These days, most of us are looking for ways to save money that we haven’t thought of yet and AARP and “USA Today” have some ideas. Inspecting your credit report line by line probably isn’t your idea of a good time, but knowing it could help you save may be all the motivation you need. It’s just one of the smart “financial fixes” recommended to do just that.
Experts advise these are the ways to save and they all take an hour or less.
- Read your credit report - Sure, it’s intimidating, but Ted Rossman, a senior industry analyst at Bankrate says it’s a good idea to check your credit report regularly, as one recent study finds that nearly half of them may contain errors. As you scan your report, check for accounts that don’t belong to you, wrong names and addresses and anything else you don’t recognize, then report errors to the credit bureaus.
- Freeze your credit - This is the strongest way to protect yourself against identity theft, as it ensures no one else can open an account in your name. As Rossman says, “It locks the bad guys out.” And it’s free to do and relatively quick.
- Apply for a zero-APR credit card - Getting another credit card can actually help you pay off credit card debt because you transfer the debt from a card with a higher interest rate, then have a year or longer to pay it off while paying no interest.
- Open a high-yield savings account - A recent Vanguard survey finds that more than half of savers earn less than 3% in annual interest, but many online banks offer 3.5% to 4% on high-yield savings.
- Shop for discounts on car insurance - Auto insurance rates are projected to rise by 7.5% in 2025, according to MarketWatch Guides, so check around before renewing your policy and make sure you’re comparing the same coverage limits and deductibles.
- Look for unclaimed assets - It turns out, millions of Americans have unclaimed cash in lost or forgotten accounts, and you can check to see if you’re one of the lucky ones at Missing Money and the National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits.
- Audit your subscriptions - Lots of us pay for subscriptions we don’t use or forgot about, so take a few minutes and look through your accounts to make sure you’re not one of them.
- Raise your 401(k) contribution - Saving more for retirement is a reward for your future self. "If you’re saving 10%, can you make it 11?” Rossman says. “The point is, especially if you do it gradually, you probably won’t even miss the money.”
Source: USA Today