90% of pet owners are of the opinion that they haven’t changed their expense pattern for the well-being of their pets, even in this climate. To the utmost surprise of the consumer spending analysts, 65% of the horse owners (horse being the most expensive pet to maintain) haven’t changed their spending behavior in this tough financial state. Households with income level under $25,000 report high pet ownership levels despite the feeble economic growth. All this information demonstrates the fact that the pet owners continue to curb their personal expenses in order to stop depriving their four-legged friends of any luxury.

Don’t let your pets put you into debt – Some money saving tips

If you’re smitten by your pet at the very first sight, be prepared for the commitment that will last for the lifetime of the animal. Before choosing your pet, you need to do a bit of homework so as to live up to the financial needs and expectations of the new member of your family without falling behind on your own monthly debt obligations. Here are some money saving tips.

Do your research: Before you take the ultimate decision of adopting a pet, make sure you determine and comprehend the continuing costs in terms of money and time. The first year expense that you may expect on your pet is around $450 to $2000, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Make a list of all the debt obligations that you have to pay and check whether or not you can bear all the expenses. There’s no point continuing with a pet and being a bankrupt on the other hand.

Pet-proof your house: Just as you need to take some precautionary measures before bringing a baby to your house, you need to do the same with your pet. Remove the toxic plants, electric cords, clothing and other harmful small objects.

Save money on vet medicines: It has been noted that vet medicine costs are spiraling out of control when compared to human medicines. Did you know that you could save your dollars if you could replace it with human medicines? Take human medicines to the doctor and let him prescribe the dose for your pet. You can use aspirin with regards to arthritis for dogs but remember that drugs containing acetaminophen are fatal for dogs and cats. Glucosamine, Canine NSAID drugs like Previcox may be a good choice for arthritis.

Get pet insurance: Yes, this is the ultimate solution to your financial worries with upbringing a pet. Get pet insurance with enough coverage so that you can let the insurer pay during a financial emergency.

Can you include a pet budget within a Debt Management Program?

If you’re a credit card debtor as well as a pet owner, your creditors and the credit counselor will certainly understand that you need a reasonable budget to keep your pets healthy every month. According to an analysis, pet budget amounting to $30 a month can be included in a DMP. However, since you have to pay the entire amount that you owe on your cards through a DMP, your creditors will certainly be flexible and even allow an increase in the pet living expenses. Make sure you don’t include a huge amount in your pet budget as this may make you fall back on the monthly payment that you need to make towards the DMP. Justify your payments by crafting a reasonable budget so as to make it acceptable by the creditor.

Don’t get smitten by the innocent look of your pet saying “Take me home”. First, determine your personal financial needs. If you’re already on the edge of the cliff looking for ways to pay off debt through a debt management program, it would be wiser to give up the pet so that you can effortlessly continue making your debt payments on time. However, if you still wish to stay on with them, take the precautionary steps mentioned above so as to save your dollars.

Reducing debts without bankruptcy protection is doable. However, it requires work and determination. Debts gather over years. Therefore, it’s unrealistic to anticipate a quick fix. The first thing to consider is your postion in regard to high interest repayments.

Reduce Interest Rate

Higher interest rates on credit cards and other kinds of debts will result in higher monthly payments. The key to saving money on debt payments is to negotiate a reduced rate with creditors. If your credit rating is high, you are able to do this without the help of a debt consolidation service.

Before an interest rate reduction happens, creditors review credit reports. Be aware, this will show as an inquiry on your credit report. Credit inquiries can potentially reduce your credit score. If you have many credit accounts, it will help to just reduce those with the highest rate.

Once the interest rate on credit cards is reduced, a larger percentage of the monthly repayment goes towards reducing the principle balance. This makes it possible to reduce debts at a faster rate. Be sensible and committed to reducing the debt on all cards and eventually eliminating the principle altogether.

Personal Debt Consolidation Loans

If buying a debt consolidation loan, you’ll in essence be reducing your interest rate on credit tales. Again, getting lower rates is the easiest and best way of fast reducing monthly debt payments. Various lenders offer debt consolidation to individuals with all credit types. In many cases, collateral is necessary for this kind of loan.

Transfer Credit Balances to a Low Interest Credit Card

High interest credit cards make it harder to get out from under a debt pile so take advantage of low interest or 0% interest balance transfers. By transferring credit card balance to a low-rate card, you can save cash and eliminate debt simultaneously.

If utilizing a balance transfer option, timely payments are essential. These credit card businesses will penalize you for irregular payments. A late payment immediately validates an interest rate increase.

A typical tactic is to convince the brow-beaten buyer that this is the best deal offer within a 100 mile radius or… “You’ll not find another used convertible on sale at this price anywhere else in California, I guarantee it!”

Yeah Right!

The internet has made a huge difference to buyers and taken the power right out of the hands of the car lot cowboys. Never before has it been so easy to compare used cars for sale while sitting at your desk or browsing via your smart phone. It’s a lot easier then rummaging through classified ads or schlepping around the dealerships, isn’t it?

You can search a wide range of specifications from the comfort of your armchair. The internet allows you to search by make, model, and year and even allows you to specify by the distance you’re willing to travel to check out the used car for sale.

For example, suppose you live in Burbank, California and want to spend the upcoming weekend shopping for used cars within a 25 mile radius. That’s easy! Just type your zip code and select the radius, choose the type of vehicle you are interested in and the search engine will give you a list of the available used cars of your choice and off you go. Within seconds you have a comprehensive list of used cars for sale in the Burbank area detailing the cars’ makes, models, and mileage on the clock. Most also have pictures available for viewing.

The internet complimented by a resourceful website is much more efficient than trawling around the car dealerships hoping to find a bargain. The opportunity to compare many cars on offer which meet my criteria takes the pressure off settling for that one vehicle you happen to find in the local dealership. You have a much broader view of what other cars of this age, make and model are selling for and you can easily compare mileage and general appearance while you are at it.

Visit Carvelocity to start your hunt for a great used car.

As an ex-smoker myself, I know there is not one smoker out there who does not already know what damage he or she is doing to his or her health and what a ridiculous waste of money those little cancer sticks are. There really is no need or point to harping on about it.

I was just as bad. In fact, I swore to the very last puff that I actually enjoyed smoking. I know now that in fact this was my nicotine addiction talking. In the end after years of talking about quitting, I found a more socially acceptable and cheaper alternative – electronic cigarettes.

Reasons to Change to Electronic Cigarettes

There are all sorts of reasons why replacing your traditional cigarettes with an electronic version is a good idea, among them:

•No More Smoker’s Breath
•No More Offensive Smoke
•No Ash
•No Fire / No Flame
•Cheaper than Cigarettes
•More Cost Effective
•No Stub
•Less Waste
•Alternative Way to Smoke
•Alternative to Smoking
•Non –intrusive
•Smoke More Freely
•Smoke “almost” Anywhere
•No Social Stigmas
•Provides an Authentic Smoking Experience

I smoked e-cigarettes for about a year before I quit altogether. I guess I would have gone ahead and bit that bullet one way or another eventually but I felt the alternative of e-smoking relieved me of some anxiety and helped me gradually ease of smoking altogether.

So whether you are looking for a much cheaper alternative to smoking (save up to 75% of the cost of your annual tobacco consumption), that doesn’t include smoker’s breath and has a much better social profile, electronic cigarettes should tick all your boxes. I used the Green Smoke brand and was very satisified with them. If you don’t feel like bothering with the free AiR Cigarettes trial then I recommend clicking through to Green Smoke and ordering their starter kit. Click here for a 10% discount on Green Smoke if you are in the US Click here for a 10% discount on Green Smoke in the UK.

Good News for Penny Savers!

Isn’t it wonderful that in the middle of the current economic crisis there is a way to collect the best coupon discounts for free (yes, free!) without paying any subscriptions at all.

Signing up for a membership at a specialist coupon website guarantees you the best quality discounts to offline stores as well as shopping websites. Non-members are able to glance through the site in order to see the coupons which are available only those who have signed up are able to access the printable coupons and online deals.

Discount coupons are available on everything from dog food to allergy medicine and stop-smoking supplements and may be made as printable coupons (just like your grandmother may have clipped out) which can be used in local shops or restaurants or purchase brand products like Cheerios. The printable coupons are just like the old variety found in the newspapers. You only need a printer to print them off and then you are good to go.

Then there are coupons codes or vouchers which are intended to be used on the websites for various well known stores . You access them by clicking through on a specific link or typing in a special code.These are sometimes linked to holidays or events like Thanksgiving or the Superbowl with expiry dates to match.

There are discounts available for just about every variety of product or service imaginable. You want to hire a car in Vegas? Check out car rental coupons. Preparing for the arrival of a new baby? No problem!

The information superhighway has changed the way we do almost everything from keeping in touch with friends and family to putting a world of information on our desktop.

Your grandmother might not recognise the internet but she would immediately understand the value of online coupons!

Some kids never grow out of the magic token stage and just go on believing that there is a never-ending supply of cash that is always there to pay for the latest gadget, or bail them out of trouble when they’ve maxed out their credit cards. Again!

Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees

As a parent, the best thing you can do for your kid’s  future fiancial health is to teach them from an early stage that there is no ever-replenishing source and that money can  indeed run dry if not carefully managed. They need to know that money does not grow on trees.

Money is Earned not Given Away.

When a child is old enough to recognise that money buys candy and toys, he or she is old enough to learn that money is earned not just given away for nothing. Giving money as a reward for say, keeping a room tidy or being helpful round the house helps a child connect the dots between work and money.

It’s Better to Save than to Fritter

When kids are first given their own money, they itch to spend it immediately. The idea of saving it up towards something special never crosses their minds.  If there is a book, toy or item that they really want, encourage them to save up for it.  On the day they have at last saved enough to  buy the treasured item they will almost burst with pride – and rightly so, they have learned a very important lesson.

Saving for a Rainy Day

Saving towards something is a more concrete concept than ‘saving for a rainy day’. Children don’t understand the need to build a financial buffer against hard times. After all, Mom and Dad are their safety net.  However, by the time the idea of saving towards ‘something’ is understood, your child has already started to develop a habit of putting his or her money away and not spending all of it immediately.

Helping your child to understand the value of money from a young age makes it less likely that he or she will fall into a deep financial hole later in life. It also reduces the liklihood of having to bail them out of trouble ten to fifteen years from now.

How many dystopian movies have you seen where the world is run by one sinister cabal and all the little people are mere drones, working for the state and needing permission to breed? It certainly is not a new concept but is momentum for a One World Government heating up?

Edmund Conway, the Economics Editor of a British quality broadsheet, The Telegraph, posted an article back in September 2009 which covered a UN proposal for a one world currency. It was met with a torrent of comments which are in the large majority vociferously against the idea.

Somewhat taken aback by the outpouring of feeling on the subject, Conway followed up with a second article in which he downplayed the possibility of such an overhaul of the international monetary system based more or less on the general Keystone Kop persona of your average politician.

Our children will be paying for the bail-outs so cavalierly handed out to the bankers (who divvied it out amongst themselves and took off once again). And now, when ‘they’ are starting to talk of recovery and ‘bounce backs’, I look down the street and see half my neighbours out of work and the rest in debt to their tonsils.

So let them crow about recovery and pat each other on the back. As far as I am concerned most people are still deep in doo-doo and need to do all they can to save or at least st-r-e-t-c-h every penny.

There are always bargains to be had on the internet, if you know where to look. Whether it is discounts for buying online, stock clearances, special offers, second hand auctions or products that promise a saving in energy costs or other benefit.

That is what Penny Saving is all about. I’ll ferret out the bargains and you save the pennies.