There are many strategies people use to be frugal, including waste reduction, quitting expensive habits, going against costly social norms, looking for no cost options, as well as many others. Frugal living is sure to help anyone looking to cut expenses and/or have more money.

The first steps that will help you lead a more frugal lifestyle include the following: set your financial goals, keep track of your spending, and make a budget.

Set Financial Goals
Before you can get on the right financial track, you will need to decide what you want to achieve. Do you want to start a college fund for your child, save for retirement, or buy a new car? Is there debt that you need to pay off or would you like to have money set aside for emergencies?

Figure out what your financial goals are and put them on paper. Any goals that can be accomplished within six months are “short-term goals”, goals able to be accomplished from six months to a year are your “medium-term goals”, and those that will take longer than a year are “long-term goals”.

Next you will need to figure out what resources you will need to achieve your goals. Estimate how much money it will take to accomplish each of your goals, and set a date when you hope to reach each goal. Come up with how much you will need to save each month in order complete each goal by your deadline, and work out a budget so that you will be able to save this amount and continue to pay your other bills.

While figuring out your goals, make sure you are realistic about how much time and money you have available to reach each goal. Over working in order to achieve an unrealistic goal will only cause stress, and reaching that goal will be much more difficult. Also, remember that you will probably run into a setback at some point. If something throws you off track and you won’t be able to meet your goal deadline, set a new date and continue working for that goal.

Keep Track of Your Spending
Keep a record of your spending over the next month to see exactly where you spend your hard earned money. You could find that you are spending too much on unnecessary items, which could cause you to fall behind on your saving goals or even cause you to spend more than you are making each month. If you see where your money is going, it may keep you from buying that snack in the vending machine or paying too much for a cup of coffee.

Make a Budget
Your next step will be to actually make a budget that will show how you want to spend your money. Gather copies of your annual bills and make a worksheet that shows how much you need to pay them along with any other annual expenses you have each year. Divide that number by twelve to find your estimated monthly expenses, and use that information when deciding how much of your money you will need to save.

Balancing your income with your expenses doesn’t have to be hard. When you follow a good budget and let go of unnecessary expenses, you can find yourself living and saving comfortably.

The study found that most consumers (70%) ultimately purchased the property subject to the rent-to-own contract this is directly contrary to claims made by the industry that only 20% of the customers actually purchased the products. This could lead to a huge step in the direction of regulating these contracts as credit sales instead of as leases. If that were to happen, the industry could face increased costs of regulation as well as sales declines caused by increased disclosures.

On the other hand, 75% of customers were satisfied with their rent-to-own experience. The industry will point to this as an indication that they meet an important market niche and that even after completing the transaction, a large majority of customers are happy with the choice they made to participate in that transaction.

The entire testimony will be available as a part of the Federal Register upon publication.

The Federal Trade Commission works with consumers to provide information on how to spot and avoid consumer traps.  The Federal Trade Commission’s website provides a great deal of assistance or the consumer can call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).  

The FTC will take that information and enter it as a complaint into an online database available civil and criminal law enforcement groups around the world.

Where is a person with little money, bad-credit, and a craving for a big screen TV supposed to go?  Their local rent-to-own store.  And these stores are cashing in.  How?  By charging double the retail price for a consumer item and allowing the person to use the item while paying it off.

Surprisingly, though consumer activists decry the practice, the consumers involved in the transactions are generally pleased.  The satisfaction rates exceed 75% according to a Federal Trade Commission study from 2000.  Also, there are seldom complaints in the rent to own area according the president of a chapter of the Better Business Bureau.

These options serve a consumer who is either unable or unwilling to tie up their own personal credit with the purchase.  However, before choosing to enter into a rent-to-own arrangement, consumers should look into even high interest rate credit cares.  As bad as that may seem, the purchase price can be significantly lower when paid out over a credit card than when paid for using the rent-to-own model.

But for consumers who have been told no by credit card companies and still have unsatisfied wants or needs, the rent-to-own model seems to keep the consumers happy.

While only 2.3 percent of U.S. households had purchased something through rent-to-own, these transactions are more common among poor (59% below $25,000), undereducated (73% had high school education or less), and African-Americans (31%).  Most participants in rent-to-own contracts also rent their home and live in the South (53%).

One of the common complaints about rent to own purchases is that they allow the seller to repossess the property and, in essence, pocket the equity.  This does not appear to be a significant problem.  Most of the merchandise was actually purchased by the customer (70%) even though only 67% intended to purchase the item when they began the transaction.  Put another way, many of these customers would have gone on renting the merchandise without ever earning equity at all.  So, for these customers, rent to own was a very good financial choice.  However, this also means that rent to own customers were also paying potentially double or more the actual retail value of the item purchased.

And the dissatisfaction hit this issue.  While only 19% of customers were dissatisfied with their rent-to-own experience, 70% of those complaining were complaining about the high prices.  Interestingly, almost half of all customers surveyed had been late in making a payment.  Of those, a staggering 84% reported that they were treated either “very good,” “good,” or “fair” when they were late.  This level of positive treatment when late with a payment is a direct response to many consumer groups who criticize this industry as rampant with abusive collection practices.

Overall, those who are involved in these transactions are satisfied with their choices and are treated well by the rent to own retailers.

Many times the rent to own stores are selling items that have been repossessed from other customers.  These used items may still be in good condition, but it may be much cheaper to look at a used furniture store or even a thrift store.  At the very least, one should evaluate the real retail price based on the used version and not the cost of the item new.

Also, when purchasing a product, make sure that you compare the costs of the exact model being purchased.  The rent-to-own shop may be selling a flat-screen TV for the retail price of $499, but that is not as good of a deal if the exact same model is available for $250 at the local discount store.  Then, if the rental price is $50 per month for 20 months, then the customer is actually paying $1000 for a $250 TV, or 4000% interest.

But most importantly, examine the quality of the actual item purchased.  A recent rent-to-own customer bought a rental couch.  Upon bringing it home, she learned to her dismay that it was filled with bed bugs.  The rental store said that the couch had been treated prior to sale.  But, unfortunately, the bed bugs still infested her house.

So, before you buy that couch, TV, or computer, make sure that you know what you are getting for your money.