If you were hit by the financial crisis, chances are good that trying to save money seems like an impossible feat. For many people, every dollar earned goes to surviving the current economy so while putting money aside for emergencies is important, it seems there is no way to accomplish this goal. Although you may feel discouraged and even defeated when it comes to saving money, we wanted to provide you with some ways of saving money even when you feel you cannot.

As you will see, saving money is actually easier than you might imagine. Although the process requires dedication and determination, it is very possible. You will probably be surprised by some of the suggestions but they work.

• Start using online coupons. One service called Ebates is designed to provide up to 25% cash back. The great thing about this is that the savings come from stores where you would actually ship such as Barnes & Noble, Target, Gap, and even eBay.

• Bundle your internet, phone, and cable. Most service providers now provide a bundled package so instead of paying for each service individually. By doing this, you would save 30% and sometimes more off the monthly bill.

• When buying new merchandise, consider those offering a rebate. Thousands of items now come with some rebate dollar amount so the money returned could simply be placed in a high yield savings account.

• Choose savings that pays high interest. In addition to the more traditional type of savings, talk to a bank representative to see what other options might be available.

• Rather than have your water heater set at the hottest level, turn the heat down, which is a huge savings.

• Set your thermostat at 65 at night and to stay warm, use an electric blanket. In the summer, never set the thermostat less than 78 degrees. If preferred, you could install a computerized thermostat to control the settings for you.

• For your high interest credit cards contact each issuer asking for a lower rate. Often, credit card companies will honor that request but remember, even if they say no, you have no way of knowing if they will reduce interest being charged unless you ask and many do.

• If your current mortgage interest rate were high, this would be an ideal time to refinance. Not only would you save money on monthly payments but also by the time the loan matures, the savings would be significant.

• If your mortgage is more than 10 years old and initially you used less than 20% for a down payment, you are probably paying PMI. Usually after 10 years, you would have enough equity in the home for a 20% cushion at which time the PMI could be eliminated, thereby saving you money.

• Another way to save money would be to check out books, videos, and DVDs from the library rather than buy them.

• If you enjoy reading magazines, instead of spending full price for paper products, consider reading those same publications online for a reduced price.

• When applying for a new credit card, you could save money by choosing one with a good cash back bonus plan.

• Transfer credit card balances from high interest cards to one with a long introductory period and 0% interest during that time.

• Switch out traditional incandescent light bulbs throughout the home for compact fluorescent light bulbs, which save as much as 75% less energy.

• You can also save money by paying for your car insurance for an entire year instead of monthly. If this is too difficult, you could pay semi-annually and still enjoy a reduced price.

• Consider increasing your insurance deductibles. Even moving from a $500 deductible to a $1,000 deductible would produce a nice savings.

• Use only your cell phone instead of having both a cell phone and house phone.

• Have your home winterized, which also benefits during the summer. With this, air leaks through windows and doors would be eliminated, costing you less money each month on utility bills.

• Saving money is also as easy as taking lunch to work or school instead of buying. The difference for a single lunch would be anywhere from $2 to $10, which adds up quickly.

• Consider flexible spending accounts, which make it possible to pay some medical, dental, and childcare expenses by using pre-tax dollars, a nice savings.

• When making purchases such as tires avoid going to chain stores or deals. Instead, you could buy new, top name tires from a wholesale club for 30% off or more such as Sam’s or Costco.

• Finally, to save money you might want to quick smoking. In addition to one pack of cigarettes costing about $5, by stopping you also protect your health which means overall you would save on doctor’s bills and medication too.

It appears that low interest rates are going to be sticking around for a while.  This makes it an opportune time to get as much of a return on your bank deposits and the best cd rates as you can.  Lately, bank deposits are paying out more than money-market funds.  However, unlike all these mutual funds, your deposits are federally insured.  There are a few steps that you can take to increase the money you are making on your deposits.

Keep an eye on websites that regularly monitor high yield accounts, just so you know what to expect at any given time.  There are plenty of sites out there; something like bankrate.com should be sufficient.  Also search online for high-yield bank CDs.  A number of great offers should come up immediately.  Be cautious since some of them might be a scam or may not be based in the US.  Verify their legitimacy through the FDIC.  Their website is the easiest way to do this.  Just put in their name and you will find out if they are a real company.  No matter what if you are doing business online, make sure you are cautious.  If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

You can also look into an account with a credit union.  They tend to offer higher yields than banks.  No matter what account you choose, try using a laddering strategy to earn higher yields over time.  This involves staggering your maturities.  For example, if you have $10,000 to invest don’t put it all into a 5-year CD account.  But some in a one year, some in a two year and so on until you run out of money.  Then you have a CD account that matures every year for a number of years.  Over the long term, you will get a higher return this way.

If rates start to rise, stick only with short term CDs.  When the rates are relatively stable, this is the time to invest in long term CDs.  This way if the stable rate starts to fall, your rate is locked in no matter what.  But if the rates are continuing to rise, you capture it on its way up with the short-term accounts.