There are numerous financial mistakes that we may do. One of them is that we tend to rent, instead of owning. Unfortunately, people are forced to rent, when they are not fully qualified for mortgage. This can happen if we have poor credit score. It means that our inability to obtain a mortgage is caused by our previous financial mistakes. We are also not doing things properly if we don’t have a home-based business. This kind of activity could give us so much advantage. With some profit, we could take care of the gas costs, utilities bills, rent costs and others. It is something that a spouse who stays at home can do to help the breadwinner. We should be able to choose many kinds of legitimate business. Another problem is our inability to manage gasoline prices. It happens when we don’t choose the right car for our financial conditions. As an example, a big SUV with V8 engine may have a big fuel tank that requires $100 for each fill and it could often for only three days with frequent use. If gas price really affects our finances, it is better to choose efficient 4-cylinder car that costs only $35 for refill and can last for five days with the same usage pattern. By choosing a smaller car, we will be able to have leaner budget, because we don’t need to spend on gasoline as much. Our condition may be a little hard financially, but we shouldn’t forget to donate to charities. Donations are 100 percent tax deductibles, so they can benefit us financially.
We may also lose money if we ignore differences in sales taxes. Each state, cities and counties may implement different taxation rules. If we live in a city, next to a few smaller towns, we may consider filling up our tank in one of the towns if the cost is lower. The city authority may add an extra 10 cent for each gallon of the gas. Sales taxes on other items can also be up to 4 percent higher in the city, compared to the surrounding towns and suburbs. This may be an unwanted practice, although still quite legal. It also allows us to put pressure on local politicians to always keep taxes down. We may not do the right thing if we ignore the possibility of buying things from the Internet. It is more convenient, because we don’t need to spend money for gas and we don’t to have waste time to go to stores. Some online stores offer free shipping for some items, so they could really be a good deal. There are so many things that we can buy from the Internet from knitting needles to an expensive car, that we can cut down on the actual trip to stores. Problems can also happen during holiday trips, such as not staying at affordable hotels, but staying at cruise ships and expensive resorts. Online options such as AirBnB and couchsurfing could also help us to save money immensely.