In harsh economic times, many people look for ways to save money on many everyday purchases. Unfortunately Universities don’t take coupons or offer discounts. So how can a person looking to go to college for the first time, or enroll in a Graduate school afford the tuition?

Private loans have offered many graduate students a way to pay for Business, Law, and Medical school. Those days may well be behind us, at least for a while. Many banks have recently clamped down on credit programs aimed towards higher education. For the most part, these types of loans should have been last on anyone’s list. The private loans usually came with higher interest rates and less leeway in terms of payback options.

Higher education can still be paid for through government financial aid programs. Stafford loans offer graduate students a way to pay for tuition and other fees. Since 2006 Stafford loans have been available to graduate students, regardless of need. According to a CNN Money article on the subject, "All students, regardless of need, can borrow up to $20,500 (medical students have higher maximums) total in subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans. These loans come with a fixed low rate of 6.8%, although you will typically have to pay a 3-4% fee, says Walker."

That doesn’t sound too bad, right? Many of the government financial aid programs offer students a way to receive help without paying interest while still attending school. These loans do have a higher interest rate than many of the other loans available to undergraduates. Before signing any loan papers, ensure the other avenues for borrowing are closed, as they might offer better rates.

Many of the government financial aid programs give students an easy way to reach financial goals for their education. The private loan enterprise may well disappear, forcing the government to put in place more money for students. Only time will tell how this part of the economic situation will turn out.

A new or used car should be classified as a large purchase. When we have the right perspective on the purchase we tend to make the necessary steps to protect our investment. If we take the purchase lightly, we’re likely to be swayed by a salesman looking to make a commission.

A new car with next to zero miles has the benefits of a full warranty and, of course, the new car smell. A new car has some disadvantages as well though. It can lose 10% or more of its value as soon as you drive it off the lot. This is why they sell Gap Insurance – it covers the gap between the car’s value and the loan value in case of an accident. Most would agree a brand new car may not be the route to take to save money. However, if you’re going to buy a new car, you can do a few things to protect yourself.

A new car comes with a new loan, a dealer, and many options. To buy a new car at a value, you need to realize companies rely on sales to drive their business. The best times for sales vary by dealership, but you can almost guarantee a decent deal at the end of the year. The dealerships save on taxes when the cars are not in their inventory. Of course, you can protect yourself from a sly dealer by doing some research beforehand – find out the suggested retail price of a car, with the options you want to have installed, like power everything or a sunroof.

To buy a used car, you need to have more information at your disposal. A used car may have been involved in an accident at some point. The first question if that’s true should be about the title of the vehicle – you need to be sure it doesn’t have a salvage title. A salvage title on a car can be harder to insure, and also prove to be difficult to trade in or sell at a later date.

Used cars also have a much more variable cost. Many times a used car can be found at a discount on car lots rather than through owners in a newspaper. The reason is owners tend to make math take a backseat. They tend to overvalue their cars since they’ve owed money on it, or still owe money on it. They also might be overvaluing in spite of defects in the paint or problems with the motor. It pays to have a used car inspected.

When buying a new car, be sure you know what you want before you step foot in a salesperson’s office. A costly service plan can be the undoing of a decent new car sale. A used car has many more variables and requires more research before purchasing. Without a short warranty, you’ll want to have the car inspected for any mechanical problems. Barring any setbacks, negotiating a used car sale can be much more laborious. Often times it pays to leave after giving an offer and having the salesperson balk at the number. They don’t like that, but you can always give them your cell phone number, so in a few days you can expect a call with acceptance of the offer or a more reasonable counter offer.  Good luck with your new car purchase. We hope this information helped.

I’ve talked about this in the past. We tend to want others to do what we can probably do ourselves, with maybe a little ingenuity. I’m not saying we’re all capable of skilled construction projects, and quite rightly a plumber should be called for the gushing faucet or the leaky stool. I’m suggesting we can outbid the contractors by learning some handy skills on our own.

A friend of mine recently had a $300 dollar garage door installed by a professional. When the installation was done, he had a nice door, perfectly installed. The problem was the bill exceeded $1,200. This was $900 of labor! It took the contractors a day to do the work, but for half that amount I would have gladly helped him install the door.

When it comes to things around the house, like installing a garage door, the question of convenience may come to many people’s minds. The project may be out of our league, some may say. Others may simply not have the time. When going into a project like this it’s important to consider the tools you would need (buying new tools would create added expense), the proper instructions or guides available, and the necessary amount of time to do the work. For a garage door, you would probably need an added helper too, but most of us have a friend who would help us out in exchange for our hand in a project of theirs later.

How do you get started on a project like this? The first thing is to do a little research. Google is your friend. You can find helpful guides online, most from licensed contractors themselves. And the worst thing that could happen is you have to call a contractor to fix the "fix", so to speak.

The general rule of thumb to use when doing work like this, always, always know what you’re getting into ahead of time. Do some research, and if you feel the work isn’t too much of a trial, then give it a shot. It could save you a lot in the long run. In the short run it might be inconvenient, and not relaxing, but at least you’ll have the satisfaction that comes from doing something like this on your own. That’s a good enough reward in and of itself.

For expectant parents, the joy of an unborn child can make them feel like doing somersaults or leaping tall buildings. The sobering views of a new child start to come in as the news of the pregnancy wears off, maybe with a friend’s offhand comment that a child costs a lot of money. The excitement turns to worry when considering food, clothing, security, savings, school, tutors, piano lessons, cell phones, college, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. A baby does cost a considerable amount of money until he/she reaches adulthood.

A recent MSN money article analyzes the cost of raising a baby from birth to 17 years of age. The cost relates to how much the parents makes on average. The following paragraph sums up the breakdown of estimated costs.

Though not as steep, the figures for lower-income families are just as unsettling: $204,060 for families earning $45,800 to $77,100 and $148,320 for families making less than that. That breaks down to nearly $16,290 a year from birth to age 2 for families in the $77,100-plus income bracket. This is no back-of-the-envelope guesstimate. The survey involves interviews with about 5,000 households, four times a year. [Source: MSN Money]

So a baby can cost as much as $200K until the parents send him/her off to college. The cost relates to housing, food, education, and medical expenses. These four areas validate MSN’s estimates or drive the costs lower depending on how each family responds to certain needs.

The housing cost was calculated by adding 100 to 150 square feet of needed house space for each baby in a household. This meant some families had to upgrade their homes, which meant more mortgage costs and probably accounted for the majority of the cost in the $200K figure, unless you’re feeding your child sushi and caviar regularly.

To reduce costs for a baby the housing variable should be the number one priority. Many families can make do with what they owned before a baby came into the picture. Now one child doesn’t necessarily equate to a need to move situation. Afterall how much room can a stroller, toys, and carriage take up? The question comes when the child gets older and wants more space. At that time, a move might be considered in most households.

The education variable can be different for many families. The variable is really dependent on whether the child will be placed in a public or private school. Of course public schools are affordable, but private schools often times offer better standards.

How then can parents shave some of the 200K from their spending. The biggest way would be to not upsize a house. Make do with what you have. This would save the most, with education and smart necessity spending coming in next. The best advice would be to not spend money you don’t have. If you plan on buying a bigger house, save for it. In the end, the 200K would be worth it, but saving some along the way could make the journey that much more enjoyable.

I wonder at times if it’s even possible to save money when you go out to eat. Who wouldn’t complain about some of the restaurant prices nowadays. A meal for two can often top forty to fifty dollars. A decent quick meal costs almost ten dollars, without dining in the restaurant. And forget about ordering a large pizza for under twenty bucks, at least not with breadsticks or many toppings. It’s frustrating to those of us inept in the kitchen, and even more so for those of us trying to save for anything important like college, a car, retirement, or just for security. Let’s take a look at a few things we can do to save money when eating at a restaurant. I’d love to hear from you as well.

1. If you’re going to a new area of town, a new city, vacationing, etc. then do some research online before stepping foot into a greasy steakhouse. Sites like Yelp.com can help you decide if the food is worth the money. What’s worse than spending forty dollars on a meal? Spending forty dollars on a meal you hated.
2. A meal is meant to be shared in many cultures. With the servings Americans receive, it’s no wonder we have an obesity problem. Couples can afford to share an entree and appetizer and still be too full for desert, which we don’t recommend buying, unless it’s your birthday, then by all means.
3. Coupons are you friend. Many restaurants have menus, store hours, and discounts all found on their website. A quick Google search should pull up any coupons the restaurant may have available. You might also check the various cutout coupon ads in papers and on newstands. These can help you find a deal for the single outing.
4. Don’t be afraid to ask for the specials. The specials usually have the best deals in a restaurant. A special might also be the best meal in an unfamiliar restaurant. It’s the safe choice.
5. Order the lunch portion rather than the dinner. The difference may mean three to five dollars, but if your whole family does this then the meal just got cheaper.

Do you have any ways you can think to save money at a restaurant? We’d love to hear it in the comment section or in our forums.

We have seen tremendous success with our gas card giveaway contest. We try to keep the contest as simple as possible, so ultimately it’s you, the reader, who benefit. You can win $25 sent through Paypal or a gas card through the mail — the choice is yours. Every email subscriber automatically receives on entry per month. And new this month, we’re offering each blog post that links to our gas saving articles five entries. That’s right, five entries for a blog post linking to our articles! Here’s the rules.

Gas prices may have dropped from the all-time high, but we know you could still use some money for the tank. We decided to keep up with the $25 Gas Card Giveaway. You can join our previous three lucky winners by simply following the contest rules, which really aren’t that difficult.

Contest Rules:

The rules are simple. Each visitor has two ways of entering the contest.

1. 5 Entry Tickets: Link in a blog post on your site the words save gas articles with the following link: http://www.savemoney.com/transportation/gasoline.html. It should appear like this: save gas articles
2. 1 Entry Ticket: Subscribe to the Save Money Blog’s RSS feed via email. The signup box on the right column makes this process very simple. Only verified emails count - so be sure to respond to the initial email.

Each person can gain up to 6 entry tickets!

On November 1st we will tabulate the contest entries, assign a number to each one, and visit the random.org number generator to select the winner. The winner will be mailed a gas card for $25 or given an equal amount via Paypal. Anyone in the world can win, just follow our easy steps to enter today!

As September rolled to a close, gas prices reached prices above $3.50 throughout the country. We figure our contribution to one of our readers each month means less money going out the door for gas and more money going to the bank. So every month we tally the number of email subscribers, add up all the blog posts for the month, and randomly select one entry as our lucky $25 gas card winner!

This month saw many entries…if you didn’t get a chance to enter, you can enter in October’s contest. The lucky winner for this month will be contacted via email. And the winner, according to the random.org number generator is…

129

The lucky winner has an email address like this:
te _ _ 00 @ _ _hoo.com. Congrats on your $25 gas card!

Every email subscribers has a chance to win $25 every month! Stay tuned for more ways to save money and a load of great content coming your way in October. Congrats to our winner!

The economy has turned us into private analysts bent on securing our own futures. We may switch stock buys, move to more safer investment solutions, and call out our friends and family who speak on the side of resurgence in the US economy. The troubled financial times bring out a renewed interest in many of our debts and spending habits. A recent San Francisco Chronicle article reported on the state of the US economy.

The first fallacy of spending money in order to save it (you’ve saved XX dollars by shopping Safeway, says my grocery receipt) is that you can’t save money you don’t have. We are not saving by spending. We may be buying something more cheaply, but make no mistake: We’re still spending money. [Source: SFGate.com]

We need to focus on our own saving habits and on our spending habits. While the two habits become intertwined, we should have a separate plan for each in order to stay on top of our financial well-being. Let’s assume we seek out the savings on a flat screen TV, finding a deal more than 10% less than the best price anywhere else. The question then becomes, ‘Should I buy this TV, even though it’s considerably less than the same model elsewhere? Do I need it?’ Just because something is a good deal doesn’t mean its a necessary deal.

We live in a society where marketers and advertisers seek to tap into the buy now pay later mentality. Just because I can walk in and buy a fantastic new queen sized bed with no interest until 2012 doesn’t mean I should do that.

The problems with our economy seems to stem from our credit hungry ways. As individuals we can stop the bleeding by simply waiting until we can afford the items. We need to look not at just the savings, but also at our spending habits in order to heal properly the financial problems.

We talked about this in our last post — Keep Your Money Safe from Investment Failures. The US economy has not seen this type of bank failure since the great depression. Other such markers of the trying times crop up in the stock markets. The stronghold of our financial endeavours, banks, seem to be teetering in a market squashed, mortgage, short selling nightmare. We trust our banks, but so did thousands of others in the few that went the way of the dodo.

MSN Money has an article online named Bank crisis: 10 things to know now. The article explains telling signs your bank may be ready to go belly-up. In part they dispell some errant thinking too. Even if the bank fails you’ll be protected by FDIC, which was recently expanded to cover Mutual Funds (wow!).

The article describes the procedure the regulators take after moving in on a failed bank.

Regulators usually shut down failed banks on Fridays. The FDIC then works all weekend to transfer insured deposits and most of the bank’s assets to the bank that’s taking over the business, or to a new entity created for just this purpose.

During the weekend you would have access to your account via ATMs. Worst case scario — you might be out of touch with your money for a few days, not much more.

It’s no surprise many of us don’t know how this process works. It’s been a while since bank failures became somewhat regular. In my own banking, I’m wary of bank changes. The losses creditors are taking in the mortgage front may be recouped by varying charges, monthly and irregular fees for things like overdrafts, etc.

All in all it speaks of responsibility, knowing where our banks stand, and we should also be keen on their changing procedures. Read the mailings they sent, but most of all keep saving and trusting in your bank, unless you have reason to believe otherwise.

With Lehman Brothers, Fannie May, Freddie Mac, and other top companies being rescued or going belly-up, many of us may be rightfully concerned with the state of our investments. Does our investment firm have a solid footing? What does our bank look like financially? How can we find answers to these questions?

You’re Covered
If you have your savings socked away in an interest bearing savings or checking account in some bank — large or small — the money should be covered by the FDIC. The FDIC came about from the vast number of bank failures during the Great Depression. The Steagall Act of 1933 created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation so bank goers would return money to their accounts from under their mattresses.

Is this a Market Correction?
If you’re involved with stocks, then you’ve noticed the tanking of many sectors in the recent weeks. The risk is all but apparent in the drops the DOW has taken. You could lose everything if the wrong company files for bankruptcy, right? It pays to diversify. This may be the time to take a long hard look at your portfolio, so you can purge some of the bears and pull in some long term buys.

Can You Balance This Budget?
It may be an even better time to start the budget and stick to it. The economy can fluctuate as much as it wants if we have the security of a nest egg behind us. Imagine having enough money saved to pay for six months of expenses if anything should happen. It may save you a lot of time you would have spent worrying.

Overall our investments should be safe in banks and brokerage accounts. We may want to reassess our investments and move money to safe, long term buys at the moment. This market will turn around eventually. Just make sure your money doesn’t go with the change.