Consumer Reports Offers Six Tips for Consumers to Cut Spending By $500 Per Month

CR's August issue finds hidden savings in finding cheaper auto insurance
plans, shopping smart for groceries, changing phone plans and more

YONKERS, N.Y., June 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Consumer Reports Money
Lab uncovered hidden savings in everyday spending that could save consumers up
to $500 per month.

Using the strategies outlined in CR, consumers can trim their spending while
gas and food prices continue to rise.

"It's surprising that there are so many savings opportunities hidden in your
budget," said Jeff Blyskal, senior editor, Consumer Reports. "You don't have
to radically change your life to save $500 a month."

The six tips are featured in Consumer Reports' August issue on sale July 1.
The report is also available to subscribers at www.ConsumerReports.org.

Savings shown are Consumer Reports Money Lab estimates based on what a range
of consumers really spend and can possibly save. Actual savings will depend on
individual circumstances.

-- $65 - Find cheaper auto insurance. Annual surveys of CR readers have
shown that many have stayed with the same auto insurer for 15 years.
Depending on people's profiles and where they live, they might be
able to save hundreds a month by shopping around. For example, a
married
couple without violations or accidents but with a driving-age son in
Los
Angeles can save $380 per month on standard coverage by switching to a
lower-cost auto insurer.

How to do it: Start at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners'
Web site, at www.naic.org and click on NAIC States and jurisdictions to find
your state's insurance department. Most provide comparative premium quotes
based on standard customer profiles.
-- $110 - Optimize your life insurance. Life insurance premiums have
dropped so dramatically since the 1990s; it will probably pay for you
to
replace a policy bought years ago with a comparable new one. A
$500,000
20-year guaranteed level term from Prudential, for example, would have
cost a 50-year-old man about $2,125 a year in 1998. Today the same
guy,
now 60, could pay Prudential $1,385 a year for the same coverage over
the next ten years, saving $60 a month.

How to do it: Get premium quotes at www.accuquote.com and www.lifeinsure.com.
Don't cancel your existing policy until you have a new one already in place.
-- $200 - Shop smart for food. Making different choices in the
supermarket
and when eating out can net monthly savings from $130 to $255. The
average family of four can chop its grocery bill by $190 a month by
shifting to a lower-cost mix of foods.

How to do it: Plan menus around sales of fresh poultry, fish, meat, dairy, and
produce, and make use of leftovers. Avoid costly prepared meals. Eat more
low-priced high-nutrition foods like beans and potatoes. Try less expensive
store brands, and sign up for store discount cards.
-- $25 - Stop paying bank fees. Banks collected some $39 billion in
account
fees and penalties last year. That works out to an average of $28 per
month per household. But with some planning, you can pay zero.

How to do it: Bank at large institutions with lots of ATMs in convenient
locations. Shop for free checking and strictly adhere to provisions for a
minimum balance, direct deposit, or other conditions to avoid monthly fees.
-- $35 - Call up phone savings. When CR's experts examined real phone
bills they uncovered savings from $15 a month for budget callers to
$55
per month for heavy users.

How to do it: Peruse your last few month's phone bills to assess how many
minutes you typically use on landline and wireless calls. Comparison shop
among cellular service providers, the local phone company, and your cable TV
company. Don't buy more than you need, such as an unlimited cellular plan if
you rarely go over 900 minutes per month.
-- $65 - Pay off your credit card. On average, consumers who carry a
balance owe $2,200, on which they pay 15.2 percent in annual interest
charges. Eliminate that and save $28 per month. Some 15 percent of
consumers carry balances of $10,000 or more; they can save $125 per
month by paying off their debt.

How to do it: Stop charging, then pay more than the minimum required each
month until it's paid off. Dig up cash for this from your U.S. Treasury
stimulus check, garage sales, or extra work part-time.

AUGUST 2008
Consumers Union 2008. The material above is intended for legitimate news
entities only; it may not be used for commercial or promotional purposes.
Consumer Reports(R) is published by Consumers Union, an expert, independent
nonprofit organization whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe
marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect themselves.
To achieve this mission, we test, inform, and protect. To maintain our
independence and impartiality, Consumers Union accepts no outside advertising,
no free test samples, and has no agenda other than the interests of consumers.
Consumers Union supports itself through the sale of our information products
and services, individual contributions, and a few noncommercial grants.

SOURCE Consumer Reports

Rachel Zuckerman, +1-914-378-2417, rzuckerman@consumer.org, or C. Matt Fields,
+1-914-378-2454, cfields@consumer.org, both of Consumer Reports