You might be looking out for chocolates, perfumes, accessories or planning a day out with your better half. Beseeching heart is not an easy task. But if done with love and simplicity, you can have a fantastic Valentine’s Day. It is the thought that matters and not the price.

The first thought that comes to man to woo his beloved is a diamond. In fact they are a girl’s best friend as the adage goes. So you can shop around for some cheaper deals and also look out for various discounts that brands offer on special days. You can check out some interesting offers at Goldsmith Discount Codes for a beautiful sparkling diamond ring or a pendent. However diamonds are not the deal for money saving fanatics. Saving is the first step to an ultimate money management. The more you manage money, the less you get into debts. Though there are a number of debt management companies across UK and US that helps you to get debt free, but that will cost you a considerable amount. So there are far better options for such lovers who want to impress their lovers themselves. Learn how to say “I Love you” in 10 simple ways.

1.If flowers speak the language of love, go ahead and make your own beautiful bouquet with single stem flowers. Use daisies or lilies instead of expensive roses. This is cheaper yet chic. Assort different colored flowers and tie them with old silver strips at home or an old ribbon from one of your gift wraps. Saving gift papers and accessories can really help in adorning your frugal Valentine’s Day.

2.Expressing love is more important than a gift. You could save all your money for a brighter future by not squandering away your pennies in buying gifts. Just write a thoughtful love poem and pass it on to her/him.

3.Love and chocolates go hand in hand. But why to spend on expensive chocolates such as Godiva or Ghiradelli? Instead bake a chocolate cake and some cookies. Anything made out of love is always special.

4.Scrap materials could be a nice way to gift your beloved. Gather all those things that you have from your first date such as your first movie tickets or first picture together. Make a basket and wrap it with a nice wrapping paper and write your lover’s name on it in calligraphy. Isn’t this interesting?

5.Another great way to woo your lover is to announce your love messages on air live. This is a great way to show her/him that you take pride in the love you hold for.

6.As Valentine’s Day is about to arrive, couples think of going out for an expensive dining? But why get lost amidst the crowd? Spent time at home where there is no one to disturb you. Watch a movie together, cook lunch together with something delicious like a serving of raspberry sorbet as a dessert to an otherwise basic meal can spruce it up. Buy cheaper wine to add a zing. You could even enjoy a sensuous bubble bath to feel the love.

7.Instead of driving and wasting your money behind car fuel, go for a walk-a walk to remember. Stroll down the streets holding her/his hand and share all that you wanted to say.

8.If home is not the right place for you, go for a cheaper pub and dance away to glory. Drink and be merry.

9.Make your love feel special on this day. Light up candles everywhere, play good music. Make handmade cards or a collage that captures all those moments you were together and how much it means to you.

10.The sweetest way to express your love is to give a feeling that you are incomplete without each other. Just complement each others presence and be in each others arms. Being close and staying together can actually turn on your senses. Without expensive gifts, you can simply prove that love is not at the mercy of materials. It is the heart that matters.

On this Valentine’s Day stay together. The feeling counts. Love is where heart is! Celebrate love in your own simple way because love is unconditional and undying.

Post from: Fix My Personal Finance - Personal Finance Advice - Money Management Advice

Woo your valentine with 10 most romantic frugal ideas

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Of course, you can compare accounts all you like, but what should you be looking for in the first place? This short guide aims to highlight a few options, in order to help you make an informed decision.

Cash ISAs

Cash ISAs differ from ordinary savings accounts as they actually benefit from higher interest rates. Cash ISAs also pay out the interest completely tax free which can clearly be a huge benefit. This of course means that for all taxpayers, a cash ISA will usually beat a taxable savings account every time.

When they first came about they were initially available as either mini or maxi ISAs, however; this is no longer the case as this was changed on 6 April 2008. At the same time, the amount you can put into an ISA was also changed. Now, the amount you can put in has been increased for the over-50s only. For those under the age of 50, the rates will remain the same until 2010. 

Cash ISAs are usually risk-free but only if the return beats inflation. If this is the case then they can be a great place to invest your money, especially if you don’t want to consider riskier investment options. However, it’s important to keep an eye on your interest rate to make sure it’s well above inflation and switch your savings immediately if the rate starts to drop.

Easy Access

What’s great about an easy access savings account is that it’s all in the name. This is an account where you can have easy access to your money. There was a time where cash withdrawals from a savings account could take weeks to process but thankfully these days are behind us now and many savings accounts now offer instant access - or occasionally, a short notification period before you can draw your money out.

Whether you decide to go for an easy access account or maybe a more traditional one, your decision will most likely be made on how likely is it that you’re going to need to have access to your savings at short notice.

If your intention is to save over the long term, and you’re reasonably certain that your budget can handle any mishaps then there’s no real point in having an easy access account. Banks will drop the interest rates on savings accounts where the holder can withdraw money at any time.

Fixed Term

Fixed term savings bonds are ideal for those who have a lump sum that they don’t need regular access to. Again, this one says it all in its name, fixed term savings bonds have an interest rate that is fixed for a set period. If you are considering a fixed term account then the best providers should be able to offer you the following:

• A choice of fixed terms – usually between 1 and 5 years

• A high fixed rate of interest

• A guaranteed return on your investment

• A choice of investment value

• Emergency access to your money should you need it

A savings article brought to you by Moneysupermarket.com.

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A Guide to Savings Accounts

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Shop around. Rates vary considerably as with all goods and services. Get quotes from different insurers. You can try to do this online, which will save you on the effort and even save you on money.

Include your teenager on your own insurance policy. Contrary to apparently popular belief, teenagers should not be placed on a separate auto insurance policy. It might be a cause of unease that your teen’s driving mishaps will reflect on your auto insurance record, but it really is always better to have your teenager included in the same policy as yours instead of getting a separate one. The premium rates ideally should have a conjoint history of all drivers covered in the policy when there is no separate coverage. You can save up to 15% on your premium.

Don’t just buy or give your teen any car. Picking the car for your teen itself affects car insurance rates. Of course, a more expensive car will have a higher rate, so consider well the year, make, and model. Even the color has an effect, because some, being harder to spot at night, are more accident-prone. Choose a neutral color such as blue or white.

Ask about discounts. Although your agent is supposed to automatically let you know already, ask your agent what other discounts you are entitled to, especially if you are dealing with one online or by phone. You can be eligible for discounts if you make sure that your teenager’s car is as equipped with safety features as it can be, such as anti-lock brakes, automatic seat belts, and air bags, and if you insure as much of what you have (or a combination of them) as you can—household appliances, recreational vehicles, life insurance. Also, some auto insurance companies ask teenagers to enter into a driving contract with them. Safe and responsible driving is covered therein, and sometimes insurance companies even offer discounts for this. Ask your agent about such a driving contract.

Encourage your teen to get better grades, and to chip in. To obtain low cost teenage car insurance and involve your teen directly, encourage him to get straight As, although to lessen the pressure, at least Bs are good as well. This not only makes him set for life in terms of career, but the displayed responsibility in school also translates to your teenager’s being a safe and responsible driver, which is usually a qualification for being offered insurance rate discounts by insurance companies. Also, if you can encourage your teen to share in the expenses for the car itself and the auto insurance, it will teach him to save on his other expenses and make him feel more responsible for his actions when driving.

Make sure that your teenager is as learned a driver as he can be. Getting out of driving school and getting a permit or a license do not ensure that he is prepared for the realities of being on the road, although sometimes some insurance companies give a discount on insurance rates just for finishing a driver training course. Ensure that your teen knows all about traffic signs, traffic violations, and even their corresponding penalties so that you will have peace of mind if he’s driving alone, and since this is obviously going to impress your insurance company.

Set reasonable boundaries and a good example. It is a good rule to not drive more than you have to, and you can teach that to your teen; if driving can be kept down to less than 6,000 miles a month, e.g. if you’re sharing a shared car, you may get a better rate. But you should balance it as well: prohibiting your teen from driving too much may just lead to him going on a joyride when you finally let him…and that surely isn’t a good thing if you plan on keeping him and the car safe and unscathed. Teach your teen to get rid of distractions, such as texting, making or receiving calls, or tinkering with his iPod, while driving. And do all of that yourself so you can set a good example to be imitated by him.

With some research, a little bit of shopping around, and all the seemingly trivial things you can teach your teen to ensure safe driving practices, you can get low cost teenage car insurance and use the money you’ve saved with it for other matters.

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How to Obtain Low Cost Teenage Car Insurance

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• Child care assistance. A few years ago, workers at Xerox got what the American rank and file would kill for:  child care grants (up to $2,500 per year) for any employee earning under $50,000.  Most companies aren’t quite so generous, yet fully eight out of 10 today provide some type of help with child care.  For example, 12% -more than double the number in 1993 -now offer emergency child care facilities.  If your regular sitter gets sick at the last minute, for instance, your child could spend the day (or before and after-school hours) at an on-site company facility.  Because these services are either free or low-cost for parents, they are wildly popular, making space extremely limited.

Some employers also offer flexible spending accounts that let employees set aside a specified amount of money, pretax, for child care expenses.  A pretax, child care FSA is a great deal, but you can’t use it if you claim the childcare credit on your tax return.  So if you already take the credit, you may need to run some numbers to see if you’ll save more on taxes with an FSA or with the credit.

If you feel that your company is behind the curve on the child care score, speak up.  Get together with other colleagues who would like to see some sort of child care plan and approach your manager or benefits counselor with a workable arrangement, such as successful one in use by a nearby firm or competitor.

• Financial-planning and legal advice. A fairly recent trend in the employee benefits field is the offering of financial and legal advice to employees.  Often such seminars are free and quite useful.  Just be careful that the speaker isn’t there to hawk his or her own products or business.  Unions sometimes provide such services to their members, too.  Members of the United Auto Workers, for instance, are entitled to free legal services, such as the drafting of wills.  So even if your boss doesn’t pay you what you deserve, you might to able to use his office to learn how to make the dollars you earn stretch farther.

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Other Goodies - continuation

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• Flextime. Not long ago, Jackie O. was one of the few working women who could dictate her job schedule and keep the paychecks coming.  But so-called flextime, which lets workers forgo standard hours and put in ones best suited to them, became popular in the early ’90s when the number of working mothers zoomed 23% from a decade prior.  Because flexible schedules demand increased efficiency of employees, many firms actually view these arrangements as a boon to productivity.  If you have only a few years on the job, you probably won’t be permitted to work flextime, since management maybe skeptical of your ability to pull off such an arrangement.  Once you have five or more years under your belt, though, you may be able to strike a deal.

• Vacation and comp days. It’s common to start at a new company with two weeks of vacation, more for senior executives.  What do you do if you get just two weeks or so but put in dozens of unpaid overtime hours on weekends and holidays?  One way to get your due -and to potentially extend your vacation -is to keep a tally of those phantom hours and request time off for those hours worked.  You’ve got nothing to lose by asking.

• Referral services. Need a good lawyer?  Want help in sizing up college choices for your teen?  Believe it or not, your company may be able to help.  Roughly 55% of all Fortune 500 companies now boast referral services that assist employees with everything from finding a reliable baby-sitter to counseling you about spousal abuse.  Some firms even have the equivalent of a concierge on their premises, ready to help make your life outside of work a little easier.  Depending on where you work, these programs may be formal or informal, offered on or off site.  Ask your benefits counselor whether such programs are available.  Before spilling private secrets about your life to an employee assistance counselor, however, find out who could ultimately have access to that information.  You may find that getting a little help at work isn’t worth the invasion of your privacy.

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1st page - Other Goodies

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If your company offers a 401(k) plan, sign up as soon as you’re eligible.  This may sound about as obvious as “Eat your vegetables”, but only 65% of all eligible employees participate.  To help make your retirement comfortable, contribute as much as you can afford, as early as you can.  Recently, the allowable maximum was roughly $9,500.  Generally speaking, however, if your salary falls in the top 20% for all earners at your firm, you can probably contribute no more than 6% to 7% of your pretax salary to the plan.  Some plans also let you salt away after-tax dollars.

As you hopscotch from one job to the next, remember that unlike the assets of a traditional pension plan, the money in a 401(k) is fully portable as long as you follow a few rules.  In order to escape costly taxes and penalties when you leave company A for company B, you must “roll over” your 401(k) proceeds into an Individual Retirement Account or to your new company’s retirement plan.  Keep in mind, the clock is ticking.  You have just 60 days to do this before the tax man cometh.

To transfer funds properly, do not request a check from your old employer.  You’d be taking possession of your 401(k) assets, which is a sure way to get slapped with the dreaded 20% federal withholding tax.  Instead you’ll want to do a “trustee-to-trustee transfer”, in which funds go directly into the investment you’ve selected for your IRA 9typically a mutual fund) or from the plan administrator at one job to the next.  Before switching jobs, you’ll want to discuss these moves with your benefits department to ensure the transfer goes smoothly.  The process may take several months or even up to a year.

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Retirement Plans

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Is it wise to sign up for extra life and disability insurance, known as supplemental coverage, which are often available through your company?  Perhaps.  If you’ve determined that you do want to beef up your insurance, check the rates and coverage offered by insurers outside your employer, too.  Your company’s rates may not be the best.  For instance, if you are in good health, are a nonsmoker, and are under the age of 45, you can probably buy term life insurance more cheaply from an agent or a low-load like insurer than through your employer.

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Life and Disability Insurance

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Roughly 90% of large U.S. companies offer dental plans, picking up the bills for between 50% and 100% of all work.  As firms search for ways to trim the fat from their medical plans, however, dental plans seem a prim spot for drilling.  Increasingly, employers are axing their traditional dental plans and replacing them with managed-care options.  Often referred to as dental HMOs, these plans charge no deductible (versus $25 to $50 under traditional plans) and limit your choice of dentists to a pre-approved list.  Although you may have to switch dentists to use one in the plan, a dental HMO can be financially attractive.  This type of plan will pay the full cost of many routine services, such as tooth cleanings and fillings, as opposed to 50% to 80% reimbursement for traditional plans.  Should your employer offer you a choice between a standard plan and a dental HMO, you may be served best by an HMO if preventive services such as tooth cleanings are covered free; waits for emergency services are held to under four weeks; and its dentists are members of the American  Academy of General Dentistry.

Chances are, if you’re married, both you and your spouse have access to health plans at work.  Which one is best?  To find out, you’ll need to comb through the provisions of each to see how you can get the best features for the least amount of money.  When scrutinizing plans, consider each of these important factors:

• Deductibles. Count on shelling out anywhere between .3% of your annual salary and 5%.  Remember the general rule about these deductibles, however:  The higher the deductible, the higher your reimbursement.

• Out-of-pocket maximums. If you anticipate high medical bills, compare the maximum amount each plans requires you to pay before it picks up 100% of the tab.

• Choice of providers. Just because one plan may have more doctors doesn’t necessarily make it a better choice.  You’ll want to make sure that the doctor you’d use in any managed-care network is not oversubscribed.  You can find out how harried physicians are by calling the provider or the doctor directly and asking how many patients he or she has.  Don’t forget to see which hospitals, labs, and pharmacies are affiliated with each plan.  If your favorite pharmacy or the hospital you prefer isn’t in the group, you may not want to join the managed-care plan.

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Medical Coverage - continuation

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To cut costs in managed-care programs, insurers want you to use the pre-approved doctors in their networks.  You’ll start by selecting a primary-care physician:  a general practitioner who will see you for routine checkups.  If your doctor is not on the pre-approved list, you are going “out of network”.  Be prepared for limited reimbursement – as little as 50% in some cases.  Similarly, when you need a specialist, you generally must seek a formal referral from your primary-care physician.  Failing to do so will limit your reimbursement or wipe it out altogether.  One tip:  Managed-care plans require you to be a card-carrying member, so always carry your ID card.  That way, if you have to make an emergency trip to the doctor or the pharmacy, you’ll be charged only what the arrangement requires.  Without the card, you could be forced to pay in full, up front.

Almost half of large U.S. Companies now offer so-called flexible spending accounts (FSAs), which let you pay certain unreimbursable medical costs with pretax dollars.  Here’s how they work:  you decide how much you’d like to place in your FSA during the year (typically between $2,000 and $5,000), and the amount gets zapped from your paychecks in equal installments before taxes.  When you need access to the funds (for such costs as health deductibles, prescription eyeglasses, even cab rides to your doctor’s office), you simply fill out a claim form for reimbursement.  Best of all, with an FSA you can withdraw the maximum amount pledged even before you’ve paid in the cash for it.  Anyone with significant out-of-pocket medical bills -more than a few hundred dollars a year -definitely ought to consider enrolling in a tax-saving FSA, if one is available.  Need proof?  A married worker with a $50,000 salary who spends $1,000 on health care can expect to save about $350 in taxes by opening up an FSA.  Incidentally, If one spouse makes over $65,400 and both have access to an FSA, the one with the lower income should fund the FSA.  Aside from avoiding federal and local taxes, he or she will be able to shield some pay from the 6.2% Social Security tax on incomes up to $63,600.

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1st page - Medical Coverage

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It’s up to you to keep abreast of how your benefits measure up.  You ought to pore over the employer’s benefits handbook as soon as you accept a job or even while you’re interviewing for a position if you can get your hands on it.  If you’re a new hire, ask for a conference with your benefits counselor or personnel manager to ensure you understand everything you’re entitled to receive and when you’re eligible to start getting the benefits.  At many companies, for instance, health coverage doesn’t kick in until several months after you’ve started.

When your firm passes out new benefits books or memos, be sure to read and keep them.  Lucking in these publications may be news of costly changes (higher medical deductibles) or valuable features you may have previously overlooked (free legal counseling).  At the very least, you’ll want to have a copy of the most current benefits book in case you have questions about how the perks work.  A good example:  You may not care about how the firm’s 401(k) loan rules work today, but six months from now you may need to know them so that you can tap your account to help pay for a home remodeling job.

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Getting the Most from Your Benefits

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