There are many of us out there still listening to those horrible sounds of a dial-up modem to get connected to the Internet. There are even more who don?t have any internet connection whatsoever. For those of you following either of those roads let me tell you why you need to make a U-turn and go the other direction.

If you do not have a computer, chances are you are not reading this on a computer. So I suggest you go out and purchase one. You don’t have to go and get a $2,000 computer, you can find computers out on the market for several hundred dollars and they will last you a couple of years and will do the job. After you have purchased your computer, for an additional $15-$45 a month I suggest you get a DSL or Cable connection. If you happen to have a computer but you are still using dial-up, my suggestion is to give it up.

Using a broadband connection will save you hundreds of dollars. If you currently have a dial-up connection, you’re being charged per minute. Compared to broadband, dial-up is slow (like crawling and running) you’re wasting money waiting for pages to load.

Secondly, the more you use the Internet, the more money you will save making purchases. You may be surprised to see that goods are much cheaper on the Internet compared to department or boutique stores, even when you account for shipping. You don?t pay sales taxes when purchased out of state and since the retailer is not wasting money on a storefront and employees, their overhead is much lower (that translates to lower prices for the consumer).

Do not throw your money away talking on the telephone or sending letters to family and friends, when you can do it via email for free although it is less personal. It is a lot quicker and very practical.

Online banking can save you money since many banks offer incentives and charge lower fees when using an online account. Just like in retail, the banks can spend less overhead on tellers and physical offices and share some of that profit with you.

Auction or classified ads sites benefit many people. EBay and Craigslist for example allow you to sell what you may consider junk, but someone else considers treasure.

Vonage and Skype are popular voice over IP companies with lower rates than telephone companies. With these Technologies, the internet is used so that your voice could be transported across the world for a smaller fee than the traditional phone call.

You could even read the newspaper online, plus much more. Stop paying for newspaper delivery; you’ll never need it again with the world of news at your fingertips.

Yes, you can do all this with a dial-up connection, but we all know how painful that can really be. Just remember for an extra $10 a month you can upgrade to a broadband connection. You will get that money back with all the money you will save with the seven steps I just showed you.