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Can you plan a dreamy honeymoon within budget? Is it possible to gift your partner the most cherished moments of his/her life even while counting your dough? If you are looking forward to your honeymoon any time soon, you might as well want to secure a few tips with the help of which it would be possible for you to save money on your honeymoon trip. Read on to find out more.

Tips to save on your honeymoon

For many couples, savings are the last thing on mind when they are honeymooning. However, it is not really sagacious on your part to embark on a dreamy trip without proper financial planning. The moment you start paying, you understand the kind of costs you might as well end up shelling out. Your expenditures might leave you drained if you are not planning properly. Here are a few tips with the help of which you can end up making substantial savings on your honeymoon. Read on find out more.

Utilize your reward points

Your honeymoon is the right time for you to cash in on the points in your credit card. Reduced or free airfares might as well come as a huge gift under these circumstances. However, if you do not really have enough miles to be covered you can always upgrade your coach in order to ensure that you are starting and wrapping up your honeymoon in style.

In fact, it would be even better if you are ditching the airfares in favor of a fulfilling road trip with your partner. Make sure you are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that this remains one of the most romantic journeys of your life, by introducing soft music while you’re on road and taking a small detour to a romantic getaway.

Make sure you are taking advantage of the shoulder season

It is always advisable that you are avoiding the peak season for travel. Hotel and airfares generally skyrocket at that point of time. The peak and low seasons might vary with different destinations. It is only natural for locals to charge you more on lodging and food if you are visiting at a time when everything is in demand.

Research research research!

Make sure you are investing proper time in researching on the travel deals. You are not really required to visit travel offices separately in a bid to compare these deals. Everything can be done online. Please make sure you are actually taking out time to conduct this comparison between rates offered by different travel agencies. You are not required to leave the comfort of your home in a bid to find this out. Make the most of this opportunity to secure an idea about the kind of money you will have to shell out. This is an important step to ensure that you are actually zeroing in on the most affordable deals in the market. Dig deeper to look out for coupon sites carrying exciting combo offers. There are sites which might as well give away gift cards and discount coupons from the same retailer. Bundle these offers together.

Conclusion

You necessarily are not really required to browse through the pages of complicated finance journals (discussing stock markets, Real Estate Pune or for that matter any other global financial trend) in order to learn how exactly you can end up saving on your honeymoon trip. It is all about following a few simple steps— like those mentioned above! Best of luck!

According to recent reports, India’s GDP grew up by 5% in the financial year, 2012-2013, which was the lowest since the last decade. It seems that the 2008 recession still looms large on the daily lives of the Indians. While the lawmakers are there to take larger and bigger decisions about the nation’s GDP, the common man can’t do much about macro-economic indicators. As we’re about to step into 2015, we need to organize our finances and revisit, learn and imbibe some timeless personal finance lessons from the maestro Warren Buffet so that we can overcome the financial shocks that may be in store for us in 2015.

1. Review 2014 before you start: Before taking any step, start off with a review of 2014. How did you fare? What points did you miss? Which financial tasks are still pending? Where did you commit some of the biggest blunders? Were all your investments on track? By evaluating your strengths and weaknesses that you’ve portrayed in 2014, you will easily be able to deduce the steps that you need to take to improve your finances. Write down everything in points so that you don’t forget anything while planning for 2015.

2. Create a frugal budget: Budgeting is a basic but important tool. When you know what you earned and where your money went, you can be aware of your current financial situation. Often times, when your expenses are high, a large part is accounted by all those unexpected and unplanned expenses like entertainment, eating out, coffee shop bills, which are difficult to control and restrain. So, you should first know the excess outgo and then analyse the spending habits so that you can limit each expense. Live within your means and check yourself whenever you see that you’re outdoing your budget.

3. Spend wisely and live thriftily: Warren Buffet says that if you buy things that you don’t need, soon you will find yourself sell things that you need. Most of us suffer from the urge to splurge and most often we justify our expenses using the pretext of special occasions, lifestyle, family emotions and even smart decisions. Most marketing companies understand this urge and they try to exploit by giving us offers on products. Unhealthy carbonated drinks are sold with promises of adventure, youthfulness and happiness. You may also take the example of EMI options on expensive smartphone. Little do they understand that through the EMI option, people tend to pay more in the long run.

4. Save money for the financial odds: Remember that someone is sitting under the shade today as someone planted a tree long time ago. All of us are aware of the fact that saving money is important to have a better future. But it is indeed an alarming fact to observe that most of us don’t even save enough money for the emergencies. This happens due to our extremely myopic view of our personal financial condition. Today, instant gratification matters more than saving for tomorrow. In fact, saving is considered as sacrifice by most people. Follow the “pay yourself first” principle. Set aside some money for your future.

5. Plan for the long term and be patient: No matter how great are your talents and effort, there are some things that just take time. Can you ever produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant at the same time? Money is also a part of nature and it can’t grow overnight. However, we always overestimate money that we can make in a year and underestimate what we can make in 10 years. People should make money by staying invested for the long-term instead of dancing in and dancing out of the portfolios and changing them constantly. According to India’s growth, you can benefit only if you invest for long term and stop panicking for short-term fluctuations. Based on your risk appetite and financial goals, make a diversified portfolio. Pick right financial instruments recommended by your financial advisor.

6. Borrow within your limit: Remember that you can never become rich by living on borrowed money. Initially people think that borrowing is manageable and to later on repay the previous borrowings, they take out yet more loans like the debt consolidation loans. This is more like fighting-fire-with-fire approach towards debt reduction. Borrowing should never be done without an objective assessment of future cash flow and other financial needs. Have a solid plan to pay the debt back and not become its slave.

A debt-free life is indeed the best life. In spite of knowing this, there are many who hardly take the required steps to stay on the right track. If you’re not willing to spend a life immersed in debt, take into account the above mentioned financial tips by Warren Buffet.

How often have you stared at something at whatever store, feeling that you want it, but you kept telling yourself ‘no ‘because the price is a bit too steep? You don‘t need the item, per se, but you‘d definitely purchase it if it didn‘t cost so much or if the budget at your disposal would be with a few more zeros. Quite a lot, I imagine. As a student, that happens to me a lot, and I‘ve heard other people complain about the same problems. Things are just too pricey nowadays, and there‘s nothing we can do to change that. Sometimes we just have to let go of something we want.

Though, I have a remedy for that. Ever hear about Overstock? Yeah, that place that‘s literally overstocked with awesome stuff? Well, it has these things called overstock coupons which will definitely make your day a bit brighter. Just picture this with me for a second – you‘re staring at let‘s say a new laptop. You have a laptop already, but the thing‘s so slow you feel like years pass by before your operating system loads, hence why you‘d love to get that hardware upgraded to something more recent. Alas, you figure the price is too high to invest in something you don‘t necessarily need. But oh, wait, a bright light starts shining from the ceiling on you like it‘s the Martians trying to abduct you. Yeah, Mars Attacks never gets old. Yet, suddenly and totally randomly, a 20% off overstock coupon appears in the palm of your hand. Huh, maybe now you can afford to buy the laptop after all.

Overstock has a large assortment of things that can prove to be useful in one way or another, and what makes the deal even more approachable are the available overstock deals at your disposal. Saving financially is something that matters quite a lot, especially if you‘re someone who has to support not only yourself, but others like relatives or family. You can‘t just put yourself in a position where you buy something for yourself and end up not being able to buy diapers for your kid. People depend on you. However, there are in fact loopholes to this, like the deals I mentioned. Buy what you want, and you‘ll have money to spare for others! Pampering yourself once in a while is always a good thing.

With Christmas and the New Years approaching, you might as well grab one or two overstock promo codes to buy those presents for your kids and wife (or husband). You don‘t want your wallet to be empty after the holidays, do you? And you surely don‘t want to buy something small and be called cheap by your colleagues or friends. Remember what I said about pampering yourself? Well, buying something extra special for your family works wonders too! Your son‘s in college, and he‘s about to rip his hair out of his head in frustration because his laptop is slower than a snail. Save him the trouble – buy him a new one. College is hard enough as it is without having to worry about a slow computer.

Home budgeting is a crucial topic which is discussed by almost everyone at some point of time. These days are the times when income increases at the speed of turtles and the expenses shoots up at the speed of hare. It is important that you make the hare rest before the dead line (and make the turtle win the race) to keep your savings and budget under control. Going off track managing the budget would put you in financial crisis. Some even end up taking heavy loans to meet their needs. A smart home is the one which fixes a monthly budget and sometimes, even saves out of the lean budget too. If you have been unable to manage your budget and end up spending a lot extra than the target, then this guide is for you. Today let’s discuss some areas wherein there is scope for saving and managing a smart budget.

Grocery shopping:

You must have noticed that grocery shopping from the mall would cost you much more than doing it online. At mall, the products are displayed to tempt you and the purpose is served when you pick things that you don’t actually need. You can overcome this hurdle by making a list of the things that you need for the home and stick to the list, no matter how tempting the offer is. Finish your grocery stock before you go shopping. If you have kids, who go picking things and filling the carts all by themselves, then avoid taking them. If you are unable to do so, do you shopping online from various stores that offer free shipping. You can also buy clothes and home décor essentials online from stores like Nordstrom. You can also pick Nordstrom coupons that are available online for free. Nordstrom helps you save majorly on your clothing and home décor needs.

Water and electricity:

These are one among the common areas wherein you can save. How to save water and electricity is a question that needs no tutorials. Even the kids these days know how to cut short your water and electricity consumption. Teach your kids the techniques to save water and electricity and follow it yourself to reduce the consumption cost and save on the budget.

Manage medical expenses with insurance:

There are many insurance companies that offer great medical insurance schemes that can secure your family members health. Medical expenses are unavoidable, but can be managed effectively if you have insured your family’s health. Check the right medical insurance plan that suits your budget with your insurance officer and gift your family a medical insurance policy with which your and their health is secured.

Avoid eating out:

You must have noticed that single trip to the restaurant tosses up the budget. Slowly reduce the frequency of eating outside. For example if you did it every week slow it done to biweekly and then gradually to a monthly one. Avoid parties where you are expected to bring in gifts.

Follow these simple rules and see your bank balances increasing. These tips have helped many families to manage their finances effectively.

You have a number of resources available and it is up to you to make the best of them. By organizing your available resources you will know which one can be used for what task. You will avoid duplication and end up saving money. Take a look at how you do things today and then work out how you can do them better tomorrow. Small things can make a big difference over a long period of time, so no change is too small to be not considered.

Optimizing Use of Resources at Home

Home improvement projects are important; just don’t start something which is more cosmetic than useful. For instance structural reinforcement is important but getting new cushion covers every season is not. Using coupons is good; just don’t buy something you don’t need simply because you have a coupon to get it cheap. Just because you have a coupon to get tomato soup cans at half price is no reason to buy them when you hate tomato soup. Don’t pay for a service that you can get for free elsewhere, for instance some shops charge for home delivering groceries but others may do it for free. Learn to compare deals at different shops to get the best bargain possible, this is time well spent when you are being frugal, rather than time wasted.

Optimizing Resource Usage at Work

Start with getting to work in a car pool. This way you save money on fuel, make the carbon footprint a bit smaller and do your bit towards going green. You also get saved from the hassle of driving through traffic on your own every day. The company in the car makes for a more pleasant and relaxed drive. At work, check if you need all the phone lines you own. If your job requires you to be in the office the whole day, you don’t need a mobile phone. If however you have a job that takes you all over town, you may want to consider disconnecting the landline. Buy the office supplies and stationery you need in bulk. You know you will be using pens, pencils, paper and printer reams. So get them cheap while buying for the full year’s supplies. You save frequent trips to stock up on office supplies as well.

While ready cash is your most liquid resource, it is not the only asset you own.

An asset is a resource you own that can be used to generate more income for you. If you have a large space that you use only part of the time, you can rent it out to others. Your holiday cabin can be let out during the time you are not using it to generate more income on the side. You can use this rent for the general up keep and maintenance of the cabin. That way it pays for itself. Think about other assets you own which can be put to better use. It will surprise you to see how much extra income you can generate with a little creative thinking.