options

Here are ten places to find free or cheap fitness classes:

1. Check with the local gym for discounted community classes, rather than a membership
2. Check your local YMCA
3. See if your local or community colleges offer cheap fitness courses or free community courses
4. See if your city's park association has free fitness courses in the parks such as Yoga or Tai Chi
5. Rent a fitness video at the library
6. Hire a personal trainer with a group of friends, the discounted rate is usually a deal - negotiate it further down as prices are flexible
7. Negotiate with your HR for a free gym membership nearby so you can attend at lunch time
8. Sign up for weekly trials of gyms in your area, most gyms will give out free 7-day passes
9. See if you have a friend who lives in a community that has a gym on site that you can visit
10. Run around your neighborhood

Exercise to a healthier, wealthier you!

Scholarships

Never give up looking for scholarships. I thought that scholarships for MBAs were not possible, however, recently I bumped into a full scholarship for a local MBA sponsored by a local community. This discovery started my search and I also discovered that you can receive a scholarship to the best school in the state by achieving a 700 or above on the GMAT. That score is a long shot for many, however, if you have two years to attend an MBA, keep studying and maybe you can attain that level. Most importantly, never stop looking. Try searching for the school that you would like to attend and 'full scholarship' to see what is available. Some of the scholarships I saw are not advertised, therefore, not guaranteed, however, everyone seems to get one if they are X or Y based on the forums.

Double Check Everyone's Math

If you owe anyone money: student loans, a mortgage, etc., then make sure that their math is correct. I've calculated my government student loan payment recently and found that it is incorrectly calculated. I am paying more in interest every month then I should be according to all the amortization calculators that I was able to run.

After writing them an email, they responded by lowering my payment by $1.50 per month, we will see how they will calculate interest this month. However, it is hard to argue what they are charging because, unlike Sallie Mae, the DLS Website does not calculate daily interest and the outstanding interest is always the same throughout the month and is around $10, while it should be around $70.

My Sallie Mae payment is also incorrect due to pre-payments, but at least they are calculating the daily interest correctly, therefore, I don't mind paying a few dollars extra a month. However, if you are having trouble repaying your loans, every dollar counts, therefore, do the math.

Re-shuffling your Portfolio

You should be saving for retirement, which means you are buying mutual funds, ETFs, stocks, bonds, or some other form of investments. You should look into your investments on a schedule. For example, once after the 90 day period that you are allowed to trade your no-load mutual funds without a fee and twice a year. Those dates should be memorable if you tend to forget to check up on your investments.

Just like checking your annualcreditreport.com on specified dates such as time changes and the 4th of July, you should set dates to re-balance your portfolio. If associating re-balancing with particular dates is not memorable enough, you should mark your yearly calendar with dates now. Almost everyone has a phone with a calendar capability and if you are planning to keep your phone for awhile, you should set your phone calendar with an alarm. Do it now.

Re-balancing is so important as you do not want too much cash, you also do not want investments that are failing and you would not buy today. If it's been awhile since your last close look, you probably bought new investments. You should know how everything fits together. You can use the Morningstar X-Ray to evaluate this.

Treasury Hunt

I've posted earlier regarding Missing Funds and how to find them. Here is one more way:

Treasury Hunt

If you or someone you know has purchased a savings bond in your name, it might be ready to be cashed. However, thousands of them go unclaimed. It is possible that you received them as a baby from your grandparents or as a child for a birthday. All you have to do is type in your social security number to see if you have savings bonds that have not been claimed. It's worth a try.

Credit Sesame

Here is another website that shows you your credit score for free: Credit Sesame. Out of the three: Quizzle, CreditKarma, and Credit Sesame, the third one has the highest score out of all and it's based on the Experian model, which is my lowest score of the 3 credit scores according to Fico.com. I'm not sure if that's good or bad, but it's nice to see a score well over 800!

Investment Advise - Invest in What You Understand

People often follow the news or stock picks by analysts and choose stocks based on this information. If you are going to invest in individual stocks rather than mutual funds, you really need to know what you are investing in.

The best way to pick stocks is to invest in what you know and understand. If you do not understand what a company is doing, like a new technology that they are heavily investing in, then steer clear.

If you work in a certain sector like the food industry, then you should understand who the big players are and who has the best business strategy. You should invest in those companies. You should be able to spot the red flags in industries that you are familiar with much faster than you would in a stock that you picked based on a newspaper article.

Therefore, always know the company or at least what they do, listen to the news to get extra information, and pick wisely.