make and save more money Archives

How to lower your rising energy bills

With high heat and humidity blanketing NJ this summer, our AC is working overtime to keep us cool.

The cost of staying cool (and warm) continues to rise with prices for residential energy services forecasted to continue outpacing overall inflation in the US.

To control these rapidly growing costs, many renters and homeowners have turned to energy efficient methods ranging from simple habit changes to significant home upgrades.

If you are interested in learning more about energy costs and how to lower your monthly bill to reduce your energy burden, then please read on.

How the NAR settlement will impact your house closing costs

When buying or selling a house, you will incur costs to close on the sale of the property. It is important that you understand these costs since they can add:

3% to 4% to the cost of buying a house;
1% to 3% to the cost of selling a house, excluding the commission a seller pays to realtors involved in the sale which typically ranges from 5% to 6% of the sale price.

The actual amount you will owe as a buyer or are owed as a seller will be detailed in your Closing Disclosure form.

For sellers that use the services of realtors, the current scheme of also paying the buyer’s realtor commission at closing will no longer be the norm thanks to a groundbreaking settlement with the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

You don’t need a budget to manage spending

60% of people don’t use budgets to manage spending, according to the 2017 Consumer Financial Literacy Survey from The National Foundation for Credit Counseling. While that number may be surprising, what is more shocking is that this number has not changed much since the 2007 survey. For all the advances in technology, including spreadsheets and online budgeting software, people’s habits related to managing money and tracking spending have not really changed that much over the last decade. Continue reading “You don’t need a budget to manage spending”

How to maximize the money you make from payments

Individuals can use similar methods employed by businesses to monetize payments made to vendors. For individuals that diligently optimize payments the results can generate hundreds, and even thousands, of dollars in extra cash with the same level of budgeted spending. Continue reading “How to maximize the money you make from payments”

3 questions every parent and child should answer before choosing a college

If you’ve been reading my recent articles you may sense a theme (or an obsession) with figuring out the costs and benefits of going to college. There are clearly benefits of going to college, but it is a ‘big money decision’ and should only be made with the appropriate level of due diligence.

While the decision about which school is the “best fit” is somewhat subjective, the cost of obtaining a diploma and how to pay for it should be viewed more objectively. Continue reading “3 questions every parent and child should answer before choosing a college”

4 ways to get free money from spending and saving

Free money does exist, but you need to know where to look for it and how to get it. Free Money is available when you save by compounding savings and through employer-sponsored matching of retirement savings. For spending, you can get access to Free Money through cash back credit card programs and federal grants for college. Technically, these methods are not entirely “free” in the true sense of the word since you need to give something to get something, but I consider using these methods like getting Free Money since you need to spend and save any way. Continue reading “4 ways to get free money from spending and saving”