Ash Exantus, the financial empowerment coach from BankMobile, is back. He’s sharing some of his money-saving life hacks: (Click here to see Video)
1. Clear Your Browsing History: When shopping online and comparing prices make sure you clear your cache and browser history — especially when buying airline tickets. Online companies know what you’re searching for based on your cache and history and will raise the prices based on this. Also, shop as a guest online instead of signing in. New customers usually get the lower prices.
2. Lower the Brightness on your TV and Computer Screen: Not only will this help your eyes from going bad, but by lowering the brightness of your TV and/or computer monitors from the default setting you can reduce your power consumption by up to 40%. FYI – the default brightness is actually the setting that is made to make the TV look good in bright stores.
3. Carry Large Bills: There’s research that shows if you pay for a purchase in cash rather than with a credit card you will likely spend less. The reasoning is you can see what you’re spending when you use cash. Take it a step further, if you only carry $50’s and $100’s you are less likely to break it which saves you from making impulse buys
4. Build Your Credit: Whether you have good credit, fair credit, or bad credit, work on building it up. Not only is credit used to determine your rate on loans but utility companies, and insurance companies have begun using your credit score to determine your monthly premium.
5. Ask and You Shall Receive: Most companies always have some type of promotional way for you to save money but will not proactively offer it to its existing customers. So simply ask. Whenever you interact with your gas company, phone company, Internet, and even your credit card company, ask them if there a way to lower your cost.
