Five Ways to Save Money on Airfare and Travel

Traveling can be expensive these days . . . especially when you fly! Here are some proven techniques to help you save money before, during, and after you fly on a major airline.

Travelers are bombarded with offers, deals and price fluctuations on a day-to-day basis, so to help them navigate the maze and save money, Consumer Reports’ experts came up with some helpful tips to cut costs and lock in the best rates.

A Consumer Reports reporter found a roundtrip ticket from Philadelphia to Venice on Alitalia for $247 which seemed like a steal until discovering, just before booking, that taxes ballooned the price to $767. Hidden fees, fine print, and blackout dates can make locking in a low price as tricky as a soft landing in turbulence. If you plan to travel throughout the New Year, here are five tips to help get the rock bottom rate before take-off.

Check fares early. Most airline and travel sites make it convenient to set up alerts to track fares. Take advantage of the alerts and start searching for flights three and a half months prior to booking domestic flights and five and a half months before booking international flights. That’s when the market begins to sort itself out and lower fares begin to appear.

Five Airfare Saving Money Tips - Kansas City, Missouri News

FOX News: How to Save Money When Stocking Your Medicine Cabinet

You don't often think of "saving money" and "heath care" in the same sentence, but there are many opportunities for consumers to save money on the products we rely on every day to keep us healthy.

Everyday medications to keep yourself and your family healthy can be a major drain on your wallet.  Money-saving expert Teri Gault, CEO and founder of TheGroceryGame.com, shared her tips on how to stock your medicine cabinet for a fraction of the normal cost.  Gault’s website examines deals – both advertised and unadvertised – at grocery stores and drugstores around the country and puts out weekly lists that direct consumers toward the cheapest prices. “A good sale is half off, or 75 percent off when you combine different deals,” Gault advised.  “You can even get some things for free.”

How to Save Money When Stocking Your Medicine Cabinet | Fox News

Blogger: A Week's Worth of Food for $20?

Wow! Imagine how much money you could save if you did this every single week for an entire year!

Yesterday, I announced my intention to try and eat for a week on only $20 (an arbitrary amount based on what I had in my wallet at the time, but one that low enough as to be a challenge) and what I had in my pantry and freezer. I’ve been stockpiling blog posts to meet my three-per-day quota at work (as so much of what I write about has to do with eating out) and intend to cook every meal myself this week: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

That isn’t much of an accomplishment for your average person. I get spoiled in my new line of work, frequently and excessively. I get to attend media dinners and eat things like foie gras torchons on a typical Tuesday for lunch and expense a significant portion of my meals. I often don’t put as much thought into the things I’m eating as I feel that I should. It’s a lifestyle for which I am endlessly thankful and one that I don’t ever want to take for granted.

The decision to eat on $20 and what’s in my pantry (as you will see, I’ve gotten better at keeping supplies on hand) was borne out of this, but also out of a desire to eat and live more simply and yet more creatively. One day into the project, and I’ve already rediscovered spices and vinegars that were hidden away in my pantry — which, as you’ll see, is already very small to begin with — and use them to my advantage while cooking. Washing dishes, trimming fat, blooming spices, zesting fruit, et cetera: All are things which make me more mindful of the food I’m eating and which provide me with a very needed sense of calm and simplicity.

A Week’s Worth of Food for $20 | she eats.

Consumers save money by sticking with older cars

Once again, one of your biggest investments--your car--can also be your source of your biggest money savings. Here are a few tips from Professional Car Washing:

If you’re looking to save money during these tough economic times, the Car Care Council says the best way is to keep the old car a little longer. Research by Runzheimer International has found that over a four-year period, car owners save nearly $11,000 by keeping the older vehicle and not going in for a new one.

Researchers looked at a 2003, six-cylinder, four-door sedan that gets about 21 mpg and costs $19,727, and compared that to buying a new sedan with 23.5 mpg, with a cost of $23,451 and a down payment of $10,158 – the trade-in value of the older sedan. After four years, expenses on the older vehicle (including fuel, license, registration, taxes, insurance, maintenance and tires) were $16,548. The car had a resale value of $3,759, putting the total cost at $12,789.

But when it came to the new vehicle, with similar expenses, plus car payment and interest on a loan, the vehicle cost was at $32,258, minus the resale value of $8,575, making the four-year expense total $23,683.

Drive Less and Save on Car Insurance

Now here's a novel idea: driving your care less can actually save you money . . . on your car insurance? We hadn't heard that one before, but it does make sense. The fewer miles you drive, the less likely you will be to get into an accident. Here's more from The International Business Times;

People who keep their cars in the driveway are involved in fewer accidents, file fewer claims, and cost insurance companies less money to insure.

Americans Driving Less

The Federal Highway Administration reports that American motorists drove 12.2 billion fewer miles in June 2008 than June 2007. It was the eighth consecutive month that driving decreased, and the biggest June decline in the nation's history. Travel on all roads dropped 2.1% in the first four months of 2008. California's Congressional Budget Office reports that in areas with adequate public transit between 2003 and 2006, for every 50-cent increase in fuel prices, highway trips dropped 0.7%.

Less Driving = Cheaper Auto Insurance

If you are driving less miles, you may be eligible for an auto insurance discount. If you take an alternate means of transportation to and from work, your insurance company may consider you a "pleasure driver." According to the Consumer Federation of America, this classification could save you 10 to 15% ($94 to $142 off the average premium) on your insurance.

10 Ways Your PC Can Save You Money in the Bad Economy

Can your computer help you save money? You're already at this site, right? So the answer should be yes, but you need to know how. Here's a few examples from a press release we found:

6. Turn off the screensaver.
Research reveals that 53 percent of computer users never turn off their machine or turn it off only before they call it a day. The Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star program touts figures estimating that people can save $25 to $75 in energy costs a year by merely turning off their screensaver.

10. Tune up your PC instead of throwing it out and you'll save on recycling costs too.
You wouldn't throw out your car if it started running a little slower and a simple tune-up would restore power, so avoid the same mistake with your PC when System Mechanic can easily and inexpensively bring it back to like-new performance. A study performed in 2001 showed that approximately half of 500 million computers discarded in the US were actually in good working order; their slowness named among the top reasons they were discarded. Before you decide to toss your trusted machine, consider the fact that disposing of your PC in an environmentally responsible way can be expensive. Even when you think you've recycled it, your old PC might end up being sold to third world countries, where underpaid employees will be exposed to hazardous substances in search for the precious metals contained in its parts. Limit the pollution, waste and your expenses by regularly tuning up your PC and thus extending its life well beyond the currently brief national 30-month average.

How to really save money with lower mortgage rates

Mortage rates keep dropping? Thought about refinancing yours to save a few bucks? Sometimes it makes sense, and other times it will cost you more in fees and other add-ons than you'll actually save. Here's more from ABC-15 in Phoenix:

It you have equity in your house and you have a decent credit score, this is your time to save some money. It can be done through a home equity loan or a traditional mortgage. Certified Mortgage Planner Christopher Holmes in Scottsdale says you could get a 5 1/4% rate on a 30 year fixed mortage. Holmes says to get the best rate, you need a FICO or credit score of 680. The higher that number, the better the rate.

He also says you need 10% equity in your property. Equity is determined by the value of the home vs. the amount you owe on it. If you have at least 20% equity, you can avoid paying more for mortgage insurance. Holmes says if you have a current mortgage rate of six percent or higher, an adjustable or interest only loan, consider refinancing into a 30 year fixed mortgage.