5 Ways to Reduce Living Expenses and Save Money

As adults brace for their fiftieth birthday and continue to grow older, they worry more about the unlikely possibility of comfortable retirement. Although the economy slowly grows and unemployment rates drop, many older adults find themselves forced or willing to work into their 60s and later in life.

They still have mortgages to pay, college tuition for their children, car payments, and other bills that reduce their savings accounts or retirement funds. Those individuals not able to consider or not wanting to retire must readjust their long term life plans.

That’s why now presents an ideal time to change your lifestyle, lead a healthier life, count your pennies, live within your means, and save. The cost of living will not cease to rise while annual salaries and benefits remain stagnant.

The only way for these older adults to brace for change, prepare for a possible delayed retirement, and to save is through changing the way they live in small, significant ways.

1. Conserve Home Utilities

Reduce the utility bills and save energy at home. Often, especially during the winter or summer months the heating and electric bills paralyze home owners, especially those still paying mortgages.

Take the tiny steps to decreasing that utility bill by shortening the length of showers, washing the dishes, the number of times you wash clothes per week. Turn off lights when possible. Unplug power adapters to computers, tablets, and cell phones that can consume costly electricity. During winter and summer, keep the thermostat at a reasonable temperature and do not change it often. Maintaining a consistent temp ensures less electricity, gas, or oil usage.

If possible, perhaps invest in an energy efficient dishwasher, washing machine, or other household appliances. More energy efficient homes and eco-friendly houses are popping up everywhere. Consider the investment of roof solar panels if you have the necessary funds or think the investment is worthwhile after a consultation.

If you’re not overly reliant on cable television and internet within the home, then eliminate that costly monthly bill. Most individuals have internet access via their smartphones when home. Save the long computer tasks for a couple hours at Starbucks, the local public library, after hours at work, or any places of business that provide complimentary Wi-Fi.

2. Rent to a Tenant

After the kids moved away from home and went off to college, it’s time to start considering renting their rooms. A tenant will help pay the utility bills and even their extra rent contributes to a mortgage. When maintaining a house, the living expenses can grow out of control quickly.

3. Downsize

As individuals grow older, maintaining a larger house proves more difficult. Older parents don’t have the time, money, or resources to maintain a large house that was once necessary for their families.

Fight the urge to keep every piece of furniture, old stationary bikes, and anything you might find useful one day and downsize your home. Those individuals in their 50s or older lived through countless shifting economies that leave them with a frugal mindset. Instead donate, sell, or trash the unnecessary items in your home. Rent or sell the house and move into a smaller condo or apartment.

4. Credit Card Benefit Programs

If you failed to do so already, apply for one or two credit cards that boast fantastic reward programs. There are countless credit cards offered through VISA, American Express, Discover, Capital One, and Chase that provide numerous cash back opportunities on daily purchases such as gas, food, eating out at restaurants, online shopping, and even going to the movie theatre. You can earn redeemable points on travel for cash or free flights.

5. Short Term Loans

When entering old age, it’s important to know your financing options, especially in the event of unemployment that creates financial emergencies. Absorbing unemployment in your 50s could very well be nightmarish initially. Don’t let that unfortunate experience side track you financially.

While searching for a new job or in between jobs, there are lending options available to help pay for living expenses such as groceries, gas, rent, or utility bills. Explore the options of personal loans through lending institutions such as the ones available at Instaloan.com or with friends, credit cards, payday loans, and short term bank loans. These borrowing options save money in late payment fees, late rent payment charges, and related expenses.

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Save Your End-of-the-Month Budget with Coupons

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We may go freely and a little bit arrogant at the beginning of the month. The wallet is still thick and the card is still fully filled. We go to buy some things and spoil ourselves by other things. However, this joy is only temporary, if we can’t control our financial flow. At the end of the month, you cannot hear louder voice than your wallet’s cry. 

If only you were a little bit diligent and organized, you might save lots of money while also having fun at the same time. How can it even possible? Thanks to shopping coupons, everything is sold at so much cheaper price than your budget affords to buy.

Hunting for coupon for some people is troublesome. Some people even don’t care about the coupon. Well, not until they reach the end of the month. You may underestimate 10% of something, however, 10% of many things can possibly equal to hundred dollars! 

Imagine if you combine all your coupons, you can get lots of price cut, which if they are summed up, they can save you from the atrocity of late month. Is coupon hunting troublesome and time consuming? It depends on your perspective and on how you do it. Fortunately, here are some tips you can adopt:

• Think about how coupons can save your budget until the last day of the month. Don’t give up from the very beginning or in the middle of way. Since you will go through the entire month, so start it by planning the spending for the entire month as well. Learn your spending habit and things you would always buy every month.
• Everyone has their own special spending target. Girls, for example, will spend some money for skin care every month. So, were you that girl, your target would be to look for skin care’s coupon. If you can’t find the coupon for your special need, then you can cover it with other coupons. Groceries’ store coupon is the most common coupon you can get.
• What? You don’t have time? Then you can gather the coupon side by side with doing your daily activities. When you are searching for news in the virtual world, spend some minutes to open some stores’ website. 
• Don’t forget to get their email. Some stores allow you to get coupon upon your request. You now can also save with coupons from the mail. Some large stores would ask you to register to their database and they will send you coupon through mail! Whenever you are reading a newspaper, mind to pay attention on advertisement page to search for the coupon. Is it time consuming? No.
• The amount of coupons in the mall is so much. Whenever you go to the mall, spare some times to take their flyer, especially from your favorite store. Learn their discount schedule as well. Normally, a store have different and specific discount schedule.
• Last, don’t forget the expired time. Normally, coupons have deadline, so don’t enjoy collecting the coupons too much to the extent you forget when they end.

Celebrity Bankruptcy- A Lesson in Finances

Nothing catches the attention of the press quite like a celebrity wedding, except maybe a celebrity bankruptcy. There’s something captivating about watching someone go from a multi-millionaire to bankrupt in the space of one news article, and it leaves us wondering, “How did this happen?” It seems the bigger they are, the harder they fall, but celebrities who go bankrupt have mostly made the same types of financial mistakes that everyone else does, albeit on a bigger scale.

Living Within Your Means

To live within your means is to keep your expenditures each month lower than your income. It seems simple on paper, but many people struggle with this concept, even celebrities. In the case of the exceedingly rich, it seems their lavish lifestyle becomes an entity of its own, requiring more and more funding until it finally breaks the bank. For the average person, life changes, like the loss of a job, can turn a comfortable situation into an uncomfortable one very quickly. Living well within your means, leaving lots of wiggle room for savings, can give you a cushion in hard times that can protect against financial ruin.

Don’t Bank on the Future

Many of the most glamorous celebrity bankruptcies stem from one hit wonders and other flashes in the pan who were planning on being a lot more famous. They receive their first big paycheck, and plan a whole lifestyle around it, assuming that more is on the way. When their 15 minutes of fame are over, and the money stops coming in, they’re headed for bankruptcy court.

The lesson here for the common man is that you should never put yourself in a position where you’re spending money you haven’t been paid yet. If it looks like you’re about to secure a new contract, or your recent job interview went really well, do not take this as a sign that you can go out and blow your savings. Just pat yourself on the back, hope for the best, and continue living within your current means.

Supporting a Habit

Celebrities often cite supporting bad habits as reasons for their bankruptcy. They get in over their heads because of drugs, gambling or other high roller vices, and stop paying their other bills. While our bad habits might not be as newsworthy, they can still put us in a bind budget wise. Some of our unprofitable bad habits include things like using credit cards to purchase luxury items that we can’t afford, or prioritizing wants over needs.

Pay the Taxman

It seems like just about every big name celebrity bankruptcy includes an unfathomable amount of money owed to the IRS in the form of unpaid taxes. It doesn’t matter how important you are, Uncle Sam still takes his cut. When you fall behind in taxes, the IRS can seize your assets and garnish your wages in order to obtain what’s owed to them, and this can leave you with little or no money to pay your other bills, and headed for bankruptcy. The worst part is that bankruptcy doesn’t even include IRS debt in most cases, so you’ll still have to pay your taxes in the end.

The best thing to do is take a lesson from high profile celebrity bankruptcies, and avoid this and other pitfalls altogether.

Tiecen Anderson
In her former life, Tiecen worked in sales and marketing for a large insurance company. Before starting a family, she decided to switch gears and pursue a career that would give her a little more time at home. She finished up her degree from California Sate University in 2008 and started picking up work as a corporate web content writer. She enjoys learning new things every day as she works with a wide variety of clients, like Rulon T. Burton

5 Questions We Should Ask Ourselves about Wine Consumption among the Elderly

We all hear that wine is healthy as long as we do not go over the line of decency. However, there should be more interest given to this topic. We should ask ourselves, when hitting a certain age, the “why”, “when” and “how” regarding wine consumption among the elderly; all in order to enjoy a happy healthy retirement and quality time with family, grandchildren, friends. So here are five questions you should ask yourself about wine. 

Q1: Can Wine Cure Certain Health Conditions among the Elderly?

The answer depends on the type of health condition. A 1997 study tries to explain if wine can cure dementia. Findings in this research study suspect that alcoholism may be a possible cause of dementia, associated with deficiencies in nutritional habits. Relationships between moderate wine consumption and this particular health condition were explained, with no factors such as social, medical or psychological interfering. It was also demonstrated that moderate wine consumption would not affect people with this medical condition nor would it become a cause of this particular health condition. It would be premature to say that moderate wine consumption could cure dementia, but it could definitely improve blood circulation and heart conditions. An indirect benefit would exist. 

Q2: Is Wine Beneficial for the Physical State of the Elderly?

The answer to this question is given by a recent study published in the HuffingtonPost. Contrary to common belief, wine would not make the elderly feel physically unsteady when drinking in moderation. The Resveratrol, a compound found in red wine can actually improve senior mobility and prevent unwanted accidents such as falling. The study was made using old lab mice that went under a rich diet of Resveratrol for 8weeks. Of course, this implies the person to not have a mobility condition, but the findings provide exciting news. 

Q3: How Much Wine Should the Elderly Consume on a Daily Basis?

This question is indeed a tricky one. While experts point out the dangers of alcohol consumption over a long period of time, they do say that one drink per day is acceptable and will not represent a risk. One drink per day is equal to the following: a) Beer lovers can drink one 12-ounce can or bottle b) Liquor fans can consume one 8-9-ounce can or bottle c) Hard liquor fans can drink one 1.5-ounce (shot glass) or gin, vodka, tequila etc. d) Wine lovers are allowed one 5-ounce glass of white or red or rose wine. Word of advice: never combine or mix them. Just keep going for one type of drink. 

Q4: How Can I Deposit Wine Bottles in Order to Keep the Wine Healthy?

As you might know, the way you deposit the wine bottles can certainly influence the quality of the wine and indirectly, your state of health. Wine that has been wrongly deposited can alter your overall health, while wine that had been properly deposited can be beneficial for the consumer. Plus, deposited correctly means it can maintain and even grow its flavor, aroma. As they say, the older it gets, the better it tastes. In order to correctly deposit your wine bottles, it is highly advisable to use a wine rack, especially for home depositing. Wine racks are usually made from metal or wood. In the old days, the wine was stored in wooden wine racks, but metal works just as fine, as it is more stable in time. 

Q5: What Type of Wine Is Most Recommended for the Elderly?

The answer to this question depends on personal choices, after all. Some people prefer white wine, others prefer red wine. As mentioned earlier, there are more studies that suggest red wine is better than white, especially for the elderly. Red wine contains that special compound called Resveratrol which improves mobility and prevents you from unwanted accidents. But either way, you should choose depending on your heart’s content. Word of advice: If it is in moderate quantities, a glass of wine per day can certainly keep the doctor away. Do you have any other questions about wine consumption among the elderly?

Should You Buy Over-50s Life Cover?

When we are in our 50s, one of the things that we have to think about is what will happen to us in the future, and how will whatever happens to us affect our loved ones. We don’t really want to think about getting older, especially in the close run-up to retirement.

But here’s the thing - when you have a family or dependants that rely on you to contribute towards household bills, something that is very important to think about is life insurance. From an insurance company’s point of view, the older that a person gets, the higher a risk they are to them.

In other words, if you are in your 50s, then there is a higher risk that an insurance policy claim would be made sooner rather than later. However, life expectancy has improved over the past few decades due to better and more effective medicine being available to treat medical conditions.

Every cloud has a silver lining

Coupled to that the fact that more people are wising up to the idea that eating healthier means that they can live longer, insurers take these positive factors into account when they are assessing risk and calculating premiums.

There has also been an explosion of specific over-50s life insurance policies being made available to people on the market in the last few years, including ones with add-on benefits designed specifically for men and women in that age group.

Why take out an over-50s life insurance policy?

There are a number of reasons why I would strongly recommend that you take out an over-50s life insurance policy, some of the main ones are as follows:

• Financial security - if you have a family, they could be significantly impacted in a financial sense by your passing if they rely on your earnings to pay for the bills. Life cover will ensure that they will be financially secure when you’re not there to provide for them anymore;
• Funeral costs - the sad truth is funeral costs have risen in recent years, and when you die the financial burden of paying for your funeral might be too great for your family to bear. Having a life insurance policy in place will make sure that these costs are covered, so your family has one less thing to worry about at such a sad time;
• Peace of mind - just as we like to have savings for a rainy day, life insurance offers us extra peace of mind for the future, so that when we retire we can relax and enjoy our twilight years!

What are the added benefits to over-50s life insurance policies?

The main benefit about life cover for people aged 50 years or over is the fact that they are whole-of-life policies. Unlike typical life insurance policies that are only set for a specific term (a bit like the ones you would take out when you get a mortgage on a house, for example), over-50s life insurance policies stay in place until the day you die.

Some policies might offer you discounted funeral plans that you can pay towards, whereas others might even offer you free life cover if you reach the age of 90 years! But one of the other great things about such cover is the fact that many policies guarantee to accept you - a welcome benefit for those with pre-existing health issues.

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Savvy Tips For Pensioners Looking To Save Money This Winter

When we reach our twilight years we expect to be treated with respect and compassion, yet the British government is coming down on pensioners like a ton of bricks at the moment in the hope of finding a way to offer them less money without having to deal with a mass revolt. 

They’ve already raised the retirement age to 67 (rising even further to 68 in a couple of years) and now they’re talking about sliding it all the way up the scale to 70.

Pensioners Looking To Save Money

This is truly tragic, and so it should be unsurprising to see so many campaign groups protesting the changes in London of the last few months.

The worst thing about this increase in retirement age is that almost 50% of people who smoke die before they reach 70, meaning it’s basically condemned the vast majority of smokers to a life of labour without even the slightest chance of being able to see the end of their working days. 

Personally, I find these changes completely disgusting, which is why I’ve decided to write an article about some ace money saving tips guaranteed to help pensioners (and all old people) this winter. 

I might not be able to change the governments infectious decisions, but I’m confident I can treat the symptoms.

Opt For Free Eye Tests

Although a lot of pensioners and old people in the UK still choose to pay for their eye tests and prescriptions, there really is no need for this. 

• Click Here and learn "How to Save Money Each Month – 76 Easy Things You Can Do Right Now"

Sure, the NHS glasses probably look a little less appealing than the designer brands available, but as everyone over the age of 60 is legally entitled to free tests and prescriptions, I’d advise you to take full advantage. This could free up more cash to pay for your rising heating and fuel costs.

Always Use Vouchers

When you open up a newspaper and see coupons or even when you visit specialist website and find discount codes, it’s of paramount importance that you print them off / cut them out and use them. 

This is guaranteed to save you lots of money in the long run that perhaps could be better spent taking the grandchildren out for the day or something similar. I really can’t stress enough how significant savings can be when utilising this technique.

Ask For A Water Meter

Unlike their electricity counterparts, water meters often result in people having lower bills, especially if they tend to take showers rather than baths. 

Most elderly UK residents spend their days visiting friends or sitting the local cafe anyway, so the amount of water being used is usually minimal. You never know; this could free up more than a few hundred pounds this winter.

So guys, now you’ve had time to read through my suggestions I sincerely hope you’ll manage to save enough cash to keep yourselves comfortable as we move into the cold months. 

Just remember that your heating is the most important expense on which you should not try to cut back. We all hear too many horror stories at this time of year about people who couldn’t pay the bills on time, so make sure this doesn’t happen to you.

Have a lovely Christmas folks!