Challenge yourself to save a few extra dollars each month by creating some easy-to-complete goals.

Now that you’ve already started meticulously tracking your expenses, why not take the next step and work on reducing your spending even more on one or more of your spending categories?

These goals don’t need to be difficult. They can be something as simple as buying one less coffee per week or seeing one less movie per month and watching that money stay in your bank account. The real reason you want to set some short term goals is to test yourself and see if you’re able to cut certain things out of your lifestyle or reduce spending in certain areas. If you find that making those changes is easy then you can incorporate the change permanently and have even more money available to you later on.

You can either make a mental note to spend less this week or you can adjust your budget by a few dollars and work on keeping under budget for this week or month. To edit your budgeted amount for your spending category, open up your budgets and click on the budget you want to change. This will expand the budget and you’ll see an option to Edit the budget.

When the Edit Budget form appears, simply reduce the Budget Amount by the amount you want to save and then update the budget.



We hope that by challenging yourself to spend a little less every now and then you’ll learn that it’s actually easy to keep those changes in full effect for the future. Once you start cutting back on your spending some more you can take that extra cash and apply it toward reducing your debt or putting it away into your rainy day / emergency fund.

Let us know in the comments below what you’ve decided to cut back on and if it’s helped you put a little more towards your savings or toward reducing your debt.

Don’t throw away money by letting unused memberships continually withdrawal from your account.

With so many different companies and services charging a recurring fee for upgrades or service (yes, including ClearCheckbook), there are bound to be some that you’ve forgotten about and don’t use. Cancelling these unused services can potentially save you a lot of money.

Some of these recurring fees will be from companies you recognize, like a monthly Netflix or Hulu charge. Others might be for services you no longer use, like if you have an Xbox live or Playstation Network account that you don’t use. You might have simply forgotten about some like a gym membership that you signed up for at the beginning of the year and haven’t used in a while. The hardest to catch are ones that you didn’t even know you signed up for or were tricked into when entering your billing information online. Keep an eye out for fees from companies that you don’t recognize.

How can you find these recurring membership fees? The easiest way is to stay on top of entering your transactions into ClearCheckbook and Jiving them against your bank statement. If you follow the instructions in our Jiving walkthrough then you’ve probably already found some.

If you’re just getting started with ClearCheckbook or you import your transactions via our Import Transactions tool, looking for these transactions is as easy as going through the last few months of your bank statements looking for fees from companies you don’t recognize or for services you no longer use. Remember that some services renew annually while others can renew monthly. Regularly keeping an eye on your transactions will ensure you catch any of these quickly.

What should you do when you find one of these charges? Don’t immediately file a chargeback with your credit card company against the recurring fees you don’t want. Doing so actually violates how chargebacks should be handled and can result in the chargeback being reversed and the billings continue. Instead, make sure you attempt to contact the company either via email or phone first. If you can retain proof of this attempted contact or the company responses and they still refuse to cancel your membership then you’re well within your rights to file a chargeback.

Have you found any tricky hidden recurring fees on your statements? If so, let us know in the comments below so others can be aware of them!

Reduce your energy costs at home to help keep money in your pocket. Changing a few habits and upgrading some outdated items can have a significant impact on your monthly energy bills.

In this Money Management Tips post we’ll cover 5 topics you can use to help dramatically reduce your energy bill each month. Some of these tips might seem like common sense while others you might not have thought about.

1. Replacing old inefficient incandescent light bulbs with CFL or LED lights
Countries around the world have passed or are working on legislation to phase out the use of incandescent light bulbs due to their inefficiency and short lifespan. The lifespan of bulbs is usually represented in the number of hours the bulb will provide light before burning out. The lifespan of your typical incandescent bulb is 1,200 hours. CFL bulbs have an average lifespan of 30,000 hours while LED bulbs can last upwards and exceeding 50,000 hours.

CFL (Compact Fluorescent) Bulbs
Rather than passing electricity through a coil of wire, CFL bulbs pass an electric current through a tube filled with argon and mercury vapor and are up to 70% more energy efficient than an incandescent bulb. CFLs can run about $1 more per bulb than an incandescent but the cost savings over the lifetime of the bulb can be about $150 less than an equivalent number of incandescent bulbs.

The downsides to CFLs are the fact that they do contain small amounts of mercury, cannot be used with dimmer switches and can take a few seconds to reach full brightness after being turned on.

LED (Light Emitting Diode) Bulbs
LED bulbs use a number of small LED lights to output an acceptable amount of light. LED bulbs are more expensive than incandescent and CFL bulbs but have a lifespan of 50,000+ hours and use less energy than CFL bulbs and far less than incandescent.

The downsides to LED bulbs are the price and some people have reported some buzzing or flickering from their bulbs when used on a dimmer switch.

The savings
Assuming 25,000 hours of usage (about half the life of an LED bulb) and the cost of $0.12 per kilowatt hour, you can consider the following costs per bulb type: $201 for incandescent, $48 for CFL and $38 for LED. Source. These are for ONE BULB so imagine the cost savings if you changed over more of the bulbs around your house. Even if you don’t have the means to change every bulb in your house over to CFL or LED, simply changing the most used ones (like your kitchen, living room and bathroom) could save you nearly $50 per year.

2. Better management of your heating and cooling
According to the Energy Information Administration, about 42% of home energy costs go to heating and cooling. This leaves a lot of room for improvement and areas to save money.

A 1978 research paper (“Energy Savings through Thermostat Setbacks" by Nelson and MacArthur) found that in the winter, on average, if you turn the thermostat down by one degree Fahrenheit for eight hours every night, you’ll use about 1% less energy. If you raise the temperature in the summer and lower it in the winter while you’re not home or in bed you can dramatically cut back on your energy costs.

If you install and properly use a programmable thermostat you can also easily save on energy costs without having to remember to adjust your thermostat throughout the day. Several studies have found that many people improperly use programmable thermostats however and actually end up with higher energy usage than without. This comes down to people overcompensating the assumed savings from adjusting the temperature during the day or night with dramatically more usage in the morning and evenings. Just because you have the potential of cutting back on energy by reducing demand when you’re gone or sleeping doesn’t mean you can now use more energy in the morning and evening when you’re home.

An Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) document from 2004 describing the Energy Star programmable thermostats specification [PDF] summarizes the research into their efficacy:

Consumers are often advised that installing a programmable thermostat can save them anywhere from 10 to 30% on the space heating and cooling portion of their energy bills. While reliant on proper use of the programmable thermostat, such savings are easily true in theory; however, there needs to be more field-tested data to better substantiate savings claims. Analyses from recent field studies have suggested that programmable thermostats may be achieving considerably lower savings than their estimated potential.

In 2000, the Energy Center of Wisconsin published a report entitled “Programmable Thermostats Gone Berserk? Taking a Social Perspective on Space Heating in Wisconsin" [PDF]. The study found, in part, that:

Despite the emphasis that has been placed on the use of programmable thermostats to reduce thermostat setpoints and so save heating energy, respondents with programmable thermostats report thermostat setpoints that are not substantially different from those of respondents with manual thermostats.
[…]
These details and the conclusions above lead us to suspect that the aggregate savings that can be expected from the installation of programmable thermostats in residential housing is probably quite modest.

3. Unplug unused electronics
One thing you might not think about is the power your various devices and appliances use even when “turned off". This power draw is called standby power and can account for up to 10% of your home’s energy usage (source). This can add up to $100 per year just to power unused devices.

Which of your devices and appliances might be consuming power even though they’re off? Here are some basic rules you can look for:

• Anything with a remote control (TV, VCR, cable box, stereo)
• Anything with an external power supply
• Anything with a digital display, LED status light or digital clock
• Items that contain battery chargers

What can you do to cut back on standby power? The best way is to simply unplug the unused or rarely used items when you don’t need them. One tip is to use power strips with an on/off switch so you can easily turn on or off clusters of electronics (like a TV, VCR and gaming console) without having to physically plug and unplug them.

Here are some common devices you can unplug when not being used:

• TV in a second bedroom or basement that gets used a few times a year
• Gaming consoles (Xbox, Wii, Playstation, etc)
• A printer that doesn’t get used regularly
• DVD / Blu-ray players
• Any kitchen devices with a clock or LED status that you don’t use daily

4. Changing your water usage habits
Being aware of how you use your water can affect both your power and water bills. Energy.gov has a list of 15 ways to save on your water heating bill. Some of the tips we believe will be the most beneficial are:

• Reduce your hot water heater temp to 120’F
  • Every 10’F reduction can save 3-5% on water heating costs
• Use cold water for most laundry loads and in the rinse cycle
  • This can be a difference of around $0.65 per load
• Fix any leaks. A leak of 1 drop per second can cost $1 per month and might be as easy to fix as tightening the connection on a pipe
• Don’t let the faucets run while brushing your teeth or cleaning dishes
  • Letting the faucets continually run while brushing your teeth or cleaning your dishes can waste several gallons per day. Over the course of a month this can really add up quickly and affect your water bill.

Simply being cognizant of how you’re using your water and when you’re using your hot water heater (every time you use the hot water the tank will get refilled and needs to be reheated which uses power) you can help cut back on your costs. While each of these alone might not add up to a lot, when combined and used with other tips they can help you save over time.

5. Air seal your home
Sealing your home to prevent drafts is important to keep hot air inside during the winter and cold air inside during the summer. Energy.gov has a lot of information and tips on air sealing your home.

There are a few easy fixes to help seal your house and help prevent your conditioned air slipping through the cracks.

Caulking around stationary joints
There might be gaps around your door or window frame and the wall where air is seeping through. To fix this problem, add caulk to any gaps around the frames where they meet the wall. Doing this can save 10-20% on your heating and cooling bills. Here’s an Energy.gov article that covers how to caulk around these joints.

Add weather stripping to moveable joints
After sealing around the frame and wall with caulk, the next step is to eliminate any gaps between your doors and windows and their frames. Weather stripping is usually rubber or foam that has a sticky backing that fits around the frame and will fill the gap between a door or window and frame that aren’t properly fit. If you look at your door and can see light or gaps between the door and the frame then that means air can be seeping through. Adding weather stripping can save between 5-10% on your heating/cooling bills. Here’s an Energy.gov article that covers weather stripping.

Install insulation film over windows during winter
Window insulation film is a plastic sheet that you apply to your windows in the winter to reduce heat transfer. There are two types of insulation film generally available. The first is a solar control film that works by reflecting infra-red light and absorbing UV light. This film sticks directly to the glass. The second is called a convection control film and is simply a piece of plastic that covers the window to trap a pocket of air which acts as insulation. Some types of this film are shrink wrapped by heating with a hair dryer after taping to the frame.

Summary
There are many ways to reduce your energy costs by changing some of your habits around the house or from buying some more energy efficient items. While it might be difficult to use and apply every one of these tips, we encourage you to give some a try.

If you’ve found ways to cut back on your energy bills please share your experiences in the comments below!

Do you have enough saved to cover a major car or home repair or unexpected hospital bill? If not, having money set aside for emergencies is extremely important.

In this Money Management Tips post we’ll explore some ways to help ensure you’ll be able to afford any large unexpected bills.

What is a rainy day / emergency fund?
For the sake of simplicity we’ll be referring to this money as an emergency fund through the rest of this article. An emergency fund is money you’ve set aside for any unexpected bills, job loss, illness or decrease in salary. It’s a way to make sure you’ve got some excess cash available in case of an emergency so you don’t have to rely on credit cards which can potentially lead to large amounts of credit card debt.

If the transmission dies on your car do you have the means to pay the $2,000-$3,000 to get it fixed? If the furnace in your house dies in the middle of the winter do you have a few thousand dollars to buy a new one? If you were seriously injured in an accident and need to cover a several thousand dollar insurance deductible, can you do that? Will you be able to cover a four to seven months of rent / mortgage and expenses if you suddenly lose your job?

These are all cases where having money set aside in an emergency fund will make an extremely difficult time a lot easier to manage.

How should I manage my emergency fund?
This really comes down to how you manage your own finances. If you have the discipline to keep everything in one account then all you need to do is make sure you have extra cash available in your checking or savings account (How much? We’ll cover that later).

Another option is to have separate accounts for your various emergency funds. Keeping this money in a high yield savings account is a great way to earn a little extra money as well. Using this method, you’d have one combined or separate accounts for what you’d like to cover with your emergency funds. For example, if you have a car and own your home then it might be good to have an account for each. Then, each month you’d transfer some amount of money to each of those accounts where the money stays hidden away until an emergency occurs.

If you decide to open an account for each type of emergency it’s important to make sure the account has enough money to cover your needs if an emergency occurs. Usually a few thousand dollars will cover an emergency or unexpected bill.

How much money should I have in my emergency fund?
This really depends on your financial situation and what kind of emergencies you might encounter. Someone living in a rented apartment with no car will need far less of an emergency fund than someone who owns a home and has multiple vehicles.

At the minimum we’d suggest having at least $1,000 set aside for each vehicle you own. Take a look at your health insurance information and find out what your deductible is and keep that amount. This could be anywhere between $500-$3,000 depending on your insurance plan. If you have a spouse and children, keeping the deductible amounts for them is also advisable. Owning a home comes with a lot of unexpected expenses as well. Having at least $2,000 put away for any emergency replacements would be a good start. This would let you quickly buy a new oven, a/c unit, refrigerator, etc without having to worry about the money. Having an account to cover personal expenses for a few months would also be great in the case of job loss. Simply add up all your expenses (mortgage/rent, car loan, groceries, gas, etc) for 3-4 months and keep that amount tucked away.

If you don’t have the money available to immediately transfer to your various emergency funds then you can always transfer $25-$50 per month into your accounts until you’ve reached your necessary amounts.

Here are 8 ideas that will help you make your savings work for you by taking advantage of higher interest rate and other investment accounts.

This Money Management Tips post lists some ways you can earn a little more from your money that’s just sitting in a low yield savings account.

Before we get into some of the various accounts and investments, it’s important to remember that you should always have some money available for any unexpected accidents or emergencies. You don’t want to have all of your cash tied up in investments that you can’t immediately reach.

In this post we’ll list some choices in order of how risky the investment is. Generally, the less risky an investment is the less return you’ll get. It’s up to you to determine your level of risk. We break down each investment based on risk, amount of work, liquidity of your money and potential return on investment. Balancing these categories is important to determining which investment is right for you.

1) Standard Checking / Savings Accounts
No Risk. No Work. High Liquidity. Very Low Return. FDIC Insured. 0.01-0.05%
These are your standard checking and savings accounts from most national banks. You can quickly remove money from these accounts to pay bills or to use in case of emergency.

2) High Yield Online Savings / Money Market Accounts
No Risk. No Work. High Liquidity. Low Return. FDIC Insured. 1%
These are usually online-only accounts or special accounts set up through your bank. You can usually withdrawal or transfer your money out of the account fairly easy but read the fees carefully because you can be charged for those withdrawals in some cases. LendEDU has a great resource for the latest Money Market accounts and going rates. They break down the features of each account and give some pros/cons to help you choose the best money market account for you. Check out the full resource here: LendEDU Money Market Account guide

3) Certificate of Deposit (CD) Accounts
No Risk. Little Work. Medium Liquidity. Low Return. FDIC Insured. 0.5-2%
CDs are what’s referred to as a Timed Deposit. This means you deposit your money and agree to leave it in the account for a set amount of time, with longer durations generally giving higher return. Removing money early can result in fees. There is a technique called CD Laddering where you start separate 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 year CDs. Once one of the CDs matures, you invest the money into a 5 year CD. The result is that after 5 years you’ll have a CD maturing each year.

4) Bond Index or Mutual Funds with a Brokerage Account
Low Risk. Some Work. Medium Liquidity. Low Reward. Not FDIC Insured. 1-3%
By opening a Brokerage account and letting others manage your money, the amount of work is low and you’re leaving all the investing to professionals whose job it is to pick the best investments. Since these funds are managed, there’s usually a small percentage fee associated with them. These funds are usually made up of many different investments or can be very specific in the companies the mutual funds are comprised of. For example, rather than investing in several health care companies you could invest in a health care fund that has many different health care related companies in their portfolio.

5) Purchasing Government / Treasury Bonds direct
Low Risk. Some Work. Medium Liquidity. Medium Reward. Not FDIC Insured. 1-5%
Treasury Bonds are fixed interest savings bonds issued by the government and are guaranteed to be paid out. There are Treasury Bills, Treasury Notes and Treasury Bonds. Each have different times to maturation and will have different interest rates.

6) Stock Index Funds, Mutual Funds & ETFs with Brokerage Account
Medium Risk. Low Work. Medium Liquidity. Potentially Moderate Reward. Not FDIC Insured. 6%+
This is similar to #4, but instead of investing in Bond Indexes you’re investing in Stock Index Funds and ETFs in addition to mutual funds. These generally have higher returns than other investments and depending on the fund you invest with. Research should be done to make sure the fund you’re investing in has a good history and fund managers. These funds usually have fees and minimum purchases associated with them.

7) Trading Individual Stocks
High Risk. High Work. Medium Liquidity. Potentially High Reward. Not FDIC Insured
Rather than investing in a fund that invests in many individual stocks, you’re fully in charge of buying and selling your own stocks. This means you have to do due diligence in selecting stocks you believe will give you the best return. There are fees associated with both buying and selling stocks.

8) Investing in Residential or Commercial Real Estate
High Risk. High Work. Low Liquidity. Potentially High Reward. Not FDIC Insured
This requires a high upfront investment but has the potential to provide great returns. There are several ways to invest in real estate ranging from buying, renovating and reselling a home, renting properties, buying and then leasing commercial space or Real Estate Investment Trusts (RETI).

We just want to reiterate that you should double check all fees associated with accounts and investments and do your research to make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into. Make sure you're also being smart with your money and not investing all of your savings in a very risky investment that might end up with you losing money instead of making it.

Even with a few minor changes, like opening a high yield savings account, you can potentially earn much more than you are currently if your money is parked in a standard checking or savings account.

We’ll dive into more detail for the various accounts and investments in future Money Management Tips posts.

If you have any feedback or want to share with us and others how you’ve made your money give you a better return on investment, please post in the comments!