Archive for October 2017

5 Sneaky Ways Websites Convince Us to Overspend

October 30, 2017 Shopping No comments
4 Sneaky Ways Websites Convince Us to Overspend

4 Sneaky Ways Websites Convince Us to OverspendThe Internet is ever-changing. These days, you can buy anything on the Internet from food, to furniture, to services.

Since Amazon rolled out its Prime subscription, most items you buy are delivered within two business days. Anything you want at the click of a button.

While the convenience of online shopping makes it easy to spend money, online retailers’ websites make it even easier to overspend.

Here are a few sneaky ways websites convince us to overspend.

Free Shipping Offers

Spend this much and get free shipping. We?ve all seen it.

Free shipping for orders over $50 and your basket is at $45. For just $5 more you can get free shipping.

This sneaky trick totally works too. Who doesn?t love free shipping? ?But, did you need that little knick-knack for $5? Probably not. But, they got you to overspend.

Suggested Items

This one is very tempting for me. When you’ve added a few things to your cart, websites suggest other things you might like.

They are usually spot on with this, and it totally plays to your impulse buying.

Be ready for this and don?t give in. You don?t really need those cute add-on items.

Showing What Other’s Have Purchased

Similar to showing suggested items you might like, some websites will show you items that were purchased by other shoppers who also bought the same thing as you.

For instance, if you have an air freshener in your shopping cart, they may tell you other shoppers who bought this air freshener also bought the jumbo pack of fragrances. Do you need 27 extra fragrances?

On the other hand, sometimes this is helpful if you are trying to see other accessories for the item you are purchasing. But, keep in mind, this is another tactic websites use to make you buy more.

Reminder Emails

Don?t lie, you?ve put things in your shopping cart and then not purchased that cart. Sometimes this is how I make my wishlist, only to see that there’s no way I can afford everything I want.

Websites know it too, so they may send you a little reminder email to buy the things in your cart.

This can occasionally work in your favor if they give you a coupon code to use for your purchase because you “forgot” to finish checking out.

Flash Sales

?Everything is 75% off if you buy now and get free shipping!?

Flash sales are the be all, end all of online promotions. Buy it now whiles it?s cheap.

There?s no easier way to overspend than what you were intending than to give in to one of these sales. Because you feel like you are getting a good deal, now you feel that it’s ok to buy more than you intended in the first place. How can you pass it up when it’s so cheap?!

Online retailers know their business and they know how to get you to increase your spending. Sometimes this can be a good thing, such as when you get gifts on sale, or are able to save on something you’ve had your eye on for a while.

But most of the time, these visible yet sneaky methods, trigger your impulse buy reflex. Though tough, you can master this impulse and stick to only what you were originally intending to buy. Have fun shopping but be alert so you don?t overspend.

 

What methods have websites used to make you overspend and add more to your online cart?

 

Photo courtesy of: rawpixel

3 Reasons Couponing Wastes Money

October 25, 2017 Lifestyle No comments
3 Reasons Couponing Wastes Money

3 Reasons Couponing Wastes MoneyIf you read many advice articles on how to save money each month, many of them will suggest the use of coupons.

After all, coupons are all around, and they are designed to save money. You probably get plenty of them in the mail each week, and they certainly come to your email box day after day.

Companies love to send out coupons as a surefire way to draw interest in specific products that they are trying to sell.

So, coupons are an easy choice for the thrifty consumer, right? Not so fast.

While they aren?t all bad, coupons might not be as attractive as you have been led to believe in those advice columns. Following is a list of three reasons why you might want to skip over couponing altogether.

Buying Things You Don?t Need

This is the biggest problem with coupons. When you get a coupon in the mail, you may notice that it is offering a discount on a product which you find interesting.

Do you actually need the product? No ? probably not.

Regardless, you find the product interesting, and you are now thinking about making a purchase. Suddenly, in the time it took you to open your mail, you have started to think about spending some of your hard-earned money. That?s how marketing works.

It is one thing to use coupons to buy things you need, or were planning to buy anyway. For example, grocery coupons usually make sense, because you have to buy food. Or, if you are planning on making a big purchase in the near future, you can start to watch out for coupons in an effort to save a few dollars.

However, when it is the coupon itself that triggers your buying decision, you have probably made a mistake.

Wasted Time

In the age of the side hustle, you can actually waste so much time looking for coupons that you would have been better off simply working during those hours rather than shopping for deals.

Here?s an example ? let?s say that you have an online side hustle which usually lets you make about $15 per hour. So, you could invest one hour of your time in that pursuit and make 15 bucks. Or, you could spend a half hour looking through coupons online and in the mail, trying to get a deal.

In the end, you find a few coupons which you can use, and they add up to $5 in savings. Are you better off? Of course not. That half hour could have made you $7.50, which would have been better than saving $5.

Buying Too Much

Coupons don?t always give you a discount if you buy just one item. Sometimes, you have to buy a specific quantity in order to qualify for the sale. This isn?t always a bad thing, but sometimes it does lead you into spending too much.

This is particularly a problem when it comes to perishable goods. Buying three loaves of bread might get you a great deal, but are you going to use them all before they go bad? Maybe, maybe not.

Think about your actual needs and don?t let the coupons unnecessarily influence your decisions.

 

Do you use coupons? Do you think couponing actually saves you money?

 

Photo courtesy of: itkannan4u

Are You Paying for Insurance You Don?t Need?

October 23, 2017 Insurance One comment
Are You Paying for Insurance You Don?t Need?

Are You Paying for Insurance You Don?t Need?Insurance, especially health insurance, has been a buzzword for some time.

You know you need it, especially when it comes to home and auto, because you know, fires and car crashes, and stuff.

These disasters can destroy your property, so you need to be insured to protect your belongings!

But, there is a thing as too much insurance. While it?s better to be safe than sorry, it’s also a good idea to have money to pay your bills, instead of paying for insurance you don’t need.

Here are some places where you might already be paying for insurance that you don?t need.

Life Insurance

I want to start saying that life insurance is good to have. It can help your family in case something would happen to you. That being said, you don?t want to buy so much life insurance that your loved ones would rather have the money from the policy than keep you around. I kid, but the point is, you don’t want to be over-insured.

You really only need to cover funeral expenses and any debt that you may have. If you have adult kids who no longer live with you, or if you are young and single, you probably don?t need much life insurance.

Instead of paying for insurance that you don’t need, put that money in your retirement plan. You?ll see a better return on your money.

Extra Auto Policies

For most people, a car is a necessary tool to help them get to where they need to be in life. For example, your car might be your primary way to get to work so you can make money and pay your bills. But, paying for extra insurance you don?t need, plus all of the other costs of owning a car, can really add up over the vehicle?s lifetime.

For example, do you really need towing insurance? Or, what about the collision insurance? Sometimes the premium is almost as much as it would cost to repair your car.

Instead of buying this extra coverage, maybe you could build some extra money into your emergency fund, or set up a separate fund specifically for car repairs. Essentially you’d be self-insuring and you could always use the money for something else since it’s your money in your savings account instead of being paid out to an insurance company.

Extended warranties

It?s great to have a warranty on your appliances. Most have at least a short warranty when you buy them. But, do you really need to extend the warranty? Some of these extended warranties don?t cover the issues you thought they would. Instead of buying an extended warranty that you probably won’t use anyway, save your money.

High Premium/Low Deductible Plans

Is a low deductible really the way to go when you buy insurance? This is what I was always taught growing up, but now I’m not so sure.

If you look at how much you pay in premiums, it really adds up! If you hardly ever use your insurance anyway, you still may not ever hit that deductible. For instance, health insurance. If you’re relatively healthy, it’s probably a better use of your money to pay lower premiums and have a higher deductible. The money saved from not paying high premiums, can help pay for your medical bills if you ever do end up with a large bill.

When it comes to insurance, you are looking at the forest and not the trees. You want to be covered so you can rebuild your home should it go up in flames, not nickel and dime every little thing that breaks.

If you haven’t been thinking this way, you can probably save a lot of money by reviewing your plans with this new frame of mind.

 

Are you paying for insurance you don’t need? What kind?

 

Photo courtesy of: Hans

Things Your Mom Never Taught You About Money

October 18, 2017 Investing No comments
Things Your Mom Never Taught You About Binary Trading

Things Your Mom Never Taught You About Binary TradingDid you know that?women control 51% of the wealth in the United States? Studies show that women save more money than men and that they perform better on the stock market. Generally, they are more conservative investors who do far better research. Despite all this, women have a much smaller presence in the stock market trade. If you are a woman with some extra income that you’re looking to put to work, consider delving into the market. You can gain a money-earning edge on other traders if you learn the ins and outs of binary trading.

Binary Trading

Binary trading is a foreign concept to many. Even people who are well versed in the stock market may have never heard of binary trading. Bear with us here, because it can get a bit confusing. It is worth understanding this unique trading method, however, because it can be very easy to profit from.

Yes/No Propositions

Binary trading involves buying binary options based on yes/no propositions. These are options that have a zero sum gain. That is, either you win the option or the person on the other end of the trade wins the option. So if you lose $50 on a trade, another person gains that $50. This is popular because even though the potential is capped, the risk is also capped. A binary option is always purchased between $0 and $100. This means that $100 is the most that you can be rewarded (minus your bid and fees) for any option.

How the Transactions Occur

When you buy a binary option, it is kind of like you are betting on the performance of a certain stock. That is, you’re betting on whether a stock will reach a certain value within a certain time period. Yes or no? Yes is the binary option. The other side is actually offered by somebody on the other end who is selling the option.

There will be set terms for the purchase of the binary option on offer. If the binary option is tabled at $40, you have an option to buy it knowing that the chances are that the stock won’t reach the value by the set time period. If it does, though, you will earn $60 (remember the $100 max). This is a great instant return on your option! Most binary options are offers between $40 and $60.

Drawbacks to Binary Trading

There are a few drawbacks to binary trading. First of all, lack of knowledge about the stocks and companies that are in the binary option can be a problem. That is, if you don’t know anything about a stock, how can you predict how it is going to perform that day?

Even if you do know about a stock, binary trading requires that you are active and involved; the trades happen in real-time, and you need to be on your computer placing options frequently if you want to actually make good money on them.

Binary trading might sound like gambling, but considering the low cap, it can be a good alternative to investing in stocks.

 

Have you ever tried binary trading? What else did your mom not teach you about money?

 

Photo courtesy of: Andreas Poike

4 Financial Steps to Take This Fall

October 18, 2017 Money Management No comments
4 Financial Steps to Take This Fall

4 Financial Steps to Take This FallFall can be a great time to get your financial house in order.

Since the summer has come and gone, the kids should be back to school and you probably aren?t spending as much money as you were during the summer season. It?s time to refocus on your budget, tighten up your monthly expenditures, and get things back on track.

To make sure that you take advantage of the fall season, try putting the following four financial steps to use.

Set a Savings Goal

As mentioned above, most people spend more in the summer than they do in the fall. That being the case, make it a goal to save most of the money which you are no longer spending on a month to month basis.

You know your spending habits best, so you should be able to estimate how much you will be able to save during October, November, and December. Even if the total is as modest as $100 per month, it will still be helpful in the long run.

Start Thinking Taxes

That?s right ? it?s never too early to start thinking about your taxes. If you have things that you are going to purchase and will then write off, buying them before the end of the year makes a lot of sense.

Also, if you would like to give to charity around the holidays, do so before the end of the year and you may be able to write that money off as well. By planning well in advance for tax season, you won?t have to stress when April rolls around.

Spread Out the Holiday Spending

While there is still time before Christmas, do yourself a favor and spread out your purchases. If you are planning on buying a long list of presents this holiday season, break those up over many weeks to lessen the damage on your budget.

While the total amount of money may wind up being the same, it could be easier from a cash flow perspective if you don?t do it all at once. Also, this is a far less stressful way to shop, and it makes sense to remove as much stress as possible from your life around the holidays.

Look into Side Hustles

Another benefit of having summer in the rear-view mirror is the fact that you should now be able to spend some time thinking about your own side hustle opportunity. A side hustle is simply what most people used to call a part-time job, although now you may decide to make money as an entrepreneur rather than an employee.

There are plenty of side hustle opportunities available, both online and in the real world, so do some research and see if any of them make sense for you. Adding even a small amount of income can do wonders for your monthly budget.

Fall is a good time of year to take a look at your finances and take steps to improve them.

 

Have you taken these financial steps? What are you working on this fall?

 

Photo courtesy of: lena1

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