MoneyDigest - Personal Finance, Lifestyle, Money Saving Tips

6 Ways To Slash Your Costly Mobile Phone Bills

Prevent exceeding your monthly budget by taking control over your mobile or hand phone bills. May these tips help you save some of your hard earned money…

1. IDENTIFY YOUR MONTHLY USAGE

Look onto your carrier’s usage information or last month’s billing statement and check your monthly usage. Identify what you really need in terms of number of texts, call minutes, and Internet data each month. Then, start comparing the telecommunication plans available to get the best and cheapest deal.

2. CONTEMPLATE ON YOUR MOBILE PLAN

Examine your plan carefully. What is your telecommunication’s limit for your local and overseas calls, texts, and data usage per month? Does it harmonize with your actual usage? The truth is, majority of people do not maximize the use of their plans. Most under consume and over paying for the phone service they are using. So, consider switching to a lower plan or going on prepaid to save more money and to actually stretch your dollar’s worth.

3. AVOID EXTRA FEE BY COMMITTING TO YOUR CONTRACT

Before you switch to a new telecom, honor your current contract term first. Most companies have a two-year contract. Doing your research on the terms and conditions can save you from paying additional fees.

4. SAVE ON INTERNET DATA USAGE

Avoid exceeding your monthly data allowance by regulating the phone’s settings. For Android users, go to settings then, click data usage to set a limit for a month. If you are using iOS, go to settings then, click cellular to track your cellular data usage every month.

5. USE WI-FI AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE

Using 3G or 4G does not only cost you more but it also decreases your battery life easily. Instead, use Wi-Fi whenever possible. Take advantage of the free Internet network services provided by your school or workplace and save money.

6. REDUCE YOUR CALLS AND TEXTS

Use Free Apps that provide call and text services without adding extra charges to your plan since you are using Wi-Fi connection anyway. These free online Apps are Line, Viber, Tango, and Facebook Messenger among others.

Image Credits: Sam Azgor via Flickr

Get Blue Eyes Forever For US$5,000 At Strōma Medical

Whenever we see people with blue or green eyes, we get mesmerized because having these pair of eyes are considered unique in comparison with the norm. Eye color determined by two factors: the pigmentation of the iris and the frequency-dependence of the scattering of light.

If you want to change your eye color temporarily then, you will have to purchase colored contact lenses. For decades it is a characteristic that we cannot change permanently…until now.

A company named Strōma Medical, based in United States, developed a revolutionary technique to permanently alter one’s brown eyes to blue. Inventor and scientist Gregg Homer, JSD (PhD) has patented a non-invasive procedure of using laser through the eyes and it can be performed in under a minute!

PROCEDURE

Dr. Homer said that fundamental principle that makes all this possible is the fact that under every brown eyes are blue eyes. There is just a thin layer of brown pigment that covers the front surface of the iris giving it the color brown. So, the laser will disrupt the layer of pigment and take it away by the innate and gradual process of tissue removal.

For the first few weeks, the irises will become darker. Then once the tissue is totally removed, an underlying natural and permanent set of blue eyes will show. This process takes about several weeks.

SAFETY

Strōma Medical yet to be given the go signal to perform its procedures in the United States but it has performed a number of procedures in Mexico and Costa Rica. As of the present, no adverse effects have been reported. No effect was shown on the patient’s vision since it only treats the patient’s iris. And, pigmentary glaucoma did not occur in their pre-clinical or clinical studies.

Image Credits: Look Into My Eyes via Flickr

Interested to get yours done? Well, you have to pay a fee of about US$5,000 or S$6,945.

Good thing 2 sets of blue colored contact lenses are S$6,900 cheaper than this procedure!

How To Get Desirable Deals For Your Wedding

Looking for good price deals that match your budget may seem like an impossible task at times – but it need not be. Wedding planners and other experts such as Robin Weil showed ways to make most of your special day without over spending.

1. BE HONEST

It is best to be honest while organizing your wedding so that the businesses can give you every price options to explore. It is okay to have different suppliers; in fact most couples have seven. Keep your payments on track by having an Excel spreadsheet for it.

2. COMMUNICATE WITH TRANSPARENCY

Fear not if you are going to ask for what you really want. The wedding organizer or the suppliers’ are responsible to give you options and to tell you if your ideal wedding may work on your given budget. Communicate clearly and with transparency.

3. GET FREE OR AFFORDABLE MUSIC

Do you want a live band without the hefty costs? Try hiring students from a music college or an independent band. How about saving on music but still having the power over the song selection? Then, consider free music streaming services and make your own playlist.

4. BE VIGILANT IN VENUE HUNTING

Venues can take up most of the couples’ budgets. Some venues have hidden service charges such as corkage fee (fee for bringing your own beverage or alcohol). So, carefully check the quote and have a written agreement.

5. VALUE THE GUESTS

Before settling for a venue, get the approximate number of the guests and wedding crew. It is a rule of thumb to allot about 25 square feet per guest. And, if you really want to cut down on your budget then, narrow your guest list. Eliminating a table of 10 can save you as much as S$1,400.

6. BE DECISIVE

The wedding crew and the suppliers value their time. To help lower the costs, be decisive and support them in spending minimum about of time to achieve the best results.

Image Credits: Kelly Sue DeConnick via Flickr

5 Free Audiobooks Websites For The Savvy Bookworm

Living on the fast-paced millennia, audiobooks combined the best of two worlds namely: text of a good book and the convenience of listening to it. It certainly saves time, effort, and money. But audiobooks are not always inexpensive. Fortunately there are websites that offer the beauty of audiobooks for free. Here are some good ones…

1. LIBROVOX

Librovox asks a group of people to volunteer different parts of the books. This is why you can listen to diverse voices in just one book. But you can search for “solo” if you prefer a singular voice for the whole book. Authors, genres, titles, and languages sort the Audiobooks. The addition of various spoken languages increased the book selection.

2. LOYAL BOOKS (PREVIOUSLY BOOKS SHOULD BE FREE)

Loyal Books offers books for all ages especially to those who love the classics. Most of the books are free because they want the company values the importance of books in our lives. The website offers audiobooks in MP3 or MP4 format. Searching for books is easy as they are organized by top 100, genre, and language. You can also search for a specific book through their “Google search bar”. Good books are easy to separate from the not so good ones because they are all rated and reviewed.

3. OPEN CULTURE

Open Culture is a neat website for educational, cultural, and historical media. From Astronomy, to Economics, and Political Science – they have it all for free. Majorly devoting on the classics, the audiobooks are arranged by genre, and are alphabetically listed following the author’s last name. Also, it allows you to download free courses from various universities in MP3 format or podcasts.

4. LIT2GO

Lit2Go is a well-organized website that gives not just a selection of poems and novels but also its background information. Most of the classic selections, such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Anne of Green Gables are available to download on iTunes. The audiobooks can easily be downloaded in PDF form too so that you can read along or have a guide for your homework’s.

5. PODIOBOOKS

Have you ever thought that Cyberpunk audiobook category is possible? Well it is. Podiobooks offer some of the unique books that are beyond the classics. Browse books by author, genre, new releases, title, and award-winning collections.

Image Credits: The Preiser Project via Flickr

Best of all? The Podiobooks is available to navigate on your Smartphone so you can download and listen simultaneously anytime and anywhere.

4 Ways To Earn And Save Money As A Housewife

Raising children and keeping your home in top shape can be challenging at times. Even though you love to spend more time with your children, money is usually tight when there is only one income in the household. So, knowing ways to earn and save money while you are staying at home sounds like music to your ears. Here are some tips to get you started with…

1. HOBBIES OR BUSINESS STARTERS

Do you love to make cupcakes, jewelry, or essence oils? Turn your hobby into your own business. Be your own boss and master your own schedule by thinking about your skill set and hobbies then, start making an online business out of it. Free platforms for selling or making your own online shop such as: Carousell and Tictail, are available online.

2. STAY-AT-HOME NANNY SWAP

Instead of paying costly bills on daycare or babysitting, have another stay-at-home mom to take turns in taking care of your children. Watch your friend’s children for one weekend then, she will watch yours for the next. This will not only save you money but it will also give one day off for you to relax and run errands.

3. TIDY UP AND SELL STUFF ONLINE

Tidy up the clutter in your closet and find the things that you deem to be unused or underused because you can sell them online. The old clothing articles of your children that are still in good condition can be sold too. How about the costumes that you only used once? Get rid of it and earn money simultaneously.

Try selling your items to the worldwide marketplace platform of eBay and Gumtree. And, consider selling your items to your friends and family by posting an ad on Facebook. Save money by buying bargain items in these sites.

4. BECOME A SALES REP

A sales representatives or brand ambassadors sell household, beauty, or health products in their own ways. Join millions of independent ambassadors of Avon or MaryKay Singapore.

Have the freedom to design a schedule that works for you without thinking of building a business from ground up and still be able to nurture your loving children!

Search the site