Debt Free

Lets say, for the sake of argument, that you currently have $10,000 in outstanding credit card debts at an average interest rate of 15%. You want to see all your favorite bowl games in their requisite HDTV splendor (and impress your friends with the spectacular picture quality of the large screen HDTV in your family room). That being the case, you trot your self over to your laptop to check the ratings on the latest 52” LCD and 50” plasma TVs. After a bit of research, you settle on a new Samsung LN-T5281F with dynamic LED back lighting (a marvel of technology, that) or a Pioneer PDP-5010FD Kuro plasma (the best plasma image I saw at the recent CEDIA show in Denver, although Pioneer cheated a bit by using custom produced demo material).

These are both truly fine,1080p displays that will wow even the most jaded video critic, so your drunken friends should be suitably impressed as you gather to watch the Fiesta bowl. So, what is the cost to impress your friends and enjoy a bit of HDTV bliss? The best is never cheap, and these TVs certainly aren't, but you're going to pay it off right away using your Christmas bonus, so what's the problem? The Samsung LN-T5281F is $4,499 over at Abt Electronics, one of the few web retailers to offer this high end model. The Pioneer PDP-5010FD is an even bigger stretch, at a whisker under $5K over at OneCall, again, one of the few places on line to carry it. (Yes, if you actually order one of these, I'll get a (very) small cut. It helps with the bandwidth costs.)

One note here about purchasing electronics on line – There are many unauthorized retailers out there where you can find products. However most manufacturers have only a select number of on line retailers that are actually authorized to carry their products. Failure to purchase through one of the authorized retailers will bring with it a host of problems, including loss of warranty. Not a great deal on such an expensive product. In addition, many of the products are either grey market goods (goods for other markets transshipped to the U.S.) or aren't really in stock. Upon ordering at the too-good-to-be-true price, you'll be steered toward another product.

Back to the question at hand regarding purchasing by the indebted. Spending your Christmas bonus on one of these fine TVs, while bringing untold amounts of enjoyment to you and yours, comes at a cost of failing to retire an equal amount of debt at an average interest rate of 15%. If, for example, you spent $4,499 on the Samsung, apart from helping the economy of South Korea, you are paying that 15% on an equal amount of debt that you still have, because you chose to buy a cool, new HDTV instead of losing the debt. So, in reality, the TV costs you $4,499, plus 15% a year until such time as that amount of credit card debt is paid off.

So, make sure you think about the debt you aren't paying off the next time you make a purchase instead of getting rid of some of your debt. Have a great weekend.

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The single, most important thing you must know is why you're in debt. That knowledge is vital in order to determine how you'll proceed. If you're in debt due to unforeseen, extraordinary circumstances you'll take a different course of action than if you have a pattern of spending in excess of your income. According to Bankrate.com the most common cause of excessive debt is failing to reduce expenses when your income is reduced. Growing one's expenses to match one's income is one of the most natural personal finance patterns. It can be seen almost every time someone's income rises. Almost invariably their expenses will rise right along with it.

The problem here is twofold. One, by allowing expenses to rise, you are depriving yourself of valuable retirement and investment contributions. Two, you are reducing your margin for error in the event of an income reduction. The second situation happens all too frequently, and is disastrous for your finances. You lose your job and your next one pays less, or you are working on a project that allows consistent overtime pay and it ends; whatever the reason, a reduction in income will put you in a real financial hole if you allow yourself to grow your expenses with your salary.

f you spend more than you make, for whatever reason, you have established a pattern that guarantees long term indebtedness, and there's little you can do about it unless your spending habits change. That's priority number one if you're seeking debt relief; get your spending under control, or all your actions will be for naught. Gambling (debt reason number 5) is a surefire way to find yourself with massive debt. That is even more likely if you are one of the 2.7% of the U.S. population that has a gambling problem (State of CT Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services).

If you are in debt due an extraordinary event such as divorce (the number 2 cause of excessive debt) or medical problems (the number 6 cause of debt) than you will be more successful by using a debt consolidation or other program to secure debt relief. Entering a debt relief program if you are one of those that has a spending problem, whatever the source, is a recipe for disaster. Priority number 1 in this instance is to cure the root cause of the spending imbalance. Only then can you reign in your debt problems.

One of the first things you should find out in the debt relief process is your credit score. That will help you lay out your options. The higher your credit score, the more options you have, and the more you have to lose by screwing the whole thing up. You should know your credit score in any case, because it's just good, personal finance common sense.

The next thing to determine is weather or not you have any assets that can be used as security. If you have assets for collateral, primarily real estate, you can get a debt consolidation loan. This is only acceptable if you have no spending problems. I'll repeat that once again for those that are reading this early in the morning, before they've had their coffee. Under no circumstances should you ever get a debt consolidation loan if you have a pattern of spending in excess of your income. One of these loans isn't always the best solution even if you have no spending problem. Like any other financial instrument, it is only a tool to be used when the situation warrants it. Just when does the situation warrant it, you may ask?

If you have exhibited financial responsibility, consistently pay your bills on time, but are saddled with several high interest credit card or other debts, a debt consolidation loan will allow you to make a single payment while saving substantially on interest payments. Be advised that you can actually pay more in total interest by using a debt consolidation loan, even if the interest rate is much lower than the loans you're paying off. How the heck is that possible? Two possibilities. One is that many of these loans have fees that you'll be required to pay. While not technically interest, the fees still contribute to the APR of the loan. The second reason is that many of these loans have long terms. When you stretch the repayment of your loan over a longer term, you're naturally paying interest for a longer period of time. It adds up, and you can actually pay more in interest over the long term.

The other thing to consider is that you can lose whatever you are using for security on the loan. That security is why debt consolidation loans have a lower interest rate than credit cards and store charge cards. The loan is secured, and so represents a lower risk for the lender. The lower risk translates directly into a lower interest rate. Be that as it may, it won't make much difference to you if you default on the loan and your collateral is repossessed. The overwhelming number of people use their primary residence as collateral, so if you default, it will be foreclosed upon. You'll be living at that big underpass on the 5, next to that guy with the blue tarp. That's serious business, so go into any such loan with both eyes open.

You may also consider credit counseling services as a way to find debt relief. There are two varieties of credit counseling. In the first one, the counselors will go through things with you and help you plot a course of action to steer your way through your debt minefield, hopefully plotting a course that results in your being debt free. It can be an excellent way to help you decipher all the subtleties that can affect your financial future. When you're finished, you'll have a financial action plan to eliminate your debt. Since 1998 FICO ignores the fact that you're visiting a credit counselor when calculating your credit score.

The other variety of credit counseling involves counselors too, but they actually negotiate with your creditors to allow you to pay back only a portion of your debt. They will also stop most of those harassing collection calls, if you've let the situation get that far. This is also called a debt management program. So, now you're saying “Wow! This is great. I can pay back only a portion of my debt and stop those nasty phone calls? Of course I'd rather go that route.” Not so fast, Bucko! That kind of debt relief will come at a cost; namely to your credit rating, which will typically plunge it's way into the financial toilet for a while, although not nearly to the extent that a litany of missed or late payments will do.

The last form of debt relief is through bankruptcy. If your credit score is already atrocious, say under 550, you obviously have less to lose by declaring bankruptcy. You should be fully aware however, that you'll have that bankruptcy on your credit report for a decade and it will make getting any sort of loan much more difficult and expensive during that time. In addition a pattern of poor spending habits will only continue after you've declared bankruptcy, unless you take steps to correct it. Once you've declared bankruptcy, you can't just do it again, either. You have to wait for 7 years before you can do so again (Chapter 7).

There are many options for debt relief. They all have their advantages and disadvantages. Carefully choose the best option for your situation.

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Ways to make more money – 1
You can earn more money at your job. That sounds great, but how exactly can you do that? You can get a raise for doing the same work that you do now. That will require convincing your employer that you deserve more money for the same work. Your task will be much easier if you can demonstrate to them that you are indespensible and that you provide value to the company. So basically, you need not to be doing the same work, you need to be more work, better work or both, than others in your job classification. For more on how you can be successful in this course of action, see my previous post on how to get a raise.

The other way to earn more money at your existing job is not to be doing your existing job at all. Plan a path for advancement at your existing employer and follow it. Get a promotion, advancement, or change jobs within your firm to one that pays you more money. To do that you'll have to work for a company that has a suitable upgrade path available. You can move into a supervisory role, deviate form your existing scope of work entirely, or possibly both. Whatever you do, you need to formulate a plan for exactly how what job within the company you're seeking and how you aim to get it. Break down exactly what you'll need to do, step by step, write it down, then follow that plan.

Ways to make more money – 2
It's possible that you have no realistic opportunities to make more money at your existing job. In this case you may be wise to look for a new job entirely. Weather you remain in your current field, or change to something altogether different is up to you, but if you are going to change firms, and you have entertained the notion of also changing careers, no would be the time. You can find a higher paying career that you're qualified for that interests you, or you can increase your qualifications.

For example, if you are working in the field as an electrician, plumber or other skilled trade, you may have opportunities available to you as a sales rep, sales engineer, or factory trainer for one of your distributors or vendors. A career change like this may often bring with it a substantial increase in pay, flexibility, and advancement opportunities. In many cases there will also be a trade off in other areas. You may have to travel, work strange hours, or work some weekends with, gasp, no overtime pay. Such work can be rewarding if you like to work with people, are personable and have technical expertise. That is but one example of how you can leverage your existing work experience into a different, but related career path, and make more money while doing it.

Ways to make more money – 3
You can take the time honored path to making money by starting your own business. In this day and age, there are virtually unlimited possibilities when it comes to starting and operating your own business. You can begin it as a side business to supplement your existing income, or if you have the financial wherewithal, you can quit your existing job and jump in with both feet. Be advised that you better have a solid business plan and be poised for rapid success if you will be using a new business as your sole means of support. Still, having your own business brings with it rewards that are impossible to achieve as an employee. Some of these include tax advantages, almost unlimited earning potential (if you choose the right business and are skilled enough in running it), personal fulfillment, and challenge. As we plunge headlong into the information age there are even more opportunities for the small business person to succeed on a grand scale.

In out age, it is possible to profit from an idea as never before in human history. In the past, entrepreneurship was a capital intensive endeavor that relatively few were suited for, or would ever have the ability to pursue. Today that is no longer the case. If you want to make money as an entrepreneur, you can emulate the millions of successful entrepreneurs that have gone before you, or you can strike out on a new path altogether.

Ways to make more money – 4
You can make money through investing. If you aren't investing now, you should start, if for no other reason than to have a well funded retirement independent of whatever meager stipend you'll receive from the Federal Government. You can also use investing as an income stream. Be aware that, late night infomercials about the riches obtained from real estate investing, stock picking software, or secret investing plan 'X', notwithstanding, making a steady, supplemental income through investments is no easy task. It's one thing to contribute regularly to a 401(k), IRA, or other retirement investment vehicle and see nice, positive returns over the long term, but quite another to have an investment income stream that can contribute to your income in a meaningful and reliable fashion.

Well, since it's almost time for you to make those resolutions, you can use these 4 ways to make more money, if that happens to be one of them. Really, why shouldn't it? More money will help you get out of debt, or have a bit more fun if you're there already. Have a great, Debt Free, new year.

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So, it's likely that if you've graduated from college in the last couple of years, you'll have substantial debt to deal with. How do you balance that with the need or desire to buy a home? You'll have to take on a mortgage. Due to the recent, well (over??) publicized problems in the mortgage industry, especially the portion of it serving the more credit challenged in the audience, you may think getting a home may have to wait. It may, but you should evaluate your financial situation to determine if it is worth pursuing. There's a good chance that you'll find that purchasing your first home does make sense for you after all.

If your analysis reveals that buying a home is for you, and you can find someone to give you a mortgage, chances are you'll get a pretty favorable interest rate on it. Although many lenders are a bit averse to actually lending money at this point, when you can talk them into it, you'll probably get a pretty fair mortgage.

As an aside, it's a shame that so many lenders are so squeamish about actually doing business these days. There are still a tremendous number of people out there that want to borrow money, and are fantastic credit risks, yet lenders are reluctant to give them a mortgage. Too bad for the borrower, the lender, and the economy. Yes, they should shy away from those that legitimately have little chance of repaying the loan, but guide your lending with common sense, not fear, please.

So, if you have a student loan, or more likely a few of them, how should you proceed? First of all, if you have multiple student loans, you should look at student loan consolidation, especially now,with interest rates so low. It will make debt management a much easier task, and reduce your monthly payment. Not only will that help your cash flow and make life easier, but when lenders look at your financial picture, you will be a bit more attractive to them.

Okay, you've consolidated, now what? Since the days of zero down mortgages are behind us for the most part, you'll probably need to come up with a down payment for your house. Here's the question; if you have money for the down payment, should you use all of it as a down payment, or should you pay off some of your student loan?

If you're fortunate enough top be in the position that you can ask yourself this question, congratulations! You're doing something right. So, which is it? Pay off some student loan debt, or increase the down payment on your house? You'll have to look at the interest rate on both loans first. The rate on your consolidated student loan will be based on the results of the 91-day T-Bill Auctions and are set on July 1^st. You should not have to pay a fee for consolidating your loans, either. Your mortgage interest rate will, of course be dependent on many factors, such as your credit rating, lender, and so forth. I've done a few posts in the past on how you can improve your credit score, and how to get a better mortgage. Look at them for steps you should take before and during the mortgage process.

If the interest rates are similar on the the consolidated student loan and the mortgage, you'll usually be better served to pay off the student loan, and minimize the down payment on your home due to the tax advantages a mortgage provides. Remember your mortgage interest still provides a nice tax deduction, despite the efforts of some in congress to eliminate it. That usually swings the answer in favor of using as much of your money as possible for paying off student debt, which provides no such tax advantages. This assumes a fixed mortgage at a good interest rate. If you have some unconventional mortgage product with all sorts of schedules, rate adjustments and fees, you're probably still better off if you put your money toward paying off your student loan, but with something that complex, you're on your own.

Have a Merry Christmas, and Happy, debt free Holidays! I may make another post between now and Christmas, but with all the loose ends left to wrap up before then, there are no guarantees. Here's to family, friends, and all those in the world that are less fortunate. I hope you're having a great holiday season!

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Right off the top – say goodbye to the beloved incandescent light bulb. You know, those bulbs you can buy 4 for a dollar just about anywhere. They'll be phased out by 2020 so you can install those new fangled CFL bulbs. CFL bulbs have challenges of their own, including higher prices, tiny levels of the toxic metal mercury, problems dimming (some actually do dim now), slow time to full brightness, and harsher light. They do perform as advertised in the energy savings department however. You will be able to cut the electricity you now use for lighting by about 60%, provided you are changing from 100%, non dimmed incandescent lighting.

Some of the problems with CFL bulbs will be solved, in time. Some are able to be dimmed now for those who care about such things (and if you have dimmers installed, you should, lest you have to replace them with conventional switches), and prices are already much lower than they were only a couple of years ago. The levels of mercury, while extremely small per bulb, must be multiplied by the millions of CFL bulbs that will be pressed into service.

In addition, we should remember that these new bulbs must have new factories built to meet the burgeoning demand. New factories mean more efficient and environmentally friendly operation in most cases, but don't forget about the environmental damage caused by the actual construction of the new manufacturing facilities themselves.

Before you jump on the CFL bandwagon however, you should know this; once again, legislators failed to get it right. Instead of setting a lighting efficiency standard, and letting light bulb manufacturers workout the details, they banned a technology. Why is that a problem, you may ask? Because GE and others are now developing incandescent bulbs that are nearly 50% more efficient than current bulbs, and will be even more so within 5 years.

So, instead of using a newer, more efficient version of a proven technology that's relatively environmentally friendly, inexpensive, and compatible with all current light fixtures, we'll be forced to switch to a new technology that's more expensive and, while saving a tremendous amount of energy (estimates run as high as $18 billion annually that we'll be able to put elsewhere in the economy), don't work as well as current bulbs. Here is some information on these new high efficiency incandescent bulbs.

What about other provisions of the new energy policy that will affect you? The other place that Americans love to consume energy is their vehicles. We whine about high fuel costs, but still AutoData reports the sales of new Chevy Silverado Pickups, hardly the most fuel efficient of rides, was up over 30% in August and 7% in September 2007 over the same months in '06, despite high gas prices and a full size truck's thirst for unleaded. Some of that increase was purloined from Ford, as the Bleau Oval saw a nearly 10% slide in F series pickup sales year over year for August '07. None of that came from Toyota though, as sales of the new Toyota Tundra, a huge monster of a pickup with some versions producing almost 400hp, was up a whopping 69% in August over last year's figures.

Sales of most manufacturer's SUV's on the other hand, were down over the same months in 2006. Why does any of this even matter? Because it means that, given their free choice, many Americans will still drive large, rather inefficient vehicles. When they make choices like that, they must be stopped, for their own good, if for no other reason.

What impact will the new energy policy have on what you drive in the future? Well, it will get much better gas mileage. It will have to, because the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) requirements will be raised from their current 22mpg to 35mpg. That 35mpg figure will also affect trucks, whereas the current standard for trucks and cars is different. So you'll be saving a ton of money at the gas pump. You'd better save at the pump, because you'll be spending more money just about everywhere else, courtesy of the new energy legislation.

Why? Well the technology required to reach the 35mpg mandate will not come cheap, all apologies to inventors of those 80mpg carburetors we just know were derailed by the big oil companies. By some auto industry and energy analyst estimates, the average cost increase per vehicle will be well between $1,500 - $4,000, with some estimates reaching twice that figure! To paraphrase one industry exec “All the cheap, easy stuff's been done. Further fuel economy increases are going to be expensive.” So you will spend at the dealership what you save at the pump, and possibly a bit more.

Another provision of the new energy bill is that we'll be burning more renewable fuels, such as ethanol, in our high mileage vehicles. The law requires a 600% increase over current levels. Hooray for the farm lobby!! While I'm all for turning to locally produced fuels, renewable and otherwise, to wean us from our dangerous dependence on foreign oil, you should know that such independence will definitely come at a cost. First of all, these fuels contain less energy per unit volume than gasoline, so burning them brings about a 20% decrease in gas mileage. Because of this, the net effect of the CAFE increase is even greater, to maybe 36 – 37mpg, making it that much more difficult to attain.

There will be some interesting new hybrid and fuel cell vehicles, in addition to heretofore undeveloped motive technologies that will power our vehicles. It may spell the end of the traditional muscle car, but you should see what they can do with rare earth magnets and lithium ion batteries these days. The Tesla, an all electric roadster based on a Lotus chassis, can do a silent, 3.8 second 0-60 run.

You should also be prepared to cough up more money at your local supermarket. No, not to pay for more expensive light bulbs, but because the increased demand for ethanol as a motor fuel will  raise the price of corn, and with it everything that contains corn, is fed corn, or competes with corn, such as wheat or barley (the price of whiskey and beer's goin' up!). It won't be a dramatic increase increase in most cases, but noticable. The good news is that a large portion of the new biofuel must be from other-than-corn sources, such as switch grass.

Hopefully one of the largest benefits to come from the new bill, other than the reduction in the demand for foreign oil, is the rise of new, hopefully locally developed and produced technologies to meet the demand for energy reduction. It could provide a dramatic stimulus for existing industries and the impetus for developing whole new ones. That may be just what America needs to keep us ahead of, or at least even with, the game in our new global marketplace.

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In many real estate markets these days selling a house is no easy task, never mind selling your own house. Be that as it may, there are times that you may have to do just that, either by choice or circumstance. If you find yourself in the position of having a house on the market, selling it sooner, rather than later is probably your overriding concern. I've seen a few friends watch their house languish on the market for months recently, and believe me, it's not a good position to find oneself in. Any house payments you make while your home is on the market basically come right out of your profit, because the lion's share of that payment goes straight to mortgage interest, not to reducing the principal balance.

If you are selling your own house, here are some tips that can make the task a bit easier.

Tips for Selling Your Own House 1 -
Price the thing realistically. I know it's your own house, and it's full of your memories, but you've got to put yourself in the position of a prospective buyer. They have no such memories of your abode and if you want them to get any, you can't overprice the thing. Remember, the longer your house sits unsold, the lower your profit. Over pricing will cause a property to sit, instead of sell, and in fact is the number 1 cause of a failure to sell, according to a survey of sellers done in 2006 by real estate firm HouseHunt Inc. It is far better to price it a few percentage points low and sell it right away, than to price it a few percentage points too high and have it fail to sell for 3 to 6 months (or longer). One last bit of pricing advice; price it on the low side of $25K increments and it will be seen by more online browsers. For example, you'll get many more views at $349,950 than you will at $354,950, because of the way most real estate websites search for homes (in $25K or $50K increments).

Tips for Selling Your Own House 2 -
Don't buy a new house before your house sells unless you have no choice. Many Realtors say it's much tougher to sell a vacant property than one that looks happy and full. If you must move out, go ahead, but you should be aware that NAR surveys have found that you're about 10% more likely to reduce the price of your home at some point in the selling process if it is vacant. So if you can, a hot tip is not to move out too fast. You can always rent a place to live while you're finding a new home. It is, after all, a target rich environment for buyers these days, not the seller's markets of years past. Finding a new home will be the least of your worries.

Tips for Selling Your Own House 3 -
Make sure it looks good from the street. Reeaal good. As in “I have to live here” good. Curb appeal is one of the largest factors in setting a positive impression in people's minds when they're house hunting. After a day of looking at 8 - 10 houses, you want yours to be the one they remember. Make sure it's clean, and there are no glaring flaws, especially flaws visible from the street. Look at the landscaping. That is one area that can cause the price to appreciate if it is very good, and actually reduce the price of your house if it is not.

A study published in the Journal of Environmental Horticulture in the 1990's found that for some houses, the landscaping can reduce the selling price of a house by a staggering 10%! Even if it's only 5%, or if it causes your house to stay on the market an extra 90 days, mow the freakin' yard, for Christ's sake! Actually make sure the hedges and bushes are well trimmed, the lawn is completely manicured (unless it's covered by snow now) and there a no dead spots. A new layer of beauty bark is very effective as well, especially the kind that's treated to stay looking new for a year.

Tips for Selling Your Own House 3 -
Make sure it's up to date. You could try to sell the house with the drab, old kitchen, but the price you pay to have the kitchen updated will likely be recovered when you sell, and could easily keep the home from sitting unsold for a long while. New homes now are replete with solid surface counters and stainless steel appliances in many neighborhoods. If your home isn't, and competing new homes are, it could be a tough sell.

Cough up the $8,000 - $12,000 to have the kitchen appliances replaced, and the counters resurfaced if that's what the competition has. Not only will you likely recover all, or most of the cost, but it will likely save you costly market time. Refinishing or refacing the cabinets may be a good idea as well, if yours are a bit worn or dated looking. Failing that, you can at least paint them. Recovering or refinishing the floor is another good use of your money.

Another relatively inexpensive area you can address to make your home look up to date is the lighting fixtures. Old lighting fixtures are one of the things you can replace for relatively little money that have a tremendous impact on the appearance of a space. Ditto the front door. It's the gateway to your palace and something that makes the first impression. For $400 - $600 you can replace it with a nice, new one.

Home Tech Information Systems and Remodeling Magazine publish their cost vs value report on the percentage of costs recouped by various remodeling projects. Here are some interesting bits from the 2006 report. The report actually breaks down improvements by region, as well as nationally. Because the house market in general is not as strong as the last few years, some of the percentages are lower. In addition, you should be sure to factor in the content of other homes in your area and price range. There's no sense in completely remodeling your hoe with a new Wolf gas range, Bosch Dishwasher, Sub Zero refrigerator and slab granite counter tops. If that's far above the standard for other homes in your area and price range. You may sell you home faster, but you won't recoup your investment on a dollar cost basis.

Here are some of the highlights of the report:
% returns on remodeling investments -

Vinyl Siding replacement 83.1% (unless you're in New England, where you'll get 94% back!)
Fiber backed siding replacement 88%
Minor Kitchen Remodel – 85%
Bathroom remodel – 85%
Bathroom addition – 75% (reflects the higher costs associated with the addition, but remember, to factor in your neighborhood norms. For example, if all the homes in your neighborhood have 2.5 baths, and yours only has 1.5, you are in a much better position to recoup you investment. You'll also sell your house faster)
Attic bedroom remodel – 80%

The number one tip to revitalize a space and make your house sell faster is repaint the interior. You'll cover a multitude of problems, make it look better and give it that new house smell people love. The best thing is that paint costs very little and even the most handily challenged can do it in a weekend or two.

Tips for Selling Your Own House 4 -
Clean everything like your life depends on it, including windows, screens, tile grout, and inside the cabinets and closets. Cleanliness is next to godliness, except when you're trying to sell your house, then it's sitting on top of it.

These tips can help to sell your own house, and can keep it from sitting on the market while you forlornly watch your bank balance wither away. For more powerful tips and strategies on making sure your house sells for top dollar, in any market, pick up a copy of the Home Staging Course. It's really targeted at those who'd like to start earning money with their own home staging business (would that be such a bad idea?), but it is full of powerful strategies to help you sell your house as well.

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That’s just plain wrong (IMHO). Nothing’s wrong with a bit of healthy gaming, online or off, for those so disposed, but when so few people want to learn about how to maximize, or get an increase in their compensation from their employer as want to maximize their online (and presumably off line as well) gambling bonus and income, it says something about the psyche of the average person. What it says I’ll leave up to you to decide.

For the rest of you who would actually rather increase your employee bonus, here are some tips to help you do just that:

Increase your bonus tip 1-

If your bonus is performance based, check very carefully exactly what you are paid on. Give the creators of the bonus program precisely what they want, and you’ll get precisely what you want; extra cash! Often you can get extra money by increasing only one component of your bonus plan, such as profit percentage of your sales. Find what will be the easiest to increase, and what you are the closest to achieving, and target that parameter for your efforts. There’s no sense in spreading your efforts around and losing track of what will generate the largest bonus for you and yours.
 

Increase your bonus tip 2 –

Sometimes you can qualify for not only a bonus from your employer, but from your vendors as well. Don’t forget about those! They can add up to big money or prizes. In many cases you will earn points you can redeem for cash, prizes or the vendor’s merchandise. Big tip here; don’t forget to track your actions that can earn you these freebies, and make sure you turn in the form on time. As above, make sure you examine the bonus program in detail to ensure you’re getting the maximum benefit. For example, if a vendor gives you 50 points for selling widget X in black, but only 35 points for selling it in red, you know what to do, as long as your customer doesn’t mind. Don’t forget these little things.
 

Increase your bonus tip 3 –

Sometimes, it’s not only how much money you actually get, but what you do with it that matters. For example, squander your bonus on a vacation or new wheels for your ride, and you just put all your bonus eggs in a depreciating basket, when you can make the basket grow. You’ll be surprised how large your bonus can add up to, if you pretend you aren’t getting one for the terms of your day to day existence. Use it instead to fund an IRA. If you get a $2,000 bonus things could work out very nicely.

Increase your bonus tip 4 –

Increase through negotiation. On of my coworkers’ wives gets about a third of her compensation in the form of spiffs and bonuses. If the store is running well, and making a nice profit, her boss slides a bonus her way. Here is a place where a bit of negotiation comes into play to maximize said bonus. Hey, if your boss is impressed enough to give you a performance bonus when it’s not in your employment agreement, no is the perfect time to bring up some specific performance targets you can hit to get even more money. Make sure these targets are attainable, however. You don’t want to negotiate yourself out of a bonus.
 

Hopefully these tips can help you grab a it of extra income this holiday season. Have a great, Debt Free (that can be tough this time of year) weekend!

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Here are three other ways you can use, along with more traditional methods, to make top stock picks:

Top Stock Pick Method 1 -
Look at the insider trading. This, like any other method, definitely isn't foolproof by any stretch of the imagination, but if the insiders are buying their companies stock, that is a definite vote of confidence from those that ostensibly know the company and its market the best. If the firm is well established and the stock is near a 52 week low, strong insider acquisition activity can indicate good things to come. Every time someone who holds more than 10% of a publicly traded company's shares wants to buy or sell, they must file a form 4 with the SEC indicating their intent to do so. They must fill out this form within 48 hours of their making a transaction, weather it be buying, accepting a stock grant, or selling. This gives the average investor the ability to track their trading and learn from it.

Top Stock Pick Method 2 -
Look at companies that have consistently beat analysts earnings predictions. If a company has handily exceeded the pros predictions for 3 quarters in a row, that says a lot about not only their health, but the firm's ability to generate a profit. It is doing this while in many cases remaining under appreciated. This lack of love can translate into a stock that's under priced in the market compared to it's performance. The strong revenue can, in many cases, drive the stock price higher.

Top Stock Pick Method 3 -
Look to the news for your stock picks. Use some of the many news search engines. Look for companies that have positive stories done on them, from reputable news outlets, over the last 6 months. The more positive news stories, the better a stock pick it will be according to this theory. This can be coupled with a news search for articles on the company's principal industry and market. If they are generating positive news stories as well, it can be an indicator of good times ahead for the firm in question.

These are just three methods you can use to generate top stock picks. However (seems there's always one of those), you should combine these methods with more conventional analysis before you actually pick a stock to add to your portfolio.

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It only gets worse as you age and more relatives have even more children. The obligatory gift exchanges can push even families on the strongest financial footing toward the brink of bankruptcy if a bit of financial restraint isn't exercised. With that in mind, here are some gift giving ideas to keep you on the path toward getting debt free, while retaining that festive feeling that's so fun about the holidays.

Money Saving Holiday Gift Idea 1 -
Don't give so many gifts! Too many people feel that they have to give gifts, and expensive ones at that, to every single member of their family, all their friends, and their associates at work. Think about that for a minute! All that adds up in a hurry. Exercise a bit of gift giving restraint. If you're a guy, ease up. Your friends don't expect gifts from you anyway. Hell, for most of us, if our wives didn't push the issue and remember this sort of thing, we'd forget to give anything to our immediate families for their birthday.

For those of you with young families, just give gifts for the kids. The adults will understand. If they don't, too freakin' bad. That cuts a lot of the pressure to not only give so many gifts, but spend so much time shopping for them. See, you're saving money already, and avoiding those ultra crowded parking lots.

Money Saving Holiday Gift Idea 2 -
Timing is everything. Get your gifts throughout the year when ever you find a spectacular price on something. Nothing is written that you have to purchase your gifts in the 2 days immediately preceding the holiday in question. If you're shopping for a Christmas gift, you can buy it during the Labor day sale, if that's when you find it. Buy your Christmas gifts for next year at the after Christmas sale this year.

Money Saving Holiday Gift Idea 3 -
Avoid the trendy gifts. Who cares if the hot pink iPOD with flames is the hottest gift this year? You don't have to be the one giving it. Those trendy gifts aren't going to be had for a discount, and you'll have to wait in line to get them. Avoid the stress altogether, and get something a bit less in demand.

Money Saving Holiday Gift Idea 4 -
Make your gifts. I posted about this last year, and its still great advice this year. For those of you with more time than money, take a trip back a few hundred years, to a time when the holiday season was less a commercial shot in the arm for business, and more a time for joy and family. The time you save shopping and working to pay for presents will free up some time for you to actually make some gifts for people. No, you're not going to be able to give the cousins that latest game for their X-Box 360, but oh, well.

Money Saving Holiday Gift Idea 5 -
Try giving some like a magazine subscription. Like a good version of a gift that keeps on giving, a magazine subscription will bring happiness all year long. On top of that, they'll think of you every time the latest issue shows up. There's a magazine available for every interest under the sun. Even better, they're super inexpensive gifts, with subscriptions being had for under $15.00 for nearly any type of magazine you can think of, if you shop online. To top it off, they'll know you thought about the gift a little bit, because you got something just for them.

Money Saving Holiday Gift Idea 6 -
There's a trend no toward environmentally friendly, experience based gifts. While some of these aren't as environmentally friendly as those purveying them would have you believe, it's a great idea nonetheless. Why not reduce all that trash we generate during the various gift giving seasons, such as Mother's Day, Hanukkah, and, of course, Christmas? Remember that if you're giving the gift in the spirit of environmental friendliness, you have to take into account all the fuel you'll bur getting to whatever experience you've selected, and all that it will consume.

Money Saving Holiday Gift Idea 7 -
Here's a novel idea. If you can afford it, but those who you're giving the gift to are finding money a bit tight, why not give them something that will save them money? If everybody gave gifts that would save the recipient money, imagine how much of their cash that would free up! Most gas saving products for the car are ineffective, and a total waste of money, but how about a new money saving appliance for the home, or a fuel saving product for the car that actually does work. I'm sure the auto enthusiast on your list would love a new intake or exhaust system for their ride. A bit rich, perhaps? Why not a reusable air filter. They'd save money on gas, and the filter would last a lifetime, saving them about $20 a year on replacement filter costs.

A programmable thermostat sure isn't what most people think of when they think “gift”, but with rising energy costs, you can save a bundle using one. According to Consumer Reports, a programmable t-stat can save well over $100 every year. That's a pretty nice gift, $100 a year.

You can give a membership to a discount store, such as Costco or Sam's Club, as a gift. If the shopper can resist the temptation to buy unnecessary items, they'll save big money on most items, such as food. It may cost you $35, but whom ever you give it to will save far more than that in most cases.

These are just a few money saving gift ideas to use this holiday season. Not just for the holiday season, you can use these for Mother's Day, Father's Day and Birthdays too. Spend less money, pay off your debt, and get that much closer to being debt free.

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That’s great news, I don’t want just anyone grabbing their share of my share that I worked until May for. However, it also smacks of favoritism, something the Feds excel at. Perhaps the best known government grant programs are for students. If you ever went to college, there’s a good chance you were a beneficiary of a Pell grant or knew someone who was. There are also many grants available for small business; either to start or grow them. In fact, the majority of government money is used for this purpose. Nearly 60% more money is allocated for small business grants than for education grants.

The government also doles out grant money for research and development, minorities, women, and community development. Your first step is to find a grant that offers money for exactly what you’ll be using it for. There are, as I noted above, numerous examples. If you are a n actual 501(3c) non-profit you’ll have the best chance, but you can get money as a plain Joe/sephine also. The key to getting government grant money is to request the grant for a specific purpose that falls within the narrow requirements the specific grant program is looking for. The other factor is to write the grant request exactly as the bureaucrats would like to see it. You need to conform exactly to their expectations, and use the proper language, if you would like to see any money from Uncle Sam.

What goes into writing a government grant request?  You’ll need to write a cover letter first. Inside the request you’ll need to demonstrate you, or your organization’s need for the funds. You’ll have to show a use plan to explain exactly how you’ll use the money as well. If you’re really lucky, the agency offering the grant will have an application form for you to fill out. Otherwise, you’ll have to remember what you learned in your creative writing classes back in college. Some of these apps can be real whoppers too, so limber up your typing fingers.

There’ll be a grant application kit you’ll have to get from the government agency offering the grant. In it will be everything they’ll require to give you the best chance of prying the money out of their clammy paws. There may be a template that will be very specific in what the agency is requesting. Some of the more common information required by the template will include who’s applying for the grant, a detailed description of the project the grant will be used for, how much grant money is being requested, a timeline for its completion, what contribution the requestor will make toward the project, how the project will benefit the grantor, and personal/contact information for key members of the team.

There will most often be a list of deliverables the granting agency will be expecting, so you’ll know just what to documents and data include, and how to organize them.

One last thing; don’t be picky. There are often multiple grants available from the same and different agencies that you may be eligible for. You should apply for every last one of them in order to maximize your chances success. It’s easy to be debt free if your money was free, just don’t waste it.

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If you are one of those that does have excessive debt, weather you fear it or not, a debt cure may be in order. Curing debt is easier said than done in many cases. Sure, it's simple to spout such platitudes as “Just put 10% of your pay toward your debt until it's paid off. You'll never miss the money.” Weather or not you would, in fact, miss the money is academic. To find a cure for your debt, you'll need to analyze it and determine what will be the best course of action to eliminate it.

Debt Cures – Strategy 1 - Step by Step

Debt Cure Step 1 –
Get a copy of your credit report from at least one of the three credit reporting bureaus. You need this not only to establish a baseline credit score, but for debt elimination purposes, you need to be sure if all your debts are valid. Your credit report will show you if you have any debts you are unaware that may be invalid. If you have any debts you feel are in error, you can contest these while you move on to the next steps required to cure your debt problems.

Debt Cure Step 2 -
List all your debts. Put down the creditor, the type of debt, the balance owed, the monthly payment, any past due balance, the interest rate, and if it is a fixed term loan, the payoff date.

Debt Cure Step 3 – Analyze your debts. Why are you in debt? Determining the root cause of your debt  is absolutely essential. You can have debt from a pattern of overspending, or from an extraordinary event, such as natural disaster or medical problem. If your debt is caused by overspending, you must cure the root cause. If you’re spending beyond your income, you’ll be doomed to a life of indebtedness.

Debt Cure Step 4 -
When you have all your debts listed and categorized, sort them by the interest rate. Now it's time to plan your debt elimination strategy. Usually you'll work on paying off the highest interest rate obligation first. There are some exceptions to this.

If you have any past due debts, you must satisfy these first. There are two reasons for this. One, they are probably charging you a late fee every month you are late. Second, past due debts devastate your credit score. Lowering your credit score can actually make the interest rate rise on some of your other debts, in addition to making sure any new credit you receive will be more expensive. The farther past due the debts are, the greater the detrimental effect they have on your credit score. So, if you do have past due debt, make sure that is taken care of first. Make the minimum payment on your other debts until you have satisfied all your past due debts.

Once you’ve taken care of any past due debt, it’s time to begin eliminating current debt. Make the minimum payment on all your debts but the one with the highest interest rate. You can use some discretion here. For example, if you have a credit card with a $12,000 balance and a 21.9% interest rate, and another card with a $1,250 balance and a 22% rate, you should probably pay off the 21.9% card first. The amount of interest you’re paying every month on the larger card far exceeds the interest you’re paying on the smaller card, so you should eliminate that debt first.

When that debt is gone, take the money you were paying on the now retired debt, and shift it toward paying off the next highest interest rate debt. You’ll have more money to use for this because you’ll have the minimum payment from the retired debt and the extra money you were using to pay for it as well. You’ll add those two amounts to the minimum payments you had already been making toward debt number 2. When number 2 is gone, you’ll repeat the process with debt number 3, and so forth, until you’re debt free. Yipee Ki Yay Motherf….

Strategy 2 –

Using strategy number one will get your debt paid off, but you will take an interest rate hit. After all, the entire time you’re paying off the debt, you’re also paying interest, and at a fairly steep interest rate. You can use another strategy to pay less in total interest if you do it correctly. There is much more risk with this strategy if you do it wrong, however. Strategy number 2 is to get a debt consolidation loan. Unlike what the shills on the radio will tell you, A DEBT CONSOLIDATION LOAN WILL NOT GET YOU OUT OF DEBT!!! You get yourself out of debt by making payments on the darn thing.

The advantages to this strategy are that you’re only making one payment, so it is much more convenient, and you’re far less likely to inadvertently miss a payment. The interest rate is typically much lower as well, so in theory you’ll pay less in total interest.

The disadvantages are that although the interest rate is lower, the term of the loan is much longer, so if you only make the minimum payment, you can actually pay more in total interest by using a debt consolidation loan, than you would have if you’d just paid the debts off using strategy 1 above. The other disadvantage is, and this one is huge, you must use collateral to get that lower interest rate. What collateral? In the vast majority of cases, it’s not your comic book collection. Typically the lender will want your house as their collateral. Now if you fall behind, you not only screw up your credit, you have to find a new place to live. If you have to do that with no money and poor credit, I imagine it’s no easy task.

The other problem with using a debt consolidation loan is that in many cases, the problem that caused the indebtedness is not fixed. You can easily find yourself in a situation where you are back in debt from credit cards, vehicles, and now, a debt consolidation loan as well. Not a pretty picture, that.

Remember there are debt cures, but no magic potions. Here’s to getting debt free.

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If you're going to have a go investing in stocks, your main objective will be to find good stocks to invest in. A tall order, that, but definitely not hopeless. Fortunately, there are many great companies out there from which to choose. If you are going to pick good stocks, you could do a heck of a lot worse than to follow such investors as Warren Buffett. Warren is a champion of an investment style termed value investing. Value investing is an investment style whereby the investor tries to buy stocks in good companies that are undervalued by some measure. The theory is that eventually the market will catch up with the goodness in the company and the investor will profit accordingly. This has proved immensely successful for Buffett and others.

There are other approaches to investing as well. One approach that works very well is to look into the future and try to discern what businesses will have products or services in greater demand than they are today. That accounts for the growing number of investors that invest in emerging markets such as China and Latin America. The economies in these areas are experiencing fantastic growth, and are poised to continue their expansion well into the future. Another area that shows promise for investors is the health care arena. As the population ages and and people live longer, there sill be a greater demand for medical and long term care. Usually, growing demand for a product or service portends great things in the future.

Finding an area to invest is all well and good, but within that area, an investor must still choose what to invest in. How do you find good stocks to invest in? You can pick individual equities, or choose from funds made up of many different ones. If you choose funds that are made up of many different stocks, called mutual funds, you're trusting in the fund's manager and team of analysts to find good stocks for you. Many investors feel more comfortable with this approach, since the analysts and fund managers have experience and training on their side. In theory, this should mitigate much of the risk associated with stock investing.

Other investors choose the go it alone route, preferring to trust their instincts and research to pick stocks. If you are among this group, you'll want to find good stocks, but that's not just a matter of laying out the business section on Sunday and buying up the equities with highest year to date growth. You'll want to look at past performance, sure, but you are actually investing in the future of the company, not its past. The past can be an indicator of future performance, but 100 years ago there were many well run buggy whip companies that probably proved to be poor investments. A quote from Warren Buffett is in order here. “If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians. “

That being said, how can you find good stocks to invest in today? I'm kind of partial to Buffett's value approach myself. You can surely find worse investors to emulate. When picking companies in which to invest, Buffett has some rules. His number one rule is “Never Lose Money” Now if you went to business school, you were taught that there is an intrinsic relationship between risk and reward (thanks Finance 325). Higher risk brings with it greater return, if you stick with it long enough, while more conservative investments will provide lower returns. That, however is not always true. There are many examples of very risky investments that fail to pay off, while numerous blue chip companies that offer comparatively little risk to the investor, but pay off handsomely in the long term. Those are the stocks that Buffett (and I) favor.

Here are 10 more quotes from Warren Buffett that give an insight to his investing strategy:

“I never attempt to make money on the stock market. I buy on the assumption that they could close the market the next day and not reopen it for five years. “

“It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price. “

“Look at market fluctuations as your friend rather than your enemy; profit from folly rather than participate in it. “

“Only buy something that you'd be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years. “

“Our favorite holding period is forever. “

“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get. “

“Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing. “

“The business schools reward difficult complex behavior more than simple behavior, but simple behavior is more effective. “

“Time is the friend of the wonderful company, the enemy of the mediocre. “

“We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful. “

“Why not invest your assets in the companies you really like? As Mae West said, "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful". “

What exactly does he mean by these pearls of wisdom? Look at the company first. Is it well run, and do the managers of the company have a good handle on the firm? What line of business is the company in? Do the prospects for the industry and the company's products and/or services look to have look to be strong in the future? Can you invest in the company for a fair price? You don't need to buy it for a song, but you should be able to get stock in the company for less than stock in comparable companies in the same industry.

f the company is well run, has a history making a good profit, with potential for solid growth, and in a growing industry, it should be profitable in the long term. Even better is if you can find a company that has had some recent problems, but looks to be overcoming them. This will often push their stock price down in the short term, creating a opportunity for the investor. The key is, however that the company have intrinsic strength and be in a market with strong growth potential.

Using the preceding strategies is one way to make sure you find good stocks to invest in. You won't always pick winners, but if you do it right, and try not to hit a home run every time, your winners should far outnumber your losers. Remember, don't try to get rich off one stock, get rich off them all together.

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Well, you can relax a bit. Recently, due to organic and minimally processed foods increased popularity, many more grocery stores have begun to stock these items. You can even get organic foods and items such as free range chicken and no cage eggs (from chickens not fed hormones or antibiotics) at warehouse stores like Costco and warehouse grocery stores such as Boise based Winco Foods.

So, just because you want to live a healthy lifestyle, and shy away from foods that contain antibiotics, hormones, chemicals, and were raised in cages full of crap, there’s no reason you should have to pay excessive prices for them. Instead of paying huge prices for premium, organic foodstuffs at specialty food markets, trot on over to your local warehouse grocer, Costso, or even check the selection at your local Safeway or Albertson’s. Chances are you can find much of what you’re looking for there, keep eating healthier, and save some money while you’re doing it.

It’s easier to get debt free if you save money any place you can, and stay out of your doctor’s office. Eating better foods, and paying less to eat them, is a big step in the right direction.

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