Are you prepared for a change in the green?

Here are a few tips to save a little money here and a little money there. Then, before you know it, all this money will add up to be a bigger amount. You will be amazed at how much more money you find in your pocketbook, if you just follow a few simple tips:

1. Use coupons and frequent customer punch cards. If you are frequently shopping at a certain store or business, odds are you will pay for the “tenth” meal and you might as well get the next one free. No need to pay for the eleven when punch cards work in your favor. Also, many companies offer rewards cards or bonuses. If you pay a certain amount of money, you get a certain amount of points which will benefit you in the long run by allowing you to receive other items for free or at a cheaper price. Just be sure not to buy anything for the sole purpose of gaining more punches on a card or more rewards points. This will only hurt you as you begin spending more money than you would have without the rewards card or bonus points.
2. Another tip would be to only eat until you are full when you go out to eat. This way, you not only avoid stuffing yourself until you feel sick, but you save enough for leftovers. It’s like getting two meals for one. Think of the money you can save!
3. Bargain shop. You may prefer brand names simply because you know them more or have grown up seeing them in most stores and in many commercials. Truth is, you may like the less expensive brands more or they might taste the exact same. It is better to save money on a less known brand than to continue to pay lots of money for something you can get for cheaper. Besides it’s just food after all. Try saving some of your grocery money by bargain shopping, and then you will be able to buy other things, or simply add to your savings account.

It’s very important to select the right credit consolidation company. It’s first major step towards debt relief. Therefore, you must do research before selecting the right people to work your way out of debt.

There are a lot of companies that offer credit consolidation service. All of them promise to help you get rid of debt, but the fact is not all of them keep their promise. So, to ensure that you end up with right people, you should ask some questions to your credit consolidator before signing any contract.

Questions that you should ask
The questions that you should ask a credit consolidator are given below:

1. Which of your services are free of charge?
Most of credit consolidation service providers offer free consultation to the consumers. The free consultation generally starts with an evaluation of you current debt load and analysis of options available to you. However, free consultation will end after some time. So, it’s better to ask before hand about the fees that you have to pay for their services.

2. Can you give me list of all fees in writing?
You are required to pay for the services of every credit consolidation company. You should ask for a full disclosure of fees in writing so that you cannot be charged any extra fee at later stage.

3. How much of your fee has to be paid upfront?
You should ask the credit consolidator whether you are required to pay any upfront fee. If you are asked to pay consulting fee upfront, then look for other company.

4. Is your company accredited?
As there are lots of scams happening nowadays, therefore you should ensure that you are working with legitimate people. You must verify whether the company is listed with Better Business Bureau or have an affiliation with chamber of commerce.

5. How many complaints have been filed against your company?
You should ask the credit consolidator about the number of complaints that have been filed against the company. Body language of the consolidator will tell you half of the story. But don’t believe every word he says. You can check online forums, or check with Better business Bureau.

Finally, you should ask about what kind of training does the credit consolidation company gives to its staff. You will be able to hire the best credit consolidation company if you analyze the answers you get carefully.

Bank of America Corp., the largest U.S. bank by assets, is trying to attract investors with less to invest through a new online trading site.

Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch, the world’s largest brokerage with more than 15,000 financial advisers and about $2.2 trillion of client assets, will let customers trade stocks, mutual funds and options online starting June 21, through Merrill Edge, Dean Athanasia, head of banking and the direct investment division for Bank of America Global Wealth and Investment Management has said in a recent interview.

Customers of Merrill Edge will pay from $4.95 to as much as $8.95 a trade, depending on the size of their accounts, Athanasia said. Those with at least $25,000 in total banking and brokerage accounts will get 30 free equity trades a month. Users may open investment and retirement accounts on the site and those with more than $20,000 to invest may contact advisers, who are separate from Merrill Lynch’s full-service advisers, by phone.

The Bank of America site that allows customers to trade online will become Merrill Edge on June 21, 2010.