Delta baggage fees go up, again

New Delta baggage fees

The airline industry has been through a lot lately. Recessions, gas prices, terrorism – and now it’s the slow season. So what is an airline to do? Delta has raised baggage fees to boost their income. The fees are $25 for the first bag, $35 for the second.

Since there doesn’t seem to be a lot of literature on anything beyond two bags, so it seems they’ll only let you check two. Obviously, if you can’t fit everything into two, then you have to get back to the drawing board. Maybe you should trade in some of your stuff for secured loans.

Internet advantage

You could check them online, and bring the documentation. You’ll save a couple bucks – the first bag is $23, the second is $32. So if you are checking two bags, you can save $5 by checking them in online. That said, $55 to check two bags on top of everything else is still a bit of a gouge, isn’t it?

Typically, January has lower ticket prices because hardly anyone wants to travel then. That said, if you are checking any bags, those savings might be minimal, if anything.

Alternative plan

One of the big reasons to check a bag is because of the restrictions on carrying any liquids on planes. That said, try buying the travel sized versions of what you need when you get there rather than paying almost $60 so some suits at Delta HQ can get ivory back scratchers.

Carry on is the best thing to do. It saves time, and more importantly, money. When you’re traveling, only bring what you absolutely need. Think of things that would be better bought later on than packed.

Saving for Tough Times

When fighting your way through tough economic times, it is better to try and face down these money troubles instead of closing your eyes and hoping they’ll go away. They won’t. There are many steps you can do to minimise the impact of the economic downturn, and they must be taken now.

Accumulate funds for emergency savings. It is important to save money in an emergency savings fund where you have immediate and penalty-free access. As a general rule its good to have enough in your savings to survive without an income for around three months. The best place to park this money would be in a high interest savings account.

Save more. Try to arrange for an automatic savings plan. This arrangement enables you to set aside specific amounts of cash automatically transferred from a checking account to savings accounts earning high interest or to a mutual fund of your choice. A high interest savings account should be used but you should choose one with easy access. A retirement fund will not do it because this is money you won’t need for quite a while.

Spend less. This move may be obvious, but it can be a very hard step to take. Lump into one account all the phones at home (landline and mobile). By bundling your communications you can normally get substantial discounts. You should compare the deals on the market to find the best value deal. Spend less on your groceries by joining a food co-op or buying only generic or supermarket brands. Bum rides in a car pool or take public transport instead. If you have two cars and one is seldom used, consider selling the other one. Put all the money you save in a high interest savings account intended for the rainy days.

Reduce credit card debt. You have to find ways to stretch your money further in tough times. It does not make sense to shell out your hard-earned money to pay 17 per cent (or whatever) interest on credit card debt. Try to pay off in full the balance due each month; if that is difficult, at least pay much more than the minimum amount. Consider moving from credit to Visa debit

Increase household income. During a recession this can be difficult. You may be able to find creative ways of bringing in additional funds using your skills. If you write, or do photography, or are able to do some other marketable skills, you can try freelancing on your spare time. In single income households the partner could try and take on casual or one off jobs for extra income. You could start a small business which might blossom into something bigger once the recession is over.

Make use of allowable tax deductions. Be on the lookout for tax deductible expenses such as education, charitable donations and your home office. Be religious about keeping every related receipt, so you can use these to support tax deduction claims. Put the money saved on personal tax deductions into your high interest savings account.

Spruce up your résumé. Recessions can lead to more layoffs. It is best to polish the résumé to make it current, in case the need to apply for a new job arises. Try and get the resume down to one or two pages to keep it to the point. Make it presentable, but not flashy. Highlight your relevant work skills and experience.

Act quickly to protect your finances from the recession. This will give you a strong sense of purpose even as it shores up your position.

Saving Faster With Savings Goals

Saving money takes time and discipline, but with the right strategy and a good savings account you can reach your savings goals a lot faster than you might think.

Many of the good things in life cost money and saving for big items like cars, boats, or even houses, can take months or years. It is possible to hit your savings goals and get the things you want much faster with a well planned strategy and goals.

Before you begin to plan your saving strategy, you should open a high interest savings account if you don’t already have one. This will allow you to keep your savings completely separate from the rest of your money and will pay a higher interest rate. Also, if you are willing to leave the money untouched for a certain number of months, or even years, you should be able to get an even better interest rate. The market is flooded with savings account offers so do some comparison to find an account with high interest and low fees.

It’s time to start making some real goals once your savings account is ready. As with much in life, it all comes down to time and money – how much you want to save and when you want to have it by. Search online for a ’savings goal calculator’ to see how much your going to need to save to hit your goals and how regular deposits and interest rates can impact this.

Don’t stretch yourself too far. If necessary, establish a longer timeframe so you can save without putting yourself under too much pressure. Alternatively, you could take a detailed look at your personal spending to see how you can save money here and there. Are there some day-to-day luxuries you are willing to part with to help you reach your savings goals?

The best thing to do now is create a household budget to get a good idea of all your typical ingoings and outgoings each month. It is better to over-estimate here to make sure you have enough to live comfortably. If you find you have money left over each month you can easily deposit to your savings account.

Once you do your calculations and decide how much you need to put away each week/month, there are a few steps you can take to make the process easier. First, you should arrange regular auto-deposits into your savings account from your checking account as soon as you are paid. Another option is to ask your employer if they can split your salary payments to some of your pay goes direct to your savings account each paycheck. This will reduce the temptation to spend and get your money working for you in your savings account as early as possible.

If you can do so it is critical to avoid debt wherever you can. If you have longer term, larger loans then you will just have to factor that into your budget. However, any new debt, and especially credit card debt, should be avoided at all costs. Attempting to save while trying to tackle an expensive credit card debt is like taking one step forward and two steps back.

Reaching your savings goals may seem difficult at first but stick to your plan and the money will start to grow. For longer-term savings goals you may find that your circumstances change during the process and you can save the money even faster than expected.

Article by Richard from Click 4 savings comparison group of sites which compare products including. Visitors can compare products including NAB savings and then apply online with the bank.

Effective Money Saving Tips for Students

While in Shcool, students tend to take money for granted, because of all the activities, studying and off course hanging out with friends. You don’t want to get yourself in debt by overspending your allowance. Because of this you need to pay close attention to the way you spend.

Here are some simple, easy to follow guidelines on how students can save money:

1. List all of your expenses.

• You should have an idea, by now, how much money you intend to have for each week or month of classes. The money you live on could be from a part time job, student loan, or it could be from your parents. Make a list of the important things like food, books and school supplies, which will give you an idea of the amount need to spend each week. Don’t forget to put some cash aside for emergency expenses.

2. Try not to use your credit cards.

• Theoretically, it would be much simpler not to carry your debit or credit card with you all the time. But keep them handy for big expenses that you do not have funds for. In order not to overspend, its best to use cash if you want to purchase small items.

3. Change your eating habits.

• Eating out frequently might save you time but it won’t save you money. Eating at fast food restaurants, in the long run, will cost you more. Instead, spend your money on groceries to eat in your dorm or apartment; you could even save more by packing your lunch. By planning your meals and eating habits, you’ll not only same money but you will eat healthier.

4. Be sure to treat yourself every now and then.

By just following the ideas mentioned on this guide you could save a lot of money while you are in college studying. And maybe, you might be able to save enough to afford yourself a big item that in other circumstances, you would not be able to afford.

For more Financial Advice… Check out the Financial Tips Blog

Proper Budgeting Methods and Ways To Save Money

 The Proper Budgeting Methods

When people see something that strikes their interest, the choice of buying it or not may happen in a matter of minutes. It really don’t matter if its groceries, a house or a car because all these things cost money.

The average household spends more than $700 a month on expenses. this includes buying other things that are needed for the family and paying the bills or loans.

In order to save money on costs and expenses, the parents must practice budgeting to make sure that there is enough cash to last throughout the entire month. If mom and dad are both working, a certain amount of the paycheck must go to the bank. At least here, the depositors can be assured that this is kept in a secure place while earning interest.

Pertaining to the purchases, a rule must be set. If this exceeds for example $200, the couple must first talk about to see if this is really needed. Some of the items found in stores will likely exceed this limit. When this occurs, its a good idea to shop around for something of similar quality.

If the spouses really want it, instead of paying this with cash on hand, there is no harm in asking the sales person if there is a payment plan good for six months to a year if this is paid using a credit card. Some companies offer 0% interest while others offer rebates that can be used on the next purchase.

A lot of parents give their kids allowances. As these kids get older, they will surely ask for an increase in the amount given to them. Should this happen, perhaps it is time to talk to the kids about getting a part time job like delivering newspapers or gardening so the extra cash can be put to good use.

Almost everyone in the household uses the phone. It is used for local and international calls and if this is too much on the budget, perhaps changing this to another service provider is advisable.

Most groceries have discount catalogs placed before entering the store. The discounts on selected items change monthly so it wouldn’t hurt to cut these out when shopping. Some of these can also be found in magazines which can also be used when eating out in restaurants and going to the zoo or the amusement park.

Cash is pretty hard to come by especially if both parents have to work. Everyone in the household must always help out and think before buying anything since this is the only method to properly budget the monetary resources available.

Check out the Financial Tips Journal for Financial Advice and Financial Tips

Saving Money with a Household Budget

Creating a household budget needs to be one of the first steps in any plan to take control of your spending and financial situation. The basic idea for a monthly budget is to calculate how much money you have in comings versus what is being spent and how you are spending it. Now you are armed with all the information it’s time to make some changes to achieve your goals.

Follow these simple step by step instructions to creating a budget for your household.

1: Calculate Your Incomings: This should be fairly easy. You need to calculate your typical incomings per month from all sources pay checks (after tax), bonuses and dividends from any investments. If there are some payments you only get once or twice a year such as bonuses then average that figure out over a year to give you a typical month.

2: Calculate Your Outgoings: Calculating your outgoings is a little bit more complicated as you spend money in far more ways than you earn it. Go over your statements for your bank account and credit cards for the past few months and figure out how much you have in outgoings each month and where it is going. Transactions from debit cards or credit cards may be easier to keep tabs on but it’s hard to see where cash withdrawn from ATM’s has ended up. A simple way to keep tabs your cash spending is using creating a spending diary in a notepad and noting everything you spend money on each day such as coffee and magzines and anything else you spend. Hopefully you will find your typical outgoings are lower than your incomings but often this is not the case. If you find your outgoings are higher than your incomings then you are pushing yourself into debt each month and need to take action to reverse this trend.

3. Classify Your Outgoings: Once you have worked out all your outgoings it makes sense to classify them together into categories such as groceries, utilities, clothes, entertainment, loan repayments, travel and so on. Doing this will let you see where most of your money is going.

4: Sort out the essentials, the nice to haves and the not required: Now you can see where your money is going then you need to decide what can be changed. You may find some of the expenses are fixed and cannot easily be changed such as rent or mortgage repayments, car registration and so on. If you need to make large cutbacks then perhaps even these items could be reduced by downsizing your home. Assuming however that you are not looking for such drastic measures then you need to find other places to make changes. You might be able to save money by switching utility providers, optimizing your cell phone plan and using VOIP to make your long distance calls at a low rate. Common areas for cutbacks are reducing your entertainment and shopping expenses for items such as dining out, buying music, clothes and so on.

5: Make Goals: You should now have figured out what you are spending and where you can make cut backs. You shouldn’t be aiming to create a budget just to survice on; you should be looking to have spare money to increase your net worth each month. A couple of methods of boosting your net worth is by slashing your debts or by boosting your savings. If you are in debt then the goal should be to get out of debt as soon as possible. Aim to pay off as much as you can each month and set a minimum goal which should form part of your budget rather than being an afterthought. Once you have paid off debts then the focus can become on saving money each month via a high interest savings account. High interest savings account products have high interest rates and accumulate quickly when you make regular monthly deposits. Your goal shoudl eb to improve your financial situation every month and prioritize debt reduction, savings and investments to reach your goals faster. There could also be other uses for the money such as investing it in shares or managed funds.

6: Keep Yourself in Check: Make sure you keep reviewing your budget and looking for areas where you can make further trimmings and savings. A budget is not a survival plan, it should help form your long term financial roadmap to making you financial goals a reality.

Article provided thanks to www.compareyourbank.com.au a consumer finance comparison site including Woolworths credit cards. Visitors can then apply online for any featured products direct with the banks.

Making Every Cent Count: Using a Spending Diary

Are you the type of person who is a savvy money manager?Or, are you normally struggling to scrape by till your next paycheck? If you fall under the latter category, now is as good a time as any to open a high interest savings account for yourself and seriously start saving money.

You don’t know if difficult financial times lay ahead so it is wise to set up a savings account. This is a secure way of saving money in a bank, with the added bonus of earning a particular percentage of interest for the amount that you will deposit.

Saving Money 101: How to Create a Spending

There is nothing unusual about taking $100 or so from an ATM and then wondering where it’s all gone when you check your wallet the next day.

This usually happens because you are not keeping tabs on your spending habits. This is not a good practice at all, especially if you seriously wish to start saving money by actually adding funds to that savings account which you opened a year or so ago.

So what’s the best way that you can use to get a head start with saving money? You can do it the old-fashioned way: by creating a spending diary, keeping track of your spending habits and adding money to your savings account so that you can start saving money.

In a nutshell, a spending diary allows you to track where you money has been spent and allow you to see where improvements and cut backs can be made to save money. Going back to the example mentioned earlier – if you did take out $100 from your savings account through an ATM machine, you will see where that amount actually went.

Once you take the money from the ATM write down everything you used that money to purchase. Did you spend it to buy coffee or a magazine on your way to work? Did you use it to buy food? Or did you have an ‘attack’ on your conscience and you actually put that amount towards your savings account?

If you’d rather not use cash then try a debit card such as Visa debit and then double check your statements against your spending diary.

Once you have developed the habit of writing down on your spending diary the ins and outs of your finances, you will be able to see which aspects of your spending you can actually cut back on. If you see that you’re spending too much on eating breakfast outside of the house on your way to work, you may want to pack a hearty sandwich for yourself. Better yet, wake up earlier and enjoy the financial and health benefits of eating a nutritious breakfast at home.
You might be surprised at just how faster you will be able to save money and actually add funds to your savings account once you are already keeping a spending diary. By doing this you can classify which purchases are wasting money, which are valuable and which can be done once in a while.

In addition, your savings account will be given a boost because the money that you will be able to save from the unnecessary purchases can go towards saving money instead. Keeping a spending diary takes a little getting used to at first. However, once you have gotten used to the notion of keeping tabs of your spending, saving money will be much more instinctive and less of a burden or a chore for you.

Post by Richard Greenwood who runs a number of sites to help people compare bank accounts and other financial products and then make an application online.

React Well to Redundancy

Unemployment is a difficult thing to deal with at the best of times. With the challenges now facing the world’s economies, many are going to face this emotional rollercoaster for the first time in their working life, quickly needing to find ways of saving money and seeking out saving tips. It is therefore important to realise that you are not alone and by acting positively you will improve your chances significantly of finding new work. You therefore need to recognise it for what it is, accept it and move on.

Taking each of these in turn:

Recognise it for what it is; a period of acute anxiety. There are many contributors to this stress, including….

• A journey into unknown territory – “what is going to happen to me?”

• A feeling that you are letting people down, particularly your immediate family. This feeling is likely to be much stronger if you have dependents or young children. Family goals will have to be postponed.

• Lots of new challenges, like understanding the benefits system.

• Worry about mounting debts, including, in some cases, concern about having homes repossessed if there is a mortgage involved.

• Difficulty in adjusting to a new life style with a different income – “how will we keep up with our friend’s social scene”.

• Worry about how other people, friends and former colleagues will view you.

• A lower level of self worth – “how did I fail?”

• Anger at former employees or circumstances leading to the unemployment

• Lack of motivation “what is the point?”

 

Accept the situation. This may be hard to do, but once it has been achieved in a meaningful (not superficial) way you can get on with repairing the damage.

 

Move on positively and swallow your pride. Changes will have to be made and the financial damage of lost income will have to be managed. Do not hide from decisions. Some of the things to put on your agenda to consider include:

• Make sure that you access any benefits that you are entitled to straight away. The means testing may feel intrusive, but it is imperitive not to misuse your time. It is very difficult to get any form of benefits paid for the period when you should have claimed and did not know how to.

• Review your budget in detail. When you have completed this, do it again taking out the bits that you can live without. Make every penny count by finding ways of saving money.

• Speak immediately to your bank and other financial relationships before any damaging situations arise. They are professional and should give you some breathing space, particularly in relation to your house or mortgage.

• Dont bury your head underground. The best way to get back into employment is to get out and speak to people, so find out what friends and previous colleagues are doing. Go to social events, sports clubs, business networks etc and tell people that you are looking for work. Word gets around and generally people are willing to help. You will quickly discover that you are not alone.

• Turn the job loss into a long term opportunity. What do you really want to do? Redo your CV, and plan for future situations.

Finally, take advantage of any assistance that is available from family, friends and associates. Look online for any guidance available during this thorny period. For example, look for personal finance software that can help you to manage your money better and to teach you about saving money. There are also a variety of sources online for saving tips that could be useful, so seek them out.