40 simple ways to save money on the internet

Here is an article from Techradar.com:
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Capitalism is collapsing, we're eating shoes for dinner and our houses are worth about 10p - so it's more important than ever to ensure that we're getting the biggest bang for our bucks.

If money really talked, it'd be saying "go online and save some cash!"
So we did.

Here, we reveal 40 ways to use the web to beat the bills, cut your costs and get more from your money.

1. Go paper-free for cheaper billsMany firms, such as Norwich Union Direct give you one discount for applying online and a further discount if you choose online-only paperless policies.

2. Make free phone callsWhether it's Skype or your favourite chat software, why pick up the phone when voice and video chat is free?

3. Cut your credit card ratesIf you don't clear the balance every month, high interest rates could be costing you a fortune. Use MoneyExtra to find a better deal.

4. Get cheaper gas and electricEnergy firms make a lot of money from inertia - that is, customers sticking with the package they're on instead of switching to better deals. Use Uswitch to compare different providers.

5. Collect AirmilesAirmiles aren't just for flights - you can use them for hotel stays, too. The Airmiles website shows you where to collect the most miles.

6. Be patient and save on delivery chargesMany online shops such as Amazon charge a fortune for fast delivery. Go for free delivery instead - no book, game or DVD is that urgent.

7. Get cheaper broadbandBeen with the same ISP for a while? You're probably paying too much. Broadband Genie shows who's got the best prices for the speed you need.

8. Get loyalty discountsProviders such as O2 give massive discounts for customers who take more than one service so, for example, O2 broadband is £5 cheaper for existing O2 customers.

9. Get cheaper insuranceInsurers typically attract new customers with generous deals and then stuff them when it's time to renew. Use Confused.com to get a better deal.

10. New quotes are often cheaper than renewalsLike your insurer but hate the renewal price? Get a new quote from their website and demand they match it. We saved £90 this week doing just that.

11. Buy groceries onlineSupermarkets are brilliant at encouraging impulse buys, so avoid temptation by ordering over the internet. If possible, arrange midweek delivery: weekends cost more.

12. Dump designersSites such as ASOS.com can help you get designer styles without paying designer money.

13. Book flights earlyThe earlier you book a flight on airlines such as EasyJet, the less it costs.

14. Use free softwareIs OpenOffice.org as good as Microsoft Office? Who cares? It's free! See also: Picasa, Google Docs, Paint.net...

15. Get cheaper gig tickets in advanceSign up to mailing lists to get advance notice of ticket sales for your favourite acts.

16. Get cheaper last-minute ticketsNeed tickets for a sold-out gig? Sod the scalpers: try ethical trading site Scarlet Mist.

17. Get cheap Christmas presents nowIt's not long till Xmas, and there are sales a-plenty from big names such as Debenhams and Marks & Sparks.

18. Find freebiesThe lovely people at Moneysavingexpert.com have found freebies ranging from baby food samples to study aids and sun cream.

19. Compare prices to save bigNever buy things from the first site you try - a quick trip to Kelkoo will often find it cheaper.

20. Use a car broker and save cash on your new carCar dealers are suffering, so brokers such as Broadspeed can get even bigger discounts on new cars than before.

21. Monitor the market for cheap mortgagesThe best deals appear and disappear in a matter of days, so use a site such as Moneysupermarket.com to make sure you don't miss any.

22. Prioritise your debts to cut repaymentsShifting debt to a credit card with 0% interest on balance transfers could slash your repayments; find one on Moneysupermarket or MoneyExtra.

23. Get a currency cardTravelling abroad? Pre-paid currency cards can save you a stack when you pay with plastic.

24. Find the cheapest petrolPetrolprices.com finds the cheapest petrol stations in your area.

25. Earn more interest on your savingsMake sure you're earning maximum interest at Moneysavingexpert.com.

26. Get 2 for 1 cinema ticketsWith Orange? Text 241 to get two-for-one tickets on Wednesdays.
27. See films for freeDisney's Film Factory often gives away free tickets for new movies.

28. Sell your story to the pressDid your partner leave you for a chicken? Beonpaper is where real-life mags often get their case studies - and many of them pay.

29. Get free stuff from FreecycleJoin your nearest Freecycle group and discover how you can get people's unwanted items for nowt.

30. Get cashback when you shopSites such as Topcashback can get you cash back when you buy from major retailers - although you should always check that the same things aren't cheaper elsewhere.

31. Stream music for freeWhy buy CDs when Last.fm's streaming is so good?

32. Build a blog, not a websiteFree blogging platforms such as WordPress are often better than paid-for web space.

33. Cancel the newspaperThey're all online, so subscribe to their RSS feeds with NewNewsWire or FeedDemon.

34. Find cheap restaurant deals5pm.co.uk offers cheap same-day deals for all kinds of swanky restaurants.

35. Do a holiday house swapDon't pay for a hotel: swap houses with someone instead.

36. Save petrolPlan your route before you travel - it saves petrol and it's cheaper than a sat-nav.

37. Get cheaper train ticketsBook in advance and use services such as Raileasy to find the lowest fares.

38. Get bargain hotel roomsLaterooms can save you a packet on hotel accommodation - especially if you're booking at the last minute.

39. Find free Wi-FiFree-hotspot.com and Wififreespot make it easy to find free Wi-Fi - although inevitably, availability is awful outside big cities.

40. Use up food before you buy moreCooking By Numbers is brilliant: tell it what odds and sods are in your fridge and it'll come up with recipes. We got Bacon Surprise: "The surprise is that it is nothing but bacon."

Now read 12 Vista Sidebar gadgets that will save you money and 7 Firefox add-ons that will save you a fortune

By Gary Marshall

Success stories: From Rags to Riches

Here is an article from Neatorama, From Rags to Riches:


JIM CARREY

From Rags ... He had to drop out of high school and take a job as a janitor in a factory. In fact, his entire family worked in that factory, living in a small cottage on the grounds. At his lowest low, Carrey wrote a $10 million check to himself ... to be redeemed when he made the big time.

... to Riches: After working the comedy circuit for years, Carrey landed a role on In Living Color, which led to a movie deal. In 1996 he became the highest paid actor ever when he received $20 million to star in Cable Guy. When his father died, Carrey placed the check he had written to himself in his dad's burial suit.

J.K. ROWLING

From Rags ... As a single mother living on public assistance, Rowling started writing Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in a café while her baby daughter napped. Why the café? Because it was warmer than the tiny flat she lived in. When Bloomsbury Books bought her manuscript in 1996, she was thrilled. The £1,500 (about $2,400) she was advanced was more money than she'd ever received at one time in her life.

... to Riches: Four years and three more books later, Rowling was worth more than $400 million ... and she's not done yet. [ed note: this article was written in 2003, now Rowling is worth more than $1.1 billion]

This is such a beautiful success story :)

OPRAH WINFREY

From Rags ... Born in Mississippi to unwed teenage parents, Winfrey grew up in poverty. While living in Milwaukee, she was molested by relatives. Not knowing what else to do, her mother sent her to live in a detention home.

... to Riches: Fortunately the detention home was full and Winfrey went to live with her father. He nurtured her abilities and helped her get to college. Now, as the queen of the talk show, Winfrey is worth an estimated $1 billion. [ed note: by 2007, Winfrey is worth $2.5 billion]

She really deserves it :)

From Riches to Rags ...
WILLIE NELSON

From Riches ... By 1988 Willie Nelson had been a country music star for nearly 20 years and had two multiplatinum albums under his belt.

... to Rags: Due to years of "creative" accounting, in 1990 Nelson owed the IRS $16.7 million. To pay it, he had to auction off just about everything he owned.

[ed note: Nelson's debts were settled in 1993, and he continued to write music and perform.]

M.C. HAMMER

From Riches ... "U Can't Touch This," released in 1990, became a pop phenomenon, making Hammer an overnight superstar. A world tour and endorsement deals with Pepsi and KFC followed.

... to Rags: Hammer went on a $30 million spending spree that included mansions and $500,000-a-month payroll. After two mediocre follow-up albums and some poor investments, Hammer declared bankruptcy in 1996, more than $13 million in debt.

[ed note: Hammer is now a blogger and a preacher]

NIKOLA TESLA

From Riches ... In his heyday in the 1890s, Tesla was a rich and famous inventor and held more than 700 patents. He is best known for developing alternating current (AC) electricity.

... to Rags: He was also naive. Thomas edison, who saw Tesla as competition, did all he could to undermine Tesla's work. It worked. A series of patent lawsuits left Tesla with no money or credit, despite his many inventions. He died broke in 1943.

MIKE TYSON

From Riches ... The youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history had earned $300 million.

... to Rags: By 2003 it was all gone. Tyson blames his former promoter, Don King, for mismanaging his earnings. King claims that Tyson blew the money himself. The two will duke it out in court.


The article above is reprinted with permission from Uncle John's Unstoppable Bathroom Reader.

12 'new' needs that drain your cash

Here is an interesting slide show from MSN Money
12 'new' needs that drain your cash

And the winner is...... the daily latte!!!

I'm so lucky I don't like coffee :P (I wish I could say the same about chocolate though).

High-tech lifestyle takes toll on budget

This is an article from Lo Hud.com:
High-tech lifestyle takes toll on budget

TiVo. Netflix. Satellite radio. World of Warcraft. The iPhone. The BlackBerry. Audible.com. Flickr. Amazon Prime. The list of new digital services and gadgets keeps growing.
There's just one catch: Much of today's technology comes with subscription fees that might not seem like a lot individually, but can add up to hundreds of dollars in new expenses.
Just ask the Sabater family of Bardonia, which at one time or another has paid monthly fees for satellite radio, audiobooks, movie downloads, online games, DVD rentals and lavish cell-phone text messaging.

Barbara M. Sabater, a social services administrator and mother of four, said her family's bill for digital services is several hundred dollars a month.

"You justify the extra expenses and you don't think about it, but if you start to look at it, the cell-phone bill is $181. The Netflix is like $9 or $10. The cable with the Internet is another $150 when you add in the house phone - which never gets used because we all use cellphones.

Now you're up to $350. Then the World of Warcraft is another 15 bucks a month," she said.

While subscribers aren't thrilled by the budget-busting potential of the digital fees, they tend to think of them as the new utilities of the 21st century.

Just as people in the first half of the 20th century got used to paying monthly bills for heat, lights and water, today's tech-savvy citizens are paying new bills for digital services that enhance their lives.

Jessica Spencer of Mamaroneck, 24, said she pays monthly fees for her BlackBerry, Netflix subscription and a TiVo-like digital video recorder, or DVR, from her cable provider. "I consider it just another bill, like the electric bill, and it goes into my budget that way," she said.

Chappaqua native Jordan Edelson, 23, has a BlackBerry from AT&T, a wireless Internet card for his laptop from Verizon, satellite radio and a data backup plan from Dell - all with monthly fees adding up to more than $200. And all are services Edelson said he doesn't want to live without.

"It's not even an optional cost. It's the cost of my lifestyle. It's become more acceptable," said Edelson, who started a company that broadcasts video-game tournaments. "Kids are using cell phones at a very young age, and learning about the fees associated with them."

As for the satellite radio, it came with his car, and Edelson continued paying after a free trial. "They give you a little taste, and then they've got you," he said.

Sabater also was introduced to satellite radio and the navigation system OnStar when the family bought an Acura in 2005.

But after Sabater realized that she made just one call to OnStar in a year - when she accidentally left her cell phone at home - she cut that out.

She also realized the only person using the satellite radio was her husband. "And he only drives the car on the weekend, and if I'm in the car with him I don't want to hear the country station," she said.

She paid fees of more than $20 to both companies for months before she wised up.

"They count on you forgetting and just continuing to pay as an expense," Sabater said.

James Van Dyke, an expert in payments and financial services research at Javelin Strategy & Research in Pleasanton, Calif., said none of today's digital services would thrive if it weren't for the ability of consumers to pay the fees automatically through credit or debit cards.

Van Dyke calls it the "set it and forget it" model.

"The way we're moving money is changing," he said. "With just a few keystrokes, we can not only move money from one place to another, but set it up automatically and forget about it."

The trend started in 1981, Van Dyke said, when CheckFree Corp. was founded to automate payment of monthly fees for health clubs. "Back then, that was an unusual concept," Van Dyke said.

Today, more than two-thirds of U.S. households pay some recurring bills automatically, according to MasterCard International of Purchase.

About 38 percent of households link the payments automatically to a credit card, while 31 percent link them to a debit card.

MasterCard reports that automatic payments are most popular for telecommunications charges, Internet services, health-club memberships and commuting expenses.

Web designer Tom Ossa of Stony Point, 32, said he probably wouldn't keep up his $20 subscription to World of Warcraft or his $17 Blockbuster DVD plan if he couldn't pay the monthly bills automatically.

"People are always going to take the path of least resistance. If I had to write a check out to Blizzard Software for World of Warcraft, I wouldn't do it," Ossa said.

Jeff Blyskal, senior editor for personal finance at Yonkers-based Consumer Reports, said automatic payments shouldn't mean putting your budget on autopilot.

Consumers who don't closely monitor their spending will even find themselves paying more than once for the same service. For instance, a consumer who subscribes to a cable movie package might then sign up for Netflix, and if there is no new DVD in the house might drive over to Blockbuster to rent one for that evening's entertainment.

"Here you are paying Blockbuster. You're paying Netflix. You're paying cable. And it all adds up," he said.

The reason people are lured into duplicating their spending is the individual services often don't cost a lot. "A lot of things are set at prices that people say aren't a lot of money. It's only $4.99 or it's only $9.99," he said. "It looks cheap and people say, 'What's $5?'"

He advises consumers to spend a half-hour adding up all of their monthly expenses - including tiny recurring charges.

"There are lots of ways to save if you take the time to sort through what you're paying," he said. "Ratchet down your autopilot payments."

Barry Doyno of Scarsdale prefers not to add up what he pays for digital services, thanks very much.

"I haven't a clue, but it's far too much," he said. "We have almost everything. We have cable. We have satellite TV. We have Internet through the phone company. We have multiple cell phones with expensive data packages. We have a land-based telephone. What else is there, and I'll probably check off yes. We have Netflix, of course. And then the things with the kids with the iPods buying songs," said Doyno, a lawyer by training who runs his family's hardwood flooring business, Peiser Floors.

The Doyno family - which includes mom, Ruth, and sons, Stefan, 19, and Justin, 16 - has a cell-phone bill of at least $200 a month. The Internet and multiple home phone lines are about $300. TiVo and Netflix add up to around $40 combined.

Most notably, Doyno pays twice for TV service: $80 a month to Cablevision and another $80 or so to DirecTV. The arrangement dates back several years to the days when Cablevision was on the outs with the Yankees over broadcasting their games and legions of local fans turned to satellite TV to get their baseball fix.

All told, Doyno estimates he is paying around $800 a month to experience all the new digital services he enjoys.

"You get so accustomed to things that you ask, 'How did I live without this?' " he said. "It would be a terrific thing if we all could do some simplifying. We all managed to live pretty well with what, seven channels on television? But I don't see us going back. You do get spoiled by all the technology that's out there."

Mahopac resident Matt Ganis, an IBMer and adjunct professor at Pace University, said he hasn't counted the costs as he's added new digital services to his life, including a DVR, the online game Second Life, Netflix, his Internet fax service and his Sirius satellite radio.

"You don't think about it and before you know it, you have recurring fees all over the place," he said. "If you did a budget, you'd say, 'Why am I spending all this?'"

That's what Bob Knight asked himself recently before he did a purge of his monthly digital services.

A public relations expert who advises companies on their digital strategies for Harrison Edwards of Bedford Hills, Knight said he canceled Netflix and TiVo and now downloads TV shows and movies online, either through iTunes at $1.99 a pop or free from the networks' Web sites.

"I was just fed up with all these excess bills, and I took inventory of what money was going out and what services are out there on the Web that don't cost anything," he said.

Knight's remaining indulgence is a BlackBerry with a $180 phone and data plan - but he canceled his home phone to help pay for it. "Right now, the BlackBerry is the most important tool in business," he said.

Leyla Z. Nakisbendi of Pleasantville, a pediatric dentist and mother of three, is a self-described "lunatic" when it comes to fees - and her reluctance to pay them.

She has TiVo but paid the lifetime fee when that was still an option. She chose the cheapest $4.99 option for Netflix. When she is allowed, she pays monthly fees a year in advance.

"I'll pay stuff all at once, just to not do it monthly. I hate monthly bills. My kids had RealArcade, which is an online computer game, and I canceled it. I said, 'Forget it. I can't stand looking at the $10 every month,' " she said. "It's bad enough you have to pay your mortgage, your electricity. I don't need all the little extra things."

Yawns: young, wealthy, normal and display a social conscience

Article from The London Free Press

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Fri, May 2, 2008
By EVELYN NIEVES, AP


SAN FRANCISCO -- They drive hybrid cars, if they drive at all, shop at local stores, if they shop at all and pay off their credit cards every month, if they use them at all.

They may have disposable income but whatever they make, they live below their means, in a conscious effort to tread lightly on the earth.

They are a new breed of Gen Xers and Ys, Young and Wealthy but Normal, or Yawns.

The acronym comes from The Sunday Telegraph of London, which noted an increasing number of rich young Britons are socially aware, concerned about the environment and given less to consuming than to giving money to charity.

Yawns sound dull but the their dreams big and bold. They are men and women in their 20s, 30s and 40s who want to change the world and save the planet.

Take Sean Blagsvedt, who moved from Seattle to India in 2004 to help build the local office of Microsoft Research. Moved by children begging on the streets, Blagsvedt quit Microsoft and launched two networking sites, babajob.com and babalife.com, to link India's vast pool of potential workers with the people who need labour.

Far from the techie cafe life, Blagsvedt, 32, lives at babajob's headquarters in Bangalore, a 278-square-metre apartment where his mother and stepfather also live and 15 workers come and go every day.

"I'm a happy person," he said. "It's great to do something that you believe in doing."

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I really like this idea of living below our means in order to help the environment