Pitcher Water Filter Systems

Buying bottled water can become very expensive.  A 30 pack of .5 liter bottles of water is about $5.  Even if you drink only one bottle a day, that's still $60 dollars for the year for only 48 gallons of water.

However, the use of a pitcher water filter can get you more water for your buck.  For example:

The Brita Pitcher Water Filter is $25 with one filter included.  Additional filters are $9 each.  The average Brita user uses 6 filters per year.  This would put your yearly cost at $70.  The money saver is in the actual amount of purified water produced.   Each filter purifies 40 gallons of water.  Annually, one will purify 240 gallons of water.  

Grocery Store Savings - Don't Shop Hungry

Grocery stores know that wonderful smelling, great looking food sell! In order to save some extra money on your groceries, make sure you eat before you shop. NEVER shop for food when you're hungry because you'll end up spending too much money and buying far more than you need.

Quit Smoking - Save Money

Quitting smoking has more than just health benefits. It has HUGE financial benefits too. Quitting smoking saves money, simple as that.
A smoker who spends $3.00 on a pack of cigarettes and smokes a pack a day, could save over $1000.00 a year! QuitrSavr is an innovative to see how much money you save once you quit.

Netflix Saves Money

Netflix is an easy, fantastic way to rent movies from your home. Not only that, studies show that using Netflix is a much cheaper way to rent movies than at a video store.

The following information was found here:

Cost Per Movie:
Blockbuster (in store): $4.82
Netflix: $1.62
Difference: Netflix costs $3.20 less.

Total Cost For 415 Movies:
Blockbuster (in store): $2,000.30
Netflix (3 out plan): $673.74
Difference: Netflix costs $1,326.56 less.

Total Cost For 1 Movie Per Week for 3 Years:
Blockbuster (in store): $751.92
Netflix (1 out plan): $339.82
Difference: Netflix costs $412.10 less.

This study shows that someone saved over $400.00 using Netflix instead of renting from a video store.

The Costco Chronicles: The Return Policy

Similar to the return policy at Nordstrom, Costco Wholesale offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee on EACH and EVERY product they sell. Like Nordstrom, one can return any item* at any time as long as they have the receipt. This is a great policy to take advantage of because it puts a lifelong warranty on every product they sell. From milk and eggs to Playstations and DVDs, Costco will take anything back, with NO QUESTIONS ASKED.

* All items sold at Costco Wholesale can be returned or exchanged at ANY time except televisions, computers, MP3 players, digital cameras, and camcorders which have a 90 day return policy.

How to pay for your child's college

My brother Paul is the smartest guy I know. He is the CEO of an internet startup and is my mentor on a lot of subjects. One of those subjects is personal finance and saving. I'll share with you guys what he does for each of his daughters to give them a huge helping hand in creating a middle class lifestyle.
When his first daughter was born, he started putting $300 per month away in her college fund. By the time she's 18, Paul will have plenty saved for a good education at a California state school. He won't have to make cut backs or change anything for this increase in spending, because he was preparing for 18 years.
Pretty smart huh? What a nice thing to do for your offspring.

Cheap Gas Prices

We all know how painful on the wallet filling up the ol' tank can be. Now, with MapQuest - Gas Prices and Gas Buddy, people can see the high and low prices of gasoline at gas stations in their area. This allows drivers to save time and money when refueling their ride.