Holly Lasvenkova – Money Expert Blogs   Financial Guru Holly Helps You and Your Business Make Better Money Decisions

You will be swamped with tons of money saving tips as we begin the New Year. Some may be do-able while some may seem to come from another world. If you need to save some money, here are some useful tips for you:

Complain

If you bought something which do not satisfy you, you have all the reasons to complain to get the most out of your hard earned money.

Pause before you buy

A few days of waiting before buying something you like always works. This pause gives you enough time to think and decide if you really are buying wisely. You can also use this time to compare prices and if you can get a better deal from a different store or see if you have better alternatives.

Keep track of your finances

You should know what’s going in and out of your bank account on a monthly basis. Once you get your bank statement go thru the record and try to balance it or compare it with your own notes. You will learn a lot if you know where every penny goes.

Eyes on the interest rate

Do not believe the 0% interest offer you see everywhere. This just means that they have already rolled their profit up with the sticker price of the item. If you are paying for it cash, ask if you can get the item on a cheaper price.

Make use of technology

As much as big companies make most of their computers and other devices to be profitable, make most of your computer at home. You can use it to help you monitor your finances, make a budget, do grocery and shopping lists, and even managing your time wisely.

Information about the credit crisis and the 2000′s financial crisis in general. Stuff like credit default swaps, sub-prime mortgages, collateralized debt-obligations etc gets explained in layman’s terms.

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Of all the reasons for you to refinance mortgage loans that you already have, the ability to get a better interest rate is perhaps one of the best ones. There are many ways in which this reason can apply to your particular life. That is why there are already so many people out there that routinely refinance loans at a regular stage so that they can get a better interest rate for the second part of the mortgage.

One example of such a deal would be getting a fixed interest rate reduced through the refinance mortgage deal. Say that you had a mortgage loan with an 8% interest rate and a 20-year term that had been paid halfway through. At this point, the bank might very well be willing to refinance your mortgage down to a 7% or 6% interest rate in order to keep you a happy customer and therefore get more of your business later. Some banks do it, so it is definitely worth asking about.

Another example that occurs quite a bit more often is doing a refinance mortgage loan in order to get into a fixed interest rate from a variable one. People might do this if they feel the market conditions have been bad to them throughout and they might also do it if they feel that the variable rates are about to shoot through the roof. In any case, this is one of the most common reasons for a refinance to take place.

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