Recent Savings

It's been awhile since I wrote about some of my more recent basic money saving ideas. These are some of the things I've been doing to keep more of my hard earned money.

#1 - Car Insurance
My car insurance company increased my premium. I was under the impression it had been increased in the past, but looking at the chart, it wasn't. I bought my car in March 2005 and this is what I've paid over time, since:

9/05: $528.20
3/06: $528.20
9/06: $499.30
3/07: $499.30

I don't remember what the original amount was, for 9/07, except than it was over $500 - I just remember calling and complaining about it. I haven't had any accidents or made any claims. I drive th car rarely, and I don't see a reason to pay more when my car's worth less than it was in March.

So for 9/07 my bill was reduced to $454.40. Call your car insurance company the next time you get a bill and tell them you think it should be less. The worse that can happen is nothing.

#2 - Dish
I dumped cable at the end of last year. Comcast effectively doubled my payments over the past 7 years - without providing any additional features or services. I thought about dish for a while, but was afraid of reception. Comcast would always libelously slam DirecTV, in their commercials, by telling us we'd regret switching to dish, since the picture would be all fuzzy and distorted depending on the weather. Guess what: that's a lie. I live in San Francisco, and it's foggy half the time. My picture is as good as ever, and my service hasn't been interrupted any, since I first signed up. DirecTV cost about the same as what I paid for Comcast, except that I have way more channels. Some good, ones too.

I feel like I'm subsidizing Comcast's DSL customers. I think they can lower their price for their Internet customers, and remain competitive by charging their TV Cable customers more. At least that's my theory, and why I think they kept asking me to pay more. Evaluate your expenses, and make sure that if you're paying more, it not so that someone else can be paying less.

#3 No More Landline Long Distance
I cut out long distance from my AT&T bill. I have a cellphone I barely use. Skype isn't the greatest, but I do occasionally mess around with it. One day, I'm sure it'll be fantastic. But right now, people complain about not hearing me very well through Skype. Also I was getting disconnected every 5 minutes for some reason. I don't make that many long distance calls, in the first place.

Before last October, my AT&T bills ranged from $106 to $124, and now they are pretty much always about $90 per month, every month. Make sure you're not paying for something you aren't using.

#4 Commuter Checks
The company I now work for offers commuter checks. They deduct a specified amount of pre-tax money from my paycheck, and send me a voucher for the amount they deducted each month.

My Fast Pass costs $45 a month. And when I buy it using the $45 pre-tax voucher, it costs me $24.52. So my already cheap cost of trasportation is cut in half. Check out CBM to see if this might be available at the company you work for.

#5 ESPP
The company I now work for also offers an employee stock purchase plan, ESPP. I can elect to have up to 10% of my salary deducted, and in May and again in November the money that was deducted buys shares of the company I work for. The price is the 15% less than the lower of the value at the start of the 6 month period, or the value at the end of the 6 month period. If I sold the shares I bought in the last 6 month period today, I'd make a profit. If I sell those shares in May next year, I won't have to pay as much tax on that profit. It's like free money. And although I'm not guaranteed to make a profit, my chances are quite good.

#6 Flexible Spending Account
The company I now work for offers a cafeteria plan, or a Flexible Spending Account. This year I got two new crowns, which I knew my share of would be $1374. So last year I elected to contribute $1374 throughout this year. Of course it doesn't feel great having so much deducted from my check each pay period, about $57, but I needed to get those crowns anyway, and like my commuter check vouchers, the money is pre-taxed. I haven't done the math, but something tells me it's probably about half-price like with my commuter check vouchers.

What's also nice is that I got both crowns at the same time, in July, and have already been reimbursed for the $1374. That's how the plan works, and maybe something lots of people don't know about: I haven't even finished paying the $1374 to the flexible savings account, but have already been reimbursed the amount I elected to contribute throughout the year.

#7 Employee Match on 401(k)
If you've read some of my earlier posts, you know I'm not a hardcore retirement savings plan advocate. My philosophy is that they're safety nets for those of us who will fail in life - and they're pushed by banks who want to tie up our hard earned money for decades. But I do think they can be valuable, and maybe even life-savers for some of us. They also are good ways to save tax dollars.

I'm fortunate enough to work for, if I'm not mistaken, the first company I ever worked for that matches my 401(k) contribution by at least 50%. They do it for up to 6% of my earnings. So I contribute exactly 6%. So I'm not not taxed on that 6%, and really what's going into my account each pay period is 9%. Even though I can't spend any of it till I'm old, if I'm lucky enough - it's like making 3% more money.

If you're making a decent salary, can use a good tax write-off, don't see an absolute need the money in the foreseeable future, and your company matches your 401(k) contribution, contribute up to the amount they match.

Ok. That's my update for now. I'll see if I can think of any more for later.