Archive for the ‘Saving’ Category
Nowadays, we should strive in creating an effort to save money. As much as possible, we have to try to allocate our income to the most essential ones in order to for us to be able to save.
One of important avenue to do this is to make our shopping list checked- whether the products we are purchasing are of that really important; if not, we should learn to minimize the spending we are allocating to some products which are not of that important. If we can do this, this shopping money saving tips will contribute for your goal of saving money and so you have an amount be allocated to much essential in the near future.
One of the reasons why we must consider shopping money saving tips is to be prepared for future undesirable happenings. For instance, for the common people, there may happen that they lost their job one of the days in the future or their business will have a poor performance. And what if, it takes time for them to recover- a month, a year, couple of years- from that loss. For you to be able to survive, money you save will play a great role on your survival during the pessimistic period.
With the possible scenario above, it is significant to consider the better practices when you go shopping . What are those? Below are some examples for you to be able to make this shopping saving tips effective.
When you go out for shopping, the first thing you should remember is to leave your credit and debit cards at your home. We are aware that credit and debit cards are very important for you to be able to purchase products that is cashless. However, the tendency is, you are vulnerable to temptation of ‘too much spending. Sometimes, we are getting products from store without partially knowing the amount it could reach. And because we have a credit and debit cards with us, we are tempted to let the shopping ( with some stuffs that are not that essential) happen. And it is late when we realize that we have spent much from that shopping. To avoid such a situation, we must practice leaving our credit and debit cards at home and bring amount that is just needed for shopping. This can contribute for the fulfillment of this shopping saving tips.
Another useful idea for the accomplishment of your shopping saving tips is that you must consider prices comparison; this is specially in the supermarket. This is one of the grocery saving tips that you can apply and this is proven to be effective. There are different brand of products available and if those products offer the same or almost the same benefits for you, you must try to consider of getting the one that is cheaper. Try to purchase those products over the leading brand. Believe it or not, these products usually bear the same benefits and will let you to save as much as 70 %. You must have an eagle sight in looking for these product; supermarket usually put the products of higher prices in front. You must take note of this grocery saving tips for you to be able to save significant amount.
Another essential money saving grocery tip is, you have to consider some of your grocery shopping done later in the evening. The reason why this is an effective time of the day for your grocery is that, stores start to reduce prices to those perishable items on this time of the day. Stores will start to mark down the prices of items that are soon to expire later on the following days. And, again, taking advantage of this opportunity can contribute great for you to fulfill these grocery saving tips.
Finally, when you go shopping at your supermarket, another simple way to be added in your shopping money saving tips is to check for product promo offers. This is commonly installed at the very front of the shopping center. Some offer discounts and other promo in which you may be able to acquire essential idea for shopping saving tips. Try to look for it and consider their possible benefits that can contribute for the realization of this shopping saving tips.
If you are able to follow this shopping money saving tips, whether it is a money saving grocery or other shopping saving tips, time will come that there is a significant reduction of your total spending.
BioDiesel has been getting more and more popular as it has become another fuel saving alternative than PetroDiesel. Simply convert your diesel engine to BioDiesel and you can expect greater average fuel saving if you make the BioDiesel yourself.
How Does It Work?
BioDiesel is simply produced from vegetable oils or animal fats. When converting your diesel engine to BioDiesel, you can choose whether to let your diesel engine to run with bio-fuel using vegetable oils, animal fats or a combination of both. You may re-use used vegetable oils from your daily cooking so you can imagine how much saving you can get from fuel itself.
How Much Can It Save?
The cost of vegetable oil to make BioDiesel is definitely much cheaper than PetrolDiesel. If you make your own BioDiesel, you can expect an average fuel saving of more than 50%. More-ever, since diesel engines that run on BioDiesel are healthier, you can save on your vehicle maintenance costs as well.
What Other Benefits Are There?
Pollution is greatly reduced when powering diesel engine with BioDiesel, as it is a clean-burning fuel that does not produce emission of greenhouse gases thus keeping our planet green. That is the reason why BioDiesel is favored by environmentalists all over the world.
What Are The DownSides?
However, BioDiesel does have its downsides too. It decreases the car performance due to its low energy content. It requires modern diesel engines that come with synthetic seals instead of old rubber seals. Lastly, you may smell the taste of french fries when the engine is running with BioDiesel but who cares, as long as your car can bring you from point A to B, these issues are no longer considered as a problem.
Conclusion :
With constantly increasing fuel costs, car owners over the globe are always looking for alternative fuel to reduce on their fuel expenses. BioDiesel is definitely one of the best money saving fuel alternatives. Start saving on your fuel expenses today and enjoy living debt free in life today!
The recent spate of rate rises made by Australia’s central bank the RBA may be bad news for home owners facing increased mortgage repayments but they offer great opportunities for those with money to save. The federal rate rises has led most of the banks to up there rates meaning returns as high as 7% or over are now possible.
With the rapid rise in online banking has brought increased competition to the savings account market over the past few years. Competition has really picked up in the market and some banks have offered to pay savings interest rates several points above the official RBA cash rate.
If you’re planning to open a high interest savings account, here are some things you should watch for in the product brochures.
Savings Interest Rate: Note that the savings interest rate for high interest savings account is a variable rate, subject to change depending on RBA rate announcements. It is possible that the high savings interest rate offered in the brochure may apply only during a limited introductory period. After the specified period, the savings interest rate will revert to the normal rate. Check both the introductory rate or bonus rate and the normal savings interest rate so you don’t get any surprises.
Minimum deposits or balance required: Some high interest savings accounts are designed to induce you to save regularly but discourage withdrawals in order to build up the money in the account. To this end, you may have to make a minimum deposit every month (say, $50) but there is also a ceiling (say, $500). For other institutions, they may require that a minimum balance be kept in a linked transaction account (or regular savings account) for your high interest savings account to earn the offered high savings interest rate. Some banks require as much as $5000 as minimum balance in your transaction account before your high interest savings account starts to earn. Failure to keep the required minimum balance in the linked account will reduce the earnings potential in the high interest savings account.
Limits on withdrawals: One other condition that may be imposed is a restriction on withdrawals. Most of the competitive accounts don’t have any restrictions or penalties on withdrawals. However there are some institutions with penalties such as no interest payable during the months in which a withdrawal is made. Make sure you understand the conditions before you apply.
Fund Transfer Interval: If the online high interest savings account and its linked transaction account are maintained in the same bank, you will have no problem with fund transfers, as these will be done immediately. However, if you have different banks for each one, you will have to plan ahead. It may take as little as 2 days before your online high interest savings account gets credited for the transfer.
If you only make a low number of transactions and want to earn a higher rate on your saving account then having an attached transaction account which attracts monthly fees may not be the best option for you. You could consider opening an internet savings account. There are a number of these on offer.
You may have to spend time reading through all the fine print and doing the sums to compare features among different high interest savings accounts. The effort will help you find the products that gives you high savings interest rate plus the conditions that fits your needs best.
Stagnant incomes and rising costs for everything from bacon and eggs to heating oil have consumers feeling jittery. With a rather gloomy economic outlook for the near future, families are tightening their belts and examining where every penny goes. With personal savings at an all-time low, it might seem impossible to actually build a nest egg for the future. With a few tips and tricks like these, your coffers can start to grow, even when times are tough.
Why Save?
Not so long ago, credit was only for the wealthy. Ordinary folk had to pay cash or use outdated methods like layaway. The modern revolution in credit changed all that, and as a result, reduced the need to save for life’s necessities. Credit in all its many forms is a tremendous benefit, but it has lulled us into some bad habits. Spending every dime we make leaves no room when financial surprises occur. Savings can make all the difference in dealing with the unexpected as well as achieving long-term goals.
Strategies to Start Saving
Coffee cans, cookie jars, piggy banks and the mattress were the places our grandparents liked to stash their cash. Don’t go there. Open a savings account at a bank or credit union. Contribute to it via payroll deduction to make it easy. Start small. Even $5 or $10 per paycheck will help. This money is strictly hands off. Think of it as the 911 fund. Saving for major emergencies is a good start toward better financial stability.
Long Haul Savings
A simple savings strategy for long-term needs is using the dirt-cheap option of U.S. Government Savings Bonds. For as little as $50, individuals can invest in government backed bonds that will pay interest, and may offer tax benefits, especially if the bonds are used to pay for educational expenses. As investments go, risk is low. The return is modest too, but more dependable than stocks. Bonds can be part of an effective savings strategy for big-ticket items like college. The key is letting the money collect interest over a long period of time. Don’t confuse long-term savings with emergency fund savings. Both are needed.
Savings Diet
Starting a savings plan is a bit like going on a diet. Eliminating the junk food, midnight snacks, and counting calories are boring but effective diet tools. Carving out a few dollars to devote to savings is much the same. Vices are easy to target but let’s face it; most of us won’t give up a beer with friends to meet our savings goals. Try to view savings contributions like a utility bill. Going without water or energy isn’t an option. Going without savings shouldn’t be either.
Sneaky Savings Strategies
Congratulations on that raise or yearly bonus. Gifts, inheritances or any financial windfall is an opportunity to save. Just take a small slice and set it aside. Next time you get a raise, take the opportunity to increase that emergency fund contribution from $10 per paycheck to $20. It’s a painless way to save more.
Savings strategies like these will slowly help make the shift happen. Make savings become just another tool to get what you want, instead of what your creditors want.
Since first being signed into law in December 2003 by the Federal Government, Health Savings Account plans (a.k.a. HSA medical insurance plans) are already a proven success & the number of people switching to HSAs from traditional health plans is growing greatly each year. HSAs are here to stay & a few million have already come on board. Health Savings Accounts are literally available today to any person over 18 in the U.S. They offer significant financial benefits including tax, premium, & retirement savings to you, your family, and/or your business. Knowledge is real power when it comes to your finances. Become informed. I advise people not miss out on the extraordinary short & long term benefits that HSAs create.
Medical Insurance is the newest form of an investment vehicle. Today, having an HSA qualified health insurance policy (component #1 – the health insurance policy) together with a Health Savings Account (component #2 – the savings account) is a very wise decision. First off, from this point forward, we’ll refer to the two components just discussed above as one single entity, either a Health Savings Account, HSA, or HSA Health Savings Plan. They all mean exactly the same thing.
HSA health savings plans are actually simple to understand.
A Health Savings Account enables you to:
1) Have access to a wide PPO network and in most all cases provides the coverage to allow you to continue seeing your current doctors & specialists.
2) Lower your health insurance premium by 25% – 50%. To accomplish this, be sure to compare health insurance plans with different carriers. An individual can typically save between $80 to $250 dollars per month when they change their plan over from a traditional health insurance plan to a HSA qualified high deductible health savings plan. A family can save even more. Now the next point is critical! Since HSA plans all have higher deductibles than most traditional health plans, forget any negative preconceived notions you may have about having a plan with a high deductible. Do not pay attention to what you may have heard. Don’t be deceived. Yes, you’ll now have high deductible insurance, but there are plenty of safety nets that will be there to protect you if & when the need arises.
After you are setup, the first step to take is to place the money you are saving from having a new lower HSA monthly premium and place it into your new Health Savings Account each month. Realize that doing this doesn’t cost you anything; you are just transferring the money you are saving into another location.
3) Next, enjoy the IRS created triple tax advantages (see the "a-b-c" listed below) that only HSAs offer. You can reduce your annual out-of-pocket income taxes up to $1800 or more per year. Save EVERY year on these income taxes. View below your three main tax-saving pillars.
a) HSA Contributions (deposits into your HSA) are 100% tax free
b) The interest earned on all of your HSA account contributions are also 100% tax free. The choice of investments are yours and range anywhere from typical low-interest, virutally zero-risk bank rates to the widest range of stocks, bonds, & mutual funds. The level of risk is entirely up to you and you can increase or decrease it at anytime.
c) Make 100% tax-free withdrawals for virtually all medical expenses. View a list of HSA Eligible Expenses.
While your funds grow tax free, you are now building a significant retirement account of up to several hundred thousand dollars. If you must use the money to cover any part of your deductible, you may make a 100% tax free withdrawal.
Here is the point: All of these above benefits & factors strongly diminish the impact of having a high deductible plan. Realistically there will be many periods of time where your money is only growing and never being withdrawn because you have little or no medical expenses.
Here’s another benefit. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rule says that at age 65 the money from your Health Savings Account may be withdrawn penalty-free for any reason, not just for qualified medical expenses. In this case, you’ll pay just the regular income taxes, just as you would when withdrawing from your IRA. However, your income during retirement generally goes way down as will the taxes required to pay. You will be paying much lower income tax on these withdrawals than before you were retired. Finally, understand that the funds in your HSA are always yours, without exception, and they rollover from year to year. You are also allowed to do a one time rollover from an IRA into a Health Savings Account without any penalty.
And yes, you may continue contributing to your IRA every year while still also making the maximum allowed HSA contributions. Having both types of retirement accounts is the ultimate scenario, but if you can afford contributing to only one type…I would certainly recommend the Health Savings Account. This is because HSAs are more than solely a retirement savings vehicle. Read another article I have written about improved benefits and higher limits in 2009 .
The company HSAHealthSavings genuinely specializes in HSA plans so consider contacting us (for contact info, read below "About the Author"). The straight truth is that many people are rather unclear about HSA Health Savings Plans and what they truly accomplish. Too often, an individual or business’s insurance broker has not kept them properly "up-to-date" on all of the many benefits available to them with an HSA. It is not that these brokers are not competent. But the question to consider is, what incentives do they really have to educate their clients on HSAs if doing so will lower their commissions? Not much of one perhaps. But you are the party who is really losing out. Any licensed agent or broker is obligated by a legal fiduciary duty to serve his or her client’s best interest at all times. This duty should be taken seriously, but isn’t typically enforced by the Department of Insurance.
Last but not least, although insurance companies are legally binded to offer HSA health savings plans in their line of products, they are not going out of their way to promote & publicize these plans. Doing so would also lower THEIR profits.
Now you are probably starting to see the light. As a consumer today you really have to take matters into your own hands and become authentically informed. The expert advisors at HSAHealth Savings are on a mission as millions of folks and their families are missing out on the tremendous financial benefits that are so readily attainable RIGHT NOW. We are excited! The benefits of health savings plans can literally transform one’s financial portfolio in both the short and long term. And HSAs are actually beneficial for just about everyone, not only the wealthy, or just older folks. Regardless of your income level, if you pay for health insurance at all, you owe it to yourself to consider and compare the benefits of HSA health savings plans versus the more traditional health plans you are accustomed to.
Putting some of today’s income aside for future needs is a path to financial peace of mind. However, it is easier said than done. The temptation of life’s little luxuries, and the time it takes to find cheaper ways to buy, are two of the obstacles determined savers face.
If you don’t have enough discipline to resist these temptations, then you will not be able to reach your goal of saving money for financial emergencies or making a major purchase in the future.
The Best Way to Build for the Future: Have a Clear Cut Goal of What You are Saving For!
How do you go about implementing the savings plan you dreamt of when you originally opened your high-interest account? A crucial part of your plan is having a clear aim in mind.
If your aim is achievable you are more likely reach a substantial amount of savings – giving you more choice in the future. What are worthwhile aims to put aside for? When viewing the bank statement of your online savings account, growing the figures behind that dollar sign should be your primary goal.
Simply having money in the bank is a good reason to save, but you can give yourself extra incentive by aiming for some of these:
1. Saving money for emergency purposes. The only constant in this life is change – and unexpected events are a regularity. Whether it’s a natural disaster, death in the family, an illness, job loss or the simple fact that you were not able to manage your finances properly – all of these are the financial emergencies that you should be saving up for.
2. Saving money to prevent debt. As mentioned earlier, one of the temptations that you need to avoid if you want to add funds to your online savings account is making purchases that you don’t actually need. If you are already in debt, then you can use the task of adding funds do your online savings account as your goal in saving money.
3. Putting aside a few “acorns for winter”. Finally, one of the best reasons to add funds to your online savings account is to be able to reach your goals in the future. Whether aiming at financial freedom, a new home,a better vehicle, a world trip, or school fees – these and more are the reasons why you need to consistently add funds to your online savings account.
It’s a good idea to have a savings plan that you will be able to implement on a monthly basis, so that you can reach your financial goals faster. A Final Word about Saving Money on Your Online Savings Account
There are a lot of financial institutions which offer depositors the benefit of earning a high interest for the online savings account that they have. To make the most out of saving money on your online savings account, make sure to select a bank which offers the best terms and conditions, as well as the highest interest rates that you can get.
By making saving money a habit instead of an unwanted chore, you can easily and quickly reach your financial goals.
Start electricity saving today with solar power generator as scientists predicted that the energy and electricity prices will rise by up to 50% by end of this year. You should hence start looking for alternatives and ways of decreasing the cost of energy at home. A solution has been found and people around the globe have started to use it, and that is, to use solar power energy, one of the alternative energy solutions. You heard it right, you can start electricity saving with this new technology.
How Does It Work?
There are many ways of alternative energies and the most efficient and money saving is solar power energy which produces energy from the power of the sun. This is made possible by installing home built solar power generator at home.
How Much Does It Cost?
Typically, a home built solar power generator is rather costly to purchase as the market is really new and it would be more cost-effective if you build them on your own.
How Much Can It Save For Me?
In general, you would expect to save up to 80% per month of your energy consumption with home built solar power generator and of course, the amount of money you saved depends on the amount of energy you consume.
Is It Very Difficult To Build One?
Building and installing your own solar power generator is not as hard as it sounds because they would usually come with step by step guides which describe everything in details how to build and install one. The guides are easy to understand and follow even for people without any kind of technical experience.
Conclusions :
Though it is not cheap to buy a solar power panel and generator but considering the fact that energy and electricity prices are ever increasing, solar power energy will be a more electricity saving approach in the long run and I am sure it is worth the investment now. Start saving on your electricity bills and enjoy living debt free in life today!
Healthy children are easier on the household budget unfortunately not everyone is so blessed so what do you do? When considering the family budget and being a good parent, providing quality healthcare at a reasonable price is right up there with the mortgage payment, car payments and college tuition.
Health Savings Accounts can be simple and easy to understand. A Health Savings Account is a tax-favored savings account combined with a qualifying high-deductible health insurance plan. Health Savings Accounts allow you to legally avoid federal income tax by depositing 100% of the health plan’s deductible, up to $2,850 for singles or $5,650 for families, into your Health Savings Account. Health Savings Accounts, (HSA) touted as a way to lower health-insurance costs and broaden coverage, have fallen short of their promise. They are gaining popularity because they allow individuals, rather than an HMO or the government, to take charge of their health care. Also, they’re an excellent option for individuals and families without employer-sponsored health insurance. Health Savings Accounts are becoming quite popular for people who are generally healthy and they’re leading the way in this transition.
Savings can be used to help pay the deductible and for non-covered medical expenses, such as dental and vision. Savings reduce or eliminate annual out-of-pocket exposure. Savings not spent remain in the HSA tax-deferred. Savings and investments unlike premiums, unused HSA dollars remain in the HSA until you use them later. Day-to-day expenses come out of the health savings account, while catastrophic expenses are covered by insurance. Health Savings Accounts are gaining popularity because they allow individuals, rather than an HMO or the government, to take charge of their health care. A Health Savings Account combined with a High Deductible Health Insurance Plan gives individuals an economic incentive to become better consumers of health care services because they are now spending their own money up to the level of their high deductible. Health Savings Accounts are an excellent option for individuals and families without employer-sponsored health insurance.
If your employer offers a high-deductible health insurance policy, you may be able to make pretax contributions, like you would with a flexible-spending account. Legislation passed by Congress December 9, 2006, will let you make a one-time transfer of funds tax free from a flexible-spending account to an HSA. You cannot have an HSA if you use a flexible-spending account to pay health-care costs or if you have other medical coverage (say, through a spouse’s policy). You can keep the money in an HSA account even after you leave that job, similar to a 401(k). Keep in mind that you can continue to withdraw money from the account tax-free for qualified medical expenses after age 65. You can’t make new HSA contributions after age 65, but you can still use the money in your account tax-free for medical expenses at any age.
Deposits to an HSA may be made by any policyholder of a qualified High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP), by an employer on behalf of a policyholder, or any other person. Previously, the annual maximum deposit to an HSA was the lesser of the HDHP deductible or specified IRS limits. As of 2007 plan years, Congress has abolished the lower limit based on the deductible, and the maximum contribution will simply be the statutory limit. These include deductibles and coinsurance as well as many other expenses not covered under medical plans, such as dental, vision and chiropractic care; durable medical equipment such as eyeglasses and hearing aids; purchase and use of qualifying over-the-counter medications; and transportation expenses related to medical care. Contributions are deductible, the account accumulates tax-free, and withdrawals used for medical expenses are tax-free. Contributions and gains can be rolled from year to year – there’s no “use it or lose it”. Contributions to the HSAs are tax-deductible at the federal and state level.
Healthcare is the number one issue facing many individuals and companies in America. Now with the release of Michael Moore’s new movie, SICKO, the debate on healthcare in the USA in on. Many well-meaning people believe that a government take-over of healthcare coverage, called a “single-payer” system, is the answer. Health Savings Accounts are combined with a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) to offer a more affordable approach to healthcare. They were created to help give control back to consumers and lower healthcare costs. While most healthcare insurance clients say they are satisfied with their current plans, the landscape changes when major illnesses start. Alternatively, your HSA balance can be used to cover your post-age-65 healthcare costs including Medicare Part A and B premiums, Medicare HMO premiums, garden-variety health premiums, insurance deductibles and co-payments, prescriptions, long-term care insurance premiums, and so forth. But what about the person who lives pay check to pay check or the single parent trying to provide healthcare for themselves and children. Combine a tax-favored Health Savings Account (HSA) and an HSA-eligible health insurance plan to save money tax-free for healthcare costs.
Health Savings Account Plans help you take control of your health care expenses with a tax-favored savings account and quality medical coverage. Health Savings Account (HSA) Plans are an excellent choice for individuals and families who want to control their health insurance costs by combining a lower cost high deductible health insurance plan with a tax advantaged savings account and network discounts. Learn how to take advantage of the money-saving benefits of a Health Savings Account. By allowing you to deposit tax-deductible funds into a health savings account that you can use to cover medical costs, Health Savings Accounts enable you to take control of your own health care decisions. Once your insurance policy has become effective, you may begin to fund your Health Savings Account. Please note: To obtain the maximum tax benefit from your Health Savings Account in 2008 as well as lock in 2007 rates, you must have your HSA-qualified insurance plan effective no later than December 31. There are about 10 million people enrolled in “consumer-driven health plans,” and about 6 million of those are Health Savings Accounts. To really maximize your savings pair up a Discount Health Plan, for the everyday savings on you health care, with your HSA and HDHP. You may want to read my other article on Healthcare and the Family Budget – How to Get the Biggest Bang for Your Buck!
’A penny saved is a penny earned”
“We all work hard to achieve our goals. One of the major motivational sources which lead us to struggle for our goals and dreams is to earn resources so to secure our future and to provide our family with all the essential modern amenities. World Economy is progressing at a much faster rate; all over the world, Stock Exchanges have acquired new heights. Even Developing countries are trying hard to grab new opportunities.
We are living in a new world which is full of innumerable opportunities. Companies are busy in framing innovative “Investment Plans” so to provide maximum returns to the customers. No doubt, we have to get more cautious about our investments and its return. From Stocks to Mutual funs we have innumerable sources to generate further profitable returns on investments. Among all these method of securing funds, one of the most important and still trusted ways of generating safer return is to create “Saving Accounts” so to provide a stable base for a proper return on our resources. We rely upon saving accounts because of its interesting interest rates and its numerous benefits. Saving accounts can hold emergency funds which can be utilized in adverse conditions.
Most of the Investments Plan which promises to generate higher revenues is for longer periods. On the other hand, saving accounts are the safest medium to provide for urgent fund. Numerous Saving Accounts Plans have been framed by Financial Institutions to suit for different individual requirements. Bond or Term Accounts, Notice Accounts, Regular Saver accounts, Individual saving accounts etc are the varied options available for the common investor. Saving Accounts encourages regular savings rather than lump sum investments. Under Saving Accounts we put aside a small amount from our pay cheque each month. It may only seem like a small saving, but it all adds up. Saving Accounts require a commitment to invest each month, encouraging regular savings rather than lump sum investments
Here at find-savings-account.com, we provide you detailed analysis on varied savings accounts plans offered by best Banks and Investment companies all over the Globe. We have tried to get you all the best saving accounts information’s so to help you in managing your resources. Choosing the right saving Plan can be a Pain staking process. Our website can guide you in selecting the best Saving Plans suited to your budgets and requirements. Don’t get fool by the dreamy Interest Rates options. Select those Plans which promises to offer regular returns and low maintenance costs.
As you have heard “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.
It is needed to start managing your funds smartly, so to provide you and your family a safe and secured future. – http://find-savings-account.com
Sandy Harper handles the grocery budget for her family of eight in Tucson, Arizona. “Our youngest is one and our oldest is ten,” says Sandy. “Saving on groceries is very important at our house.” But with six children, Sandy doesn’t have time to hunt through stacks of supermarket flyers looking for bargains. Instead, Sandy is a member of a web site called mygrocerydeals.com. She found mygrocerydeals.com early in 2008 when she was searching for ‘grocery deals’ and that was the last time she needed to run that search. “I use mygrocerydeals.com every week to quickly scan for the best prices on the items on my list and to watch for especially good deals.”
In Oak Lawn, Illinois, Ann Hayes has four boys in private school. “I never miss a chance to save on groceries,” says Ann. She uses coupons and will look at the flyers that land on her doorstep but she prefers the time-saving convenience of mygrocerydeals.com. “It’s no different than somebody taking the inserts and circulars and flipping through the ads and kind of making a list,” says Ann. “[I've] never been real good with lists and doing things that way. This way, it’s just the technology does it all for me.”
That technology is mygrocerydeals.com, launched in 2004 by co-founders Paul Davis and John Scott. The two had been building and operating internet and technology companies for several years. Along the way they developed a strong sense of how to deliver value through the web. With mygrocerydeals.com, they set their sights on delivering some of that value to the largest group of consumers in the world: grocery buyers.
Both Scott and Davis have backgrounds in research and several years of experience with online survey systems. With many consumer product companies as their customers they gained valuable insight into the grocery business where the coupon is a standard promotional tool. The two watched closely as coupon sites started to spring up on the web but they weren’t convinced. They believed that the coupon clipping sub-culture was much smaller than the market they wanted to help. “Coupon clipping, the filing and organizing and scheduling; all of that takes time and dedication,” says Scott. “Many families have trouble finding that time.” Scott and Davis felt that there was a need for a web-based grocery savings comparison service that was fast and easy to use; one that could every grocery shopper could use to save money.
They began the research, starting with a review of their own families’ grocery shopping methods. They realized that it was all about the deals in the flyers, the supermarket circulars in the weekend papers, the weekly specials. They were all using the flyers to tweak their weekly grocery shopping trips according to the stores offering the best prices. More formal research revealed that nearly eighty percent of American households do the same thing. Their vision for mygrocerydeals.com became clear.
Davis and Scott envisioned a service that would capture the grocery savings flyers–all of them, from coast to coast–and make them available online for quick comparison. With that key information in place, they knew from their own grocery shopping behavior that users of their service would want a way to create a grocery shopping list and a way to match the items on the list to the best prices in the weekly flyers. Most important, the founders knew that their customers would want to use these services every week, fifty two weeks of the year. With the experience, the expertise, and a compelling vision, they went to work with a team of technology and business professionals to build mygrocerydeals.com.
Mygrocerydeals.com is a free grocery savings search engine web site that has become a weekly destination for 250,000 members. Every week, mygrocerydeals.com captures and organizes the specials, sales, and deals in the flyers published by more than 25,000 stores across the country including Alaska and Hawaii. Visitors to mygrocerydeals.com use their email address and Zip Code to create a unique, password-protected membership account. Members can see every flyer deal at every store in their region or they can narrow their search to find only the deals at their favorite supermarkets and food stores. “Mygrocerydeals.com has been called the Google of grocery savings,” says Davis. “And that is a great way to understand its power, but it is much more than that.” Davis calls mygrocerydeals.com a complete grocery savings system where members create and save their grocery lists and use the powerful search functions to match the items on their list to the best prices in the flyers. “They print the grocery shopping list right from the member account and they’re off to the stores to stock up and save.”
In addition to the grocery shopping list and grocery savings search engine capability, mygrocerydeals.com serves up a full complement of grocery coupons. “Our coupon clipping members love the chance to save twice,” says Scott. “The first savings come from the flyer deals and a second helping comes from coupons.” Scott points out that stockpiling of freezer and non-perishable grocery items is an increasingly important budgeting technique and the combining of flyer pricing and coupons is an increasingly popular way to stretch the household dollars.
Ann Hayes of Oak Lawn, IL has been a member at mygrocerydeals.com since 2007. She believes that using mygrocerydeals.com saves her at least fifty dollars each week. “If I’m going to buy something, I can find which store has it on sale at the cheapest price,” says Anne. “At least I know, at the very least, I’ve saved something.”
Sandy Harper pushes her savings to another level. She combines coupons and the best deals on mygrocerydeals.com and gets many items for free. “I have more than twenty-four rolls of paper towel in my cupboard and I got them all for free,” she says. “Before, my weekly grocery bill was more than three hundred dollars but now it is less than one hundred and twenty dollars.”
Scott and Davis offer a rough calculation. “If every member of mygrocerydeals.com is saving as much as one hundred dollars every week, we could be helping American householders get twenty five million dollars worth of free groceries every week,” says Scott. “Not bad at all,” adds Davis.
The site was formally launched in 2004 and the company continues to add features to help members manage not only the family budget but also the family’s well-being. “Mygrocerydeals.com is the only grocery savings site that gives premium members integrated access to complete nutritional information and allergy alerts,” says Davis. Davis and Scott both believe that saving money should never mean compromising good eating habits. “Mygrocerydeals.com brings all of the important decision-making information into one easy to use service,” says Scott. “The food items, the favorite stores, the best prices, the label data on nutritional content and ingredients, and the critically important allergen warnings are all here at mygrocerydeals.com.”
The founders and their team are proud of their creation but they attribute most of the success to the members of mygrocerydeals.com. “Our members guide us,” says Davis. “Members choose the features they want us to build and tell us about the stores they want included.” The site boasts more than a quarter of a million members and the number of new members registering every week is on the rise. Television stations and newspapers as far apart as New York City and Southern California have also taken notice in recent months. “Media coverage is just great exposure,” says Davis, “but again, it is the membership spreading the word to friends and family that makes us feel most proud. When people are eager to share the great grocery savings search engine they found on the web, we know we are getting it right.”
For mygrocerydeals.com, getting it right means more of the same. The company’s goal is to attract one million members. Scott and Davis think that goal may be reached sooner rather than later, in part because of current economic conditions. “No one planned it this way but this is certainly a very, very good time to be saving all you can on your groceries,” says Davis.
“And we’re proud to be helping,” says Scott.