There are many ways to waste money every day, but using some common sense to manage finances can go a long way towards securing your financial future.  Taking a small amount of time to think about what you are doing and plan the best course of action will prevent you from making simple money mistakes that will cost you dearly over time.  Here are some common sense tips to follow in your everyday life.

Don’t Be Lazy

Laziness will cost you much more than you think over the course of a year because you are paying for the convenience of immediate gratification or the convenience of having someone else do your tasks for you.  Taking your clothes to a cleaning company will cost you 5 to 10 times more than doing your own laundry at home or at the Laundromat.  Eating out raises the cost of a meal to triple or quadruple what you would have paid to buy the ingredients and cook the same meal at home.  Take the time to do tasks for yourself and keep the money you would have paid to others in your bank account for your own needs.

Think Before You Act

Simple mistakes like parking in the wrong spot or not putting enough money in the parking meter can be very expensive when you receive a ticket for the action.  All fines received for mindless actions should be classified as wasted money and avoided as much as possible.  These unnecessary expenses can be easily evaded by being careful and taking the time to think about your actions before performing them.

Take Advantage Of Discounts

Using the discounts found on many everyday items can save you thousands of dollars every year.  From using buy one, get one free coupons on everything from shoes to groceries to purchasing new clothing from the clearance racks, there are hundreds of different ways to use discounts to save money.  People that take the time to review the discounts found in their areas may be able to buy everything they need for at least 25% less than the person who does not take advantage of discounted items.

If you have decided that 2012 is the year you’re finally going to kick your finances into shape, then getting into the savings habit will be a big part of the process. Don’t think that sorting out your money needs to be too daunting a task though, Sian’s got some great tips on how to get organised bit-by-bit.

And now, the saving. This needn’t be complicated either. Aside from a current account to use for day-to-day spending, there are only two other places you absolutely must have some money saved up.

1. An emergency fund

With the number of unemployed in the UK at 2.64 million – the highest it’s been since 1994 – redundancy is still a big worry for plenty of us. But if you did lose you job, how long would you be able to support yourself and your family?

That’s why if you save for anything this year, it should be an emergency fund. Yes, you could

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If the economy can continue to nudge forward for a while longer without some new or already-known catastrophe to derail it, we just might have ourselves a housing market worth talking about when spring rolls around.

4 signs housing is on the upswing

1. Mortgage rates: Granted, mortgage rates overall did rise modestly last week, but a three-basis-point increase off record lows is nothing to worry about.

According to HSH.com’s broad-market mortgage trackerour weekly Fixed-Rate Mortgage Indicator (FRMI)the overall average rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (conforming, nonconforming and jumbos) rose by three basis points (.03 percent) last week, climbing to an average 4.22 percent, for the week ending Jan. 20.

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On January 5, 2012, the Ninth Circuit asked the California Supreme Court to decide two insurance law issues that arose in a flood coverage dispute. In the matter of Sierra Pacific Power Company v. Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company, the Ninth Circuit reached conflicting conclusions on two distinct issues.

These issues are:

1. Whether, under California insurance law, a building ordinance or law exclusion, found in the Perils Exclusions section of a property insurance policy, effectively excludes coverage for increased costs caused by complying with ordinances and regulations if the underlying loss was caused by a covered peril.
2. Whether, under California insurance law, the costs of obtaining building permits or conducting required environmental impact studies are considered costs excluded by a building ordinance or law exclusion, or whether these costs are better considered as part of the replacement cost under the policy.

This case arises from a dam break on New Year’s Day in 1997. A

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Employees naturally expect their employers to reimburse them for any expenses they’ve incurred on their behalf, says Tax Tips & Advice. While these will be free of tax and national insurance when incurred as part of their job, it means employees must collect receipts for every item and their employer will eventually have to process them all.

One way to avoid this hassle is to implement a “scale rate payment” based on the average amount your employee spends a month. “Your employee won’t be required to collect receipts and you won’t need to check or report anything to the taxman.”

To set this up you’ll need an agreement from the taxman, which means you’ll have to show the payments are intended to “do no more than meet your employees’ business expenses”.

Employees don’t need much encouragement as they’ll welcome not keeping receipts and can benefit financially. If, for instance, you pay a

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Identity theft happens all too frequently. A few careless mistakes with your personal information and you could be in the clutches of a ID thief.

Within minutes, someone could have your social security number, date of birth, and your mothers maiden nameall the crucial information needed to begin opening new credit in your name and placing fraudulent charges on your existing credit accounts.

How do you prevent identity theft and fraud from happening to you? Here are 10 steps to safeguarding your personal information and make sure ne’er do wells don’t snatch your credit identity.

1. Be Alert Whenever you’re using your debit or credit card, make sure that no one can see you put in your pin number or get a close look at your card. Debt

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