Take Back Your Budget and Your Car

When the economy takes a turn for the worse, everyone tends to tighten the purse strings on their spending habits. With the current economy, people are finding alternate means of transportation where appropriate, watching their pennies at the grocery store, and having to re-evaluate their habits at home in order to reduce monthly bills.

Savings at the Grocery Store
In two words: Skip it. You can save on your monthly food bills and still eat well by growing your own fruits and vegetables. Not only do they taste better, they'll be readily available in your own backyard and a garden can be a fun family project. But if you don't have the time, land, or patience for something like that, try these other tricks of the trade:

* Join a warehouse club with a friend or neighbor and shop in bulk. Stock up and split your purchases.

* Plan ahead. Creating menus makes an ordinary dinner feel like a night out and allows you to use what you've got and use all of it.

* Cut out the meat. It's healthier for your family and better on your budget. Not all the time, but a few nights a week will shave some bucks off the bill.

Savings without Dumping the Pump
With gas prices going through the roof, it's becoming more expensive to drive. But for most Americans, their cars are necessities. We use them to get to work, pick up the kids, run errands, and go on interviews. How are you supposed to get that new job close to home without a car?

You can save up to $60 per month, or more, on your auto payment by refinancing through RateGenius. You'll save money by reducing your monthly auto payment and also by lowering your interest rate. RateGenius lenders also offer the option of deferring auto payments for up to 60 days if you need a little wiggle room in your budget.

The money you save by refinancing your auto loan at RateGenius can be used for anything from gas to groceries, or better yet, put into an interest bearing savings account for a rainy day. Click here to apply and to start saving on your monthly auto loan.

Home Energy Savings
Reducing your utility bills means reducing your utility use: great for your wallet and for the environment. These tips can help you save money that you didn't know you were wasting.

* Take a bite out of your electricity bill by installing a programmable thermostat. Don't heat or cool an empty house, just program the thermostat to turn on a half hour before you'll be home.

* Talk to your utility company about installing a saver switch on utilities such as air conditioning. Activated by the utility company at peak usage times, the switch will cycle your air off and on in short intervals and most people never notice the difference.

* Listen to your mother and turn off the television, radio and lights when you're not in a room.

* Lower your water bill by doing larger loads of laundry less often and taking shorter showers. Even five fewer minutes can make a big difference.

Whether you take steps to save on food, transportation, utilities--or all three--living more frugally can make a big difference to your bottom line.

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