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Money Matters - More Savings: Saving $6000 A Year

BOSTON (CBS) - I had started to research saving and my Google search led me to an article, Cut Your Spending by $500 a Month at CNN Money's website. They have several hundred suggestions. Some of them I had not thought about.

So think about this; if you can save $6000 a year, you have given yourself an $8000 before taxes raise. Key according to the article is to set a spending limit. And write it down.

Use a shopping list whenever you go shopping. And often people go shopping for recreation and for something to do so without a list or a plan you will randomly buy stuff. Saving more should become a family project and it should involve the whole family.

Re-evaluate your car insurance. Get quotes from several different companies and see how much you can save. Do you have towing through your Triple A membership and your insurance company? Are you paying for it twice? Our producer, Jay, here at WBZ saved several hundred dollars by simply asking a few questions and then he combined his auto and renters policy for more savings.

Life insurance: if you have had your policy for 10 years or more see what you can do to lower the costs. Term life insurance has actually gotten cheaper because the insurance companies discovered that we were living longer.

Grocery shopping: this does take work on a weekly basis but I find it challenging and fun. And I did it when my children were small and it became a family project and their job was to clip the coupons. Now you can send your kids to the computer to get the coupons.

Phones: talk and text less! Or get a plan that includes everything you want. Or combine cable, home phone and cell phone for lower costs. And check out the apps you thought you couldn't live without. Do you need the GPS on your cell phone and in the car?

Bank fees: ATM fees are the biggie here. Paying $3 to $6 to withdraw $50 is a lot of money. Actually it's costing you 12%. There may be a fee for using your debit card. And if you are overdrawn on your checking account they ding you there also.

Credit card fees: if you can't pay for something don't buy it! Charging it drags the payments out over years. And you could end paying twice what the purchase was worth.

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