Ever overdraw your bank account? Or how about charge stuff on your credit card until the balance resembled the budget of a third-world country? Have no fear, there are plenty of ways to watch your budget, especially by using the Internet.

A great web site to utilize is Consumerreports.org. Consumerreports.com is commonly associated with automobile ratings and comparisons. Consumer Reports not only rates and compares automobiles but also products such as appliances, electronics, and computers. Consumer Reports also offers articles and advice columns on various products.

Consumerreports.com is a great place to start saving money. They buy all the products tested at retail value and all the information that is found on each product is based on research and testing done by Consumer Reports. They are a non-profit organization without bias so the consumer can be sure that the ratings are the best possible for each product on the site. Knowing what the best products are to buy new and used will save the consumer a great deal of money and hassle, both long term and short term. If you want a used car for instance and don’t have a great deal of money, www.consumerreports.com allows you to research a list of best and worst cars to buy, used based on studies and reliable statistics.

Next site is Bizrate.com. This site rates the store, pricing, and quality of the product. BizRate compares prices from thousands of online stores in order to give the consumer the best possible price and quality on a product. BizRate also allows the consumer to shop by department, brand, product, and online store. If you want a certain CD, just enter the name into the search engine and Bizrate.com will give you a list of prices starting with the lowest price.

Money2000.org offers tips on how to save on groceries, dining out, and other entertainment, in addition to articles and lists on how to save on shopping. They also provide food safety tips for better shopping and budgeting. There are also links available for coupons as well for those who really like to save money.

Another great way to save money is by searching for scholarships available to you using the Internet. Scholarship web sites include fastweb.com, scholarships.com, and loans4student.com, just to name a few. These web sites offer mailing lists, Scholarship lists, applications. and personalized e-mail for your scholarships. Fastweb.com gives the user his/her own e-mail box and sends scholarship information as soon as it is available. My own scholarship box has several scholarships in it every week and is very helpful in saving time and energy searching for scholarships. Having more money from scholarships can make budget planning much easier and less difficult to deal with.

These web sites offer a great deal of assistance when budgeting college life. Knowing how to save can make college life a little less grueling and much less stressful.