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5 Wise Ways to Save Money

September 29, 2011 by

ways to save moneyWe’d all like a few more dollars in our pocket every month. But making cutbacks in your budget doesn’t have to be as difficult as you might think – and it could make all the difference to the shape of your finances.

Here are five wise ways you could save money:

 

Consider ‘couponing’â¦

Savvy shoppers know that getting their hands on the best cost-cutting coupons can knock more than a few dollars off their grocery bill. It’s even become something of a ‘craze’ for some dedicated bargain hunters!  Check out specialist online voucher websites, such as Groupon deals, and approach all newspapers and magazines with a pair of scissors at the ready: you could get your hands on discounts on everything from toiletries to restaurant meals!

 

Ditch the designer labels

Most of us really can’t justify paying hundreds of dollars on clothes just because something’s got a top designer’s name sewn inside – especially if we end up wearing it just a handful of times.  Try looking online or at the local mall for discounts on designer clothing, or for similar items at a fraction of the price. You might find the difference between ‘designer’ and ‘mall-bought’ is smaller than you thinkâ¦

 

Thinking of redecorating? DIY!

Redecorating can be costly – particularly if it’s a room with a lot of detail to consider, such as the lounge or the kids’ bedrooms. However, rather than calling out the professionals, why not approach things more economically?

See if you – or any friends and family – have any old paint you could use rather than buying it brand new, and if you know anyone who’s handy with a paintbrush and can spare a few hours at the weekend, why not see if they could help out?

Your local college may even offer night classes on things like plumbing – and remember that the long-term gains could outweigh the cost of the course fees.

 

Have car-free days

Leaving your car in the garage a few times every month, and walking or cycling to work instead, could save you a fair amount on fuel bills. Not only that, but you’ll also be doing the environment a bit of good – and getting an extra bit of exercise into the bargain too!

 

Try cutting back on ‘small spends’

Think about the smaller purchases you make on a daily basis that could be having a big impact on your finances.

Do you get a coffee from an expensive coffee shop before work every day? Why not take your own instant brand? If you use the subway, why not get off a few stops before the one you need and walk to save on travel costs? You may be surprised at what a big difference such little changes could make to your budget.

 

These tips could help if you’re generally managing your money well. If you’re having real problems with your finances and have fallen into debt, you might need to do more than cut back on your spending – and the debt section of the Think Money website could help you.

Filed Under: Frugal Living, General Finance, Life Experience

3 Easy Ways to Reduce Personal Insurance Costs

September 27, 2011 by

personal insurance costsIt can often seem like there are so many types of personal insurance it’s hard to know where to look. So many types of insurance, though, are essential as we never know when we might need to make a claim against our cover. From car insurance to home insurance and travel insurance to life insurance and health insurance, they all have their place. They all have their place in our budgets, too, but there are some things that people can do to reduce or minimize their personal insurance costs. Read on to find out about three ways to do so.

Give specific, accurate information

One reason that quite a lot of people end up paying too much for insurance â“ or alternatively, not having enough cover â“ is because they don’t give accurate information when applying for quotes. For instance, if you buy buildings insurance for your home, you’ll probably have to specify how much your house would cost to build again from scratch as this is one of the things the cost of your insurance will be based on. Many people overestimate this and so end up paying more than they need to.

Similarly with car insurance, one thing that can affect your car insurance quote is where you park your car. If you park your car on the road â˜regularly’, your insurance is likely to cost significantly more than if you park your car on the road â˜occasionally’. â˜Never’ parking your car on the road but instead parking it in a garage will cost less again, so it’s important that you think carefully about your habits and offer a true representation in your insurance application. Often this can help to lower your costs, but even if it doesn’t, it will at least make sure you get the appropriate level of cover for your needs.

Shop around for the best deals

You can often also reduce your personal insurance costs by looking around for better deals. Many people simply stay with the same insurer year after year without even bothering to look for a better price. It might be the case that you search through all the different insurance providers and find that your current insurer is still the best â“ but you’ll never know unless you check.

It doesn’t take long to do an online price comparison for car insurance, travel insurance or home insurance, so it’s definitely worth doing. Plus, if it saves you money in the long run, it’s definitely worth it.

Take action wherever you can

There are also things you can do to help reduce the cost of your personal insurance. For instance, with home insurance, one option is to improve the security of your home by installing good alarm systems; the investment you make to pay for the security upgrade should more than pay for itself over time in what you’ll save on your insurance quotes.

With motor insurance, there are quite a few things you can do to get cheaper car insurance. Driving less wherever possible is one good option, as is raising your deductible and increasing your car’s security measures. All of these things will make you seem like less of a risk in the eyes of the insurer and so will improve your chances of getting good value car insurance.

Filed Under: General Finance, Insurance

Honey, the Kids are Moving Back Home!

September 26, 2011 by

moving homeWhen parents raise their kids and get them up to that all-important age of 18 years old, they are prepared to say goodbye. This is because the teenager is usually moving on to their own, independent life either by going to college or getting out into the working world. These days, however, there is a new trend of college students moving back home in order to save money. What’s going on? After all, aren’t college kids the ones who like to go out and party? How in the world can they enjoy living back home with mom and dad?

Although many parents are sad to see their kids leave for college, commonly called empty nest syndrome, most of them get used to the idea of their new lives. In fact, many parents relish the idea of having the ultimate freedom to do what they want in life after finally raising their child to 18 years old. That’s why it can be quite an adjustment to have your grown college student living back in your house. This leads to the question of how can you make the process of living together again less of an imposition? Here are some ideas and tips to get you started when you find out that your college kid is moving back home:

Boundaries from the get-go

You have to think about your college student moving home almost like you’ve just taken in a tenant. There should be boundaries and rules put into place for what you will and won’t accept in your house. For instance, is there a specific time that you want the house locked down for the evening? Many parents don’t want their college student to be coming and going at all hours of the night like they are living in a dorm. As the owner of the home and the landlordâ, you are perfectly within your rights to set up rules that they are expected to follow.

Delegate some chores

Just because your college student is moving home doesn’t mean that they are relieved of housework duties. If they are going to be living in your property, they need to have certain cleaning tasks that they take care of. Remember that you’re trying to prepare your college student for the real world after they graduate. Letting them be a slob around your house is not teaching them anything.  I remember when some of our Composite doors had been abused and my Mom asked me to clean them.  It was my chore and I did it!

Paying your fair share

Financial contributions: Even though your college student has moved home due to financial reasons, that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t contribute something to the household. Even if it is as simple as paying a quarter of the electric bill each month, your student needs to understand that they have to pay their way in life. Most college students have some kind of a part-time job to pay for their car insurance and gas. Sit down with them before they move in to decide what part of the bills will be theirs to pay. You don’t want them to move home and start living off of you again because that will only set them back from becoming independent after they graduate.

Teaching opportunity

For some empty nest parents, having a college student move back home can be a wonderful thing. You might feel great about getting to take care of someone else again. However, remember that your needs are not the only ones in play here. It’s much more important to make sure that your college student gets a real world wake-up call. The whole purpose of sending them for higher education is so that they can go out and be independent in their lives. You want them to be successful not only in their career, but also in their personal life. That’s why having these boundaries and rules in place is so important.

Filed Under: College Finances, Family Finances, General Finance, Housing, Life Experience

Pay Cash or Finance a Car? That is the Question!

September 21, 2011 by

finance your next carWhen it comes to purchasing that shiny new car, you might be confused as to whether you should pay cash or finance it. With all the talk about personal finance these days, most people are either on one side of the fence or the other. You have one group of people who pay cash for everything and don’t believe in having any debt at all. Then there is another group of people who finance all kinds of stuff with the intention of paying everything off quickly. There are pros and cons to each approach that we will discuss below.

 

Perks of using Cash

When you pay cash, you get the perk of not having a monthly car loan payment to deal with. The feeling of not having to scratch out a check each month to pay for your car is a great one. Plus, if you run into any kind of financial, job-related or medical issues, you don’t have the worry of paying your car payment each month. When you pay cash, you also eliminate the need to pay finance charges and interest each month.

Another perk of using cash is that you can sell the car at any time, even if it’s at a loss. Buying a car with cash allows you to have a monthly budget with less of a strain. However, there are some cons to using cash to buy your car.

 

Obvious Negatives

The first negative for using cash is that you are using up your liquid assets to pay for something that will only go down in value. What else could you use that money for that might earn you a better return on your investment? Secondly, when you use cash you are taking away from emergency funds that might be needed for something else later. This means that you have to be very sure that your emergency fund is in place even when you take out money to purchase a car. You don’t want to put yourself in the position of not having liquid assets when you need them.

 

No Absolutes Here Folks!

So does this mean that you should always finance a car? Not necessarily. Again, there are pros and cons to both scenarios. Most people like financing simply because it means you’re using someone else’s money to pay for your car. Again, this frees up your cash assets for other important needs. Unlike a lease, financing a car means that you will own it once you have paid all of your monthly payments. There are some great loan deals out there including no money down and a 0% APR.

 

Bad Credit Might be an Issue

For people with credit problems, getting financing for a car might prove to be difficult. Many people with credit issues find that they have to purchase a car with cash simply for this reason. In addition, having a monthly car payment can put a strain on your budget and cause you financial problems if you lose your job or have other issues that affect your monthly finances. Anytime you are going to take on a monthly debt obligations, you really need to think through it clearly to make sure that makes the most sense for your specific situation.

 

Measure Twice, Cut Once

Whether you pay cash or finance a car, it’s likely to lose value almost as soon as you drive it off the lot. That’s why it takes careful consideration to make sure that you’re making the right decision for your personal financial situation. Much like a house, purchasing a car is a large financial investment and requires forethought to make sure that you’re not going to put yourself in tricky financial waters.

Filed Under: Credit, General Finance, Life Experience

Start-up Marketing for Your Business Made Simple

September 15, 2011 by

start-up marketingWhen starting a new business, it can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you have to spend a lot of money in order to get things up and running.   Marketing and advertising can be very expensive if you go about it the wrong way.   However, when you’re starting up as a brand-new business, there is really no reason to sink a lot of your money into marketing until you do the basics first.   Let’s take a look at some unique and innovative ways to promote your business without breaking the bank.

Promotional items

It doesn’t cost that much money to get some simple promotional items for your business.   This can include things like personalized T-shirts, writing pads and pens.   The idea is to get people used to seeing your logo and branding.  One such company is Ideas by Net Promotional Items.  They provide some cool promotional items and I personally know companies that use their products.  You can order very inexpensive personalized T-shirts online.   In fact, you could probably get 10 shirts for well less than $100 on sites such as Vistaprint.com.

Social media

Perhaps one of the best ways to start marketing your business is through social media.   Even though word-of-mouth is still one of the best ways to get advertising for your company, virtual word-of-mouth might be even better.   Get involved in social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, especially if your business is locally based.   The idea is to get your friends and family to start spreading the word about your business so that the information goes viral.   Create your own Facebook fan page and do things such as giveaways in order to get more traffic to it.   For instance, you could offer to do a drawing for a free gift card or some other perk for every person who likes your page within a certain period of time.

Use video

Getting viral attention for your business is one of the most important things that you can do early on.   Use video so that people can hear your voice and see your face.   This allows people to build rapport with you even if they haven’t met you yet.   Put these videos on your social media sites, but also on sites such as YouTube.

Get involved locally

Make sure that you get involved with some local networking groups or even your Chamber of Commerce.   Face-to-face networking is impossible to replace.   Being able to shake hands with someone and hand them your business card will go a long way to providing you with the relationships you need in order to grow your business.

Start a blog

In addition to your social media marketing efforts, it might make sense to start a blog where you give your opinions and expertise about your particular niche topic.   Again, this will set you apart as an expert in your industry which gives you more credibility.

Publish your own book

It might seem that it would be very pricey to publish your own book, but that simply isn’t true.   These days, you can use sites such as Createspace.com to self publish a real, physical book that you can put up for sale on Amazon.   Not only does this give you an opportunity for an additional revenue stream, but also gives you the ability to look like the expert in your field.   Think about your other competitors locally.   Do they have a physical book that they can hand to people?   The self-publishing process is actually free.   The only thing you have to pay for is a sample of your book at the very beginning which costs less than $9.

 

As you can see, there are some great inexpensive, creative ways to promote your business and get your brand name out to the public.   You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to do this!

Filed Under: General Finance, Life Experience

New E-Course! Win $50 in Cold Hard Cash!

August 22, 2011 by

I’m thrilled to announce my first e-course, “How to Retire a Millionaire: The Only Guide You Will Ever Need.”  It’s available to anyone completely FREE. All you gotta do is subscribe!  Call me crazy, but to spice things up a bit, I’m going to be giving away $50 in cold hard cash to one lucky soul!

In this age of technology, I’ll be making the cash available through multiple sources.  I can literally mail you the cash, send it over Paypal, or e-gift you in the form of a gift card to a store of your choice.  This contest is going to run until September 30th.

So, you might be asking yourself how you can win this cold hard cash.  Well, You’re going to have ample opportunity to win this cash.  Here are some ways you can rack up points to get you to the top:

1- Subscribe by entering your email on the right side of this page under the e-course cover or directly below this post.  Not only will you get 2 points, but you will get a free copy of my e-course “How to Retire a Millionaire: The Only Guide You Will Ever Need.”

2- Link to this post from your website or blog!  I’m adding an extra bonus if you help me promote my e-course.  If you do, you’ll receive 10 points!

3- Tweet this post and you will receive 1  point.  To ensure that I count your point, please comment below 🙂

4- Google +1 this post and you will get yourself 1 point.  Share the love people!  Comment below this post if you Google +1 this competition!

5- If you submit this post to social marketing websites like Reditt, Digg, or StumbleUpon, you will get 1 point!  Again, comment below if you do this so I can count it.

6- Last, but not least, tell all your friends about this e-course on Facebook and you will receive 2 points.  If you have a Facebook setup for a blog or a company and spread the news there, you will receive a bonus of 4 points!  Comment below if you do this.

 

Subscribe and get my 7-day   e-course “How to Retire a Millionaire!”

 

“How to Retire a Millionaire: The Only Guide You Will Ever Need!”

I structured this e-course so a person with very little financial background can understand it.  I have included all the information, references, and tools that you will need to be successful on your journey to early retirement with millions in the bank.  Trust me, it’s actually not very hard to do!  Here is how I have broken down this 7-day e-course:

-Making Money is Essential

-Spend Less Than You Earn

-Saving Your Money

-How to Invest Your Money

-Roth IRA is King

-Remember the Big Picture

-What’s in your Toolbox?

 

You’ll find links within each email that will help you on your path to financial independence.  So, the e-course is free.  Subscribing is free.  And $50 in cold hard cash is waiting for you!  Subscribe today!

 

Filed Under: General Finance

Odd Jobs for Quick Cash

August 13, 2011 by

odd jobsHave your eye on a few extra bucks? How about a new career? There are some weird gigs that can offer potential, and vary considerably on the weird scale, if you willâ¦

 

Sell Your Body

While that might not be the best title â“ this job is something to consider for some quick cash.

You can make quite a bit of cash selling plasma, hair, sperm, and more. You might just be able to make a living contributing to the medical and science industry: if you group together with participation in medical research, you have some real career potential. In that sense, selling your body could be a versatile and rewarding way to make a buck.

 

Cleaning Crime Scenes

Enjoy CSI and Law & Order? Yes, someone has to do the dirty work.

The career potential is very strong in this industry. Think about it â“ there will always be a need for these types of services, and there isn’t exactly a huge interest in this field as well. Often contracted by law enforcement agencies, full-time estimates for salary go up to around $80,000 a year.

 

Expressing Your Inner Artist

If you have a passion in the arts, perhaps you could make it selling your items.

On sites like Etsy, there is a large presence for part-time and full-time individuals looking to make a name for themselves. Like making jewelry? Have an unusual craft idea?

This is yet another gig that can potentially rack in the cash to make a living. Not weird enough for you? Take a look at some of the products❠availableâ¦

 

Finding Scrap Metal

There is no shame in searching through garbage, right?

Scrap metal can bring in a nice amount of money, especially with a metal such as copper. If there are enough registered dumps in your area, and perhaps some other promising locales, you could do some damage (figuratively).

You won’t replace anyone on American Pickers, but you might find some treasures to net some cash.

 

Breeding Crickets

Farming crickets is one of the more bizarre ways to make money. If you want to be a farmer but don’t have that much land, it is an alternative.

With reasonable setup costs, you could sell your crickets to stores and individuals â“ as they are a primary food for some pets. The smell and noise are two drawbacks to this potential business idea, though it does probably beat the smell of a crime scene.

 

Diving for Pearls

Daily rates are said to start at $500, where jobs in Australia can pay more than double that amount very easily.

While pearl farms are overtaking this gig, it is still present in some areas. However, this is a dangerous job and out of the reach of your average odd job seeker.â

 

Side Gig or Career â“ Which Odd Job is For You?

From selling craft items online to breeding crickets, some of these weird jobs can actually come to be full-fledged careers. Not all of them are pretty, but you can’t argue that it would be quite the experience.

These aren’t your normal 9-5 jobs. Perhaps you’ll find something to net you some extra cash â“ or even possibly a new business idea. And no â“ not much rhymes with crickets.â
Reader Question: Would you ever consider doing one of these odd jobs?

(The following is a guest post by Brian at Health Insurance Comparison, an Australian personal finance blog created to help readers figure out how to properly compare health insurance options.)

photo by michaelcrane123

Filed Under: General Finance

Banks Lose $16 Billion in Swipe Fees

August 6, 2011 by

bank feesThere were no winners when, this month, The Federal Reserve announced its concluding regulations that will cap debit card swipe fees charged retailers at 21-cents per transaction. Financial institutions argue that they stand to lose approximately $16 billion per year in revenue collected from merchants, while merchants criticize that the 21-cent cap does little to alleviate their debt burden to the banks and lenders. With neither side celebrating the passage of this regulation, it is difficult to see who exactly benefits or what effect this regulation will have on consumers.

The lending industry currently claims an average debit card swipe fee of 44-cents, thus, imposing a 21-cent cap would greatly diminish their profits. But as every lawyer and financial expert knows, it’s all in how you crunch the numbers.

The 44-cent average swipe fee is actually a composite of two numbers: fees charged on credit card purchases (exempt from these regulations), averaging 56-cents, and fees charged on debit card purchases, averaging 23-cents. With conditions in place that will sometimes allow the 21-cent fee to be raised as high as 24-cents, retailers argue these new laws are essentially pointless.

Lawmakers had originally been proposing a 12-cent cap on debit swipe fees, and while this would have been a much better resolution for retailers, the banks claimed the profit loss would be great enough as to practically make it unprofitable to maintain debit card purchasing as-is. The compromise was to set the cap at 21-cents, plus 5 basis points on the amount of the transaction for fraud costs, plus 1 cent for fraud prevention costs.

Also, financial institutions with $10 billion or less in assets, governmental benefit cards, and certain prepaid cards are exempt from the new law.  There are fears on the part of all credit lenders, exempt from the new regulation or not, that merchants will begin steering customers away from using their debit cards by offering special deals to those who pay with cash or credit, thus furthering their loss.

The results of these new regulations for the consumer will most likely be slow and subtle. Over time, the financial institutions may look for ways to regain whatever monies are lost. A loss of income is rarely just accepted. Higher ATM fees, tighter restrictions, or simply doing away with free checking are all possibilities, as is the implementation of a debit card swipe fee passed directly to the consumer. Simply upon hearing of impending debit card swipe fee reductions, major lenders such as Wells Fargo, Chase, and SunTrust either eliminated, or greatly curtailed, their rewards programs.

As there is little a consumer can do, caught in middle of this power play between the banks and merchants, it could actually work out to the consumer’s advantage. Should retailers offer discounts to those willing to pay with cash or credit, the consumer will profit from this, much to the chagrin of the banks. However, the banks may decide to make up their losses in other ways, so keep an eye on your interest rates and rewards programs to see if they start to fluctuate.

According to a recent poll taken before the Senate vote, the U.S. News & World Report noted that two-thirds of those polled were against a delay in implementing the new swipe fee limits and would view their Senators less favorably❠if they voted to approve the delay. Why consumer opinion would come down on the side of the retailers over the side of the banks, may have more to do with politics than the bill’s ramifications for the consumer. Since the $700 billion bailout for banks in 2008, these financial institutions have not received much sympathy from the American people.

While the banks and retailers hammer out a compromise, be on the lookout for credit card specific sales. As well, be cautious for increased prices on goods as this law goes into effect this coming October.

Filed Under: Credit, Debt, General Finance Tagged With: , , ,

Alcohol Consumption Puts College Students in Credit Card Debt

August 2, 2011 by

beer moneyAccording to the Trends in College Pricing 2010 report compiled by The College Board, the average estimated undergraduate budget❠for a   student during the 2010-2011 academic year is $20,339 for a four-year public school and $40,476 for a four-year private school. These numbers factor in tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, transportation and miscellaneous expenses. But do those numbers include the $500 a year that Rachel Barrington of the University of Wisconsin claims the average college student squanders on alcohol?

Gayla Martindale’s estimate in her article, A Look at the Spending Habits of College Students, posted on the stateuniversity.com blog is somewhat jaw-dropping: Each year, American college students spend $5.5 billion on alcohol.❠That’s a lot of money to be pouring down the hatch, especially in light of the fact that most students enter the workforce after having earned their post-secondary degree, carrying debt that they accrued along the way.

So how is the average, financially-strapped college kid affording all of this booze?

Some students spend using credit cards. In fact, most students â“ some 75% of females and about 70% of males â“ have 1-3 credit cards. The cost of teenage alcoholism is high, from the expenses they incur during their drinking sprees to the toll it takes on their health.  Plastic is used by many to charge school necessities such as books, supplies, and even tuition. Credit cards are relied upon by students for discretionary spending as well. While it can be advantageous for a student to begin building his or her credit score while still in school, the risk is that the temptation is there to fund fun nights of drinking with friends while sinking into a pit of debt.

According to a 2009 article published by Sallie Mae, entitled How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards, Undergraduates are carrying record-high credit card balances. The average (mean) balance grew to $3,173, the highest in the years the study has been conducted. Median debt grew from 2004’s $946 to $1,645. Twenty-one percent of undergraduates had balances of between $3,000 and $7,000, also up from the last study.â

At California State University Fullerton, workers in their administration office claimed that their institution sees more students discontinue their education due to credit card debt more often than due to academic failure these days.

The National Association of Scholars (NAS) uncovered in a 2009 article that A recent survey of more than 30,000 first year students revealed that nearly half were spending more hours drinking than they were studying.â

That means many college undergrads are opting to drink away dollars that would better serve them by being put towards school-related expenses. In turn, perhaps less drinking would result in fewer students dropping out due to their insurmountable debt.

If it’s true that, as Caralee Adams reports in her article Lack of College-Educated Workers Will Hurt Economy, Americans that have graduated college with a bachelor’s degree earn an annual salary that is an average of 74% higher than those earned by workers with only a high school diploma. Students who focus on overdrinking during college, rather than studying, may be doing much more than merely drinking away time and money that could otherwise have been better spent. They could very well be drinking away their future earning power.

photo by greencolander

Filed Under: College Finances, Credit, Debt, General Finance Tagged With: , , ,

Google Wallet Wants to Eat Your Wallet

June 20, 2011 by

google wallet

Google has surprised us yet again with their latest innovation, Google Wallet. It could straight out of a science fiction movie.  Google wallet is not another wallet.  It’s a new technology that turns your cell phone into a full fledged wallet.  I see what Google is doing.  Over time, Google wants to replace the basic essentials that you keep in your pockets such as your wallet, keys, and other things such as movie tickets.  Kind of cool, but kind of scary at the same time.

How does Google Wallet work anyways?

It’s a pretty simple concept.  You load your credit card information onto your phone and  voilà, your cell phone has now become a portable credit card.  With the scanning capability of your phone, Google has implemented Near Field Communication technology.  This technology utilizes radio frequencies to send information back and forth between your phone and whatever you’re attempting to scan for purchase. Google Wallet will give you the ability to store  debit  cards, credit cards, coupons, gift cards, PIN’s, networking contacts, and other sensitive data that would be nice to be stored on a phone.

Isn’t security an issue?

To be honest, this is a big concern for me.  Sucirty is on everyone’s minds, especially with the reports you hear all the time of identity theft.  So, how is Google going to protect my information?  I guess Google will assign a unique personal identification number to each phone.  This will be like a typical debit card that you own already. Scan your phone for your purchase, input your PIN and you;re good to go.  Google has taken things a step further and installed a self-destruct sequence if the phone is tampered with.  I worry about this because what if it’s you who is tampering with the phone?  I’m sure this will get ironed out.  It truly is something out of a science fiction or 007 Bond movie!

Limited options right now…

Before you get too excited, remember that Google Wallet is pretty limited right now. Hardly any stores have the capability and only Mastercard is actively using the program.  As if that’s not limited enough, Google Wallet is only currently offered on one phone (Nexus 4g S) on the Sprint network.  So, as you can see, things are slow right now and Google is barely breaking onto this scene.  Give this technology five more years and you will see almost everything using Google Wallet.

And be on the lookout for expanding programs such as Google’s version of Groupon. It’s going to be called Google Offers and will be as easy as buying the offer on your phone and swiping the phone at the desired location to redeem your offer.  Pretty cool stuff.

Google Wallet going forward

I really believe Google Wallet is going to put some serious pressure on other companies to start developing similar technologies.  Since Sprint is the only  network  provider offering this technology, I wouldn’t be surprised if Verizon or AT&T come out with similar services.  This is what I love about big companies and technology.  One comes up witha  good idea, now others will join in on the parade and create even better products.

If you’re an I-phone user, you’re out of luck.  I have a feeling Apple has something up their sleeves.  This is an up and coming technology and sure to get better in the coming months.

My thoughts

I’m 50/50 on Google Wallet.  Call me old fashioned, but I like having actual credit cards on me.  To be honest, I think Google Wallet would just complicate my life.  Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a great technology.  I just don’t think it’s a necessity.  There is tons of potential with Google Wallet and I see great new technologies resulting from Google’s latest launch.  In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for what Google does next!

To the readers: What do you think?  Would you ditch your current phone to have this new capability for purchases?

Filed Under: General Finance