Personal Finance Tips

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1 Saving
2 Credit and Loans
3 Frugality
4 Other Useful Tips in General
5 Sources/Reference
6 Authors

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Saving

Save now. You should be saving a little bit every month, aside from retirement savings.
Pay off high interest debts before you start saving. Earning 5% in your savings account isn't going to do much good if you're accruing 17% interest on your credit card debt.
Open an online savings account. Online savings accounts, such as Emigrant Direct or HSBC Direct, offer yields of greater than 5%.
Set up an automatic savings plan. You should be able to set up your checking account so that a certain amount is automatically transferred to a savings account each month.
Pay yourself first. Try to put away at least 10% of your pre-tax income into a savings account.
Spend less than you earn. Stop spending and start saving.
Pay your bills on time. Avoid needless late fees and know how much money you actually have.
Avoid debt to the extent possible. Student loans and mortgages can be "good debt", but even then, make paying them off a priority.
Set a budget. And live by it. Use a computer program or just a paper and pencil.
Set concrete goals. Know when you want to buy a new home, when you want to retire, and how much you are expecting each to cost you.
Have an emergency fund. Have at least three months' income in a high-yield savings account that can be easily accessed.

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Credit and Loans

Get a rewards card. If you need a credit card, the best type to get is a no-fee rewards card that you pay in full every month.
Borrow no more than 30% of your available credit. Borrow any more, and your credit score won't look too good.
Pay off your credit card debt. Credit card debt is usually the debt with the most interest. So pay it off first. Better yet, don't accumulate it in the first place.
Don't use your credit card for cash advances. It will harm your credit score and the interest rates are outrageous.
Protect yourself from identity theft. Obtain your free credit report at least once per year.
Pay all credit card balances in full each month. Leaving a balance on a credit card account will leave you susceptible to a very high APR. You may as well be throwing cash into the fireplace.
Consolidate your loans. Especially those student loans. With a student consolidation loan, you can lock in several loans at a fixed interest rate and have just one lender to pay each month.
Avoid payday loans. Bottom line: they're scammy and they charge high interest rates. If you do need an emergency cash loan, just be aware of the risk of high interest rates.
Beware of scams. There are a lot of scams that deal with credit. Debt suspension offers, paying fees in advance, buying credit protection, and rebuilding credit usually sound too good to be true. There's a reason for this: they are.
Be cautious with home equity loans. If you can't make a payment toward a home equity loan, you could lose your house.

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Frugality

Buy a used car. The most expensive miles on a car are the first 10,000. Let someone else drive those for you. Buying used can save a lot of money considering how little value the car has actually lost.
Be patient. Don't buy that new gadget today. Wait a month or two and the price will certainly go down.
Buy airline tickets as far in advance as possible. The cheapest flights are the ones the are bought at least two months in advance. For holiday travel especially, buy as soon as you can.
Get the most bang for your airline miles. Be sure each airline mile you redeem is providing you with at least 1 cent toward the price of a ticket.
Never buy the extended warranty. Often times, your new product already comes with a 90-day or 1-year warranty (when most "faulty" things will break, anyway). There's a reason everyone wants to sell you an extended warranty: they're hugely profitable (for the business, not for you).
Make your own meals. Eating out gets to be expensive if you do it too often.
Make your home more energy efficient.
Get a better cell phone plan. If you've had the same cell phone plan for a couple of years, chances are there's something better out there. Look around or call your current provider and ask for a better deal.
Banking fees are for suckers. A lot of banks will charge you checking fees or minimum account balance fees. Find a bank that does not.
Keep track of your spending. At least for a month, keep a journal of everything you purchase. At the end of the month, review your spending priorities and make adjustments.
Ditch your car. Walk, bicycle, or take public transportation. You'll save on car payments, gasoline, parking, and speeding tickets.
Use your frequent flier miles often. There's no sense in stockpiling them. If you have enough for a free flight, use them.
Negotiate fees. For example, ask a bank to waive late fees. Often enough, they will.
Get your free money. Money might be owed to you. Get it.

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Other Useful Tips in General

The sooner you start saving, the better.
An Online Savings Account is a good way to force you to save.
Buying used car can save a lot of money considering how little value the car has actually lost.

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