When you’re sitting around the house during the winter, there’s nothing worse than checking your heating bill to see how much money has gone towards heating up your cold house. In fact, in some houses, you can actually feel the money leaking from your bank account in the form of drafts around the doors and windows.

When this happens, it’s really time to take a close look at your heating bill and figure out ways you can reduce your expenses. The following are four tips for lowering that heating bill; hopefully they can apply to your situation. Feel free to add your own at the end!

Weatherproof and Insulate

It may be near the dead of winter, but it’s still never too late to make sure you have insulated everything in your house correctly. This means taking an afternoon on a weekend and checking all the points of entry in your house, areas where you think cold air can enter and warm air can escape. The most obvious places to look are your outside doors and windows, so be sure to check the weather stripping around each one. Also, examine the areas around your pipes, your sockets and switches on exterior walls, and your attic or basement entryway. You can buy specific covers for attic pull-down ladders, and you can use a spray foam for the areas around the pipes and sockets. Finally, you can choose to install storm windows for added protection.

Adjust Your Thermostat

Although there is some debate as to whether or not programmable thermostats are all they’ve been cracked up to be, there is still merit to the idea that you should use your thermostat to regulate the temperature in your house throughout the day. According to your habits, you should adjust the thermostat to comfortably heat the house when you are home, and to keep it relatively decent when you’re away or asleep. Be careful with your fluctuations and monitor your bill one winter. You’ll notice how your house and furnace adjust to the demands you are making on them; just know that it might take a little time to get the right system down.

Change the Décor

Well, this isn’t exactly décor, but it does describe some things you can do inside the house to help control the heat. You can hang heavy drapes over the windows for added insulation at night. You can put down a heavy rug over wood floors. You can use old blankets to block drafts under doors. You can rotate space heaters around the home. You can manage the registers in various rooms in a way so as to block the heat to one room you don’t use often. Really, there are all sorts of little things you can do inside the house to stay comfortable while saving money.

Wear a Sweater

Finally, you should adjust your own habits around the home. Wear more clothing, especially sweaters and robes and house slippers. These will keep you from fiddling with the thermostat. If you stay at home throughout the day, try to sit in the part of your house that gets the most sun. If you know that you need to wake up early to get to work, consider getting up ten minutes earlier in order to turn up the thermostat and start the coffee. Then you can jump back in bed for a few more minutes until the house warms up.

This guest post is contributed by Raine Parker, who writes on the topics of online accounting degree. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: raine.parker6@gmail.com.

Four Ways to Stay Warm Around the House and Save Money is a post from: Think Your Way to Wealth a Personal Finance Blog Copyright 2008-2010

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When it comes to frugality, little things do add up. The problem with small savings or “wins”  is that it takes time for small savings to equal a significant, big dollar savings.

We all have heard about giving up a latte once a week, but at $4 a week, you are looking at a savings of $208 over a year’s time. It’s good, but not necessarily enough to motivate you towards frugal living all of the time.

We like to see bigger results, and faster- $100, $500, or a $1000 in a shorter period of time seems more appealing than taking almost 5 years, like a savings of $4 per week will get you. If you just can’t get your self to cut your spending in a noticeable way, make a game out of it or a challenge- with a reward at the end, if you so desire.

Saving $1000 in 6 months seems like a good place to start- a large enough amount in a short enough period of time.

Below are a few ways you could save up $1000 in 6 months- Many of you may already be doing some or even most of these- but there are a lot of people who don’t. Even if these don’t work for you, you can probably come up with some other areas you can cut back on to reach your $1,000 goal in 6 months.

We don’t always look at where we are spending there money, and whether everything you buy or pay for is something you really need. Examining all expenditures can  lead to some areas  in your life you can cut back on expenses or ways you can save on what you spend.

photo credit: A Girl Next Door

Save $1,000 in 6 Months

Coupons- Coupons do work, if you use them properly. If you use them consistently, and only use them for things you were already going to buy, you can easily save $5 per weekly grocery trip if you spend $100 or more regularly.

$5 a week for 24 weeks = $120

Drop down a tier on your cable bill- Do you pay for more channels than you watch or really need?
Drop down a tier on your cable TV service, and you could save $15 to $20 a month.

$15 a month  x 6 = $90

Reduce your socializing- Do you go out once a week for a few drinks, or other social activity-the movies, golfing, etc.? Cut back on one a month, and the savings can add up.

$20 a month  x 6 = $120

Eat out less every month- Skipping one meal in a restaurant a month or just a couple of lunches a month during the work week can add up to real savings.

$25 x 6= $150

Cut Your own Hair (Or color it yourself for the ladies)- I just started cutting my hair again (I cut it short with clippers), so I am doing this one myself. If you are a woman and aren’t so excited about cutting your own hair, consider coloring it yourself if you pay a hair stylist to do that now.

$20 a month x 6 = $120

Buy in Bulk-You can save money buying in bulk, especially items like toiletries, household products, diapers if you have small kids, and even food. You do need to compare prices, because not everything is cheaper at a warehouse club. Also,  make sure you’re going to use it up if it has an expiration date.

$20 x 6= $120

Reduce your cell phone plan- See where you can cut back on your cell phone plan. For example, if you have a smartphone like the iPhone, you can get a separate number from Google Voice and use the Google voice app for all of your texting. Unlimited texting for AT&T is $20 a month! If you have a lot of roll-over minutes, try reducing your plan so you don’t carry them over. (This is the case for me!) Let’s assume at least $15.

$15 x 6= $90

Pay off High Interest Debt- If you can pay off a $2,000 balance on a credit card bill of $2,000 @ 20% interest in 6 months instead of letting it sit there for a year, you just saved approx. $200 (actually probably more, but you get the idea).

1 x $200= $200

Cut back on lawn or gardening costs- If you pay someone to cut your grass, consider doin’g it yourself. At the very least, instead of them coming once a week, tell them to come every 10 days- you
just saved 1 payment a month. Assume its $25/week (on the low side around here) and you eliminate one per month.

$25 x 6 = $150

Total saved in 6 months time= $1,160

As I mentioned above, these are really just examples that can add up to significant savings over a 6 month period- there are countless others out there. If you feel like you just have trouble saving try these out or think of where in your life you can make cuts that will add up over time- saving on gas, bringing your lunch to work, or others.

Once you make these cuts or changes, you need to SAVE the money you are saving, or you may end up spending it on something else!

Start sending automatic deposits to an online savings account, or stash it somewhere else instead of leaving it in your checking account you use for all of your other purchases.

Do you have tips on other ways to save $1,000 in 6 months? leave them in the comments!

How to Save $1000 in 6 Months is a post from: Think Your Way to Wealth a Personal Finance Blog Copyright 2008-2010

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I try to carry cash on me for daily/personal expenditures-  my allowance money, so to speak. I usually try to take enough out for about a week, but things often come up like picking up milk or groceries on the way home, or other purchases that I didn’t really plan for, and I end up depleting the amount of cash I am carrying with me before I would normally take another trip to the ATM.

photo credit: TheTruthAbout

Luckily for me, my local bank has a branch right around the corner from my work, so I usually stop by there on the way to or from work when I need to withdraw some cash.

Sometime though, when I’m out and about, I get stuck somewhere without a local branch bank and need to withdraw cash- this happened to me a few months ago at the Department of Motor Vehicles- I needed more cash than I anticipated, and I ended up having to use the one there-because if I didn’t get it right there, I’d lose my place in line, and have another hour +  wait on my hands.

I will say this.  I absolutely hate paying ATM fees. But at the time, I wasn’t going to waste 2+ hours (which I didn’t have) and go to a branch of my bank. So I was stuck, paying fees (yes, both for my bank and from the ATM operator) to get access to MY money. They really stick you at a non-network ATM, too- the less money you take out, the higher the percentage. Paying $4-$5 just to get $20 out is really highway robbery in my mind, but that is the system we are stuck with.  Here are some ways to think or plan in advance to try and avoid those ridiculous ATM fees:

Try to only use your bank’s ATMs- Obviously, this is where you want to start. If you can avoid using non-network ATMs and only use your banks, you can avoid fees on your ATM transactions.

Carry more cash/Take out enough cash or more cash when you do visit an ATM- Do you ever find yourself taking out just the minimum you think you will need, when you know that you will just have to make another ATM trip in a few days? I know I have done this maneuver many times. Instead, try taking out what you think you will need for a few days to a week- it will save you trips and from getting caught at a non-network ATM.

Look for a no fee ATM such as Allpoint Network of ATM’s- If your bank uses a network like Allpoint, you can avoid fees by using one of their locations, which are often in convenience stores or gas stations. I have an checking account at ING Direct, which uses Allpoint, so it comes in handy sometimes for me.

Get cash back when making a debit card purchase- I’ve been using this one more lately-stop in a local drug store, such as CVS in my area, make a small purchase, and get cash back. It works well when you aren’t close to one of your bank’s ATMs.

Change banks to ones that don’t charge fees- Some banks, like ING DIRECT Electric Orange Online Checking or Perkstreet Financial^SM Online Rewards Checking don’t charge fees to use ATM’s and have participating fee-free ATM networks ( like Allpoint, as mentioned above), making withdrawing money from a network ATM totally free. Also, Some online and and even some bricks and mortar checking accounts have started reimbursement programs to pay you back for the ATM fees you incur withdrawing money- although this is more common with online checking accounts.

Use your debit or credit card where possible- There are still places that are cash only, even some restaurants and other small businesses. But most places, you can use your debit card, so if you can, go ahead and do so.

Ways to Avoid Costly ATM Fees is a post from: Think Your Way to Wealth a Personal Finance Blog Copyright 2008-2010

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Well, Christmas is almost here…….

If you’re anything like me, you probably still have some shopping to do…or, all of your shopping to do. While it is good to do your shopping ahead of time, and I know it, I usually end up having one or two things to pick up a few days before Christmas, as I know many people do as well.

I’m not one of those husbands who does all of his shopping on Christmas Eve, although some people do it for fun. Back in the day, I used to see a lot  guys with shopping bags  stopping off at the restaurant bar my friend used to work at in the local mall for a “victory” drink of sorts, having completed all of their Christmas shopping in just a couple of hours the afternoon of Christmas Eve.

Even if this is your idea of fun, there’s no reason not to attack your last minute shopping with a game plan to save you some money while you are doing it-whether it’s Christmas Eve or a few days before. Here are some pointers that should help.

Make a list of who you have to buy for, and stick to it. It’s important to know who you need to buy gifts for, for starters. You don’t want to have to think of names while you are at the store or mall, because you can easily overspend, waste time, or forget someone. Make a list, and take it with you.

Map out your shopping trip. Knowing who you are buying for is a good start, but it really can save you some time and traffic headaches if you know where you are going -the local mall, best buy, or wherever.

Put some thought into the gifts. Don’t just go out looking for anything you can find, think about the person you are buying for, their interests, and what you think they would like- it may help you save time and money on your shopping trip.

Do some online comparison shopping. Check prices if you know what you are looking for, it could lead you to the right store to find a great bargain.

If you still have time, order online as well. Amazon has two day shipping in time for Christmas delivery until tomorrow (free with an amazon prime free trial as well !) or Wednesday for Friday delivery, as well as discounted 1 day shipping on many items . Many other online shopping sites offer free or discounted 1 or 2 day shipping this time of year, so if they can get delivered to you in time, it could save you some hassle and possibly money- especially if they don’t charge sales tax, for example.

Look for last minute sales. Check your paper  for ads or sales flyers to find good deals in the last few days before Christmas. Many store are still putting ads out and having sales every day or so.

Check the discount racks or tables. Don’t forget to check for sale items at the sales racks or discount tables- many stores don’t want to be left with a large surplus after Christmas, so they keep having sales up until the last minute. Even if there are no advertised sales, they may have things at discounted prices to try and sell them before the big day.

Good Luck!

photo credit: Nina Matthews Photography

How To Save Time and Money on Your Last Minute Christmas Shopping is a post from: Think Your Way to Wealth a Personal Finance Blog Copyright 2008-2010

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If you’ve done any amount of shopping on Amazon, you probably have at least heard of Amazon Prime.

Amazon Prime is a program that offers free shipping on all purchases made on the Amazon website, normally for a cost of $80 per year. If you do a decent amount of shopping on Amazon, it can be a pretty good deal. Even if Amazon Prime is not for you, there are ways you can get a free trial to Amazon prime and get free shipping- great for the Xmas shopping season. Amazon Student offers a full year for qualifying students, and Amazon Mom (not just for moms though) offers 3 months- you may qualify for one free month as well.

This is a great way to pick up individual Christmas gifts when you see them at a good price, so you don’t have to have the minimum of $25 in your order to qualify for Amazon’s free super saver shipping, which is also slower.

Here are 2 ways you can qualify:

Amazon Student Program

Amazon Student offers a full year of free 2 day shipping for signing up. Only students currently enrolled in a college or university who have a valid .edu e-mail address to confirm their status are eligible to participate in Amazon Student.  See additional conditions at Amazon Student Terms & Conditions for more details.

Sign Up For Free Shipping With Amazon Student

Amazon Mom/Caregiver Program

Amazon Mom is a program for Moms, Dads, and other caregivers (not just for Moms).

FREE 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime: When you join Amazon Mom, you will receive FREE Two-Day Shipping with Amazon Prime for the first 3 months of your membership. For each $25 you spend within a single order in the Baby store, we’ll grant you an additional month of Amazon Prime shipping benefits. You can earn up to one year from the date you joined Amazon Mom.

Signup for Amazon Mom today.

Also, if you have not used Amazon Prime before, you can probably qualify for a one free month of Amazon Prime, which can be used now for your Christmas shopping as well.

Free Amazon Prime Trial for Students and Parents is a post from: Think Your Way to Wealth a Personal Finance Blog Copyright 2008-2010

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A few days ago, I posted a link to Suze Orman’s new website, MoneyMindedMoms.com, with a brief description of the site, and a note that the site was offering a free download to “5 Simple Ways to Save $500″ when you signed up for a newsletter. I hadn’t downloaded it at the time, but since then, I have received a couple of emails and a comment that having to sign up for the email newsletter was “the catch”, in order to get the free download, and they were not sure it was worth the trouble.

Since I had brought it to their attention, and for those who decided not to deal with hassle of signing up for Suze’s newsletter,  I thought I might give the download of  “5 Simple Ways to Save $500″ a quick look see and share my thoughts with you guys.

The download is 7 pages long, with 5 categories where you can save money-each one contains 3 to 5 tips, for a total of about 20 money saving tips spread across the 5 categories. Below are the 5 categories, along with my favorite tip from each- they’re OK in general, nothing earth-shattering, but sometimes being reminded of money saving tips you may have already heard isn’t a bad thing- there were a few I hadn’t thought of or hear before.

1.) Face the Facts- Saving money on looking good, i.e., hair, face etc. Tip- Go a week longer between haircuts, which seems quite doable and probably wouldn’t be noticed by too many people.

2.) Drive in to Big Savings- Saving money on your car. Tip- Look into increasing your car insurance deductible to save money- this is one I have been meaning to take care of myself, but haven’t done so yet on my 9 yr. old car- I need to get on this!

3.) Food for Thought- Tip- Focus on using leftovers. This one can be difficult at times (spaghetti again!), but it can definitely cut down on your food waste, and save money in the process.

4.) Party and Pleasure for less- Save on parties and fun. One interesting tip here is to start requesting that friends not bring gifts to your kids birthday parties, (only family would give your kids gifts), in order to start a precedent for kids your child is friends with. Now depending on the age, they may get quite mad at you for starting this, but I do agree- kids get WAY too many gifts these days, and it seems like trying to stop the madness, so to speak, would be good. I just don’t want to have to be the 1st one to tell my kid he’s not getting gifts from his friends at his b-day party- maybe I can talk my wife into it .

5.) Home-in on Savings- Saving around the house. Tip Reduce your cell phone or cable plan by one “level” of service, in order to save money. This sounds like something most people could probably do without much effort or pain.

Overall, it wasn’t too bad- it’s a short 7 page download, with somewhat good tips- it may not be your cup of tea, but if you want to download it, you can sign up for the newsletter and do so here. As a side note, you can always unsubscribe at the bottom of the email newsletters if you decide it’s not for you- it only takes a few clicks to unsubscribe.

Mini Review- Five Simple Ways to Save $500 from Suze Orman’s MoneyMindedMoms Site is a post from: Think Your Way to Wealth a Personal Finance Blog Copyright 2008-2010

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Browsing through the morning paper with my coffee this morning, I came across a coupon flyer with an advert for Suze Orman’s new blog type website, called MoneyMindedMoms.

I visited moneymindedmoms.com to check it out, and it has sections on managing debt, feeding your family, and others, as well as financial calculators  for debt, tracking expenses, and calculating interest. It also has video clips from her show on CNBC. It does not have a lot of content as of yet, so time will tell if it is regularly updated like a blog, or is more of a static type website.  And while it’s geared towards moms, obviously, it looks like it has money saving tips useful for anyone- moms, dads, and single people alike.

You can also sign up for her newsletter and get a free download of “5 Simple Ways to Save $500″ when you do. I haven’t downloaded and read it yet, but I plan on doing so to see if there are any useful tips.

Let me know your thoughts if you’ve checked it out.

Suze Orman’s New Money Minded Moms Site is a post from: Think Your Way to Wealth a Personal Finance Blog Copyright 2008-2010

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I’ve known about redbox some time ago but never even really knew how it worked until recently, when a redbox showed up in front of a gas station a block from where I work and I decided to try it out.

Redbox is basically a vending machine for renting DVDs, and the great part of it is that it is only 99 cents for a one night rental, if you return it by 9 pm the next night.

It is a great alternative to the video stores or pay-per-view on cable, that charge 3.99 or more  for a rental.  Also,  if you are like me and don’t rent very many movies at this point in your life, it is a cheaper alternative than netflix if you don’t rent enough movies over the course of a month (I probably average 1-2 per month) to make their subscription plan worthwhile. I actually love watching movies, I just can’t seem to find the time in my life with two small kid, work, and everything else going on in my life. At some point I could see netflix being a worthwhile option, just not right now.

As an added bonus I discovered that there are free redbox rental codes that are good for a free one night’s rental that are put out from time to time (seems to be about monthly), that show up on deal finding websites such as slickdeals. Just search a site like slickdeals or even google for “free redbox codes”, and you are likely to find some. They will also send you a code for a free rental if you sign up for redbox email list.

I’ve only rented 3 movies from redbox over the last 2 or 3 months, but my experience has been a good one thus far with redbox.

What service do you use to rent movies? Netflix, redbox, or something else?

Get Cheap DVD Rentals with redbox is a post from: Think Your Way to Wealth a Personal Finance Blog Copyright 2008-2010

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Spending money online is easy: you just browse online catalogs, provide your credit card details and buy whatever you need or want. Luckily there are quite a few resources that help you save money as well.

This post overviews the 5 types of sites that you may want consider for learning to save money online:

1. Bargain Hunting Social Media Communities

Pros: Web 2.0 sites allow for the wealth of cool tools like ratings, voting and comments. This helps to easier spot great deals and leaves almost no room for manipulation (fake submissions and sponsored reviews) as the deals are shared and voted by real people.

Cons: Users may get really spontaneous when it comes to categorizing and tagging shared deals, so it may be hard to spot special offers in the niche you are interested in.

Example: Buxr.com (a heavily moderated, high-quality resource where coupons are submitted by users)

2. Coupon codes and deals blogs

Pros: Blogs (maintained by one or several authors) are more organized and up-to-a-point that user-generated resources. They have less updates and are thus easier to keep up with.

Cons: The above advantage can actually be the disadvantage at the same time: blog authors usually use one and the same source (or sources) where they find new deals, so they thus lack variety.

Example: Coupon lady (for female audience) and Coupon Dad (for male shoppers)

3. Freebie aggregators

Pros: These sites collect freebies around the web and list them for you to take advantage of them.

Cons: Is there actually anything really free under the sun?

Example: List Free Samples (a high-quality collection of completely legal free samples, printable coupons and more)

4. Coupon codes directories

Pros: These are usually run by the team of bargain hunters who collect the deals either manually or automatically.

The sites are usually really well-organized and complete.

Cons: It is hard to filter really good deals without knowing what other readers think about each deal.

Example: Cheap Stingy Bargains (one of the richest and most complete, daily updated coupon codes resource)

5. Coupon codes forums

Pros: Like social media communities, the forums are updated by the active community of enthusiastic bargain hunters.

Cons: These are hard to control, so often heavily spammed and manipulated by sellers promoting their products.

Example: The Coupon Cupboard (probably not the most active one but one of the most useful and targeted coupon code forums out there).

To sum up:

Which one(s) do you prefer?

This guest post was provided by Ann Smarty, a search blogger and social media enthusiast. Ann has recently started the community of guest bloggers: go ahead and join the beta testers!

The Five Types of Money-Saving Tools and Resources is a post from: Think Your Way to Wealth a Personal Finance Blog Copyright 2008-2010

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photo credit: lord-helmet

What does someone in the Deep South know about cold weather? Not much, more than likely, compared to many of you living up north, where it gets really cold.

But when it is 29 degrees with a wind chill of 20 (and damp!), it is pretty cold to me. Since it is going to be the coldest it has been in almost 15 years in the New Orleans area the next few days, I figured I’d share some ways to keep warm without just cranking up the heat and “torching” your energy bills. Cranking up the heat can also dry out your skin and sinuses, causing other problems.

Lower the thermostat- Whatever you normally keep the thermostat on during the winter, try lowering it a few degrees. It is not too hard to get acclimated to a lower temperature, and will keep your heating system from running as much.

Consider a programmable thermostat too- A programmable thermostat can allow you to lower the temperature during the day, especially if no one is at home during the day, for example, and you can have it start heating up the house again an hour or so before you and the family arrive home, so it is not too cold when you get there. You can also lower it some slightly at nighttime, while everyone is sleeping, and program it to rise an hour or so before everyone wakes up.

Check for leaks and drafts- Check around doors, windows and other openings for cracks and openings that may be allowing hot air to escape.

Bundle up -in layers- Wear long sleeves and pants, and wear layers to keep yourself warm indoors.(Which of course works outdoors as well, of course). I am used to wearing shorts and a T-shirt almost year round in the house, so changing your attire inside to something warmer can definitely help.

Blankets- Use layers of blankets at night, instead of just one, to keep warm and toasty when sleeping (or napping!)

Limit use of vent fans- Vent fans, in the bathroom or kitchen, can suck up hot air and exhaust it outside your house. When it is cold outside, try to limit using a vent or don’t use it at all.

Have furnace or heating system serviced regularly- The more efficient and clean your heating system is, the better it will operating and the quicker it will warm your house up to the desired temperature. If you haven’t had your heating system serviced in several years, it may help.

Keep your air filter clean- If you have a central A/C system or a furnace, keeping the filter clean by replacing it regularly will allow it to operate more efficiently, which will allow it to heat your home or apartment better.

Set ceiling fan in reverse- This does seem to work, although it is debatable to some. The theory is that since hot air rises, by reversing the ceiling fan you are pulling cooler air from right below the fan up, where it hits the warm air (and ceiling), which it pushes out towards the walls, and then down lower where you can benefit from it.

Check attic insulation- Heat rises- so if your attic is under-insulated, you will lose hot air through the attic. By the same token though, cold air under a raised house can make you feel colder and heat can be lost there also.

Use a space heater- space heaters, even a small heater fan, can direct heat to exactly where you need it.They also use a lot less energy than running your central system.

Get a hot water heater blanket- If your hot water heater is in an unconditioned area of the house, like a garage, attic, or utility room, using a water heater blanket can help insulate it, reducing the
amount of time it runs to heat the water up.

Close drapes at night, open during the day when there is sunlight- Use natural light when possible to allow heat from the sun into your house. Conversely, at night, closing them may help a little in preventing warm air from escaping.

Wear socks indoors- Some people prefer to go barefoot most of the time, but for whatever reason, I wear socks just about year round in the house, although my wife and kids prefer to go barefoot most of the time. But these last few weeks, even they have been wearing socks around the house.

Electric blanket- I’ve never used a real electric blanket (I have used a heating pad though!), but some of my friends in the far north swear by them.

If all else fails, try a snuggie!- One of these days, I’m going to have to get one of those things !

photo credit: Howard O. Young

15 Ways to Save Money on Heating Bills This Winter is a post from: Think Your Way to Wealth a Personal Finance Blog Copyright 2008-2010

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2009 is almost over (only 2 days left!), so it is time to remember to use up any remaining money you might have left in your flexible spending account (FSA) before the year is over.

An FSA account is a “use it or lose it” tax-advantaged medical savings account, so if you don’t use it all up by the end of the calendar year, you stand to lose any remaining money you have left,

Most FSA accounts allow you to claim or file for reimbursement until the last day in March of the following year, but the expenses must have been incurred by the end of the previous calendar year.
So for calendar year 2009, you must incur the expenses by December 31, 2009, and you should be able to file for reimbursement (if your plan does not have a debit card tied to it, in which case you can just use it directly) until March 31, 2010. Be sure to check your FSA account details to be sure of the final date for reimbursement.

I have had a Health Savings Account for the last two years, and am quite pleased with it thus far, but I had an FSA account for several years before that, and a couple of times I had money left over come the end of December and mad a special trip or two to stock up on meds, contact lens solution, etc.

No one would want to get sick or have to go to the doctor just to use up their money of course, so if you have money left over you can stock up on items you might need in the coming months such as:

• Contact Lens Solution
• Over the Counter (OTC) Medicine- Sinus & Allergy meds, Cough Syrup, Aspirin, Tylenol, or Advil, etc.
• Glasses or Contacts- new glasses, or even new prescription sunglasses
• Birth control pills
• Stop- Smoking Aids such as nicotine gum

Check out the following link for a list of eligible as well as ineligible FSA expenses

Of course, if you feel you have too much money left over this year, be sure to consider adjusting (if still possible) how much money you are saving during 2010 and keep track of your spending throughout the year so you do not have so much money left over come the end of December 2010.

Flexible Spending Account FSA Year End Reminder is a post from: Think Your Way to Wealth a Personal Finance Blog Copyright 2008-2010

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As frequently happens these days, I am a little late to the Bing Cashback party. Bing, the search engine which debuted earlier this year (as the next generation of windows live search & msn search) has been offering cashback when shopping online through selected merchants after going through the bing web search portal.

Some fairly large merchants, such as Home Depot, Macy’s, and Barnes and Noble. There are many, many others, all of which can be found here: Bing cashback stores.

Shop through the bing cashback site, or alternatively, look for the coin with dollar sign symbol (shown above) when searching  on bing- as shown in the  image shown below from searching for “Walmart” this past weekend:

As you can see from the screenshot, Walmart was offering a whopping 20% as of this past weekend. The percentages change frequently for different merchants, going up and back down over time,  though, so you need to check frequently to see what percentage they are offering- I do not see the link for 20% for Walmart anymore.

The best way to take advantage of it I have seen thus far is through deal websites, such as slickdeals. Posters to site like slickdeals are quick to point out when a good deal can be combined for even bigger savings.

A few caveats- it has been pointed out in a few sites that sometimes the price you see going through Bing can be different (i.e., higher) than if you go directly to that merchant’s website. Microsoft responded to that by saying it was an isolated incident , and prices are not always update as quickly as they should be.

As always, it pays to shop around- but if you are buying something already, it’s an added benefit to get cashback when you do so.

If you are interested in trying it out, you can sign up for a bing account.

Have any of you been using Bing Cashback when online shopping? What are your thoughts on the program.?

Save Money When Shopping Online Using Bing Cashback is a post from: Think Your Way to Wealth a Personal Finance Blog Copyright 2008-2010

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