Smart Payment Plan - Money Saving Tips & Tricks Blog

All-You-Can-Fly JetBlue Pass is Back

2010-08-17T11:18:00.000-07:00

JetBlue is back at it again with its "All-You-Can-Jet" pass! The pass gives you 30 days of unlimited travel from September 7th to October 6th, 2010 for $699. You can also purchase the AYCJ-5 pass that gives you 30 days of unlimited travel excluding Fridays and Sundays.

Great for business travelers and any last minute summer vacation opportunities. I, myself would purchase a pass to go somewhere outside the U.S. Kingston, Jamaica; Puerto Rico or even Barbados! Yes these are some of the offered flight destinations.

I'd have to do more research, but something tells me an All-You-Can-Jet pass might be cheaper than a normal ticket. Purchase passes soon as they're sure to sellout like last time!

How to do Vegas on a Budget

2010-07-29T12:18:00.000-07:00

Tough economic times call for budgeting in every sense of the word. Summers also call for family vacations, romantic getaways and weekend adventures. Las Vegas comes to mind when you need to getaway and getaway on a budget.

In a recent trip to Las Vegas, I noticed still some decent sized crowds Sunday night into the weekday. Rather than booking the typical Friday-Sunday trip, my group decided to test out a Saturday-Monday stay. It was well worth it. Vegas during the summer is extremely crowded with families, couples and youngsters reveling in the Vegas atmosphere. Sure, Saturday painted this kind of picture at the pool, in the lobbies and in the nightlife spots. Sunday was a bit different, however.

Not only was the hotel rate on a Sunday night cheaper, the amount of people everywhere had trimmed off a bit as well. It didn't feel like a ghost town by any means, but it also didn't feel like herds of cattle and crowds everywhere I went. Checking out on Monday at noon was a breeze as well. In fact, there were more people checking-in.

Need to getaway? Go on Vegas trip and forgo the Friday-Sunday stay to save on fares and beat the crowds.

Here are some of my favorite sites to get cheap fares. I usually never book through the actual hotel. For some reason travel affiliate sites have lower rates.

Kayak.com
Southwest.com
Hotels.com

Smart Payment Plan is Proud to Announce Revolutionary 'Match Payments to Paydays' Program

2010-07-20T16:19:00.000-07:00

Read the full release here.

Why Haven't You Tried Redbox Yet?

2010-06-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

Redbox, a subsidiary of Coinstar is putting the corner video store out of business left and right. It's an amazing invention really and easily accessible as more and more supermarkets (all chains too) and 7-11's are carrying them.

Instead of signing up for Netflix or paying $4-5 to rent a movie at your neighborhood video store, simply visit a Redbox, which is in actuality a kiosk in the shape of a red box, and rent any dvd for $1/day. It makes so much sense. I mean, why do you need a dvd for four days? Why should you pay $4+ to RENT a dvd when you can own one for sometimes $10?

Visit your local Redbox, use the touch-screen and pick a recently released (yes recent) or an old, classic dvd, swipe your credit card and you're all set. Return it the next day by 9pm to any (yes any) Redbox location and be charged $1 plus tax. Redbox charges your card when you return your dvd.

The cherry on top is that Redbox has started to build a nice fan following, sort of a community. Visit www.insideredbox.com and get codes for rent 2 get 1 free rentals and other deals.

Save Money, Workout From Home

2010-03-19T16:18:00.000-07:00

Gym memberships can be expensive, especially these days, as wallets are only getting tighter and employment (let alone raises) going the way of the dodo. While rates can vary from state to state and club to club, the typical price for a gym membership is $40-$50 a month, which may not seem a lot at first, but calculate that out over a year and it's $480-$600. That's a decent amount of money.

Granted that money is getting you something -- use of exercise weights and machines, treadmills, basketball courts, and sometimes even swimming pools, exercise classes and racquetball courts -- but strictly speaking, is all of that really necessary to stay in shape? Especially with that high of a price tag?

Rather, exercise at home -- for free! When the weather's nice, make use of the local bike and running paths in your neighborhood, or run laps around the park -- not only is this free, you're also enjoying better scenery and getting plenty of fresh air, both of which the gym can't provide. Looking to build muscle? Pushups and crunchups are just a floor away. Pull ups only require a bar, some mild creativity. When the weather's not as nice, you can still do aerobics at home: DVDs only cost $10-$20, and you can use them over and over again.

For more money saving ideas, check some of our past posts.

The Small Things Add Up

2010-03-08T17:24:00.000-08:00

If you're like me, you've probably spent a lot of time the past year staring at your bank account balance, thinking up creative, grand (and ultimately ill-advised) experiments that would, just maybe, save you from forthcoming financial doom -- like selling your home, buying land in Montana, and living off of it. (Farming's easy, right?) Of course, in this scenario, you'd also (like me) be being a little over dramatic, because a smart financial plan doesn't have to be that extreme.

Truth be told, a lot of savings can be found around the margins. The $3 coffee in the morning, the $7 lunch or the $12 pitcher at your local watering hole, they all add up -- and more than you'd initially think. The trick is to multiply it out over the course of a year. Instead of justifying your morning Starbucks every day -- "what's $3 when what you really need is an extra couple hundred?" you might ask -- calculate that expense out over an entire year. For example, if you're drinking that $3 cup of joe every work day, all year long, you're looking at an annual coffee expense of $780 ($3 times 5 days a week times 52 weeks in a year). Which is quite a bit, especially as it costs (roughly) 10 times less to brew coffee at home, and even less if at work.

Same idea works with eating out every day for lunch, weekly movie theater tickets, cable TV, and on and on. Point being, costs can be hidden, especially for the smaller items in our lives. But just because they are hidden, doesn't mean they don't exist, or aren't costly in the long run.

For further money saving tips, check out our sister blog here.

Getting Organized

2010-02-09T17:01:00.000-08:00

I recently came across Mint.com and I think it's a genius application.

After you've synced your mint.com account with your online bank account, loan account, 401K account, auto finance account, etc. you get a snapshot view of your net worth. can be a little depressing of course but at least you're making that first step to fixing any problems you have with your funds.

I especially like how it lets you know what you're spending too much money on. For example, it can notify you that around $100/month should be allocated towards gas (based on your income, what kind of car you drive and the amount of your car note). And if you go passed that it is sure to let you know.

It's a great budget tool with very little effort involved. Just the way most--if not all of us like it. Enjoy!

Everything You Need to Know About Smart Payment Plan

2010-01-26T15:48:00.000-08:00

Most lenders only give their customers the option to make monthly payments towards their home mortgages and loans for healthcare, high priced consumer goods, education, and vehicles. SMART Payment Plan, however, has a better way for consumer to make affordable payments and even reduce the amount of money that they spend on loan repayment.

SMART Payment Plan’s Biweekly Half Payments

SMART Payment Plan helps consumers make loan payments that are affordable for them by taking a slightly different approach than most lenders. Instead of using a monthly payment schedule, SMART Payment Plan uses a biweekly schedule. Clients who choose to use SMART Payment Plan’s biweekly repayment option only make half payment every other week. These smaller, more frequent payments are much easier for many consumers to afford because they line up with pay checks from their employers.

SMART Payment Plan Offers a More Affordable Option

Many consumers find that it is difficult to create and stick to a budget that allows them to make large loan payments at the end of the month. Considering that it is not rare for mortgage payments to reach higher than $1000 per month, it is easy to understand why some people have a hard time keeping enough money in their bank accounts to pay for their loans as well as other monthly bills. SMART Payment Plan cuts that amount in half. If your mortgage payment is currently $1000 per month, then you will pay $500 every two weeks.

SMART Payment Plan Helps You Reduce Debt Quickly

These smaller payments are often easier for consumers. There is an added financial benefit to using SMART Payment Plan’s biweekly half payment schedule, though: you will lower the amount of money that you spend repaying your debt. Biweekly half payments equal 13 whole payments each year; one more than you would pay if you used a traditional monthly plan. This extra payment does not hurt your wallet because the payment sizes are so spread out that you never miss the money. This small amount, though, really adds up over time.

Consumers who use SMART Payment Plan’s biweekly payment option can settle their debts years before those who use monthly plans. This helps you get out of debt more quickly and it also lowers the amount of interest that you pay on the loan. Some people find that they can save tens of thousands of dollars just by using SMART Payment Plan.

SMART Payment Plan Customers Never Have to Pay Late Fees

SMART Payment Plan also offers the advantage of using automatic transfers from your checking account to make loan payments. That means SMART Payment Plan customers never have to worry about making late payments as long as they keep enough money in their accounts to pay their low biweekly payments. If you are someone who frequently forgets to drop your loan payment check in the mail, then you could save yourself quite a bit of money every year by using SMART Payment Plan to avoid late fees and similar penalties.