Consumers could save more than £200 a year by paying their bills by direct debit, research shows.

Opting to pay utility, telephone and television bills by direct debit rather than other means could save people up to £230 a year, according to findings from Bacs Payment Schemes.

The study by the not-for-profit industry body behind direct debit showed that by switching to a combined gas and electricity supplier and paying by direct debit, households could save £100 a year, while getting digital TV and broadband from the same company and again paying by direct debit could lead to a £60 saving.

In addition, paying a landline phone bill by debit could secure an £18 annual saving and paying a magazine subscription in the same way could lead to savings of £16 a year.

Also, some mobile phone companies include an additional charge to bills if customers don’t pay by debit, so £36 could be saved by using the preferred payment method.

Michael Chambers, managing director of Bacs, said: “Our money saving calculation of £230 emphasises just how much direct debit can help people save money and better organise their finances across a range of regular bills. Not only does paying bills in this way help cut, and spread, the costs of many regular household bills, it also saves customers time and gives them control of their finances.”

However, Jonathan Stearn from consumer advocacy group Consumer Focus said less well off consumers would not be able to take advantage of incentives on offer because they could not pay by direct debit.

He said: “For those who are able to pay by direct debit, it can provide considerable savings. However, many of the poorest and most vulnerable consumers do not have access to broadband or to a bank account which allows direct debit.

“It is important that those who can pay by direct debit are made aware of the savings they can make, but it is also important that industry and Government work together to ensure the poorest customers are not penalised by having to pay more for their bills.”

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How To Make 2009 Your Best Year Ever?

It’s getting
close to the end of 2008. What did you achieve in 2008? Everything you wanted
to?

Now is a great time to start
reflecting on 2008 and then invest some time on your plans for 2009.

My goals for 2008 were:

1. Create four new product offerings for my web business.

Well I like to think I excelled
on this one. I now offer:

3 different free products for
people who subscribe to my websites

3 different inexpensive
‘self-development product bundles’

A revamped First-Class Managers
course

The Great Successful People
package which is 16 audio interviews with successful people plus tips and
techniques from Ken Blanchard, Steven Covey, Marcus Buckingham…

A Public Speaking multi-media
course co-authored with the World Champion of Public Speaking, Darren LaCroix.

So, yes, I feel I did everything
I wanted to this year.

2. Set-up four joint ventures for my
web business.

I must admit I put a lot of
effort in 2008 to build relationships and I now have several (many more than 4)
joint ventures set-up, and I am pleased with the results. (However, I am always
on the lookout for more!)

3. Increase my web clients / customers and earnings
ten-fold.

I failed on this one! Although I
created several more products and build several more Joint Ventures, I didn’t
achieve this goal. Maybe it was too stretching! But I am setting the same goal
for 2009 and will be trying different approaches and strategies.

4. Take my wife out on a date two times every month.

We definitely achieved this one.
We love going out, we like socialising and we like each other’s company.
Earlier in the year we started Ballroom / Latin dancing which is also great
fun.

5. Actually go on holiday – somewhere nice and hot
(haven’t had a holiday in 2 years!).

We had a great holiday in
Thailand – some of you may have seen my videos! I loved the place and have
promised to go back one day.

6. Get into the habit of
exercising 3 times a week for at least 20 minutes. 

This one started well but I’m
now only down to 2 times a week. My wife and I play badminton once a week and
as stated above we joined a Ballroom / Latin dance class, which is once a week.
Both great exercise but…I’m still overweight! I MUST loose some weight in 2009
– I need to! So, one goal for me this year will be to lose weight as well as
exercise.

7. Read one new book every month – either a
self-development or autobiography.

I failed on this one! I
concentrated on learning several Internet Marketing strategies like copywriting
and gaining traffic and therefore, this goal went to the ‘back-burner’ (a
little).

Book’s I did read include:

Allan Leighton’s book, On Leadership: Practical Wisdom From The People Who
Know

Millionaire Upgrade by Richard Parkes Cordock

The Naked Coach – David Taylor

Rule For Renegades – Christine Comaford-Lynch

Our Iceberg Is Melting – John Kotter

The Life Plan – Robert Ashton

So do I feel 2008 was successful
for me?

Absolutely yes.

Do I feel I could have been even
more successful?

Absolutely yes.

What are you going to achieve in 2009?

Are you determined to make 2009
your best year ever?

How?

One of the tasks individuals
struggle with is what to actually plan for.

So, set yourself some goals.

In order to generate ideas, you
first need to have a goal.  A goal of what you want to achieve.  Have
a balance of goals across finances, free time, health, career, relationships,
learning, giving something back.

The goals can be anything like
losing weight, being promoted, getting a salary increase, buying a new car,
anything you really want to accomplish.

There is a very simple way of
doing this.  You just need to write down as many ideas as you can each
morning when you get up.  Aim for around 20 ideas every day for 5 days,
which will give you approximately 100 ideas to play with.  Don’t spend too
much time thinking, just write down whatever comes into your mind.

For instance if you want to lose
weight you can come up ideas such as swapping full fat milk for skimmed milk,
eating two thirds of the amounts of food you normally eat, cutting out desserts
or just have one every other day, joining exercise classes or walking or
cycling to work etc.

Not All Ideas Will Be Good

Not all you ideas will be good,
but some will be great and will help you to achieve that goal.  This
should only take you around 10 minutes each day and is a very powerful
exercise.

If you can’t think of any ideas
to write down, then you need to do some research into how you can go about
achieving your aim.  Use the internet, talk to other people who have done
the things you want to achieve, read books etc.

Remember anyone can do this, you
just need to really want to achieve your goal badly enough.  Try it and
see what happens, it doesn’t take long and the benefits can be great!

Make 2009 Your Best Ever

So, are you going to make 2009
you best year ever. In fact, why don’t you start sharing your goals and ideas
right here for others to see?

Setting realistic goals is far
better than not setting any at all or wanting to climb Mount

Here’s my goals for 2009:

1. Create three new web businesses. I’m going to
diversify my Internet business in 2009 and not just stay in the
self-development area.

2. Increase my Internet earnings ten-fold. I am going for it this year!

3. Take my wife out on a date
two times every month. Still going to do this – this is important.

4. Celebrate 25 years of
marriage. Plan and do something special with my wife. Don’t know how or where
yet but we will do something special. Any
ideas?

5. Continue to exercise 3 times
a week for at least 20 minutes including badminton and Ballroom/Latin dancing.

6. Firstly lose 10kg by end
March and then maintain my weight from then on.

7. Read one new book every 2 months – I love learning and
I love reading but this year I have set the goal to be realistic.

How are you going to make 2009 even
better than 2008?

What are your goals?

Let us know.

In business, as well as in what regards the environment, recycling is something that you can never have too much because recycling means savings on your business’ bottom line and it means a great deal to the environment as we don’t pollute it as much. And with modern technologies, recycling can take new, innovative forms and help your company (and the environment) in new ways, previously unheard of.

For instance, I had never heard about Solvent Recyclers until recently when I learned how you can have perfect savings from your business in solvent recycling. It was important to learn about it. I was truly impressed by how the the solvent recycler separated contaminants from solvents so that the latter could be reused almost endlessly.

So If your business is using solvents, I guess it is just right to think learning about Solvent Recyclers from companies that make their living out of creating innovative ways to make YOU save some money, such as NexGen Enviro Systems from Lindenhurst, New York.

If you are a wise business owner, it is just smart knowing all the possible means to save from the expenses and costs especially if you are using solvent and how Solvent Recycle could make a difference in your finances and to the environment.

Using your credit card to make payments is convenient, easy and safe when compared to cahs but many people don’t realize how easy it is to get into debt. Many people have credit cards (myself included) and most of those people are in debt due to misusing their credit cards and ending up with huge bills and then they don’t know how to get out.

Credit cards aren’t the real cause of these problems. Most of the times, people fall under the impression that if they use their credit cards, it’s not really paying and that they will always be able to meet their bills. More recently, the economical turmoil created by the sub-prime mortgages bubble burst has pushed many to a situation where they can’t make it to the end of the months and use their credit cards in an attempt to solve their problems.

Seeking help from non profit credit card debt consolidation institutions such as DebtGuru.com is one of the best ways to get all of your credit card debt consolidated into one monthly bill, along with reductions in real debt.

Unlike many so-called debt consolidation advisors out there, DebtGuru has a real institution behind it: the American Credit Foundation®:a non-profit consumer credit counseling organization based in Utah who also works as a third-party funds administrator.

As such, the Foundation (bonded and insured with a $100,000 Fidelity Bond) disburses funds, held in a trust account at an FDIC insured institution, to financial institutions nationwide and has certified credit counselors that can help you find a way out of your current debt without resorting to loans or things that would cripple your finances even further.

An increasing number of people are after credit cards. Lured by the potential benefits credit card offers can bring to your table. There are many credit card providers who are offering different credit card deals as well as rates that are up for the offer. Aside from the interest rates that will cost you in every transaction, credit cards are also offering rewards that are up for the credit card holders.

Through most shopping malls, stores and even in the internet you can purchase by simply getting your credit card from your wallet. That’s very convenient and safe. Now credit cards are also the preferred payment method for e-commerce transactions.

Millions of millions of people are using those credit cards around the world. Credit cards give more accessibility and reliability when you purchase those things you need. What more can you ask for ? owning a credit card with lots of benefits that it can give you with its freebies, reward points, 0% on purchased item and much more.

But when your credit card bills come in and see that your credit card expenses almost reach their limit things look pretty different, don’t they?. Having many credit cards may have its benefits but at the end of the month, when bills come, you still need to pay them up or you risk having your finances torn apart by hefty interest rates.

That’s where credit card consolidation comes into play, by giving you a hand in solving your financial problems. With consolidated credit cards you can reduce your debt and even eliminate some outstanding bills from your credit card. Credit Card Consolidation Secrets, is an organization specialized in helping people like you to get some debt relief by consolidating and re-structuring your credit card debt.

Credit card debt consolidation could be the best solution to your problem and allow you to lower your load from those high credit card bills. How much credit card debt reduction you’ll get will depend on how much you owe but no matter the amount, you can always get some cuts on your bills.

Credit Card Consolidation Secrets can help us. They are a non-profit credit card debt help company whose mission is to guide those who want to be out of their credit card debt. As simple as that.