Top 5 Money-Saving Tips for Online Shopping and Home Maintenance

1. Try and find the best prices when you shop online.

Big stores like Amazon know that no one has time to price shop through dozens of sites, so there’s often no incentive for them to offer bargain prices.

I typically hate browser extensions with a fiery passion, but Capital One Shopping has always worked well for me and I'd recommend trying it (link here).

When you shop online (on Amazon or elsewhere) it will automatically compare prices for you, and auto-apply coupon codes when possible.

2. Switch auto insurance companies every 6-12 months.

The average American saves a whopping $410+ a YEAR (source) when they switch auto insurance carriers – sometimes significantly more than that: I saved $1,300 this year.

The reason: some carriers offer discount prices to new customers when they switch.

Take 30 seconds and go to a 3rd party comparison site (Coverage.com and Auto-Savings.com are both fine) to see if you can find cheaper rates. You’ll likely save yourself a bunch of money.

Some people suggest switching every 6 months, that's a little bit overkill imo. Once a year should be fine.

3. Let a company pay off your debt for you.

If you’ve got $10k+ in unsecured debt (think credit cards, medical bills, etc), you can ask a debt relief company to come in and negotiate it for you. You typically will save around 23% on average (after their fees).

Here’s a link to a savings calculator from National Debt Relief's website if you want to see how much you could save: link here.

4. Get yourself a dang advisor.

You know why so many rich people have financial advisors? It isn't because they're better at picking stocks (spoiler alert: they're not)

It's because a good financial advisor will help you with all of the bizarro tax implications you never would have thought of. People with financial advisors end up making ~3% more/year thanks to better tax planning.

If you don't know an advisor personally, use a 3rd party comparison site to find somebody with good reviews (WiserAdvisor is solid).

5. Use HELOCs.

If you own your home but are low on cash, you might want to look into a HELOC (home equity line of credit). It’s more/less a credit card, but you borrow against your home’s equity. 

They usually have lower interest rates and more flexible terms that a typical loan would.

Here’s a calculator from Lendingtree where you can enter your home info and see how much money you could access: link.

6. Save on home insurance.

Switching home insurance will often save you more than switching auto policies (I've heard of people saving $1k per year by switching).

Here's the home insurance comparison site I typically use: link.

7. Stop paying for home repair bills out of pocket.

If you have a home warranty, your warranty company will likely pay your home repair bills for you.

If you don’t have a warranty yet, think about getting yourself one. Choice Warranty is pretty good (link here).

Home warranty companies usually have pre-vetted maintenance and repair workers ready to get the job done (which is one less thing to worry about).

If you’re interested just enter your zip code here to look at pricing etc. Could save you a bunch of money the next time something breaks down.

Source