When it comes to saving money, the most important thing we can do is change our spending habits. We often buy things we don’t need, and that can throw our budgets off track. By reigning in our spending, we can have more money to pay down debts, buy the things we really need, and put some in savings.

But even when you’re buying the bare minimum, there are still ways you can save money. You can look for sales on the things you need. In some cases, you can buy second hand. And you can often find coupons that will save you money.

When we think of coupons, we often think of saving money on groceries. And there are lots of grocery coupons to be found. But you can also find coupons for health and beauty items, clothes, electronics and much more. Here are some tips for finding coupons that will save you lots of money.

* Check the Sunday paper. Most newspapers include an insert full of coupons in their publications every Sunday. These are usually for groceries, but you may also find coupons for other things you need around the house, and occasionally even for clothes and other items.

* Look in the magazines you read. It’s rare that magazines have coupons in them that save you enough money to negate the cost of the magazine itself, so don’t go buying up a bunch of magazines you won’t read just for the coupons. But if you enjoy a magazine anyway, pick up a copy or order a subscription. Look carefully for coupons soon after you get it so that you don’t miss the expiry date.

* Visit coupon printing websites. Sites such as Coupons.com and SmartSource.com offer coupons that you can print straight from your computer. You just choose the ones you will use and click the “Print” button. You may have to install some software that controls the number of coupons you can print, but this rarely takes more than a few seconds. Make sure that your printer is on and has paper and ink in it before you try to print, because you may not get another chance.

* Visit the websites of manufacturers and your favorite stores. They often feature coupons that you can print and use offline.

* When shopping online, seek out coupon codes. Sometimes they are placed prominently on the merchant’s website. If not, there are lots of websites that post coupon codes for various merchants. A Google search for the merchant’s name plus the words “coupon codes” should point you in the right direction.

There are plenty of coupons to be found if you just know where to look. Check out these coupons sources before you shop, and you could save quite a bit of money. And if you’re lucky enough to find a sale on an item you’ve got a coupon for, you could save even more!

Being self-employed has numerous benefits. It allows you to have more control over your time than you would working for someone else. It makes it possible for you to make a living doing something you enjoy. And it offers unlimited income potential. But when it comes time to pay taxes, self-employment might seem slightly less attractive.

When you work for an employer, you pay half of your Social Security and Medicare tax, and the employer pays the other half. But the self-employed must pay both the employer and the employee contribution. So in effect, being self-employed doubles the amount of tax you must pay out of the money you bring home to about 30% of your income.

Especially in the first few years of self-employment, it can be difficult to estimate how much you will owe in taxes. Your income may fluctuate from month to month, and it may be hard to even come up with an average monthly or annual income to go by. Many self-employed individuals remedy this by putting money away for taxes as they go.

For example, you might set aside 30% of each payment you receive to go toward the payment of self-employment taxes. Or you could figure it up at the end of each week, or even the end of each month. As long as you can keep up with it and you have the money to put back when you need it, it really doesn’t matter too much how you accomplish it.

One problem that some of the self-employed face is the temptation to spend the money they put away for taxes. If it’s just sitting there in your bank account, you might be tempted to spend a little bit of it and put it back later. But what if you’re not able to replace it? If you are concerned about spending the money, put it in a savings account or some other type of account where it won’t be so easily accessible.

If you anticipate owing the government more than $1,000 in taxes for the year, you need to make quarterly estimated tax payments. Otherwise, you could be charged underpayment penalties. Even if you won’t owe that much, you can still make quarterly payments if you think it will help ensure that you pay enough money in.

Taxes aren’t something most of us enjoy thinking about all the time. But when you’re self-employed, it’s important to stay on top of them. If you don’t, you could be in for a rude awakening when it comes time to pay up. By saving money for income tax as you go, you can make sure that there are no unpleasant surprises when tax time rolls around.

Travel has a reputation for being expensive. And it certainly can be if you feel it necessary to go first-class all the way. But it’s also possible to travel on a budget. You just have to be vigilant about finding the best prices on everything.

Here are some tips that will allow you to travel without spending a small fortune.

* Find the best deals on flights, hotels and car rentals. Sites like LastMinute.com and Travelocity.com are great for finding deals on these travel essentials. But it’s also a good idea to check with individual airlines and hotels, too. Sometimes they offer deals that you won’t find on such sites.

* Consider traveling by train. It’s less expensive than flying, and you’ll experience fewer security delays. The biggest disadvantage is that it will take you longer to get where you’re going.

* When traveling to a foreign country, do some research on exchange rates. Your best bet is usually to withdraw money from your bank account at an ATM, but different ATMs offer different exchange rates. You’ll also pay some fees to the bank that owns the ATM, and probably your bank as well. Try to find out how much these fees are in advance so you’ll be prepared.

* Consider a traveler’s cheque card. These cards are not linked to your bank account and will be replaced if they are lost or stolen. You’ll have to pay an issuance fee, but withdrawal fees are often lower than those charged by banks.

* Avoid eating in restaurants for every meal. Most hotels include a breakfast of some sort with a room rental, so you can take advantage of that in the morning. If you can get a room with a kitchen, you can cook your own lunch and dinner. Or you could take along some bread and sandwich meat and pack picnic lunches.

* Take vacations in the off-season. If you’re going to a theme park with a small child, for example, plan your trip for the spring or fall. If you check with the ticket office, you’ll often find that admission is discounted. And the school-aged children will be in school, so it will also be much less crowded.

* Consider vacation packages. Travel agencies offer packages that include travel, accommodations, car rental, admission to popular attractions and more for one low price. Some packages even come with gift certificates to restaurants and shops, so you can eat and get souvenirs at no additional charge.

If you’re on a tight budget, travel might seem out of reach. But if you are willing to spend some time finding the best deals, you might be surprised at what you can afford.

When we go shopping, many of us seek out coupons to save money. 50 cents or so saved on an item might not seem like much, but when you save that much on several items, it can add up in a hurry. And sometimes you can find coupons that will save you a dollar or more, or even allow you to walk away with a free item.

But did you know that you can save money with coupons when you shop online, too? You can’t usually use the coupons you find in the newspaper or in magazines, or even the ones you print online. But you can take advantage of discount codes that have the potential to save you lots of money.

Coupon codes are simply codes containing letters and/or numbers that you can use when ordering online. They are set up by the merchant to knock a certain dollar amount or percentage off your order, give you free or reduced shipping, or add free items to your order. They are often set up to work only when you meet certain conditions, such as buying a specific item or brand or spending a certain amount of money.

Using discount codes is quite simple. You just visit the merchant’s website and place the items you wish to buy in your shopping cart. When viewing your shopping cart, you may see a space where you can add your coupon code. If so, you should be able to add it at any time. In some cases, however, you may have to wait until you check out to enter it.

Once you’ve submitted your coupon code, the discount should be reflected in your total if the conditions of the code have been met. If you haven’t met those conditions, the discount may not show up until you do. To ensure that you get the discount, it’s best to enter the code after you have added the applicable items to your cart or met the minimum purchase amount.

You can find online discount codes from several different sources. Online stores often post them right on their websites. Sometimes merchants send them out to customers via email or promote them in television, radio, magazine or billboard advertisements. There are also certain websites, such as CurrentCodes.com, CouponCabin.com and CouponTrunk.com, that list coupon codes from various merchants. Just visit such a site, select the merchant you’re interested in, and see all of the coupon codes available.

Coupon codes often make it possible to get the items you want at a significant discount. So before you shop online, do some investigating. You might find a coupon code that will save you lots of money!

For some, it seems like saving money comes naturally. With very little effort, they build up an emergency fund, college fund, retirement fund and vacation fund. For the rest of us, it’s not quite that easy.

Saving money isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do. We have to spend a large portion of what we earn in order to have the necessities in life. Once all the bills are paid and those necessities are taken care of, we usually have some money left over. But there’s just so much temptation to spend it, that when it’s all said and done, we frequently don’t have anything left to put into savings.

Most financial advisors will tell you to make a budget, and allocate a certain amount out of each paycheck to savings. Then, when you get paid, put the planned amount into savings before you pay bills or spend a dime. In theory, this is a great idea. But in practice, it can be rather scary – especially if you have limited funds and no savings to fall back on.

But don’t be discouraged. There are a few tricks you can use to get into the habit of saving money. Here are some to try.

* Make your budget, and cut out unnecessary items. It’s okay if they’re small expenses, such as that latte you buy every day. They will add up. Then, instead of making those purchases, put the money that you would have spent on them into savings. If it’s a daily purchase, you can either put away that amount each day or add it up and put it away at the end of the week. You won’t miss the money, because you’ve been spending the same amount anyway.

* Find ways to save money on groceries and other items you buy on a regular basis. Seek out sales, use coupons, or go to a store that has lower prices. Figure up how much you saved, and put that amount into savings after each grocery trip.

* If you get a raise, put the increase from each paycheck into savings. You’ve lived on the amount you were making before for some time, so it shouldn’t be difficult to continue living on that much.

* Set up automatic transfers from your checking account to a savings account. Have your paycheck direct deposited if possible, and set the transfers up to occur shortly after you get paid. As long as you’ve budgeted carefully and chosen a manageable amount to save, you’ll learn to live on the amount of money you have in checking.

Once you’ve started saving up some money, it won’t be as difficult to continue doing so. It feels good to check your savings account balance and see how much it has grown. Once you’ve got some money in there, you’ll be more motivated to find ways to save more.

Going to college is an expensive proposition these days. Students need all the help they can get. And costs aren’t getting any lower, so it pays to start planning for college while children are still young.

Parents usually take the responsibility of saving up for their children’s college education. But grandparents are often willing and able to help as well. If both parents and grandparents pitch in, it won’t be so hard on either party to come up with enough money to help the kids get the education they need to succeed.

There are many ways in which grandparents can help their grandchildren with college costs. Here are some to consider.

Grandparents can make contributions to college savings plans. This is one of the most popular ways for grandparents to contribute money for college, and it offers some attractive benefits. For example, if the grandparent is the owner of a 529 college savings plan for a child who is a dependant of his parents, the plan’s assets are not reported on the student’s financial aid application. That means he can qualify for more financial aid than he would if he or his parents owned the plan. College savings plans can also help the grandparent by providing a way to transfer assets out of his or her name.

The grandparent may give a cash gift to the child’s parent. If the money is given directly to the grandchild, it can seriously impact financial aid eligibility. But if given to the parent, it is not reported on financial aid documents.

A grandparent can co-sign for a student loan for the grandchild. This should be done with caution, however, because if the student defaults on the loan, the grandparent can be held responsible for repayment.

Grandparents can help their grandchildren qualify for scholarships and grants. Some awards are only available to children and grandchildren of certain groups of people, such as veterans or members of specific organizations. Grandparents can inquire about available scholarships and grants and sponsor their grandchildren in applying for them. This doesn’t cost the grandparent a dime, and can be of great help to the grandchild.

A grandparent can borrow from his or her retirement fund to help pay college costs. If you choose to go this route, keep in mind that you will have less time to repay the money than the student would with a student loan.

A college education is one of the best gifts a grandparent can give a grandchild. But it’s important to carefully consider your options before proceeding. If you play your cards right, helping with college costs can be advantageous for both grandchild and grandparent.

Credit cards can be helpful in many ways. They allow us to buy now and pay later, making it possible to buy things we couldn’t otherwise afford. They eliminate the need to carry large amounts of cash, and if they’re stolen the holder is responsible for little or none of the amount of unauthorized charges. And they make it easy to make purchases online or over the phone.

But credit cards can also get us in trouble. If we don’t pay the balance in full each month, we must pay interest charges until it’s all paid. It’s also too easy to keep building up a higher and higher balance, paying only the minimum payment until we’re in debt over our heads. And if we are late with a payment or go over our credit limit, we could be subjected to fees and interest rate increases.

Some consumers apply for store credit cards in an effort to avoid some of these problems. Store credit cards usually have a lower limit than regular credit cards, so you can’t run up an insanely high balance with them. And in most cases, they may only be used at one store or chain of stores, so there is less temptation to use them to buy anything and everything.

But what many store credit card holders do not realize is that these cards often cause even more trouble than regular credit cards. This is true for several reasons:

* Store credit cards usually have higher interest rates than the average bank credit card. This is true even for customers who have excellent credit. Since store credit cards are generally easier to get than regular credit cards, they carry higher interest to make up for the higher default rate.

* A store credit card could adversely affect your ability to obtain other credit. Many lenders consider store credit cards a sign of overspending or not being creditworthy. So they may decline the applicant or charge a higher interest rate.

* Stores often make special offers to entice shoppers to apply for one of their cards. They may offer a percentage off your purchase if you’re accepted, or offer zero interest for a certain amount of time. These offers are very tempting, but if you accept you’ll eventually be subjected to the same high interest rates and fees as everyone else.

* Having a credit card from a given store often encourages shoppers to spend more money there than they normally would. Merchants know this, and they frequently offer special deals to customers with their cards to further lure them in. If you’re not careful, you could end up maxing your card out in no time.

Even if you pay your balance in full each month, a store credit card could adversely affect your credit. In most cases, you’re better off just using a regular credit card (or better yet, cash). Even if you miss out on a deal or two, you’ll usually still save money in the long run by leaving store credit cards alone.

There are few consumers who haven’t heard the sage advice offered by those who are all too familiar with credit card debt. “Pay off your balance in full every month.” “Don’t charge more than you could afford to pay cash for.” Or, “Never exceed half of your credit limit.”

Following this advice will make your life much easier, not to mention less expensive. But not everyone follows it to the letter. Some charge a little more and a little more until they’re in debt over their heads. Others are very careful to keep their debt at a manageable level, but they end up losing their jobs or having other financial difficulties. Either way, they might eventually find themselves unable to keep up with even their minimum payments.

Some who are unable to make their payments hide from their lenders, screening phone calls and tossing the notices they send in the trash. Others are quick to consider bankruptcy. But neither of these is a good first reaction. In most cases, you could save yourself a lot of headaches by just talking to the lender.

Lenders would prefer for you to pay your obligation in full rather than skip out on it. So if you let them know that you’re having problems, they are often quite willing to work with you. They might let you skip a payment, or they could lower your interest and/or monthly payment. They aren’t obligated to do such things, but it’s certainly worth a try.

The best time to talk to the lender is as soon as you realize that you’re going to be late with a payment. This will let them know that you’re serious about paying your debt, and that they’re not wasting their time by working with you. Here are some tips for the big talk.

* Before you make the phone call, write out a budget plan. This will help you determine how much you can realistically commit to paying each month. It will also show responsibility on your part.

* Fill the lender in on the circumstances that are causing you to have trouble making payments. You don’t necessarily have to share every last detail, just let them know the basics of what’s going on. If you have a reasonable explanation, you’ll get much further than you would if you just said you needed your payments lowered.

* If the lender offers concessions, make sure you have the full details before agreeing to it. How long will they accept the lowered payment amount? Will you have to pay any additional fees in order to set up or maintain the payment plan? Are there any special requirements, such as setting up automatic transfers?

* If you can’t come to an agreement with the lender, talk to a credit counselor. Credit counselors are trained to help debtors rework their budgets so that they can make debt payments. And if needed, they will negotiate with creditors on your behalf. They can often get better deals than individual consumers because they work regularly with lenders.

No one likes to admit that they can’t make their debt payments. But it can happen to anyone. By being straightforward with the lender, you have a much better chance of working out something that’s agreeable to everyone involved.

It’s a well-known fact that financial issues are the most common reason for divorce. Even in unmarried couples, disagreements about how to manage money can cause serious problems, and may end the relationship. We all have our own ideas about what we should do with our money, and when these ideas clash with those of our partners, it can get messy.

In some cases of financial disagreement, it’s simply a case of not seeing eye to eye. But sometimes one partner is clearly overspending or otherwise mismanaging the finances. Not only can this result in the couple having a hard time making ends meet, it can also break down the trust that holds the relationship together.

If your partner is financially out of control, it can be difficult to figure out how to fix the problem. And realistically, it’s just about impossible to fix it yourself. You must gain the co-operation of your partner if you are to get your finances back on track and save the marriage. Here are some tips to help you do just that.

* Plan to have a calm and productive conversation with your partner about your financial situation. Hurling accusations will do nothing but put him or her on the defensive, and you’ll get nowhere. It may help to write down what you hope to accomplish and what steps you feel are necessary to do that before you bring up the subject.

* Tell your partner what you have observed. Start out with facts, such as the daily charges to expensive restaurants that are showing up on the credit card. Then you can move on to what you feel may be behind the behavior.

* Instead of harping on small expenses, look at the big picture. Add up the amount your partner is spending on unnecessary items, and present it to him or her as a monthly or yearly amount. This will make much more of an impression than “nitpicking” over an individual charge.

* Discuss your goals for life and your relationship. If you don’t have any, now would be a good time to set some. Good ones to start with include building a nest egg, starting a college fund for the children or saving up for a vacation. When your partner sees what you could miss out on if the spending isn’t curbed, he or she might get more motivated to make a change.

* Realize that there could be serious emotional problems at the root of your partner’s poor decision making. Shopping addiction is more common than you might think, and it should be treated like any other addiction. Depression could also fuel spending sprees. If it appears that such a problem may exist, encourage your partner to seek professional help.

Dealing with your partner’s overspending isn’t an easy task. A confrontation could result in further damage to the relationship. But letting it go on unchecked will do even more damage, both emotionally and financially. If you think your partner’s spending is out of control, it’s crucial that you discuss it before it’s too late.

Owning a home is a dream for many. It represents freedom and accomplishment. But it also comes with a great deal of responsibility. When it comes time to make repairs, you may find yourself wishing you were renting so that the landlord would have to foot the bill.

Some home repairs are inexpensive and easy. Others are pricey and complicated. Here are some tips to help you save money on repairs of any size.

* Keep your house well maintained. If you clean the carpet regularly, for example, you won’t have to replace it as soon as you would if you don’t. If you keep everything clean and in good working order, it will last much longer and you’ll save money in the long run.

* Make repairs yourself if you can. With very few exceptions, it’s cheaper to make your own repairs than it is to hire someone else to do it. But it’s important to realize that you may not be able to do everything yourself. Electrical work, for example, is best left to a licensed electrician if you’re not absolutely sure that you know what you’re doing.

* When making your own repairs, shop around for supplies. Prices vary significantly from store to store. Also, don’t forget to check online. You may be able to find deals on eBay or from retailers’ websites.

* If you can’t make a repair by yourself, enlist the help of friends and family. Offer to help them with a repair project if they will help you with yours. You’ll have to sacrifice some of your free time, but if it saves you from hiring a contractor or someone else to help, it will be well worth it.

* If you must hire a contractor, get several estimates before hiring anyone. Even if you already have a preferred contractor in mind, getting estimates from others will make it easier to negotiate a lower price.

* For large repairs, you may need to borrow money. Avoid using credit cards unless they have exceptionally low interest. Your best bet will usually be getting a low-interest loan. You could borrow against your home equity, or you could put up a vehicle or something else as collateral for a new loan.

Making repairs to your home is often expensive. But there are many ways that you can cut costs. By taking the necessary steps to avoid repairs as much as possible, doing it yourself when you can, and shopping around, you could feasibly cut your repair costs in half. Instead of just calling a contractor at the first sign of trouble, take the time to determine the least expensive way to get the job done.