Money & Finance

So maybe you blew a little extra dough on your summer vacation. It was probably worth it! Now that it’s Fall – and the holidays are right around the corner – it’s time to spend wisely. So, here are a few bill-cutting tips from Money magazine.

• Get free “self-improvement” money at work. Studies show that 37% of companies reimburse employees for gym fees, and 64% help with graduate school tuition. However, 90% of that “free money” remains unclaimed. So, before you plunk down your plastic on a self-improvement project, talk to your Human Resources Department.
• Keep an eye on mailed advertising – also known as junk mail. Look for price wars among cell phone providers, credit card companies, and cable and satellite TV outlets. Chances are good that your current provider will lower your bill if you show them a better offer from a rival and ask them to match it.
• Become a coupon superstar. Check out the website TheGroceryGame.com. For about $5 a month, it checks for coupons and tells you what’s on sale at your local market. One shopper on their site claims they got $328 worth of groceries for $123.
• College textbooks cost about $900 a year. To cut costs, jump on the Internet! For new books, check online retailers like BestBookBuys.com and Bookfinder.com. They’ll locate the books on your course list, and estimate taxes and shipping costs. For used textbooks, there are free networking sites that match local buyers and sellers by school, and it’s a deal for everyone. Sellers earn more than they would from campus store buybacks and buyers avoid taxes and shipping charges. Those sites include BooksOnCampus.com and CampusBookSwap.com.