Can Your Computer Pay For Itself?

Your Private Cash Machine

Can a computer be a powerful tool for saving money? Look at these ideas and decide for yourself.

I bet you have found some ways to do this also. Please let me know what you have discovered.

Comparing prices used to be a rather tedious process involving going from mall to mall, grabbing circulars, and pouring over them.

Try this service right in your browser, shopzilla.com.

I just bought some running shoes and saved $20.00 plus the aggravation of going to a mall, parking, and waiting in line. This is the best of all possible worlds to me.

Check out the following ideas for savings of your own.

Clip Cyber Coupons!

Ever heard of CouponCabin.com or eDeals.com? They are sites that gather coupon codes that e-retailers release to their best customers or place on other web sites to attract new customers.

The coupons run a wide gamut, and I just saw a deal on eDeals.com which I almost bought for tools I seldom use any more.

I guess you could say the deal was hypnotic.

Be careful going to these sites if you have extra cash.

Win the Grocery Game!

CouponMom.com claims to cut your grocery bills by 40% to 50% if you do your part by stockpiling newspaper circulars full of coupons.

CouponMom.com helps you sort those to maximize savings.

For instance, if a store runs a double the value of manufacturer coupons special, and you decide to check CouponMom.com and you find a circular from two weeks ago with the item you want on sale, you can get the item at double the sale price off.

My guess is that even a not-so-diligent-shopper could save some money on the grocery bill this way.

Find Local Deals.

SalesCircular.com knows that many of us still like to see, touch, or test a higher-end product before buying.

The site sorts through newspaper inserts, weekly circulars, and advertised sale items.

Just choose your state, your product, and pinpoint the local retailer with the best deal.

We are looking for a washer and dryer, and I will let you know what we find.

GasBuddy.com

GasBuddy.com lets you comparison-shop for gasoline in your neighborhood or city. A test drive for Denver lists the 15 highest and 15 lowest prices (a span of 40 cents at last check) within the last 48 hours for the city and its suburbs. Over the course of a year of 12-gallon fill-ups, a 20-cents-a-gallon advantage looms large.

Save Postage-Bank Online

If your household receives 15 bills per month, and stamps at 39 cents, you pay about $70.00 per year in postage. Instead, use your bank website's free online checking, easily accessed from any computer. If you set your payments to automatic, you'll never pay a late fee again.

Say Goodbye to Paper Greeting Cards and Save?

Use E-greetings to spare trees and postage. Please take a look at AmericanGreetings, Hallmark, and Jacquie Lawson for examples of e-cards which you can send in place of the paper version.

Some services are free, others cost a few dollars to join, which can be worth it if you have many birthdays and anniversaries to acknowledge.

Cheap Reading

MagazinePriceSearch.com monitors subscription rates for more than 2500 magazines sold through two dozen online merchants. You can find substantial savings on new and renewal subscriptions.

Cut Phone Bills

A typical telephone bill runs almost $80.00. Using Vonage or a similar Voice Over Internet Protocol service, like AT&T Call Vantage, Sun Rocket, or VoiP.com to talk by computer gives you unlimited calls throughout the United States and Canada-plus caller ID, call waiting, and 911 service, although your 911 location may not always be apparent to 911 operator in some areas.

This could be a big money saver.

Snag More Interest.

Online banks can offer a significantly more interest than their bretheran who must pay bricks and mortar overhead. Thing about 4% to 5% as compared to .54%. And online banks are FDIC insured.

Bankrate.com recently listed six banks paying 4.5% interest or more on savings accounts with minimum balances of no more than $1.00. But what if you started with $1000.00?

Buy Bonds Direct

We are not talking about U.S. Savings bonds here, but short term T-bills. Brokerage services and banks may charge $55.00 or more to help bond investors purchase short term T-bills. Treasury notes maturing in 2 to 10 years, Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), or 30 year Treasury Bonds can be bought at TreasuryDirect.gov in multiples of $1000.00 at no charge.

Ax Tax Preparation

Do it yourself software such as TurboTax, TaxCut, or TaxACT runs $10.00 to $75.00. Or for even greater savings, file your taxes online. You can file online if your income is below $52,000.00 at Free File at www.irs.gov where filers can pay nothing if they are careful in their choice of software. Those with a higher income can go straight to taxact.com where a basic package of online forms is free to anyone.

USFreeads.com

Got anything around your house that you want to sell? Do you have a product you want to sell? Try this site and put up an advertisement for free. They get excellent page views and actions.