Debt Free

That is a big key when searching for cars that return high gas mileage figures. Not everyone can live with a go cart sized transportation appliance. It might be nice, but the realities of daily life intrude. People need to transport their families, luggage, athletic equipment, lawn fertilizer, tools, bags of groceries, cases of beer, and all manner of other things that must be moved in the course of our daily lives. In addition, we've been spoiled now that it's easier to find cars loaded with power windows, air conditioning, C/D players and 6 speaker stereos, and central locking, than not. People expect their cars to be well put together, and exhibit minimal rattling, buzzing, and humming as they drive down the road. First and foremost, drivers today expect their cars to start instantly, every time they turn the key or push the start button, and do so for many years.

That means that high gas mileage isn't the only thing to consider. With that in mind, I assembled the first annual Debt Free Blog’s  List of the 10 Best Cars (IMHO) for These Times of $4.00 a Gallon Gas. Feel free to disagree if you must. Keep in mind that it's not only the great gas mileage that the cars get, but their actual fuel cost that you'll pay that makes a difference. So, remember that while many diesel cars get fantastic fuel mileage, their actual fuel economy is somewhat lower, as diesel fuel currently costs about 17% - 20% more per gallon than regular gas. Amenities, handling, general driveability, performance and safety were all considered as well. If I haven't personally driven these vehicles, I looked to published road test and comparison reports from various industry and consumer publications.

NOTE: All mileage figures are from the EPA combined fuel economy ratings published May 16, 2008, and I chose only vehicle that use regular grade gas.

The Highest Gas Mileage Car – 10
Coming in at number 10 on my list of highest gas mileage cars that you can drive everyday is the 2008 Nissan Altima with the CVT automatic and the 2.5 liter 4 cylinder engine, with an EPA combined rating of 26mpg. One of the few cars on the road to showcase the wonders of the continuously variable transmission, the 2008 Altima is fairly stylish, holds a family of 5 with a modicum of comfort, gives you a real trunk to hold your stuff, and is a pleasure to drive. It gives brisk acceleration, and the CVT helps combine very respectable gas mileage with the aforementioned acceleration. The base price of the 2008 Altima with the 2.5 liter 4 cylinder engine and the CVT is $20,970.

The Highest Gas Mileage Car – 9
Hitting the number 9 spot on the Debt Free list of highest gas mileage cars was a Toyota. No, not the hybrid darling of the Hollywood / green set, the pioneering hybrid Prius; it’s the Camry. Although Toyota has delivered to drivers a hybrid version of their bread and butter sedan, I chose the 2.4 liter, 4-cylinder version instead. Why? Well, because as in many other hybrid vehicles, the incremental cost will take quite a long time to pay off, given the improvement in gas mileage. I want to see the payoff in less than 100,000 miles, and the Camry Hybrid can’t make that happen.

Besides, the 2.4 liter is a great family car. I should know; my mother in law drives a 4 cylinder SE version. This car hasn’t gotten to be one of the top selling cars for the last 5 years for nothing. It brings those attributes and combine them with its 25mpg EPA combined rating to earn its number 9 ranking. The base price for the LE, the least expensive 2008 Camry available with an automatic, is $22,085.

The Highest Gas Mileage Car – 8
At number 8 on the Debt Free list is the Mazda 3i sedan. I handles like a go cart, stops on a dime, has room for all your stuff (although not as much as the much more expensive 5-door version), and returns an impressive 26mpg on the EPA combined test. It's a bit tight for a family of 5, but if yours has only 4, you're in! Mazda makes the 3S, which offers a larger engine, but only a little more power and torque, plus some more standard features. The 3s costs more however and gets worse gas mileage though, so I stayed with the 3i. You get alot for your money, it gets good mileage, and it's high on the fun to drive scale. With A/C (an $880 option!!) and the ABS / side airbag safety package ($395), the 3i tickets for a modest $16,820.

The Highest Gas Mileage Car – 7
Busting into the high mileage 10 at position number 7 is the Volkswagen Jetta, and the back-for-2009 TDI engine. I actually did an analysis of the older version of this vehicle, and determined it wasn’t worth the extra money VW charges over the base car, but that was when gas was only about $3.00 a gallon. Obviously, things have changed for the worse on that score. Returning a stellar 33mpg for the EPA combined rating, it stretches to 40mpg on the highway. Those mileage figures are with the automatic transmission, too. Some reports have this car getting up to, sit down now, 60mpg on the highway. The new diesel sets bench marks for refinement in small diesel auto engines, being smooth, relatively quiet, and offering new environmentally friendly, clean diesel technology.

VW, like corporate cousin Audi, has a well deserved reputation for making top-notch, high grade  interiors, and the ’09 Jetta TDI continues that tradition. The Jetta cockpit is a great place to spend your commute. German cars have vehicle dynamics bred from years of having a national highway system with no speed limits. The just have a great way of feeling composed as they go down the road, and their steering seems to always go right where you point it. Jettas were getting a bit wallowy in the early part of this decade, but at least some of that great feeling is back. The driving dynamics and first rate interior, combined with enough room for 5, decent trunk space, and that stellar fuel mileage combine to earn the 2009 Jetta diesel the number 7 spot on my list. The base price for the Jetta with the diesel engine is estimated to be in the mid $22,000 range when it hits our shores in mid summer.

The Highest Gas Mileage Car – 6
At the number 6 position is the new 2009 Hyundai Sonata, with a 25mpg combined fuel economy rating. Hyundai was once the poor stepchild of the automotive world, competing only on price, because lord knows they couldn't compete on quality or any other aspect of automotive desirability. As did the Japanese 20 years before however, the Koreans figured out how to make a pretty damn good car, and now Hyundai is well regarded as a maker of quality vehicles that are on par with any of the better offerings from Japan, Europe or the USA, often at a lower price. The 2009 Sonata is their bread and butter sedan, competing in the crowded niche along with the Camry, Accord, and the two cars above, although the Chevy Malibu is a bit larger than the others.

They put in a ton of work in the place you'll spend your time, the interior. It looks great! The outside received some styling tweaks as well, but overall it pretty much blends in to the crowd. The engines were revised as well. Take note that last year a Sonata with the 6 cylinder engine was clocked by speed cameras in Scottsdale Arizona traveling at 143 (that's one hundred and forty three) miles per hour, but that's not the engine that I'm recommending. In today's times of gas that cost's nearly as much per gallon as bottled water, you'd better stick to the newly revised, 2.4 liter 4.

One place the Korean cars have done well is in the content for the dollar game. They give a good value. The Sonata comes with a full complement of safety features, including front, side seat curtain, and side airbags, ABS, traction control and electronic stability control (ESC has been shown to be much better at improving safety than has ABS). It has an MP3 jack in the stereo, XM satellite radio, and a USB input for your iPOD so you can see your iPOD’s info and control it from the controls on your stereo. With a 5 speed automatic and the 2.4 liter 4 cylinder engine, the Hyundai sells for $19,320, complete with power windows, cruise control, power heated mirrors, power locks, A/C, and a tilt wheel. The high content, decent size, good quality, luxo interior, and high gas mileage, at a sub $20K price are what get the Sonata to within spitting distance of the top 5.

The Highest Gas Mileage Car – 5
Breaking into the top 5 is the 2008 Honda Fit, which hits the EPA combined chart at 29mpg. Although it looks like one of those too-small cars, its small size belies the astounding space available inside. That’s a great feat of packaging by the engineers at Honda. Although the interior has copious space, even for the over 6 foot crowd, you can only do so much with a 157.4” overall length, and there’s not tons of luggage space for long trips if you bring 5 people. The sport version, with alloy wheels, a 5 speed automatic transmission, 200 watt stereo with MP3 jack, A/C, cruise control, anti lock brakes and power everything is barely over $16,000. Although the fit only has 109hp, by all reports it handles great, and is really fun to drive. For 2009, Honda is adding 11hp and more torque for added drivability, but they promise no decrease in gas mileage.

The Highest Gas Mileage Car – 4
At number 4 on the countdown is the all new for 2009 Toyota Corolla, in particular the S model. It looks like the Camry’s smaller sibling, which in fact it is. A ’09 Corolla S with option package A will suck $19,655 from your wallet, but the automatic tranny version will deliver a highly respectable 29mpg combined. The S is powered by a 1.8 liter 4 cylinder, part of the reason it’s no speed demon, but also the primary reason for it’s great gas mileage. Toyota offers a 2.4 liter (the some one as is found in the Camry) in the upper XRS model, but the price and fuel economy penalties are too severe for my blood. Stepping up to the 2.4 liter will cost you an additional $2,800 at the bank, and 4mpg at the pump; too rich for me.

The Highest Gas Mileage Car – 3
At number 3 position is the 2008 Chevy Malibu with the 2.5 liter, Ecotech 4 cylinder and 6-speed automatic tranny. What, no hybrid? Well, Chevy does offer a nice, mild hybrid version of this vehicle, but it only shows a 2mpg improvement on the EPA combined scale, hitting at 27mpg, while the traditional 4-cylinder power train combo gives 25mpg.

That 2mpg improvement in gas mileage will set you back about $4,000 more at the local Chevy dealership, probably more with the obligatory hybrid 2^nd sticker found at so many dealers these days. I don't know about you, but that's a pretty large incremental cost for a 2mpg improvement in my book. Even at $4.00 a gallon, that’s 1,000 gallons of gas you'll have to save before the hybrid drive train pays for itself. At the 2mpg difference, you're looking at 336,700 miles of driving before that day comes. I'd venture to say that most people just won't put that many miles on their new Malibu, no matter how well it drives.

This Malibu is not to be confused with the car of the same name Chevy has been foisting on the driving public for the last few years. The new one is based upon GM's Epsilon platform, as is the Saturn Aura, but the Malibu seems to be a better car. It certainly looks better than the Saturn (and any previous Malibu) inside and out in my eyes. It seems like American car companies have finally (it only took 30 years) deciphered the code to designing decent looking interiors. The Malibu's plenty large enough for a family of 5, and most of their gear too. The new 6 speed auto has gotten pretty good reports from the field when mated to the 2.5 liter 4-cylinder engine, too. Anytime you can have a car return 25mpg combined and 32mpg on the open road that’s this big, that drives this well, that's a pretty good thing.

The Highest Gas Mileage Car – 2
Well, you knew it would be on here somewhere. Yes, the number 2 position is taken by the Kleenex and TiVO of hybrids, the Toyota Prius. Far better than the original Prius, the current version debuted in 2004, when Toyota turned it into a real, usable car. It beats everything in the country with its 46mpg EPA combined rating, has good interior space, and decent power, although an acceleration champ it’s definitely not.

Although the electric portion of the drive train boasts a healthy 295 lb-feet of torque, that’s not the Prius’s raison d'etre. No, the main motivation to wait in line for one is that big number 46 on the window sticker; the EPA sticker, not Toyota’s, although some dealers are slapping healthy 2^nd stickers on them (reports have had ADM stickers at the $3,000 level). If you live for the open road, this isn’t the car for you, but if you spend much of your time commuting in urban traffic, and taking a 30 mile jaunt to grandma’s on weekends, this is the car for you.

The Highest Gas Mileage Car – 1
Okay, this is it; the highest gas mileage car on the Debt Free list. Another Honda, the Civic Hybrid, occupies the number 1 spot on the Debt Free list of highest mileage cars (that you could actually use for your family). It earned its ranking by virtue of its outstanding 42mpg, refinement, and fairly low price. Hondas are known for their jewel like power plants, and this one’s no different, except it really sips gas, and is backed with a CVT, instead of a traditional transmission. I vacillated between the traditional Civic with the closest level of equipment to the hybrid, the LX, and the hybrid. The LX is no slouch itself, achieving a 29mpg combined score, at a substantial, $3,900 discount. With the hybrid you get an additional 13mpg, alloy wheels, automatic climate control, and a better stereo with a CD/MP3/WMA Player, 6 Speakers and XM Ready ®  as standard equipment, that’s not on the LX version, so the $3,900 is buying more than just added fuel economy.

If you plan to keep the car for a while, you’ll probably see a return, especially if gas gets even more expensive. At $4.00 a gallon, you’re looking at 975 gallons you’ll have to save before you see that return, which will happen at about 90,000 miles. 90k miles is attainable for many drivers, while some hybrid differentials don’t seem to be. It handles better than a Toyota Prius and looks better on the inside as well, and you know how I feel about nice car interiors.

So that’s the 1^st annual Debt Free list of the Highest Gas Mileage Cars (that you can really use for your family). I hope you find yours on there. One note: I left off the Smart ForTwo car on purpose. It’s just too small, and at 36MPG combined, doesn’t get nearly the gas mileage you can get from some of the real cars on the market. Sure it’s cheap, but just not enough a smart choice for me.

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I did a post last month on the real reasons why gas prices are so high, if you want to know about such things. 

Thanks, and have a great weekend! 

Posted by debtblog at 07:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

How much can you save by sending those Camels to the great ashtray in the sky? Well, simple math reveals that it's a heck of alot of money. If you're looking for reasons to quit smoking, you've just found another great one. Think about how much those little sticks of tobacco add up to. At around $5.50 a pack (more in some places, less in others, mostly predicated upon the local or state tax rates) a 3 pack a day smoker will spend $6,022 pretax dollars a year for the joy of sucking that smoke into their lungs.

$6,022 pretax dollars is a healthy chunk of change. If you're single and earning $50,000 a year your top marginal tax rate is 25%, and your average effective tax rate is about 17.7%. That means that everything you buy really costs 17.7% more than the sticker price. This is because because you have to earn that much more to actually have the purchase price in your pocket after you pay taxes (Federal taxes only, if you pay state income taxes you have to earn even more). So, if you're earning $50K a year, that $5.50 pack of cigarettes will really set you back about $6.47 each. If you'd taken those pretax dollars and invested them in an IRA instead of the profits of U.S. Tobacco, you'd have quite a nest egg by the time you retired.

For example, if you're 30 years old, earning the same $50K per year, and smoking 2 packs a day, you're spending $4,723 in after tax dollars on cigarettes every year. If you quit smoking and invest that amount, in an IRA earning 8%, it will grow to over $372,000 by the time you retire at 65. If you're a 3 pack a day smoker, sit down before you get sick. You're spending a hair over $7,000 in after tax dollars for smokes throughout the year. That amount will grow to about $560,000 by the time you're 65.

If you need reasons to quit smoking, think of this one; If you're still smoking at 65, you could be sitting there, bemoaning the size of your retirement account, or you could be heading out for a quick 9 at LaQuinta. It's up to you.

Posted by debtblog at 01:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

While a college education isn't the right choice for everyone, the statistics are pretty clear on this one. Getting a college education will allow you to earn more money throughout your career than not getting one. Some of that is from the education, some of it is from the piece of paper you'll receive at the end of the process, and some of the increased income is derived from the social network you'll have by the time you graduate.

How to Save Money On a College Education – 1
What are you to do if the cost of college is looming, and you don't see a way to fund it? You have a couple of choices. The most logical first step is to lower the funding requirement. The lower the cost for the tuition, fees, and living expenses over the 4-years, obviously the easier it will be to foot the bill. Consider beginning the higher education process at a community college and transferring credits to a 4-year school to complete the degree.

The average annual cost of tuition and fees at a 2-year school for the 2007 – 2008 school year was only $2,361, only 38% of what you'd pay at a 4-year school. If you figure on a similar savings for the first two years, attending a community college would save approximately 19% on the cost of a 4-year degree.

How to Save Money On a College Education – 2
If the education is for a dependent, living at home during all or part the 4 years would further cut costs. Even if the time the dependent lived with parents only consumed the first two years, a good portion of the average $10, 930 in living expenses would be eliminated for that time.

How to Save Money On a College Education – 3
Pick a more affordable school. State to state there is a huge variation in costs for both 2 and 4 year colleges. The annual cost of an tuition and fees ranges for 2 year schools from a low of $633/ year in California to a high of $5,692 in New Hampshire. I'd venture to guess that the schools in California are not 8 times worse than those in the Live Free or Die State. Apparently living free does not extend to their higher education system.

Make the jump to a 4 year institution and you'll see a commensurate increase in costs from high to low. Once again it's schools with sun beating out schools in the Northeast for education costs. Florida can get you educated for $3,361 per year at one of the state's 4 year public colleges, while going up the coast to Vermont will drive up prices to a jaw dropping $10,428! That's a whole lot of clams for annual tuition and fees at a public college or university.

Note that these are in state figures, and those from out of state, unless they are from a state with a reciprocal agreement, will pay far higher costs in most cases.

How to Save Money On a College Education – 4
One great option you can use to fund a college education is to pay for college with today's dollars. As with everything else, the cost of a college education is affected by inflation. The problem for someone paying for that education is that the cost of an education is rising much faster than inflation, and has been for a while now. Tuition and fees increased a nationwide average of 6.6% according to the College Board report. Even in our current inflation situation, this out paces inflation by a healthy margin.

The solution? Pay for college with today's dollars, before inflation has a chance to take hold. Many states offer prepaid tuition plans, where you can pay for a college education at today's prices, by locking in the price of college tuition and fees at current rates. If you're about to start college, that offers you little solace, but for those parents facing the prospect of paying little Johnny or Jane's (possibly both) college expenses in the future, it could be welcome relief from high future prices. Check with your state to find out what they offer.

Note that a prepaid plan is not the same a 529 plan. A 529 plan is also a way to pay for college, but with a different spin. While prepaid expense plan is for tuition and fees only, a 529 plan, technically called a qualified tuition plans, will pay for all qualified expenses, such as tuition, books, room and board, and required computers.

Another important difference is that many states will actually guarantee your investment in a prepaid plan, no matter what the market does. A 529 plan, on the other hand offers no such piece of mind. Any money you have invested is subject to the whims of the market where you're invested. One advantage you will get with a 529 plan however, is that they are not subject to any federal income or capital gains taxes. In the majority of cases, that applies to state taxes as well. You will have to pay fees that will lower your realized return, so check with you state to determine these. To find out more about 529 plans, prepaid education plans, and the differences between the two, see the U.S. SEC website here.

How to Save Money On a College Education – 5
Something else that can be done to decrease the funding requirement for college is to have someone else fund it. Usually that means the Federal Government, although you should check with your state to see what programs are available. The most popular federal education funding mechanism is the Pell Grant, although many different grants are available for qualified students. Last year about $70 billion was delivered to students by Federal and state government agencies to fund all or part of their educations.

There's a new type of education grant offered by the Federal government called the Teacher Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) (Cute, huh? Who do the taxpayers pay to think these things up, anyway?) grant. It's for those going into education related fields that will serve low income students. Here are the requirements for a TEASCH grant (from the DOEd website) First, you'll have to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), although you do not have to demonstrate financial need. Then you'll have to meet the following criteria:

• Be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen.

• Be enrolled as an undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, or graduate student in a postsecondary educational institution that has chosen to participate in the TEACH Grant Program.

• Be enrolled in coursework that is necessary to begin a career in teaching or plan to complete such coursework. Such coursework may include subject area courses (e.g., math courses for a student who intends to be a math teacher).

• Meet certain academic achievement requirements (generally, scoring above the 75th percentile on a college admissions test or maintaining a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25).

• Sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve (see below for more information on the TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve)
  

I did a post last year on the types of student loans, if you're looking to borrow the money for a college education.

How to Save Money On a College Education – 6
One thing that contributes more to the college experience every year is the cost of college textbooks. Back in the day they only cost a few hundred dollars a semester, now it seems like that's the cost of one book. Well, the professors have to sell the fruits of their publish or perish lifestyle somewhere. One place you can sometimes find said fruit is on Amazon.com, often for far less than the same item in the student bookstore. Instead of buying $300 - $500 in books you'll use for 3 months, spend less and buy them on line. Also, check eBAY. Sometimes you'll find school book bargains there as well.

Hopefully these tips can help you fund a college education, weather it's yours or a loved one's.

Posted by debtblog at 12:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Through this weekend CinemaNow is giving people a nice way to save money on legal movie downloads. You'll actually save money in two ways. The movies are 2 for 1, so you'll save money there, and you won't have to fight traffic and pay for gas to go get them. With the price of gas these days, that's kind of a big deal. They also have a free trial, so you can see if you like the service. Currently they have about 3,500 movies to choose from.

 
Cinema Now is one of the leaders in the growing legal movie download market. There are a seemingly a million of those probably not legal P-2-P movie download sites out on the net, but the legal sites that follow the traditional subscription or pay per download model are growing fast. If you're a TiVO subscriber, you can use Amazon's Amazon Unboxed service to download movies right to your TiVO. Apple has introduced the Apple TV that lets you download movies and videos for rental from iTunes.

There is also the Vudu, which I've been using for about 8 months now. It is a movie download terminal that you hook to your TV like any DVD player, except that it has a network connection like a BluRay player. As with the Apple TV you have to buy the box, of which 2 models are available; one at $299, and one at $999. The more expensive unit has a larger hard drive, in case you're one of those who has to own a large movie library and don't want to rent most of your movies. Yes, you can get HD movies on the Vudu and the Apple TV. The Vudu is extremely easy to hook up, use and navigate to find your movies. Even my 2 small kids have absolutely zero problems, because there is a graphical interface with movie cover art. That way, even if you can't read, you can still find a movie.

For those of you that are subscribers to the incredibly popular Netflix DVD delivery service, you can now partake in a movie download service as well. Netflix has just released a download terminal that allows you to pull movies fomr the Netflix catalog, and stream them for viewwing to your TV. It's pretty darn cool, but I prefer the Vudu, and here's why:

• The Netflix box offers worse picture quality  compared to the Vudu – some movies stream at 500kbps vs. 2mbps or 4mbps for VUDU.   If you spent your hard earned dollars on a nice, new  flat panel TV, you probably want to feed it the best possible signal.

• Netflix box user interface is static with no animations.  As opposed to the amazing and engaging user experience you get with VUDU.

• Netflix box is stereo only vs. DOLBY DIGITAL PLUS (5.1) for VUDU.  Did you hear that plane fly by?  Probably not in stereo.  If you have any type of decent surround sound system, this is probably a deal breaker. Studies have shown that people actually derive more enjoyment fomr a movie with decent picture and fantastic sound that the reverse.

• Netflix reportedly offers 10,000 movies with a HIGH emphasis on back catalog, in other words there isn’t as much new that you can see, unless you like older movies.  Compare this to VUDU where they have the most current movies available (as well as a deep back catalog) 5700 movies and growing weekly!

• The Netflix box does not contain an internal HDD.  For this reason, playback will not be glitch free and will be highly variable in many situations.  Additionally, the video server aspect of VUDU is completely lost with the Netflix box.  So you can forget multi-dwelling or mobile applications with the Netflix box, because rarely do they have internet service available.  The lack of an internal hard drive means you can't load up your box with movies, and then take it on the road for vacations or other travel.6.     

• Netflix does not offer the same level of integration ability.  If you're one of the (admitedly few) with a home automation system such as those offered by Crestron, AMX or Control 4, you just won't be able to get the same level of integration and control from the netflix solution. 

The CinemaNow and Amazon services require either a computer (both work for computer downloads) or TiVO (Amazon), but you don't need to by a dedicated box like you use with the Vudu or Apple TV.

The movie studios can't wait until the download model displaces traditional disc based content completely, because they can dispense with distribution costs and disk pressing plants, yet still charge the same for their movies. They'll save money on labor, capital expenditures and transportation and packaging. That's definitiely a winning situation for the movie studios.

You can find out more about the CinemaNow specials and free trial here. 

Posted by debtblog at 04:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The cost to construct a home varies widely and is dependent upon a myriad of factors from size to finish quality. One traditional measure of a home’s construction cost is the cost per square foot. This is much like many other metrics and specifications; it’s fairly useless without context. Due to the tremendous variation in finish quality, features, layout, and local regulations, it’s not easy to compare the cost to construct two different homes on a cost per square foot basis.

As with many other things, keeping costs low starts with the preparation you do prior to starting the project. There are several things you can do here to save money on the finished home.

How to Save Money Building a House 1 –

• Where you build. - In many communities there is a significant difference in fees, permitting costs and cost of compliance with regulations depending on the specific community. This includes building permits, CC&Rs, and environmental mitigation costs. Often a difference of only a few yards in the location of the property can save or cost you thousands of dollars.

For example in my neighborhood the cost of a building permit is several thousand dollars higher on my side of the street, than it is directly opposite my house. Why? Because my house in the unincorporated county and the county line runs down the middle of the street. A building permit in the city (the other side of the street) is significantly less.

This is but one of the things that can add tremendously to the cost of a house before construction is even started. After the house is substantially complete other things can come into play, such as the cost of a water meter, which in some communities can run $5,000 - $7,000.

The type of lot you choose will also have a tremendous impact on the final building costs. Lots strewn with old structures, large trees, rocks, outcroppings, or steep slopes will be more difficult to clear and build on. Remember that anytime the builder utters the phrase “more difficult” that translates into “more expensive”. Likewise, depending on the type of home you’re building, some types of soil are more difficult to build on and thus more expensive. If your soil and topography requires pilings to be sunk into bedrock to stabilize the structure for example, costs will soar.

How to Save Money Building a House 2 –

• What you build. – This may seem self evident, but the type of house you build can significantly change your construction costs. Some types of architecture are much more expensive to build, and generally, the more you vary from a traditional box, the more it will cost building your house. Features such as garages won’t add to the living space, but they will add costs.

Generally a two story home will cost less to build than a rambler of equivalent square footage. If you add a basement or daylight basement, the costs will grow significantly due to the extra costs incurred for larger foundation walls, excavation, and if applicable disposal, of the extra soil. Keep in mind that finishing heretofore unfinished spaces, such as above garage bonus rooms, will add to the total construction costs. However, due to the fact that the area had to be built anyway, the overall cost per square foot of the finished house will be lower, and the value will be higher.

This means that it is sometimes worth it to add costs such as finishing attic or bonus room spaces, even though it will increase your total costs. Remember however that a larger house will be more expensive to heat, maintain, insure and in many locations, get a building permit for.

How to Save Money Building a House 3 –

• Who you use to build. – Some contractors are much more expensive than others, however in the long term they can actually be less expensive. This is especially true when building more luxury oriented homes. In this case there are so many details to be attended to that coordination between the architect, designer, engineering staff and builder is paramount to avoid unintended changes or conflicts in various elements of the house.

Needless to say (but I will anyway) that these can both add significantly to the cost of the home, and impact the livability and functionality of the final product. I’ve seen such problems add many months and millions of dollars to projects. Although it may seem like an on site construction superintendent may be a hopeless overindulgence, such a decision really depends on the scope of your project. On a large and/or technically advanced project, having an on site superintendent may actually save money and ensure the project is completed much more quickly.

Be sure the contractor you’re using has a solid track record with the type of project you are contemplating. If you’re building a larger home, or one with distinctive architecture and advanced features, a good, involved architect is worth their weight in gold (because that’s what one screw up can cost)

How to Save Money Building a House 3 –

• Know what you’re building and don’t change it. Any changes will precipitate the dreaded change order. Any change orders will drive up costs, aggravation and construction times. Any of these will not save you money on building your house. Think about it for a second. A change order typically involves tearing down something that’s already been built (that you already paid for), and building it again, but differently (which you’ll pay for again). This is not a recipe for low cost construction. A few months spent planning up front to ensure all the details are just as you want them will eliminate many headaches and cost overruns later.

How to Save Money Building a House 4 –

• How you build your house – The construction techniques will have a huge impact on costs. Modern techniques include pre-constructing many parts of the house, such as roof trusses, off site and having them trucked to the site. There are many companies that build panelized wall sections which are also built off site in factories and trucked in. Because of economies of scale and modern factory environments, using such pre-constructed components where possible can save you substantial money on your house. Prefabricated and constructed components can include not only trusses, and wall panels but other framing members as well.
  

Making sure all your “ducks are in a row” will have a dramatic impact on how much it costs to build your house. The most important thing you can do to save money building a house is to be smart not only when you’re building, but before you build as well.

Posted by debtblog at 02:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

That means one of two things; either people drive too much, or that they're living on the ragged edge financially and the relatively small increase in fuel prices as a percentage of their overall budget is putting them in the hole. It's possible that survey respondents were taking the larger picture into account, and including the effects fuel prices have on the greater economy as a whole in their fears about gas prices, but I doubt it.

I'll show you how to save gas in a bit, but many people are unaware of just how the price of fuel touches our daily lives. Oil prices have a chance to dramatically impact the economy as a whole, and it could do so even if we still rode horses to the mall for the latest sale at Macy's, and left the Land Cruiser tucked securely in the garage.

Why do oil prices so impact everything we do? Because we use oil for many things beyond transportation, and these other uses of oil touch every aspect of our daily lives. In addition, the use of oil for transportation related purposes goes beyond what you pump into your gas tank. Oil is obviously used for lubricating parts of your car, but it reaches far past the 5W/30 you got at Jiffy Lube last Saturday and the goopy stuff in your wheel bearings.

Just about every plastic part of your car is made from oil. If you've looked at the parts of a modern car recently, you're probably well aware that they have a very high plastic content. Everything from the dashboard to the seat belts, and the intake manifold to the accessory drive belts has a good chance of being made of plastic.

Even the tires you're rollin' on are composed of synthetic rubber, which is made from natural gas derived petrochemicals. I doubt a rubber tree was harmed to make the 275/40-18s that shod those expensive rims, but you can bet that there's part of dead dinosaur in there. Unless your car is finished in polished metal, it's most likely covered in some type of paint, which is made from, yes, you guessed it, oil. Lastly, there's the road itself. Besides the fact that diesel burning machinery was used to actually construct the road, asphalt roads are made from oil and gravel.

As noted above most plastics are made from petrochemicals, which is a fancy name for stuff made from oil. Almost everything in your house is made in some way from oil. The computer you're reading this on; the TV that your kids are watching so you can have the time to read this; the floor your chair is on (even if it's wood, the finish is most likely comprised of oil, smart guy); the paint, plastic, foam, and/or fabric on the chair; the blinds or curtains on your windows; the paint on your walls and appliances, the plastic parts on everything in your home; the water hose in your yard; the pipes in your walls; the vapor barrier that protects your house; the plastic sheeting in your crawl space that keeps out the Radon; the Vinyl siding; the plastic around the windows; the insulation on the wire and cables in your walls; and the shingles on your roof; almost all are composed partially or entirely of oil based chemicals. Many of the cleaning products under your sink are also made from oil too.

That only touches on oil uses in your house. Food prices are dramatically impacted by the cost of fuel and oil. Many fertilizers are made from oil. Diesel is used to run the machinery that plants, tends, and harvests the crops. Diesel runs the irrigation pumps that keep the crops green. Of course diesel fuels the trains and trucks that get that food to the warehouse food store (you don't still shop at the overpriced big-name food stores, do you?) where you can actually buy it. Much of the packaging that the food is in is composed of plastic as well.

The truth is that however much had wringing accompanies gas prices rising at the pump, people would pull their hands clean off if they knew how much we really use oil. The other truth is that we can't just stop using oil, even if we never drove another mile, and it's plain unrealistic to pretend otherwise. We can cut back our use of the stuff however,and the pace that most people can do that the easiest, and with the most potential to save money, is in their vehicles.

How to Save Money on Gas -1
What kind of Gas do You Need?
If you're trading in your ¾ ton 4x4 for something that's a bit more miserly, check to see what grade of fuel it burns. Diesel is now more expensive than gas and it's likely to remain so for the foreseeable future due to the way American refineries are set up, and the increasing demand for diesel fuel in the world. So if you're counting on fuel savings because that E320 BlueTec gets such stellar mileage for a large sedan, remember that you may save on the gallons, but you may not on the total dollars you spend for fuel. The same holds true for gas burning cars. Be aware that some cars require premium fuel to deliver the economy and performance they're capable of. Check the manufacturer's fuel requirements before you buy a car to avoid paying an extra 20 to 30 cents a gallon for premium gas. Many premium and performance oriented vehicles require premium gas as well.

One more thing, that cute, little Smart for 2 is a joke. While it may look like it will save you a huge amount of money on gas, it actually doesn't get very high fuel economy, especially given it's extremely small size. You can get better gas mileage and more utility from numerous other offering from the likes of Toyota, Honda, and VW. If you want to check out a hybrid vehicle from Ford, Toyota, or Honda, you can do even better, but you'll pay a premium at the sales desk, even after you take the tax credit into account, in most cases. Whatever you choose, if you get Smart you'll get better mileage and have room for 4 to boot (but not in it, for those of you in the UK).

How to Save Money on Gas – 2
The largest single impact on fuel economy besides the type of vehicle itself is how you drive it. I regularly exceed 18mpg combined from a V8, 4x4 SUV because I drive like a granny 98% of the time. While that's not what I'd get out of something that was really fuel efficient, I need the space and 4wd capability on a regular basis. Driving to save fuel requires a light foot and careful planning. You must plan ahead to stop, because every time you step on the brake, you're converting expensive gas to heat, instead of forward motion. Let off on the gas pedal well before a stop and gradually apply the brake. The same goes for leaving the stop. Press on the accelerator pedal like there's an orange between the pedal and your foot and the orange is all you brought for lunch. If you crush it, you'll be scraping OJ off your gas pedal for lunch.

Keep your speed low on the freeway, because driving faster does waste fuel, like they told you in the '70's. Personally however, on long trips I'm no fan of the double nickel. The extra time wasted can never be recovered, but I can earn back the extra $10 I spent on fuel driving 75 for 5 hrs. On short trips of 20 – 30 minutes you'll save little time by going faster than 60, but you will waste gas, especially if that's all you ever drive. All that wasted gas going fast on short trips adds up at the end of the year.

How to Save Money on Gas – 3
That brings up something else. Don't take so many short trips. Your car isn't as efficient on short trips because it never gets fully warmed up. It's also worse for the engine, because combustion byproducts don't have a chance to evaporate out of your oil, accelerating wear and tear on your engine. Combine short trips into a longer one hopefully with fewer total stops.

How to Save Money on Gas – 4
If you're stopped at a light for long periods of time, such as longer than a minute, and you're driving a newer car, turn off the engine. You'll save fuel and not emit any emissions while your vehicle isn't running (stands to reason). In Europe, where gas runs $6- $8 a gallon (got to love those tax happy governments), this fuel saving technique is regularly practiced. Don't use this method if you have an older car. They don't have the modern engine and fuel management systems necessary to start rapidly without wasting fuel and increasing start up emissions. You don't want to be that person at the light when your car doesn't start back up in a hurry.

How to Save Money on Gas – 5
Proper maintenance is key to maximize fuel economy and the life of your vehicle. Keep tires properly inflated to the pressure recommended by that sticker inside your driver's door. Make sure your air filter is clean and your oil and oil filter is changed regularly. Make sure your car is tuned up (these days that really only means changing the plugs for many vehicles) at the recommended intervals. These items can add up to substantial savings in the 20 – 30% range over the same vehicle where these things are neglected.

How to Save Money on Gas – 6
Finally, watch where you buy gas and plan your fuel stops. In many locations the price of real estate and regulations is reflected in the price of fuel. Gas stations in more expensive parts of town will be commensurately more expensive to buy fuel in. The same is true for locations with higher fuel taxes. You can often save 20 cents or more at the pump depending upon where you buy your gas.

Use these tips on how to save money on gas to keep your head above water, and if you don't have to, don't drive, although that advice on saving gas has always seemed rather ridiculous to me. Few people I know take trips simply for the hell of it. Most have to actually get somewhere!

Posted by debtblog at 02:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Charles Dickens once said, paraphrased for this century: “Earn $50,000 annually and spend $49,600; you’ll be happy. Earn $50,000 annually and spend $50,400 and you’ll be miserable.” Old Chuck was right on the money. Even 150 years ago this piece of fiscal wisdom was hard to fault. Anyway, enough literary references for one day; here are some tips on saving an extra $100 every week without living in a cave lit with candles, while eating dog food for dinner:

Tips on Saving Money #1
Audit your expenses – There are 2 categories of expenses you should be looking when trying to regularly save money; regular, recurring expenses and singular expenses, which through force of habit may have become recurring. Tip number one for saving money is to analyze all your regular, recurring expenses and find any opportunity to trim them back. These include all your utilities, insurance, credit card bills, and memberships and/or subscriptions. Block out at least a couple of hours, because that’s how long it will take. It could prove to be a very profitable couple of hours, so take the time.

These savings can add up fast and even better, you’ll realize these savings over the long term, as you’re billed for them every month. Look at your utility bills, such as power, water, sewer and cable. The first thing to check is that they’re accurate. Are you being billed for any services that you’re not receiving? You wouldn’t be the first to be billed for extended cable with the sports plus pack, when you were only getting the regular sports pack. You have to scrutinize your bills carefully to catch any such errors.

After you’ve verified the accuracy of all your bills, the next step is to go through each one and make sure that you’re actually using the services that you’re being billed for. For example, I just audited my expenses and realized I’m still being billed $7.95 a month for AOL that I haven’t used in years. I originally had it so I could get on the Internet in any town in which I happened to travel, no matter how small or out of the way. Now, however almost any hotel worthy of sleeping in will have free high speed Internet access, so AOL is useless to me. (Actually the cheaper hotels have free Internet, the nicer ones usually bill you around $10 a day for it. Go figure.)

As you thoroughly audit all your bills, fill out a spread sheet. This way, when you’re finished, you’ll have an accurate record of all your unused or little used services and how much you’re paying for the privilege of having them.

So now you have two expense categories; those services you intended to have, but no longer use, and those that you’re being billed for by mistake. Cancel those that you are using little or not at all. Next, call all your service providers that are incorrectly billing you, if there are any, and get back all the money they have incorrectly billed you for. If you have Showtime, but only watch it 3 times a month, why have it at all. Many times you could just rent a movie once a week. You’ll come out ahead monetarily and get better movies to boot.

Tips on Saving Money #2
Look at your diet to save money. Really, there are many things that you eat that you could either eat for less, or do away with altogether. This really adds up fast. The key is to eat healthy, but frugally. Thankfully fresh vegetables are quite inexpensive and also happen to be extremely healthy; antioxidants, you know. A rule with food is that the more processing and salt that has been added to your food, the less healthy and more expensive it will be. The exception to this rule is exotic or organic foods. These can be very healthy, but also very expensive.

I’m going to be the picture of hypocrisy as I write this while sipping an Americano, and tell you to stay away from expensive coffee drinks. At least an Americano is usually the least expensive drink on the menu at your average espresso emporium. Switch to a less expensive drink, or horror of horrors, drip coffee. The 2008 National Coffee Drinking Trends survey found that 17% of Americans drink gourmet coffee drinks daily. As the average such drink is about $4.00 (if you’re cheap and don’t tip) that’s one expensive habit. I would expect that the percentage of average urban Americans that drinks such beverages is much, much higher. So, if you’re in Boston, New York, Seattle or San Francisco cut back on the frilly java.

 Whole foods will be better tasting, cheaper and keep you healthier. You just have to get tin the habit of actually eating them. The next tip that can save you money on food is where you shop for your victuals. Stay away from specialty and trendy food markets unless you feel Buffy just won’t respect you should you shop there. Honestly, you get to shop with a great cross section of America by shopping in a warehouse store. I regularly see brand new Mercedes S550s and Lexus RX350s in the parking lot of our warehouse food store right next to beat up Cavaliers and Toyota pickups. Inside it is so ethnically diverse I could be shopping in Mexico City, Khartoum, or Mogadishu, depending on the day and time I’m shopping. Cultural education aside, it’s the fact that I save about $200 - $250 a month on food for a family of four by shopping at such a store that I choose to spend my money there.

I achieve these savings without making huge changes to our diet. I’m fairly conscious about sale items and value brands, but not nearly as much as I could be. Was I to analyze our purchases a bit more carefully the savings would be even more dramatic.

Tips on Saving Money #3
As with tip number 1, be prepared to spend some time on this one, but it will be money well spent. Depending on your individual financial situation and lifestyle, this could actually take all day. Gather all your bills and credit card statements and go to the quietest corner of your house, away from the TV, kids and your dog. Organize your bills in some sort of order. Make this something that works for you, but make sure all the customer service phone numbers and balances are easy to find for each of your creditors and service providers.

Do whatever makes you the most effective, weather it’s a cigarette (more on these later), cup of coffee, an hour in the gym, or a good night’s sleep, then go to work. You’re going to call every one of your creditors and service providers and negotiate your best possible deal with them. You can save big money doing this. In fact, you could easily save your $100 a week from this alone, depending on how large your bills are. It’s important however that you’ve taken the steps I described in tip number one first. You want to make sure you’re not negotiating on items you shouldn’t have been paying for in the first place. As another example, I saved about $60 month on my Internet and cable bill alone by just asking what they could do for me.

Call every single one of your credit card companies. After you’ve put any of your cards on auto-pay that aren’t set up that way already, you’re going to get a lower interest rate on your credit cards. If you haven’t had a late payment in the last 6 months, this should be no problem, especially if you have a stack of credit card offers in your mailbox everyday. Credit card companies know they have competition that numbers in the hundreds, so in most cases will want to keep your business if you have been a good customer.

This is one of those steps that isn’t very difficult, but it’s fairly time consuming and uncomfortable for many people, so it’s often not done. That’s a shame, because too many people don’t follow this tip, and so are paying far higher credit card payments than they should be.

Tips on Saving Money #4
Look at your habitual expenses and entertainment, such as cigarettes, movies and the like. I’m not one to suggest skirting the law, but the snacks at the movie theaters are outrageously expensive. Bring in your own and you’ll easily save $5.00 –   $10.00 for a family of four every time you go to the movies. Actually, at $10 per ticket for a movie, plus parking if you go in the city, you should probably think about renting instead.

About cigarettes, if you smoke, you know you should quit, you’ve heard it from a thousand other people, you don’t need me telling you too, so I won’t. Keep smoking if you must, but drop back to a pack a day. If you smoke 2 packs a day now you’ll save about $6.00 - $7.00 a day right there. 6 x 7 = $42 a week, so you’re almost half way to your $100 weekly savings. If you smoke 3 packs a day, well then, you’ll be even further, won’t you?

Tips on saving money are like dollars themselves, you can’t have enough of them. Now you have some more to sustain you on your journey toward being Debt Free.

*Go Bruins*

Posted by debtblog at 02:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If you are going to be flying in the next few weeks, either for business, to take the kids on a spring break vacation, or go on one yourself, the cost of air travel could be your largest single budget item. Here's how you can save money on those air tickets and lessen the pain of your next trip through the friendly skies.

How to Save Money on Air Tickets 1
If you're going to be renting a car anyway, you should look at other destinations in close proximity to your actual one. In many cases you can save money by landing at an alternative airport, then driving an hour or so to your final destination. For example if you were flying from LA to Colorado Springs departing on April 15^th and returning on the 20^th, you could fly on United for $239 round trip if you landed in Denver, while the same trip landing at Colorado Springs is $512 round trip. If you were going form Denver to LA the cost is the same $239 if you land at LAX, while it costs $309 to travel to Burbank and $300 at The Duke airport in Orange County.

A trip from LAX to JFK airport in New York during the same time period, will set you back a heady $690 round trip. Going to Newark and driving across the river will save you a few bucks, at $669 round trip. Now, if you don't mind landing in Queens, you can save huge money on your tickets by going to La Guardia airport and paying only $373 round trip. If you flying a family of five, think of the savings. Let's see, $317 x 5 = $1,585! That's almost enough to take another vacation, but you should think twice on that and invest the savings instead. (All fares directly from the United Airlines website as of this morning)

How to Save Money on Air Tickets 2
So, now you know that where you fly in the general vicinity of your destination makes a huge difference in how much you pay, so what else can you do to save money? Well, if you're willing to adjust where you fly, you should also consider adjusting when you fly, as this can have a significant impact on ticket prices too. Another United Airlines example is for a round trip flight from the rain in Seattle to the sun in Miami on the same April dates as above. Leaving at 6:00am and arriving in Miami at 4:38 pm through Denver will allow you to get round trip tickets for $505. That also requires you leave from Miami at 6:00am for the return trip on the 20^th.

If you don't care to get up at 3:00 so you can get to the airport 2 hours early, you can sleep in until 7:00 am and fly out at 11:11am for the sum of $590. The other problem with waiting on this particular trip is that you'll have to connect through the hell that is Chicago O' Hare, the airport that recently had one of the worst on time performance records of any major airport in the nation.

If you really don't want to get up at 6:00am for your return trip from Miami, I understand. However, waiting until 1:00pm will cost you plenty, as ticket prices will jump to $857 round trip, even if you still leave Seattle at 6:00am. Move your departure out of Seattle from 6:00am to the 11:11 time slot and you'll be paying $932.50 round trip. So, drag your rear end out of bed early and save money on those tickets! An added bonus is that the airport is frequently less crowded at that hour of the morning, which alone may make it worthwhile.

How to Save Money on Air Tickets 3
Now you know you can save money on your tickets by being flexible about when and where you fly. The next thing you can do to save is not be picky about the airline on which you fly. Using Alaska air for your flight, rather than United, will let you fly out at 7:00am and pay only $458, rather than $505. The penalty here is that you have to connect through LAX, and the flight times stretch this into an all day event, as you arrive in Miami at 7:50pm. U.S. Air, on the other hand will cost you $705 for the same trip. (all fares from the repective airline's websites)

How to Save Money on Air Tickets 4
One other thing you can do to save money on your flight is to check for online discounts. Some airline offer special web-only discounts. The same Seattle – Miami trip can be had from Southwest Airlines for only $298 round trip, if you book the flight online. If you are looking for international air travel destinations check out Vayama.com for great savings on 1,000's of international destinations.

Obviously, the key to savings on air travel is flexibility. The ability to adjust when, where, and on which airline you'll be flying will net you some handsome savings on the trip. Bon Voyage!

Posted by debtblog at 02:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

How to Save Money on Food
The one sure way you can save money on food is to eat out less. Many of us are addicted to the convenience of eating our meals out, or having meals delivered. Instead of buying groceries at the market and preparing our lunch, it's all too easy to swing by the local deli, drive through a fast food restaurant, get a latte and sandwich at Starbucks, or grab something from the lunch wagon. The problem is that any of those victual solutions are at least twice as expensive as buying a loaf of good, whole grain bread and the sandwich fillings of your choice (unless you like blue crab and Brie sandwiches).

Say you like Boar's Head pastrami seasoned turkey breast, and swiss sandwiches on whole grain Chibatta rolls, loaded with veggies. If you buy a pound and a half of meat, a 6 pack of rolls, half pound of swiss, a tomato, an onion, and a few other assorted veggies (making sure you get specials on everything) you'll have about $17 invested in the week's lunch. The best thing is that you'll be able to invest the balance of your former lunch funds into your IRA instead of your belly. If you typically spend $7.50 a day on your lunch, that's $37.50, so there's a $20 IRA contribution.

It really does add up, and as an added bonus it's probably healthier than what you were eating before, so not only are you saving money, but you're also saving a few inches off your waistline as well. If you did this beginning at age 25, that extra $20 a week, assuming you work an average of 49 weeks a year, will add a whopping $274,000 to your retirement savings! That's one expensive lunch you were eating.

Another great way to save money if you have lunch out every day is to forgo the soft drink and just get a water instead. No, not a bottled water (they are a huge rip off), but just a cup of water from the fountain. That will save you about $1.50 per day, and it's healthier for you. Doesn't sound like very much, but again, if you began this practice at 25 and worked until 65, you'd have an extra $102,600 saved in your retirement fund.

Another surefire way you can save money on food, and I've posted on this before, is to shop at warehouse food stores. By skipping the Albertson's, Kroeger, Safeway, Winn-Dixie variety of grocery stores, you can chop as much as 50% off your monthly grocery bill. My typical savings are around 35% by shopping at my local warehouse food store, over buying the exact same foods a mega-chain market. If they only had a Pharmacy, I'd never go to the other stores again.

Don't be brand loyal. There's no money in it. Many of the different brands of foods you buy are actually produced and packaged in the same factories as one another. It's a common practice in many industries. Products are made in one factory and then private labled with packaging from different brands. Make sure the quality increase is real, not just perceived when you choose a big name brand over a store, regional, or generic brand. Sometimes there really is a quality difference, but do you really need the additional quality at the added expense? If the answer is really yes, than by all means, buy the more expensive product, but at least take the time to analyze the question first.

Be aware of buying larger quantities of food just to get a lower price. For one thing, the price isn't always lower. It usually is, but not all of the time. Cross multiply to check the unit cost before you buy. The other pitfall to buying the large quantity containers is that you may not use it all and some will go to waste. If it's an item that your family really goes through, that's great, but if you're buying a very large quantity just to get a good deal, make sure that you're actually going to use all you are buying, otherwise it's not such a good deal, is it? Another problem is that large containers can contribute to large portionitis, a disease that has been afflicting many Americans over the last 2 decades. You may be eating more due to the larger container size. That's not so hot for the ole' waistline and it wastes your money.

Other miscellaneous ways to save money on food ;

• Look for foods that are near their expiration date. You can ask the manager for a discount on these items, and depending on the circumstances, you'll often get one.

• Get to know where the happy hours are that offer free food. If you're creative you can have a happy hour beer for $1.50 and get plenty of food you can call dinner. Don't laugh, I've seen places that offer freshly cut roast beef sandwiches and other niceties.

• Watch out for the sales. Take a good look at the sale prices, sometimes they're really not that good, or they're on items you'd have never bought anyway. Buying sale priced food just because it's a good deal on sale, if you would have never bought it anyway, is just adding to your food budget. This is true unless you replaced an item you usually buy with the new sale item.

• Go online to look for food coupons at one of the many coupon sites. If you have favorite foods, look at the manufacturer's website. They sometimes have either factory direct specials or down loadable coupons.
  

Hopefully these tips can help you save some money on food. See yesterday's post for how to save money on housing and your car.

Posted by debtblog at 01:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Now, on to how you can save some money, which you can spend on shoes or just about anything else. Hey, maybe you'll want to save or invest it. There will be some terrific investment opportunities if the markets continue to drop as they've been, a few days last week not withstanding. One you'll want to personally avoid is spending your hard earned money on a pair of $150 basketball shoes, no matter how great they make your feet feel, or how envious it makes the other guys on the team.

If you're to be saving money there are many money saving opportunities if you'll take the time to find them. According to the US Department of Labor statistics on consumer spending for the year 2005 (revised totals released in 2007) average American households spent the following:

1 - Shelter and associated expenses $15,167 (32.7%)
2 – Transportation $ 8,344 (18.0%)
3 – Food $ 5,931 (12.8%)
4 – Pensions and Social Security $ 4,823 (10.4%)
5 – Health care $ 2,664 ( 5.7%)
6 – Entertainment $ 2,388 ( 5.1%)
7 – Clothing $ 1,886 ( 4.1%)

The household expenses occupying the greatest percentage of our income obviously offer the greatest potential for savings. It's notable that Americans spend, on average, more on transportation than they do on food and clothing combined. If one takes into account that many Americans have no personal vehicles, and spend relatively little on transportation, that figure looms large indeed for those who do own a car truck or van (in many cases, all three!).

Since housing is the largest single component of household expenditure, it offers, for most, the greatest potential to save them significant money every month, so I'll begin there. Here are some ways you can save money on housing and related expenses.

How to Save Money on Housing

The largest component of housing expenses is either your rent or mortgage, whichever applies. Right now one of the best things you can do would be to refinance your mortgage to take advantage of mortgage rates that seem to have fallen through the floor. Before you rush to refinance, however, you'll want to analyze your current mortgage to find out what you're paying now. Remember that when you refinance you'll likely incur additional expenses, and that the 15 or 30 year clock will reset.

As an example, if you're paying 7.5% on a $250,000 mortgage, your monthly P&I payments will run you about $1,750. If you refinance that down with a 30 year fixed rate mortgage that was at the current average interest rate of 5.47%, your new payment for P&I would drop to $1,415, hardly a small monthly savings. There aren't many single things that will net you a monthly savings of over $300. Obviously larger mortgages will have a greater potential for savings and smaller ones....well, you get the idea.

Before you go running off half-cocked, remember that there are other costs associated with refinancing that you may have to pay, such as appraisal fees, processing fees, application fees, origination fees, and title fees. Some of these you may be able to get the lender to drop i.e. application fees and others you may be able to negotiate down. As a general rule, you should try to negotiate everything if you're serious about saving money. Why? Because, if you are not paying them up front, they will be rolled into the mortgage and you'll pay interest on them for the term of the mortgage. Needless to say (but I will anyway) that this can add up to be a substantial bit of money. For every $1,000 that you pay 5.47% interest on for 30 years, it will cost you an additional $1,042 in interest alone over the life of the loan. That does not take into account any tax savings on your mortgage interest, or the time value of money, but it does show that you'll end up paying more than double what the dollar figure was on your mortgage documentation.

You should look at the fees charged by your lender first. It's there that the lender has the greatest latitude to make changes. If they are trying to charge you a fee based on a percentage of your loan, that would be where you should concentrate most of your negotiation. If they are trying to charge you 1 or 2 percent (1 or 2 points), that is going to be a rather large dollar figure. As luck would have it, it is also the fee that lenders have the most authority to change.

Remember that brokers are making money off the yield spread premium (The yield spread premium is the cash bonus received by the broker from the lender. The greater the difference between the wholesale interest rate and the interest rate of your mortgage, the greater the broker's payment.) as well as any application fees or origination fees charged by the broker themselves. It's a great bit of double dipping. You can see that the broker is already being compensated by the lender for getting them a new customer. You should have to pay as little as possible. I saved myself about $1,500 by negotiating the fee down. If I had to do it again I would do even better, so should you.

You can also save a substantial amount on energy costs depending on where you live by doing some simple things. If you live in the desert southwest you'll want to maximize the efficiency of your air conditioning system, for example. There are ways that cost very little, or no money that can provide dramatic savings. In the summer make sure the windows on the south and west side of you home are covered to prevent incoming heat and taxing your A/C system. It's best to put shades outside the home to stop the sun's energy from hitting the windows in the first place. You'll notice a dramatic reduction in your air conditioner's workload from this, especially if you have large windows facing south and/or west, and it will cost you little or nothing.

Make sure all your ductwork in the attic and/or crawl space is well insulated. If it's not, you're losing much of the heat or cool you're paying for before it ever reaches the vent into your house. Many older homes are deficient in this area. (Try this in the spring or fall, that way you're not in your attic in the heat of summer or the cold of winter. Trust me, that's no fun at all) It may be an unpleasant job to wrap all your ducts, especially if you have to go into a 2' crawl space under a 60 year old house, but it can pay handsome dividends. While you're down there, take a look at the pipes and the insulation under your floor. Not only can you save money by ensuring your floors are well insulated, but you can keep your floor much more comfortable during cold winters. Check with your utility district, state, or county. Many have programs to help offset the cost of such home improvement projects.

Make sure all vents in unused or little used rooms are closed. There's no sense in wasting money there. Check all doors and windows to make sure they are caulked and weather stripped. It won't cost much to do this, but imagine if you will a larger hole. A 1/8” crack at the bottom of a 36” door is like having a 4” square hole in the door. If you came home from work today and found a 4” square hole in your door, you'd probably rush out to Home Depot for a new door, so don't let the seemingly little cracks go untended.

If you have old hot water radiators, put foil reflectors behind them to prevent heat from going directly into the wall behind them. That reflective foil will redirect heat into the room where it belongs and increase the apparent efficiency of the radiator. Lastly, President Carter may have been a complete moron when it comes to things economic and foreign (maybe things economic were foreign to him?), but he had it right when it comes to setting back the thermostats in the winter and raising them in the summer. It costs not a dime, but you'll reap nice rewards from this simple strategy.

How to Save Money on Your Car

Ah, now the next household spending category, and one of my favorites, the automobile. As an underfunded Porsche enthusiast (underfunded to the point where I don't own one) all things wheeled and motorized are near and dear to my heart. Unfortunately they're the same to my wallet. Let's face it, Americans spend a ton of money on their vehicles and associated expenses. Probably way too much when it comes right down to it. We're lucky we don't have the high fuel taxes that some of the poor Europeans have to pay, although there are many here who would love to emulate the Continentals on this point.

If they choose to give up their vehicles to take it, public transportation is said to save the average American $6,200 annually (publictransit.org figures, no agenda there) even if they are overstating it by 50%, that's a healthy amount of savings. Many people think only about fuel costs when deciding to take a trip by car. I know, I see many otherwise-highly educated friends make this mistake all the time. You should think about all the other costs associated with driving your trusty car. Every mile you drive is that much closer to the time you'll need to buy tires, brakes, an oil change, and any other maintenance your ride may require. The next time you pull in for your 60,000 mile service you'll know what I'm talking about.

In case you're tempted to skip it, or any other maintenance, don't. You may void your vehicle's warranty and any maintenance you fail to perform will only hasten your car's demise, requiring you to shell out big dollars for another one. It's a great example of false economy. The number one you can save money in your car is not to drive it. Obviously that won't get you to work, so the next best thing you can control is how you drive. Remember, smooth. I see so many drivers that seem to think the accelerator has only two settings, on or off. Consequently they do a bit of herky jerky to get down the road. Hey, that might be you. The next time you're driving, concentrate on how you use the gas pedal. If you find you're constantly giving it gas and then letting off, practice holding a constant speed while keeping the engine revs constant. You'll be rewarded by getting much better gas mileage and no laughs behind your back as a bonus.

If you have to run premium gas for your car, fine. Personally, I would check this before I bought the vehicle, because the thought of using premium for a daily driver gets me all worked up every time I pull into the gas station. If you don't have to use premium gas you're only wasting money by doing so. If you use top tier (not the same thing as premium) gas from the likes of Chevron, Conoco-Phillips, Shell, or Texaco, you're getting the enough detergent to meet the demanding Top-Tier detergent standards in all grades of fuel, not just premium. You're not hurting your car by using regular or mid-grade if your vehicle does not require it, unless you experience heavy knocking or pinging noises from the engine without using premium. If you do need premium to avoid these noises, and your car is only supposed to require regular gas, you should get service, as you have other problems.

So the key points to save money with your car are

• Control how you drive – No quick stopping, Don't maintain speed until right before you have to stop, and then stomp on the brakes. Anticipate a bit. Remember, every time you have to use the brakes you're turning your hard earned gas money into waste heat.

• Only use premium fuel if you have to. If you don't your wasting $.30 a gallon.

• Make sure your car is well maintained. The easiest thing you can do is make sure your tires are always inflated to your auto maker's specifications, as you'll find on the door jamb sticker. The other easy and inexpensive thing is to keep a clean air filter installed. A dirty filter will kill engine efficiency and waste gas.

• Clean out your car. Hauling all your tools and other garbage around takes extra gas and costs you cash. It doesn't even cost you anything except an hour of your Saturday.

  Shop around for everything you use on your car, such as repair and auto insurance. Comparing prices for the same level of service from different autocare providers or insurance comapanies can generate a pretty substantial savings, so do it. 

Tomorrow I'll look at some ways you can some money on other things on the list, such as food, health care, entertainment and clothing.

Can You Really Burn Water in your car as a way to dramatically increase your gas mileage and save money on gas? Some people insist you can. I don't know if you can, but it sure sounds good. Look at this.

Posted by debtblog at 03:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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.

Posted by debtblog at 02:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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.

Posted by debtblog at 06:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The answer is found in the plethora of free or almost free software alternatives thoughtfully provide by developers all over the web. Here are some of my favorites.
 

For a free alternative to the king, Mac daddy of office suites, Microsoft Office, you should check out OpenOffice, available at http://www.openoffice.org. Developed by the gang over at a little company you may have heard of called Sun Microsystems, it really is a fantastic alternative to Microsoft’s suite. You’ll get a word processing application that can read Word docs, and save documents in a Word compatible format. Ditto for Excel and PowerPoint. It may not have all the integration functionality and cool interface that you’ll find in the latest versions of Office, but as an office suite, and you can’t edit and compose a feature magazine or newspaper with the same effectiveness that Word brings to the table, but it’s pretty darn good just the same. I’ve been using it one of my machines for about 2 years now and have been pretty happy.

If you want to create PDF documents from Word, Visio, Excel, or anything that you can print, take a look at PDFcreator and MyPDFCreator. They were free a few years ago, but they’re still a great alternative to the full fledged Acrobat software package for about 1/4 the cost. You can get a free download here:
http://opportunitiesaplenty.com/MyPDFCreator.html
 

For photo and image editing, try Paint.net. It is extremely full featured and won’t cost you a cent, but you should send in a few bucks for a donation so the guys don’t have to eat Top Ramen. It’s won all kinds of awards. Take a look at http://www.getpaint.net
 

Some PCs come with DVD drives, but no player application. That’s no problem. You can download a great DVD player for free from the team at InMatrix Media Solutions in the form of the Zoom Player. Download it here:
http://www.inmatrix.com/files/zoomplayer_download.shtml#STANDARD
 

If you have DVDs that you’d rather make a backup copy of before the kids ruin it (like happened to my Shrek 3D DVD this weekend) you need DVD Shrink. You can get the free DVD backup utility here:
http://www.dvdshrink.org/what.html
 

Have a hard drive or floppy(??) that you want erased completely? I mean completely as in conforming to the D.O.D.’s requirements for data destruction. You can accomplish this feat using Kill Disk, a free hard disk eraser found here:
http://www.killdisk.com/
You can wipe out the entire drive, or just unused portions of it, and leave existing data untouched.
 

The PC environment is full of viruses and malware these days. Good antivirus applications can be really expensive, especially if you want to be sure they’re always updated and the definitions are current, except, of course, if you have the award winning AVG antivirus software (free version). If you want tech support or anti-spyware capability, you’ll have to pony up some cash, but if you have that covered, you’ll do far worse than free AVG antivirus. Get yours here:
http://www.grisoft.com/doc/products-avg-anti-virus-free-edition

Hopefully this will help you get your PC back to work, without breaking the bank.

Posted by debtblog at 07:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

These days it is a day for stupidly low prices on may items, so if you have to buy a TV, HD-DVD or BluRay disk player, now’s the time. Here are some of the specials you can look forward to at many of the Nation’s big box retailers. These are leaked deals only; no accuracy guarantees.

Circuit City:
Samsung Blu-Ray Player w/8 Free Movies -- $377.99 – once you get used to the quality of an HD-DVD or BluRay disk on a larger set, you’ll never be able to go back. Be advised, that movies are $20 - $35, however. You can rent them from NetFlix and BlockBuster though.
Panasonic 42-inch Plasma HDTV -- $999.99**
Polaroid 40-inch LCD flat panel HDTV -- $699.99
Samsung 50-inch Plasma HDTV -- $1399.99**
Samsung 50-inch Slim DLP HDTV -- $799.99

Sharp 32-inch LCD flat panel HDTV -- $599.99
Sharp 46-inch 1080p LCD flat panel HDTV -- $1299.99**
Sharp 52-inch 1080p LCD flat panel HDTV -- $2199.99

Sony Bravia 32-inch LCD flat panel HDTV -- $699.99
Zenith 50-inch Plasma HDTV -- $999.99
Toshiba 50-inch 1080p DLP HDTV -- $1499.99

Best Buy:
Mitsubishi 65-inch 1080p DLP HDTV -- $1499.99**
Panasonic 42-inch 720p Plasma TV-- $899.99**
Philips 32-inch 720p LCD flat panel HDTV -- $599.99
Samsung 50-inch Plasma 720p HDTV -- $1399.99**
Westinghouse 47-inch 1080p LCD flat panel HDTV -- $1299.99
Toshiba 1080i HD-A3 HD-DVD Player -- $199.99 (Great, but WalMart had them for $100 less)
Samsung 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player -- $399.99
Dynex 37-inch 720p LCD HDTV -- $629.99
Dynex 32-inch LCD HDTV -- $449.99
HP 42-inch 1080p LCD HDTV -- $996.99

Sears
Panasonic 56-inch LCD HDTV -- $1199.99
Proscan 42-inch 1080p LCD flat panel HDTV -- $899
LG 37-Inch LCD HDTV -- $899.99
LG 42-Inch Plasma HDTV $899** (If it is the real HD version, not the 480p version)

Samsung 40-inch LCD flat panel HDTV -- $1199.99
Samsung 46-inch 1080p LCD flat panel -- $1999** (If it the 120Hz model)
Samsung 50-inch Plasma HDTV -- $1399
Samsung 61-inch DLP 1080P HDTV -- $1999
Sharp 46-Inch LCD flat panel HDTV -- $999

Sony 40-inch 1080p LCD flat panel HDTV -- $1999
Sony 46-inch Bravia LCD flat panel HDTV -- $1499
Sony 50-inch LCD 1080p Projection HDTV -- $1399
Sony Bravia 32-inch LCD flat panel HDTV--  $999

Sylvania 42-Inch 1080p flat panel HDTV -- $899
Toshiba 42-inch 1080p LCD flat panel HDTV -- $1249**
Vizio 32-Inch LCD flat panel HDTV -- $598

** = Great buy on a great set

If you are going to get away from your Debt Free quest for a major purchase, this is the time. If you don’t want to stand in line at 5 am, try looking online. Many of these stores will let you buy on-line then deliver the merchandise to your house.

Posted by debtblog at 10:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Frugality and Money Saving Tips

Frugality and Money Saving Tips - Class 1 –
Look at your expenditures as a percentage of your income. Your largest expenditures typically offer the greatest potential for future savings. With most people, housing, weather it is rent or a mortgage payment, combined with associated costs, will be the largest single expense category in their budget. If you own a home, you’ll also have to include repairs, property taxes, insurance, and regular maintenance in this budget category. For you renters, your landlord has thoughtfully included them in your rent. Here are some ways to cut back on housing expenses.

1.                  Cut energy costs – As the price of petro products continues to increase, this category will become even more important for those who petro-based sources for energy and/or heat. Here are some ways to cut energy costs in and around your house.

a.       If your house is more than about 15 years old (new houses are very air tight, so you can probably skip this step), head to Home Depot, True Value, or Lowes and pick up a few cans of that expanding foam insulation, and a few tubes of caulk. Together they may set you back $25. Go through your house with a fine toothed comb and find any cracks or holes and seal them up.

b.      While you are at the hardware store, get some weather stripping and threshold seals for your doors. Long cracks, such as the one around doors and windows offer huge potential for savings. Why? Because even a tiny crack, magnified by a sufficient distance, is actually a huge hole. That miniscule 1/16” gap around the perimeter of your 36” front door is the same as a 3” x 4.5” hole in the door. You wouldn’t dream of letting a day go by with such a hole in your door, so fix the weather stripping.

c.       Modern appliances are very energy efficient. One thing that kills all the hard work of their engineers and designers is when we, the beneficiaries of all their hard work, do our best to screw everything up. Many people keep the refrigerator open when deciding what to get out of the refrigerator, or worse, when  they are using an item they removed, but will be putting right back. I’ve seen the door left open for over 30 - 60 seconds because of this. That makes your refrigerator work overtime to restore the wonderful state of refrigerated bliss that keeps you from contracting salmonella.

d.      Change your bulbs and or add dimmers. Modern compact fluorescent light bulbs, and soon LED bulbs are a very effective way to save money on energy and bulb replacements. They use about 60% - 75% less energy per unit of light they produce than a standard incandescent bulb, and can last 10 times as long (although I don’t seem to get that kind of life out of them very often).

An interesting development on the horizon is LED lighting. This promises to be even more efficient than CFL lights and the lighting modules last up to 50,000 hours. You can conceivably use one LED lighting unit for the life of your home. They are very small, use very little power, produce almost no heat (very safe) and can be used in some interesting locations. They are beginning to be used in places such as Christmas lights, and flashlights. Some expensive designer LED light fixtures have been on the market for a few years, but they are getting less expensive. At this point they are still a bit pricey, but recent advances in high brightness LED technology have begun to bring the price down.

Dimmers will not only save money, but also dramatically increase the life of your bulbs, saving you from trying to get that ladder set up on the stairs to replace the bulb in your 18’ entry foyer. [One day soon, incandescent bulbs will probably be illegal in many locations, reducing your autonomy when it comes to selecting a light source, but saving energy. I wonder if those making these laws are aware that many CFL bulbs are loaded with dangerous heavy metals. The best laid plans….]

e.       One thing many people don’t know is that ay electronic devices and appliances aren’t really off when you turn them off. They’re in a standby mode, ready to leap to life at your next request. The thing is that while they’re in standby mode, they use a trickle of energy to keep their little electronic brains ready for instant action. If you have many of these devices, all these trickles can add up to a substantial bit o’ power (and your money).

It’s a good idea to turn these energy parasites off if you’ll not be using them for a few days or so. It’s not necessary to completely power off things such as your TV, microwave, or stereo every day, only if you’ll not be using them for an extended period. Just use the off switch n the back of the device or pull the plug from the wall. Be prepared to wait a minute or two the next time you want to use it, however. NOTE: Some things have a memory that needs to stay powered up when it’s in standby mode or else you’ll have to reset everything. Leave these devices on.

2.                  Other ways to save money around the house

a.       Make sure you use only the manufacturer’s recommended amount of your consumer products, such as detergents, dryer sheets, and soaps. In fact typically you can even get by using 10% - 15% less than that. It’s pretty common for people to use as much as twice the recommended amount of a product, even by people that clip coupons and cross multiply to compare price per unit when shopping (these people are out there, I know some of them). Stop and think about this for just a second. Using 50% more of a product is the same as paying 50% more for it, and most people would balk at that idea.

b.      Use one of the cheap, safe alternatives that are available for many consumer products. You’ll save money on the products themselves, and possible your healthcare costs as well. For example, you can use vinegar and a wadded up newspaper as a window cleaner. It works great, is inexpensive and non toxic.

Coke (a Cola, not aine) is great for cleaning chrome on your car, instead of chrome cleaner. You can also use it as a cleaner for burnt-on grime on pots and pans. Just boil the Coke in it for a few minutes and the burnt on grime will be gone. Coke also works as a grout cleaner for tile surfaces such as floors and countertops.

Frugality and Money Saving Tips - Class 2 – Depending on your lifestyle, food is very likely high on your list of expenditures. Reducing your food budget can really help your monthly cash flow. There are a few things you can do that will go a long way to helping you save money on food.

1)      Shop at warehouse food stores, rather than at brand name markets. Many of these warehouse food stores have fantastic selections and are anywhere from 20% - 40% cheaper, on your average weekly food purchase. That’s nothing to sneeze at! Sure, they can lack some of that atmosphere we all love to experience when shopping at Safeway, Albertsons, Winn-Dixie, or Kroger, but they will save you some money.

2)      Use store brands rather than name brands. This is not always the best choice, as sometimes there really is a difference in quality, but most of the time you’ll be getting the same quality food for less money. In fact, on many occasions, the food is exactly the same, having been processed and packed in the same plants, from the same source.

3)      Buy food in bulk. This requires some thought. Don’t buy huge amounts of something if it will spoil before you’ve used it. Something else to look at when purchasing in bulk is the price per unit. There are times when a larger or bulk purchase is not the best deal (see my blog post on unit costs here), but usually it is.

4)      Although they score high marks for convenience, pre-prepared food is far more expensive than food you’d cook yourself using bulk ingredients, and is, in many cases, less healthy. Cook your own meals and leave out all the less wholesome ingredients they seem to throw in to the boxed, frozen meals.

5)      Stay away from the store when you’re hungry, tired, or both. You tend to buy more food, and it is usually less healthy for you to boot. When you’re in one or both of these states, you are more likely to buy easy to prepare foods and unhealthy snacks you might otherwise avoid.

6)      Don’t forget to look at the store’s website to find Internet only coupons or web specials. You can sometimes save a few more percentage points from the food budget here.

I’ll have some more money saving tips to help you get debt free soon. Remember the money you don’t spend is more that you’ll have to get rid of debt, invest, and help you find financial security.
 

Posted by debtblog at 02:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So, short of moving and trading in your prized sports car in for a family econo-box, what can you do to save money on car insurance? There are some things that go for almost any kind of insurance, be it car, home, boat or anything else. Then there are some savings tips that are more specific to car insurance.

General ways to same money on car insurance –
Keep your deductibles as high as you can stomach. After all you’re not going to turn in a claim unless it’s probably over $1,000 anyway, so keep your deductibles for your different coverages at $1,000 or higher if you have a policy that allows it. If not, well, see section 2. You’re not going to turn in a claim for less than $1,000 because that is another strategy for saving money on car insurance; don’t use it unless you absolutely have to. It’s pretty common knowledge that most insurance companies use a claim as an excuse to raise your rates, so don’t make one.

Way to Save Money on Your Car Insurance -1
Review your coverage to make sure you’re not paying for anything you shouldn’t be. I’ve seen people pay premiums for months on cars they had already sold, for example. Then evaluate the level of coverage you have in each area. Some may be lowered or eliminated entirely. For example, do you really need collision insurance on that ’85 Dodge Colt? Probably not. It will end up costing you more for the insurance than the car’s worth, so if it gets hit in the parking lot (or you hit something), the loss will probably exceed the value of the car. The company will declare it a total loss (where the term “totaled” originates). You’ll collect a check for the retail value of the car, in most cases. Since, on the car in question, that’s about $900, you can see how paying $45 a month for collision insurance would be a bad deal.

Way to Save Money on Your Car Insurance -2
There are some other things that insurance companies look at to determine how much you’ll pay for their services, fair or not. One such item is your credit score. The insurance providers have determined that there is a link between your credit rating and the risk you present as one of their insured. As such, as your credit score falls, the price of your car insurance rises. So, not only will you save money on a mortgage, auto loan and credit card by keeping your credit score high, you’ll save on your car insurance as well.

Way to Save Money on Your Car Insurance -3
Bundle your insurances together and you’ll likely get a muti-policy discount. If you have your homeowners, auto, life and business insurance with the same provider, they typically reward you with a bit of savings on all your policies. The exact amount you’ll save is influenced by too many factors to count. You’ll also save money if you insure more than one car with the same provider. I’m not advocating you rush down to Bill’s Bargains on Wheels and drive off in another car so you can save money on insurance, but if you have multiple vehicles in your family, insure them all at the same place.

Way to Save Money on Your Car Insurance -4
There are many lifestyle choices you can make that will impact your insurance. Weather you buy your home or rent, married or single, your highest level of education, your job (or lack thereof) and if you have kids can all influence how much you’ll have to pay for car insurance. Some companies offer discounts for how you pay as well. If you have your payment automatically deducted every year, you’ll pay less than if you send a check every month, for example.

Way to Save Money on Your Car Insurance -5
Get your discounts. All should, but many people don’t. Get their insurance discounts, that is. It’s possible that you could qualify for one or more discounts and not even know it. Discounts are offered for many different reasons. There are policy discounts for professional association memberships, senior citizens, multi-car (as mentioned above), club membership discounts (car clubs, travel clubs, AAA, and other clubs will offer discounts as benefits to their members).

Way to Save Money on Your Insurance -6
Properly equip your vehicle and you can earn lower insurance rates as well. Get the important safety features, such as extra air bags, stability control, amiable headlights, etc. and some companies will reward you for your interest in safety by giving you a cheaper rate on your insurance. 

Way to Save Money on Your Insurance -7
Compare rates from different auto insurance providers. You can make phone calls or spend a few hours on the web doing this, but why? It's easier to go to someone who will do all the tedious leg work for you. InsureMe.com has been around since 1993 and they have helped millions find low cost insurance by comparing rates. See how much you can lower your auto insurance rates by comparing rates here.

Posted by debtblog at 05:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A good friend of mine is a sales manager at a VW dealership. As the price of fuel has risen, people flock through the doors of his dealership in search of fuel efficient vehicles. Over the last few years VW’s best vehicle in that regard was the Jetta with the turbo Diesel engine. Currently the 1.9 liter TDI engine is on hiatus, but will return next year. The problem in purchasing this car with an expectation of saving money on fuel is that, although the Jetta with this powerplant returns a very admirable EPA milage rating of 36 mpg city and 41 mpg hiway, it also commanded an approximately $4,000 premium over a Jetta with the standard 2.5L gas engine. At an MSRP (when new) of $26,650, the TDI wasn’t a cheap car. Thankfully it has excellent resale value to help offset the higher cost over the long term.

Even the most math challenged among us can readily see that even with current fuel prices, you’re going to have to save a bit of fuel to get that $4,000 back. In fact Edmunds.com lists the 5 year fuel cost for this vehicle with an automatic transmission at an estimated $6,350. The 5 year fuel cost figures for the standard 2.5L gas powered car with an AT are $8,752. At this savings rate ($480/ year) it will take 8 years and 4 months to see a positive return on the initial cost of the more expensive engine.

In this case, there are actually other costs associated with this engine, that offset some of the fuel savings. Diesel’s traditionally have lower maintenance costs than gasoline engines and can last much longer as well. The ultimate engine life won’t come into play in a 5yr cost calculation, but the maintenance will. At $3,725, the actually TDI costs more to operate than the gas version, at $3,140, fuel costs excepted, so tack on an additional $585.

On the debit side for the Diesel engine is a greater depreciation cost. Even though so many fine consumers profess to be in love with the idea of fuel savings, the 1.9 TDI actually has a higher depreciation cost than the car with the standard engine. 5 year depreciation costs for that car are an estimated $8,147, while for the Diesel powered variant, they’re $9,828. So add another $1,681 to your 5 year cost for the TDI. If you take into account the added costs of maintenance and depreciation, it will actually take you a hair over 148 years to amortize the added costs of the TDI engine. If you keep the car that long, I’m sure it will be worth far more as a monument to technology from years gone by than as a transportation device.

Turning to an example of a different sort, I’m sadly facing a water heater replacement. These babies aren’t cheap. There are a few choices here. One choice would be one of these new tankless units that provides endless hot water and is more efficient to operate because it only heats the water as your use it. Standard water heaters must keep all the water in the tank hot. Keeping 40 – 75 gallons of water hot 24/7 costs you money. By avoiding this expense, the tankless units save money. That may not be the case if you use your newfound, limitless hot water to indulge yourself with 45 minute showers, but all else being equal…

There are a tremendous number of variable here that must be taken into consideration before you can determine weather or not you will actually realize a positive ROI from a tankless water heater, though. First of all, in many cases simply exchanging a traditional water heater for a tankless isn’t. A simple exchange, I mean. There are several things that must be taken into account. If you have a gas unit the gas plumbing must be adequately sized to deliver the required amount of gas to the heater. If it isn’t, the gas line must be re-plumbed, often at considerable expense.

If the unit is electrical, the circuit feeding the heater must have enough capacity to feed the new beast. In a worst case scenario, new wiring and a new breaker would have to be installed to accommodate this. Actually in a real worst case scenario, your electrical panel would already be at capacity and you’d have to add an additional panel to accommodate the added circuit, but that’s pretty unlikely.

Another potential cost to consider is the possibility of substantial re-venting. Tankless water heaters require stainless steel venting to exhaust the considerable heat produced by the burners. In the majority of cases your traditional heater will not have this venting, so the exhaust vent will have to be replaced. Ouch! The cost for the tankless heater itself is only moderately more expensive. A standard water heater runs about $400 - $700, depending on size, manufacturer, etc. A tankless unit is about $600 - $1,000. Tankless units are supposed to last about twice as long as a standard water heater, so if you plan on staying in your house for 20 - 25 years, you could figure this savings into the equation as well. I don’t plan on being there more than 8 – 10 more years, so I didn’t.

Depending on where you have a tankless unit installed, you can gain additional storage space from the decreased size of the new units. Mine would be I a closet that is currently used half for storage and half for the heater. I’d love to have the entire space for storage. If your figure construction costs at about $150 / sq foot, I’d gain another $900 worth of storage space for the 6 square feet I’d gain there too.

Many people could justify this added expense. However, when the added costs of installation are taken into account, the estimated cost for changing to a tankless heater can easily jump to between $3,000 - $3,500. My quote for a Rheem 50gal gas water heater with a 10 year warrantee, installed was $900. The high efficiency unit has a $40 energy savings rebate so the net cost drops to $860. The tankless units will get you a $300 tax credit from Uncle Sam, so you can subtract that from the cost as well.

Do the numbers pencil out in favor of the tankless unit? Hardly. Even if you save at the high side of the 10 – 25% estimated cost savings given by experts, you’ll be heating water for a long time before you see a positive ROI on one of these things. If you’re using gas, and your price per therm is $0.60, you’ll save about $40 a year. At that rate you’ll be 8 years before you see a positive return on a purely monetary basis.

Judging things on a purely monetary basis ignores the other aspects of the decision, such as convenience, comfort and environmental benefits that can be derived from spending money on added features and upgraded products. These benefits are somewhat more difficult to analyze, as they are fairly subjective. Is worth it to you to go 500 miles between fill ups while burning bio Diesel, and emitting less carbon? How about the entire family enjoying a hot shower (Not together, you sick bastard) without fear of running out of hot water? Those are questions only the individual can answer.

Posted by debtblog at 02:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It brings up a great point, and a fantastic way you can save money on your cable bill, and more, when you are participating in the festival of consumerism that many of our holidays have degenerated into. Don’t get me wrong, I’m as acquisitive as the next person out there and love a good sale. I mean check out those Fry’s circulars in the back of the sports pages; a 4GB flash drive for $29.97! But I digress.

There is a tremendous way to keep more of your hard earned money in your wallet, bank account, IRA, 401(k), etc., when doing your holiday shopping. You need to shop early. I mean really early, as in about 364 days early. My wife is great about stocking up on Easter and Halloween candy on the day immediately following, often at discounts of up to 70%. Obviously much of that never makes it to the following year’s holiday, but she’s similarly skilled at ferreting out deals on the days after Christmas, Halloween and other days that celebrate something that most people have forgotten, except the vice presidents of marketing at the local retail chains.

You should never buy any type of holiday specific decoration, packaging, or gift in the days preceding the holiday in question. Only on those days immediately after the holiday has past should you indulge your consumerist tendencies. When it comes to spending less money, timing is everything. Some families even celebrate holidays a few days late in order to allow members maximize the power of their dollars. A bit extreme, perhaps? Maybe, but when it comes to saving money, it definitely pays to be creative.

One more thing regarding saving yourself some cash – you should ask your cable or satellite provider for a discount every year or so. For maximum effectiveness, make the discount request in person. A few weeks ago I actually went in to the local Comcast office, instead of simply mailing a check. A profitable visit it was, too. With one simple question the nice lady at the counter kept me from indulging myself with a new Verizon FIOS account by giving me a 50% discount on cable broadband Internet for the next 6 months! But wait! There’s more! I also got out of there with a free HDTV DVR and expanded service for the same 6 month period without spending any more on cable TV service. That was definitely worth the 4 block trip from my office to Comcast, I’d say.

If you haven’t paid your local provider a personal visit, make the trip. It could not only save you some real money on your cable bill, but give you expanded HDTV service with a DVR (just in time for football season). A note on picture quality from your comcast-supplied motorola cable boxes: The picture quality can be pretty dramatically improved, for both HDTV and SD channels by using a TiVO (it must be a series 3, or TiVO HD) for your tuner and DVR instead of the Comcast cable box. It won't work for you if you use the video on demand features, but if you don't, you're in for a treat. This is especially true for those of you with 40" and larger screens, WOW!

Posted by debtblog at 02:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

First of all, there’s a great chance you’ve gotten those free vacation offers. It sounds like a great deal, but, and you should know this by now, there’s no free lunch. In almost every case, you’ll have to give up something to get your free days of relaxation, and it won’t be very relaxing. In fact, you’ll probably need a good vacation after jumping though all the hoops most of these offers require. At the minimum, you’ll have to sit through a boring presentation about the virtues of timeshares.

Usually, the situation will rapidly degenerate into a scene reminiscent of your last trip to the used car lot; a high pressure, overly persuasive sales person trying to get your John Hancock. Don’t do it! For one thing, you’ll probably notice that for every time you say “no!” to that vacation club membership or time share they sweeten the deal. The price will go down, they’ll throw in more perks, or both. If you’re of a mind to sign the contract as the deal gets more attractive, you should let some common sense back into the room. Never sign a lengthy (or a short) contract without letting your attorney review it first. You could easily live to regret it.

Now, about that free vacation they promised you as an incentive to get you into the room in the first place. For one thing, unless you read the offer carefully, you may be unaware that you’ve got to sit through the sales pitch; shame on you. You’ve got to read this stuff. About the free aspect; you’ll find in the majority of these offers, many of the vacation essentials are far from free. They’ll be coming right out of your wallet, or getting added to your credit card balance. Nothing important you’ll have to buy, just niceties such as rental cars or other transportation, food, anything but the most basic hotel room, etc. In some cases you may even have to pop for air transportation too. In addition, your accommodations may be not what many among you would term desirable. The other problem these jaunts are known for is horrific scheduling. Like to fly at 4:00am? Me either.

The bottom line is that, unless you’re a glutton for punishment and copious conditions, pass on the “free” vacation offers in most cases, you’ll probably enjoy yourself much more if you stay home and paint your bathroom. So, if you do want to save money on vacations, what can you do?

Timing and Research is Everything –
In most cases you can do yourself rather well by taking a few days to really hunt for bargains. Here’s where that high speed Internet connection can pay for itself in a hurry. In many cases, you can scoop up last minute deals as companies try to rid themselves of unsold inventory, weather they’re airline seats or hotel rooms. Visit not only travel related sites such as Expedia.com and Travelocity.com, but sites of the air and hotel providers themselves. Also if there is a major convention in town, you may want to seek out another location. You could get stuck paying convention prices for everything, and many of the hotels and attractions will be crowded and difficult to get into.

Intro specials–
New resorts often offer introductory pricing and package deals as an incentive to bring people in. Sometimes these are really fantastic deals, but you can often do even better yourself, if you’re willing to put in a little leg (or mouse) work. One thing you want to do when trying to score a really cheap vacation is to make sure you’re not visiting during peak times. In fact you want to be there when they’re dying for visitors. Find out the lowest travel season is for the destination you’re planning to visit. In some cases, you can narrow it down even further. You can find the lowest demand period down to a few weeks, and plan your vacation for these times. No resort or hotel wants to have unsold room inventory. They obviously generate no revenue for the property, so they are looking to get them filled and generate enough revenue to pay for the cleaning. If you can make that happen, you’ll be the answer to their prayers.

The Good Stuff –
Steer clear of the most popular resorts at popular destinations. In almost every area there are hotels that aren’t quite as popular as some of the rest, but still offer great accommodations. These will be your target. Also look for hotels associated with larger properties. In many cases these will have fewer amenities than their larger, more popular cousins, and far lower prices. The great thing is that, in many cases, they are right down the block or across the street, and you may get full use of the facilities at the larger property. It’s definitely worth checking on.

If you don’t mind a little additional hassle, and you plan on being in a specific location for a week or two, try using the phone after you arrive. Call around and check on specific room rates, you may be able to move. I’ve personally seen huge luxury suites, a block from the beach in Waikiki, go for as little as $75 a night, and rooms with a fantastic view of the beach, right across the street, be had for as low as $45. If you are going to stay longer during a hotel’s slow times, you have more bargaining power. You’ll be generating revenue for them during an off time, and they’ll than you for it.

Food -
See if you can get a room with a kitchen(ette). One of the largest budget busters on many trips is food. Sure, you want to splurge on gourmet meals every night, but if you can cut that back a bit and cook you own, your vacation budget will shrink drastically. Stop by the local grocery store and shop for food instead of eating every meal in a restaurant. Even better, investigate the local warehouse food stores, you save even more cash there.

Discounts –
Make sure you get all your discounts. Check everything in your wallet; AAA, credit cards, and corporate discounts. Many times your employer will have arrangements with different providers of travel related items, such as rental cars, restaurant chains or hotels. You can also get discounts for using certain credit cards to book your flights and rooms, but be aware of the conditions that sabotage your efforts. Many times there are discount right under your nose that you could have taken advantage of if you’d have only known you were eligible for them.

Stick Around –
You could save big money and much of the vacation related hassle, if you minimize one of the largest budget and pain inducing components; travel. Face it, airports and highway rest stops are not the best places to spend your vacation time, so don’t. No matter where you live, chances are there are some fantastic places right in your own backyard. If you can drive 2 – 3 hours and get to one of them, you’ll eliminate many of the nightmares and much of the expense of your vacation. Many people don’t even consider this they are so focused on getting away from everything. Many times the best getaway is right under your nose. Check it out!

Call Ahead –
Make phone calls to the local chamber of commerce and tourism agencies in your selected destination areas. You’ll be amazed what they’ll offer as incentives to attract visitors to their communities. From little items such as maps and restaurant guides, to discount coupons and a list of places you can visit for free or cheap, such as state and county parks and zoos or wildlife parks, they can be a great resource. These agencies are looking to build repeat vacationers to their communities, so let them do their job. Take them up on some of their offers.

Make Sure Everything is Ready to Go –
The devil is in the details. In the case of your vehicle, that’s really true. If you plan on traveling more than a hundred miles or so, get you car / truck / SUV checked out and change the oil before you head out on the road. An unneeded repair will bust your vacation budget in a hurry, and there may not be anything fun to do next to the repair shop. If your car needs a major repair and you find out about it before you leave, you may be spending your vacation budget on the fix, but at least you’ll be doing it before you leave, at your chosen auto care provider, not the closest one to the site of your breakdown.

Check Everything Out First –
Don’t wait until you get to the area to decide what you’ll be doing there. Check out the major (and minor) attractions first. Have a plan. Browse the net at not only the major sites and the community sites, but look at forums to hear from people that have actually been to the places you’re considering. It’s always nice to have a bit of input from someone whose been there before. You can find what restaurants to visit and which to avoid, attractions worth seeing, and great deals and discounts you might otherwise have missed.

Financing –
One last thing. If you have to put your vacation on a high interest credit card or use a home equity loan to pay your vacation, reconsider. Sucking equity out of your house to pay for a few days of relaxation is the recipe for shot term fun at the cost of long term disaster.

Posted by debtblog at 01:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here are 3 ways you can save money in everyday life. It's just a little bit here, and a few dollars there, but look out!  There'll be a few more ideas to follow.

1 - Saving Money on Prescription Drugs
It's a fact of modern life for most people that you or a family member will get stuck taking prescription drugs, either for a short term malady, or a long term condition. In the case of long term illness or condition, it can cost you many thousands of dollars in a few years. Here are some ways to reduce the pain, fiscally, not physically. Shop around to different pharmacies. They are free to set different rates for prescriptions, and many do. Remember that often generic drugs are available in lieu of brand name one, and there are definitely savings to be had going this route. Often there are multiple medications available for the same condition.

Check with your insurance company to see which available medication has the lowest out of pocket cost. In addition, you should get your doc to write you a prescription for as large a quantity of medication as possible. No, not so you can sell them on the black market to recoup your investment, but because the larger the quantity, the less often you'll have to fill it. Since every time you fill your prescription, you have to pay out of pocket, the fewer times you have to do this, the more money you'll save. Don't for get to check at the pharmacies that offer $4.00 or $5.00 generic prescription drugs to see if there's one available for you that will suit your needs.

2 – Save Money on Food
No matter how rich you are, and how well you've done for yourself financially, this basic need never goes away. In fact, it's a supreme source of pleasure for many, both rich and poor. Given that, you'll probably find yourself (or your personal assistant, for those of you in that income bracket), at the market fairly regularly. It's the regular things that offer the most potential for savings over time, so food is a great candidate for money savings.

Unless you like to pay more, you really don't need to shop in the cool, trendy, brand name supermarkets. Many cities are replete with very low cost warehouse food stores that have amazing selections, at a savings of as much as 50% on many items. This has the potential to save you more than almost anything else, depending upon the size of your family and their appetites. If it really blows your skirt up, you can visit the zoot markets once a quarter if you have to be seen by the beautiful people. If you like ethnic food, these warehouse food stores often cater to immigrant populations, so they sometimes have amazing selections of ethnic foods.

Buy using a shopping list, rather than your current appetite. You'll save money, especially if you have a good meal before you head to the store. This technique really works to keep all manner of different things from ending up in your shopping cart. As I mentioned in an earlier post about food's per unit pricing, don't forget to look at the cost per unit of things. Just because something's in the huge value pack, doesn't mean the specific price is actually lower.

3 - Save Money on Your Vehicle
No, not buying one, keeping the one you already own. Avoiding depreciation, you know. But in order to make that cost effective, you've got to maintain it. Priced a transmission lately? Better sit down first. That's why it pays to get your automatic transmission serviced regularly. The same holds true for such things as timing belt replacements. Many people are blissfully unaware that these even exist. On some engines, termed “interference engines”, a broken timing belt will cause the engines valves to collide with the pistons. This basically renders you expensive engine a pile scrap metal. No matter the price of scrap these days, it won't be enough to pay for a new engine. If your engine has one, replace the timing belt at the scheduled service interval. This typically between 75,000 and 125,000 miles, depending upon the model of engine in your vehicle.

Other basic, but oft neglected vehicle maintenance includes tire rotations. If you've taken a trip to your local tire store recently, you can see the price of oil has ramifications beyond those at the gas pump. Tires are made largely from synthetic compounds synthesized from, in part, crude oil. Hence, when the price of oil's knocking on $70/ barrel, the price of tires tends to be a bit steep. Rather than buying a new set of rubber wheel covers for your vehicle every 20,000 – 30,000 miles, rotate your tires every 7,500 miles, keep them properly inflated, and make sure your vehicle is properly aligned. Oh, one more thing; don't drive like you did when you were 17. A large percentage of tire wear can be directly attributed to driving style. Many tires today will last 60,000 – 80,000 if you let them. When you do replace them, don't get the cheapest set you can find, either. Little else contributes as much to the safety, braking, ride, comfort and handling of your vehicle as your tires.

That's not saying you should keep your ride forever. Eventually you'll reach the point where ongoing maintenance costs, or expected future ones will dictate the prudence of a newer vehicle. Beyond regular vehicle maintenance, do all you can to maximize the life of your car. Then of course, dump it unceremoniously at your nearest dealer and drive away in the used car of your choice (unless they're offering a 60 or 72 month, 0% financing deal on something new). You could sell it as private party, but that can be fraught with peril. You may get more for it, but you've got to spend much more time, pay to advertise it, meet who knows what kind of characters (and let them drive your car), and not realize any sales tax savings in states where that is applicable.

In states that have sales tax, you'll be able to save a substantial amount of money on sales tax by trading in your vehicle, rather than selling it and using the cash to buy a new vehicle. Often this savings is enough to largely offset the difference between the trade in value and the private party selling price. For example, if your area has a combined sales tax rate of 7% and you are trading in a car with a $10,000 value, you'll save $700 in sales taxes because you won't have to pay sales tax on $10,000 of the new car's sales price.

Have a great, debt free weekend.

Posted by debtblog at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The answer to the question “Where does your money go?” may surprise you. One essential way to answer the question is to start a spending journal. Note every expense, no matter how small. Indeed, it’s often the cumulative effect of those small, seemingly benign expenses that offer the most potential for painless savings. The only way to accurately determine what those are is with the aforementioned journal. Sure, it may be a pain in the rear, but so is being in debt. If you want to get debt free, your spending journal is a great tool.

After you’ve started recording all your expenses, you’ll want to analyze your bank and credit card statements. You should really be doing this already, if for no other reason than to catch possible fraud attempts on your accounts. Look on the statements for any expense you may have missed, such as automatic payments that come directly out of your checking account or are charged to one of your credit cards. If you have any expenses that are automatically charged to one of your credit cards, see if you can get it changed to a debit one of your bank accounts instead. That will help reduce your credit card balances. Just remember to keep money in the bank.

One side note regarding using your debit card for fuel or fast food purchases; be careful, some establishments will charge you a service fee for your trouble. If they do that, keep right on driving, on to the next place down the road that doesn’t. It may not seem like much, but a seemingly small, .50 fee is actually pretty large as a percentage of a $4 or $5 meal. If they came to you and said “We’re going to raise our prices by 15%”, you’d probably not respond too favorably. That’s what is effectively happening with the service fee.

After you have enough data to make an effective analysis, probably 4 – 6 weeks, go through it with a fine-toothed comb to see where you can cut back. The extent of your cuts will be partially determined by your debt level, and how soon you’d like to be debt free. You’re looking for 2 things:

1 - Expenses you can eliminate completely or those that you can substantially reduce. Things such as morning Lattes or expensive lunches are notorious for falling into this category. Here’s another: If you’re using premium gas for your car thinking you’re getting more power and better gas mileage, stop it at once, unless your vehicle specifically requires it, or you’re experiencing severe knocking or pinging. That premium gas isn’t cheap, you know.

2 – Expenses you weren’t aware of. These can be things such as subscriptions you joined long ago that you don’t use, automatic payments for something your significant other signed up for or fraudulent activity on your account.

Post analysis, you’ll be able to make a decision on how to most effectively save money and strengthen that leg of your financial triangle. Even a few percentage points could pay big savings dividends at the end of the year.

Posted by debtblog at 09:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Money Saving Car Tip 1
Plan a little – Just as in business, a plan can be a great thing. In many areas there are places where gas is less expensive that others. Sometimes you can save 5 – 10% on a gallon of fuel depending upon the location you're buying fuel. Many things create this; different real estate values, local tax rates, the station owner's business model, etc. The point is you could be paying $3.19 in one place, and 10 miles away, the same gas is selling for only $2.89. If you plan your fuel stops, especially if you regularly travel between different locations like this, you can get a nice break on fuel costs. When you get gas, follow money saving tip #2.

Money Saving Car Tip 2
Get gas early in the morning. Gas is a volatile liquid. It changes density with temperature. Since gasoline is sold based upon volume, not density, you can use this to your advantage. Get your gas early in the morning, after the gas in the storage tank has cooled off all night. The gas will be denser, thus you'll actually get more energy content per gallon.

Money Saving Car Tip 3
Clean up a bit. Unless you need them for work or your car is notoriously unreliable, don't carry heavy tools or other heavy objects around in your car all the time. It costs fuel to get them moving and puts extra wear on your brakes to stop. Clean out your trunk or pickup bed and you'll save 2% - 5% over having all that crap back there. The lighter and lower powered your car, the more you'll save per pound of junk you remove.

These are just a few quick tips to help you save some money and get debt free. If you think about it, your car is really a bad idea from a fiscal perspective. Any time you pay interest on a depreciating asset, it's a bad idea. If you have one that also costs you money in other ways, such as gas, parking, insurance, maintenance, etc, it adds up to one bad investment. If you have a job where you can take public transportation to work, you can save big money by making due with no car or one that's in the sweet spot. The auto owner's sweet spot is where the vehicle has taken most of the depreciation hit, yet is still reliable and as economical as possible to operate.

Posted by debtblog at 01:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Money Saving Tip 1
Use some caulk – This stuff's cheap, so you shouldn't be. Go to your local hardware store, and don't forget to bring those coupons you got on Tuesday. Get two kinds of caulk, the expanding foam kind and the white latex kind. Plug every crack or hole in your house you can find where hot or cold air can make you miserable and your HVAC system work harder. When it works harder, you work longer (to pay your utility bill).

Money Saving Tip 2
Change your filters – Just like in your car, a clogged or partially clogged air filter will cut your system efficiency and cost you money. It's amazing so many people will spend extra money buying the most efficient heating and A/C system they can find, then neglect the basic maintenance required to keep those extra efficiency points they paid extra for.

Money Saving Tip 3
Ask around – Check with your utility companies to see if they offer different prices depending on the time of day. Many do, especially in the summer when they are trying to reduce peak demand on their systems due to air conditioning usage. If they offer reduced rates, choose those times to do any activities that consume extra power, like showers and clothes washing.

Money Saving Tip 4
Look at your bill – If you have both gas and electricity, a look at you bills will supply some insight as to where your energy goes. Look at the yearly history. If, for example, your gas bill is far higher in the summer than in the winter, you can be assured that's for keeping your toes warm on those cold, winter nights. Look at the amount of gas you're using in the summer. If you've got gas hot water, that will be the potential for savings that exists by improving the efficiency of your hot water system.

For example, if your gas bill in the winter is $210/ month and $33/ month in the summer (as mine were recently), even if you got a really efficient water heater, there aren't huge money savings to be had. If you got a pretty large, 25% improvement in efficiency from it, you'd only save $8.25 a month. While $8.00 monthly savings add up, you'd be better served by improving the efficiency of your heating system 10%. Bottom line, maybe that $1,800 tankless water heater isn't going to pay for itself in your lifetime, although the endless showers may be a better reason for getting one (there go any savings).

Money Saving Tip 5
Review your insurance – You should do this for both your home owner's and auto insurance. Make sure not only are you getting the best value, but that you have enough coverage to protect you. If your insurance won't pay to rebuild your home, for example, it isn't doing you much good. Make sure it covers what you need, and then raise your deductible. Sadly, with the way insurance companies operate, it's really only disaster insurance. You don't want to actually use it, lest you get dropped, blackballed, or have your rates raised through the roof. So kick that deductible up as high as they'll let you, or at least over $1,000.

Money Saving Tip 6
Maintain everything so you don't get stuck replacing it. Many things around your house require regular maintenance that the majority of homeowners never do. For example one big item (no pun intended) that gets missed regularly is the garage door. If you've ever had to replace one, you know they're really expensive. Take about 10 minutes every month or two and give them some love. It's better than getting the boys at Larry's Overhead Door and Lock out to your house for the day.
 

On a totally nonrelated note -

A recent survey of Toyota Prius owners found that the overwhelming reason most of them gave for purchasing te hybrid Prius was that "It makes a statement about me". You'd think it would be "to help the environent" or "save money on gas", but no, it's all about making a statement about ME! 

Posted by debtblog at 01:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

You may not be able to do anything about such charges as the ubiquitous “core charge” found on so many auto repair invoices. That's the fee charged for your old, crappy components they're pulling out if they're too badly decomposed to rebuild or remanufacture. If the parts can be rebuilt, you usually get a credit for the core charge. Ditto the environmental and disposal fees. Those are imposed by the EPA, state and local jurisdictions. These days, to help mitigate the costs of responsibly disposing of everything from old oil and coolant to tires and batteries, you'll usually be charged a disposal fee of a few dollars. It's probably a small price to pay to help avoid a big environmental mess down the road, don't you think?

There are some fees you might be able to do something about, however. That's especially the case for those mysterious “miscellaneous” charges often found on auto repair bills. Just what are they, anyway? Well, usually they are a bit of extra profit for the repair facility to make sure they make money and to help cover those extra parts they needed for the repair and couldn't bill you for. These include all the various things such as wire ties, paper floor mats, miscellaneous screws and nuts, and connectors that may be needed to complete the repair.

In many cases, however these extra fees on your auto repair can be substantial. To make matters worse, you're probably completely uninformed beforehand and unprepared for them. When you agreed for the $149 transmission service special, they probably failed to mention that there would be another $9.96 on your bill in such charges. Now it's a $158.96 transmission service special.

This is an area where, if you're not one of the “why can't we just all get along” types, you have a good chance of getting the repair facility to drop the charges. You need to point out your dissatisfaction and explain that a satisfied customer will be a repeat customer, while a dissatisfied customer won't. That usually does the trick, but if it doesn't, you can get a little more forceful in your request. To avoid putting your foot in your mouth, however, make sure you read the fine print on the offer and the scope of work before the work begins to make sure it wasn't stated you'd receive such charges. $9.96 saved is $9.96 earned, right?

Posted by debtblog at 01:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

NOTE: It amazes me how many people don’t control the moss on their roofs. In some locales you’ve no doubt observed so much moss on some of your neighbor’s roofs, it looks like they’re conducting some kind of sick science experiment. Hey! Moss is too easy to control to neglect doing so. Neglecting this little bit of inexpensive home maintenance will make sure you’ll be buying a new roof instead of that sports car you’ve always wanted.

Okay, enough of that little digression. Insurance is like a trip to the dentist; it’s expensive, painful, and you hate it. Here are some easy ways to make sure you’re not spending more of your limited cash on your home owner’s insurance than you have to.

#1 Way to Save Money on Your Home Owner’s Insurance
Raise your deductible. In many cases, your deductible is just too high. You probably don’t want to file a claim for trivial losses anyway. They’ll just come back to haunt you in the form of increased insurance rates or blacklisting anyway. Make your deductible at least $1,000. It could save you up to 25% with some insurers. That trick works great for your car insurance too.

#2 Way to Save Money on Your Home Owner’s Insurance
Get a home security and fire alarm system. Some insurance companies are really starting to give large discounts for monitored security and fire alarm systems. The discounts can run into the 1,000s of dollars per year, depending upon the size and location of your home. In fact, some insurance companies are requiring their insured to have a monitored fire alarm system in some areas.

#3 Way to Save Money on Your Home Owner’s Insurance
Get the multi-insurance policy discount. It’s standard practice to offer a nice discount for getting all your insurance through the same firm, especially your auto and home insurance. Check into this. Sometimes, even if you may find one or the other for a little bit less with one company or the other, the discount can more than offset the savings from the individual carriers.

#4 Way to Save Money on Your Home Owner’s Insurance
Maintain a good credit score. Oh! There it is again; your credit score, affecting other parts of your life besides your interest rates and loan availability. As with many auto insurers, it’s fairly standard to somewhat correlate home owner’s insurance rates to the insured’s credit score. Keep your credit score up and your insurance payment low.

#5 Way to Save Money on Your Home Owner’s Insurance
Think before you lift a hammer. Before you start on a home renovation or remodeling project, find out how certain modifications will affect your insurance rates once the project is completed. You may be surprised how much of a difference certain things can make. Also, make sure you get a permit for the remodel. Failure to do so can result in your insurance not covering the completed project.

#6 Way to Save Money on Your Home Owner’s Insurance
You should just ask. Ask your insurance agent what else you can do to help lower your rates. If you have a good agent, and a good relationship with them, they should help review your policy, requirements and your property to see how you are getting the necessary coverage for the best value.

#7 Way to Save Money on Your Home Owner's Insurance
Shop around. There are places that will provide you with free quotes from multiple insurers, greatly helping you to find the lowest rate. A great place for this is InsightQuote.com.

Have a great weekend. If it applies; Happy Father’s Day.

Posted by debtblog at 02:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For some smaller cars you’ll spend less, while for Corvettes, Porsches and any vehicle that needs larger, ultra high performance tires you’ll spend more; for example, the original equipment 285/35ZR19 RunFlat Goodyear F1 Supercar tires found on the rear of the ‘Vette run about $475 each! Watch those burnouts, they can get rather pricey. Same with large trucks and SUV’s, their treads can cost a bundle. One other thing; you should always get an alignment when replacing your tires, lest an alignment problem rob you of half your tread life. $75 dollars now is better than $250 in a year, when you’re replacing those almost new front tires.

The proper tires are an integral part of the cars handling and safety, so don’t skimp when you’re replacing them, either.  The reason your high performance car stopped so well and cornered like fighter jet is largely due to the tires that were engineered to work with the suspension system. Don’t get the cheapest tires you can find at Larry’s Bargain Basement Tire Barn.

Other maintenance is just as important. One thing that gets overlooked too often is a transmission service. Have you priced a modern automatic transmission lately? Well, you best be sitting down when you get the quote, weather it’s for a rebuild or a whole new trans. For your average car, a rebuilt tranny costs $1,000 - $2,000, without the labor to remove the old transmission and install the new one. Figure another $1,000, there. If you’ve got a vehicle that’s at all heavy duty or exotic, you can easily double or triple those figures. Many small businesses that have fleets neglect them in this regard as well. In that case, you not only have the cost of the repair, but the cost to have the vehicle out of service.

In this hectic world in which we live, there are so many things competing for our time. Proper home and automotive maintenance are only two of them. Forget the proper maintenance, and it will be like the old commercial “You can pay me now, or pay me later.” Given that you’re going to pay anyhow, wouldn’t you rather choose the time and place, rather than being stranded on the shoulder of I-70 somwhere.

Posted by debtblog at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Why? The homeowner has already paid the contractor for them, the job is done, and most of these contractors don’t have the facilities to store the leftovers. The left over materials aren’t enough to do one of the large custom jobs these contractors specialize in, and the materials need to match. Materials such as stone pavers and tile for floors, baths and kitchens won’t match and high end custom home clients want their materials to match. Hence they are worth nothing to the contractor.

I had a flooring contractor tell me they had 17 pallet loads of left over materials the last time they moved their shop. It cost a fortune to move it, so he wasn’t about to get stuck in that position again. That allowed me to get a nice selection of travertine marble tile to redo our bathroom. How much did it cost? Nada. This type of thing is repeated hundreds of times a day throughout the country. I saw another person haul away a very large lot of beautiful marble tile for nothing. He’d also been able to re-side his house with cast off siding scavenged from high-end custom home projects. Again, he paid nothing for the privilege. I’ve gotten brand new stainless sinks as well.

Other bounty can be had for very little money from remodeling projects. Kitchen appliances may not fit in to the new kitchen plan and be cast off. I’ve seen people receive Wolf gas ranges from such arrangements. It’s often cheaper for the contractor to give things away than to arrange for them to be hauled away. Another acquaintance was able to get nearly new Whirlpool washer and dryer sets from an apartment – condo conversion project. That netted him a handsome Craigslist  profit after he took a set for himself.

The caveat for these great deals is that you usually need to know someone involved with the project to make these deals happen. If you are involved, keep your eyes open. It pays to be there at the right time. Often these deals are available only at the exact time the stuff is either torn out or that portion of the project is finished. This can allow you to get some nice materials, increase the equity in your home, and pay nothing but a bit of sweat.
 

Posted by debtblog at 01:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Money Saving Tip #1

Get All Your Money at Once – Take out your budgeted (remember your budget?) spending allowance at the beginning of the week and leave your ATM card at home. That prevents those little, nickel and dime, withdrawals from the cash machine that soon evaporate into nothing. You’ll pull out a 20, then soon it will be gone, and you’ll have nothing to show for it. If you know you only have a set budget and you actually have no way to get more money with you, you’re apt to spend less.
 

Money Saving Tip #2

Make Yourself Feel Good Inside – Too many spend money as a way to full some unsatisfied emotional need. Find out what that need may be and do your utmost to take care of it. That’ll quell those “feel good” trips to the mall, credit card in hand, in a misguided attempt to find satisfaction. Take a long, realistic look at your life and find out if you are one of those that spends for satisfaction. If you are spending as therapy, try to straighten it out. Only then you can be satisfied by driving too fast or yelling at your kids, like the rest of us.
 

Money Saving Tip #3

Brand Loyalty Cost You Money – Many times we buy the same brands through force of habit. Sometimes there is a valid reason for our loyalty, but often it just vacuums cash out of your wallet. In most cases there are store brands that can be had for 25% - 50% less than the big, national brands. In many cases there is no difference in the product, just a fancier package surrounding it. Try looking lower than eye level for the better bargain products, many times they’ll not get premium shelf space.

Money Saving Tip #4

Pay For CHild Care With Pre Tax Dollars - If you're single and head of household, or married and file jointly, you can  stash up to $5,000 in a dependent care pre-tax expense account. You can use this to pay for recurring child care expenses. If you pay 27% in taxes, that's like getting a nice discount on your child care expenses. One caveat, if you make over $100K per year, you classified as "highly compensated" and will only be able to put away $1,800 this year.

These are just some money saving tips that can keep you from spending money, and save you a bit when you do. Have a great weekend.

Posted by debtblog at 08:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

That's plain wrong! You should pay little attention to how many dollars you save when comparing or pricing a potential purchase. What?? Am I crazy? Perhaps, but with this little tidbit. What you should really be looking at when making purchasing decisions is the percentage you'll save or the percentage difference of one item versus another. Think about it for just a second. I've seen it happen too many times for it to be just an anomaly. Someone considering a purchase will compare two items, say they're $2.00 and $ 2.50. They think “Oh, it's only a 50 cent difference.” While in absolute terms, that's true, the cost difference is only 50 cents, they should really be looking at the decision from a percentage perspective. Then, the picture changes dramatically.

That little 50 cent margin is actually a 25% difference in the price. Although the dollar amount seems trivial, that's only the case when take by itself. If you applied similar logic to many purchases, the aggregate would mean you were spending 25% more money than was necessary. Those little 50 cents all add up. Look at the percentages.

Another fallacy many folks are guilty of comes into play when looking at the cost of driving. The overwhelming majority of drivers only think about the cost of fuel when costing a trip. What about everything else that makes your car go? In addition to fuel, you need tires, regular maintenance, windshield washer fluid and blades, antifreeze (priced that stuff lately?), etc. Those things all cost money too, and are consumed as you drive. In addition, there's depreciation. This is not something only for the small business person to worry about.

The average person should consider the effects of vehicle depreciation as well. Every mile you drive your vehicle is that much closer to the next time you'll need to purchase another. With every mile that passes underneath the Goodyears of your fine ride, it's not only worth less, but you'll be that much closer to sitting in a car dealership somewhere while the salesman runs to check with his manager. When he comes back, you'll be faced with the awful truth that, yes, you do need to plunge yourself another $20,000 deeper in debt. For those of your that have other ways of paying for a vehicle rather than financing, you'll still have to use that money for a vehicle instead of for something really fun, like pizza. Hey, it's 50 cents off!

One other note. Paul Harvey this morning reported this disheartening fact (I'm assuming it's a fact). Illegal immigrants will receive on average, $3.00 in benefits for every dollar they pay in taxes. Hear that, you residents of California, Texas, Florida, New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona? If that's the average, chances are you're getting taken for even more.

Posted by debtblog at 01:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So, maybe my tips to avoid getting stopped by the law were ineffective, or you ignored them altogether. What next? Now you really have to get to work. I hope you’re a smooth talker. If you want your best chance to avoid joining the almost 35 million people who got a traffic ticket last year, here’s what you do.

Steps to Avoid a Traffic Ticket (Hopefully)

1 – Be respectful to the officer. Remember, they’re doing their job. In 99% of the cases, it’s not their fault you got pulled over, it’s yours. They know it, and they deal with crooks and a-holes all day long, so make their day a little easier. Don’t insult them or insinuate they only stopped you because they’re racist.

2 – For God’s sake, don’t admit anything. If they if you know how fast you were going (and if they stopped you for speeding, they probably will), say you’re really not sure. Say this even if your eyes were glued to your speedometer, and that’s why you didn’t see the light you blew through turn red. This little whit lying does not extend to big, blatant lies, like “Hi there! I’m a deputy over in $$#%^&&% County”. You’ll get caught, and not only will you get a ticket, you’ll probably get much worse.

3 – Don’t do anything that might give the office reason to be suspicious. This includes, getting out of the vehicle, reaching under the seat, or looking rapidly around the car when he/she approaches.

4 – Although it’s risen to the level of an urban legend, you’re not going to get out of the ticket by asking to see your speed readout on the officer’s radar unit. Don’t ask.

5 – Don’t try to bribe or name drop the officer. That’s only going to get you in more trouble.

6 – You might try to come up with a believable story, especially if it’s true and the circumstances are extenuating. If you really do have to go to the bathroom so bad you’re having cramps, it might work. Tell the cop you’re already having a really rotten day, and throw yourself on his mercy. You might get some sympathy.

7 – Have all your paperwork ready for the officer. If you don’t have insurance, you’re going to get nailed for it, so just give up on getting out of a ticket. Even if you have insurance, but don’t have proof of insurance with you, you’ll most likely have to prove to the judge you were insured at the time of the traffic stop. Since not having the proof itself is an infraction in many states, you may get a ticket anyway.

Remember to be vigilant. If you’re driving a bit too fast, always keep your eyes open. Remember, going 10 miles an hour over the speed limit will save you only minimal time, unless you’re traveling long distances on the freeway. In most cases, going 75 in a 60mph zone’s just not worth the ticket. As for other infractions, such as failure to signal or driving too slow in the left lane; those of you who drive that way are a safety hazard and a pain in the ass for the rest of us on the road and probably deserve a ticket.

If none of these steps work, and you get a ticket anyway, there are great strategies to get your ticket dismissed in Beat Your Traffic Ticket. Take a look.

Have a nice day!

Posted by debtblog at 02:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

You probably have friends that always seem to be driving a bit too fast, or following too closely, yet they never seem to get a ticket. How do they avoid getting a ticket? How indeed? There are two parts to help you avoid getting a ticket. If you happen to be in Illinois, Nevada, New Hampshire, or North Carolina, avoiding a ticket is really important, as these are the states with the top penalties for speeding. (Note: In NH, you can get a ticket for not being 10mph under the posted limit in school zones, watch out!)The first is to avoid attracting the attention of the authorities in the first place. If you don’t get pulled over, even when you probably should have, viola! No ticket! The second part to avoid getting a ticket comes into play if you’re unfortunate enough to get pulled over.

There are strategies you can employ to avoid getting pulled over in the first place.

1 – Don’t look like you deserve a ticket. If you’re stupid enough to have the big, pot leaf bumper sticker, don’t complain if you get a ticket, you dummy. That can also be the case if you’re sporting Grateful Dead stickers, or those from other bands that are known to attract drug using fans. Same holds true if you’ve got “I can’t drive 55” bumper stickers, with all apologies to Mr. Hagar.

One other thing, if your car is a roving junk yard with garbage stacked high on the seats, and bodywork replete with dents and scratches, that won’t help your cause. If you look like the picture of irresponsibility, chances are you’re not going to be the first one the office looks at if you’re in a group of cars going down the freeway at 10 or 15 over. If your car looks like it’s not well taken care of, it makes you look irresponsible. If you’re irresponsible, you probably extend that behavior to your actions behind the wheel, as the cops see it. Are they wrong?

2 – Don’t do anything to attract unnecessary attention. If you grab the bling bling rims, paint flames on your car, install neon underneath, or have the 5” coffee can exhaust tip, you’ll attract attention. Some of it will be from those who you’d rather not get it from, like Officer Friendly. It’s only logical. If you attract more attention, sometimes you’ll get the wrong kind.

3 – Don’t actually do anything to get pulled over for. That’s kind a stupid suggestion, but ultimately an effective one. There are driving situations that’ll get you stopped faster than others. One that’s sure to get you nabbed in short order is weaving in and out of traffic. Check this month’s Car & Driver magazine for state troopers that will verify this. You can often get away with going a bit over the speed limit, if you’re driving otherwise fairly sensibly. The weaving and other aggressive driving is being focused on by law enforcement agencies. They’ll pull you over for such driving almost every time.

Part 2 of the plan to avoid getting a ticket involves what to do if you actually do get pulled over. Sometimes your planning to keep from getting pulled over doesn’t go quite how you planned and you find yourself with an officer asking for your driver’s license. What can you do then to avoid getting a ticket? Soon, I’ll share some ways to keep from getting a ticket when you’re nabbed by the law. Post: How to avoid a traffic ticket if you're pulled over.

Posted by debtblog at 01:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In addition to the price on the tag, you got to take into account how much you actually must earn in order to make the purchase. After all, it’s going to go up at least 7-10% if you’re shopping somewhere with sales tax. On top of that, you need to account for the deductions you’ll be paying for taxes, union dues, and anything else that comes off the top of your paycheck before you ever get the opportunity to spend it. If you’re losing 40% to the federal, state and possible local government to pay your tax bill, you need to account for this when you are determining the real cost for a purchase.

For example, that Harley lists for $19,995. You can’t just earn 20Gs in order to take it home. First, there’ll be sales tax in many states or municipalities. So you’ll really pay closer to $22,000. Then, if you’re financing, you can’t forget the interest. If you get the 11.99% interest through Harley Davidson Credit, you’ll have the privilege of handing over $8,959 in interest over the life of a 72 month loan. Ouch! That averages out to $124.43 per month over the term of the loan, just for interest.

Remember, you’ve got to earn substantially more than the $30,959 total of payments. You’ll need to gross something on the order of $52,000 to make all the payments, if you are in location with state and possibly local income tax. If you make $35/hr, you’ll need to work 1,485 hours to pay for that bike. You probably won’t even ride it that many hours. If, for example, you put 7,500 miles a year on it and averaged 30mph (include stopping and sitting in traffic), that would be only 250 hours a year in the saddle.

Doing an in depth analysis of larger purchases can help you decide weather you really want to spend the money or not. If nothing else, the sheer boredom associated with the calculation may put you to sleep, and cause you to miss the big sale that had you thinking of spending the money in the first place.

Don’t forget the little things, either. That Starbucks you frequent every morning before work may be a mainstay of your social calendar, but consider this. If you put $4,000 a year into your retirement savings annually, ($40,000 x 10%) passing on that morning caramel macchiato could potentially add a 25% to your retirement savings ($4.00 x 5 days x 50 weeks) every year. Needless to say, that amounts to foregoing over $93,000 in the course of 30 years. This is assuming you were to get a 7% annual return on your Starbucks spending.

Posted by debtblog at 10:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

1 - Health Care Savings – Nothing can blindside you like health care costs. Having just contributed aver $3,000 (after insurance) to our local Children's Hospital, I can vouch for the fact that medical costs are heading for the roof like a meth-head during a bust. Many employers are reducing or eliminating health coverage for employees. Others are finding creative ways to economize, almost always at the expense of coverage. It's not really their fault in many cases. Your employer has to make a profit, or you'll have no job at all.

Given that your health insurance deductible may have increased, you should take stock of your family's health. If it looks like you have a better than even chance of ending up in need of some medical care in the not too distant future, you should consider a health savings plan. If you are covered under a qualifying High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP), you can open a tax preferred health savings account at your bank or credit union. In order to qualify as a HDHP, the plan must meet the following qualifications, as set forth by the beloved Internal Revenue Service:

1 -Deductible >/= $1,050 for individuals or $2,100 for families

2 - Annual out-of-pocket expenses < $5,250 for an individual or $10,500 for a family, including the deductible and co-payments (but not premiums).

You can possible get a HDHP through work, or you can get a private plan. For 2007, the maximum you can contribute to your health savings plan, under the IRS guidelines are: Individuals - $2,850 and Families - $5,650. Furthermore, the IRS will now allow you to make the maximum contribution to your HSA no matter when during the year you put your HDHP into effect. New this year, the IRS will allow a one-time IRA rollover into an HSA.

If you are young, and in comparatively good health, it may make more sense to take the same approach advocated by many experts for auto insurance; keep the deductible high to cut annual expenses. The bonus with health insurance is that you can have the HSA as a backup to avoid having to pull money from your traditional savings, or worse, taking a giant tax hit by liquidating a portion of your IRA.

2 – Cut Your Taxes – Sure, you want to pay as little tax as legally possible. Some of you out there want to pay even less than that. Here's a little hint that can save you a few bucks on major purchases. If you live in an area with sales taxes, know that they often vary considerably between municipalities. If, for example, you're purchasing a car, boat, or other motor vehicle, just a few tenths of a percent can add up to a nice IRA contribution, or, if you've already maxed out this year, dinner with the missus. Say you're buying a $25,000 car, sadly not much of an extravagance these days.

If the sales tax in your town is 8.5%, but in a city 20 miles away it's 8.1%. The sales tax you'd pay if you buy the car at the dealer around the corner is $2,125. Hop in your old car and head down the road 20 miles. Not only will you get to take in some scenery with the family, you'll only pay $2,025. You just saved $100. Maybe not much compared to the price of the car, but hey, a hundred bucks is a hundred bucks! Even accounting for the gas and mileage on your car accrued in the extra 35 or 40 miles you drove, you came out on ahead.

3 Cost Benefit Analyze Everything – Many of us do this in our heads almost every time we make a purchase. For larger purchases, it makes sense to formalize the process a little bit. Put down on paper the costs associated with the purchase and what you expect to receive from it. Don't forget the hidden costs, either. Buying as hybrid vehicle? Good, it'll help reduce our dependence on that bastard Chavez down in Venezuela. Look at all the costs associated with it, though, it may not make as much financial sense as you first thought. Think about such things as the costs of replacing and recycling the battery pack in addition to the added cost of the vehicle over it's traditionally powered brethren. What price will fuel have to be, and what will your annual mileage have to be to make it pay off in a purely financial sense?

Even if a purchase doesn't pay off in a purely financial sense, You may have other reasons for making it. In the case of the hybrid vehicle, it may be worth it to you to cut your emissions and help the nation wean itself off foreign oil. There too, you'll have hidden costs. How ecologically costly is it to manufacture and dispose of the Ni-MH or LI battery pack that helps give you that spectacular mileage? That's the subject for another post and minds more scientifically inclined than mine.

Another example would be in your diet. Sure, 23% fat hamburger is cheap, but what does that saturated fat do to your arterial system? What hidden health costs are incurred by the consumption of excessively fatty foods? Are you saving money now at the expense of massive medical bills later? Better revisit that HSA idea.

If you're out to get debt free, you may be almost there, or you may need all the help you can get. Hopefully these money saving tips can be another group of broad heads in your quiver.

As for me, I'm celebrating paying off my last really high interest (24%, shows what one late payment and an over the limit charge can do for you!) credit card. The last $854 was paid in full this week, and that thing is out of my life for good. (and no, I didn't just move the balance to another credit card) Citi can have it back, thank you!

Posted by debtblog at 02:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Obviously, you can save money by being frugal when it comes to choosing an automobile in the first place. Buying used, for example, erases much of the deprecation hit you’ll take when driving that new Silverado off the lot. When buying a new ride, you should check the depreciation stats to determine how much you’ll lose in that drive off the lot and every year of ownership thereafter. If you plan to keep the vehicle until it turns into a rusting hulk, it’s no big deal, but if selling it is in your future, especially within 3 years, you should concern yourself with the depreciation. Depreciation also is used to calculate a vehicle’s residual value, so it affects lease rates too.

 By the way, according to the Automobile Lease Guide, that Silverado has the worst depreciation of any new vehicle in the U.S., tied with the Hyundai Accent at 32.2% value retained after 3 years of ownership, when purchased new. One will have to wait and see if Chevy’s introduction of the all new, much improved truck this year will do anything to change that. What’s the best from a depreciation standpoint? By a wide margin, it’s the pint sized Mini Cooper at 67.3%, trailing a bit behind in 2nd place is Porsche (a 2 syllable word, Porsche) 911 Carrera, at 62.9%. See, that 911 you’ve always lusted after really isn’t as expensive as you thought.

According to IntelliChoice, your best bet for low total cost of ownership in a new car would be a Toyota Corolla LE, with a Honda Civic LX nipping at its heels. To sweeten the deal, the Civic and Corolla, along with the Hyundai Elantra, finished at the top of the latest JD Power initial satisfaction survey for the compact car segment. If you need something with a bit more space, surprise, surprise, that same Chevy Silverado 1500 that did so poorly in depreciation is your best bet among light trucks when it comes to overall cost of ownership. It must be pretty thrifty in other areas besides depreciation.

When it comes time to purchase a new car, it can definitely be shock inducing wandering around the lot, especially if you haven’t looked at new car prices lately. What you may not know, however, is that new car production costs haven’t increased in real terms since the early 1990’s, according to the U.S. DOT’s  Producer Price Indices for Transportation Equipment. Contrast this with aircraft, ships and motor homes, which have all seen producer prices steadily rise, according to the same report.

If you’re buying a used car to avoid the depreciation or satisfy some other budgetary concern, you’ll want to mitigate risk as much as possible by shopping for only the most reliable vehicles. You can check the reliability of a prospective vehicle at MSN Autos.   In addition to using reliability as a primary consideration, you should have the car inspected by a reliable auto care provider with a good reputation for such inspections. Make sure you schedule the inspection in advance, and don’t just show up. You want to allow them time to adequately inspect all areas of the vehicle. Overlooking something here could prove very costly. You might also think about one of the certified used cars available from manufacturers nowadays as a risk mitigation tool. Keep in mind that the average new car buyer tends to keep their car longer than the average used car buyer, so you can not directly compare differences in cost or ownership.

Keep the rubber side down and the shiny side up, especially on New Year’s Eve! Happy New Year everyone. Hope you had a great 2006 and here’s to a great, debt free 2007!

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Posted by debtblog at 12:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

According to the Feds, the average American spent $46,409 annually in 2005, the last year with available data. In 2004, Americans spent $43,395. The largest single expense category in ’04 was housing, at $13,918, or 32.1% of all expenditures. In 2^nd place in the competition for American’s dollars was transportation, at $7,801 annually, or a whopping 18% of our yearly expenditures. We spend more to get around than for anything else besides a roof over our heads! Third place was food, at $5,781 per annum.

Coming in at number 4 on the annual expenditure list in 2004 was personal insurance and pensions. Guess what comprised the largest component of the category? Give up? The correct answer would be Social Security, at an average of $4,433 a year. That works out to a monthly average contribution of about $370. Imagine what you could so with that if you were to invest it at a piddling 6%, compounded? Instead of waiting for their meager Social Security stipend every month, Americans would have some real assets. That $4,433 annual contribution, broken into monthly contributions, would balloon into over $736,000 at the end of a 40 year career! To make it even more attractive, it would be all yours, to do with as you saw fit. If you retired at 65, after beginning contributions at age 25, you’d be able to withdraw a monthly check of over $4,400 for the next 30 years, assuming you maintained the same 6% rate of return.

Imagine what you could do if you averaged only a little higher return rate, say 8%. Don’t bother, I’ll tell you. You’d have amassed a retirement nest egg of $1,291,673. I’m not altogether sure, but I dare say that you’ll not have an account with your name on it and over a million dollars in it under our current system. Had you availed yourself of that $1,291,673, and again, maintained the 8% rate for the next 30 years, you could pay yourself $9,477.84 each month. I bet most of you would be getting a raise after retirement with monthly checks of that magnitude.

Now that I’ve concluded my daily rant about private retirement accounts, back to the original theme of reducing expenses. The areas of largest expenses would seem to have the greatest capacity for savings. One of the largest subcategories with each major expense category is insurance. These days Americans have insurance for everything. Partly because of legislation, partly due to the sad propensity of Americans to litigate for every little thing, and partly because it makes good financial sense, we have now insured  our cars, homes, lives, boats, motorcycles, businesses, pets (really!), health, and just about everything else.

Due to the sheer amount of money spent on insurance each year, there is substantial room for the average person to realize substantial savings. Most people haven’t shopped for, or compared insurance plans. Because of that great business equalizer, competition, you may be cheating yourself out of money every month. In the last few years, more companies have sprung up that will shop various companies for you to compare rates among different insurance providers. This is a real benefit to consumers. So much so that other industries are seeing similar businesses arise.

Here are some firms that will look at the market and compare rates of different insurance providers for you. You may be able to save significant amounts from your monthly insurance bills, with the most likely savings coming on Auto and Life insurance.

2Insure4Less.com – Insurance for a large variety of different needs: Life, Home, Auto, Annuity, Long Term Care, Disability, etc.

Insurance.com – One of the largest online insurance quote companies – Life, Auto and Home.

HomeTownQuotes.com – Auto insurance comparison service

Hopefully you can use these services to realize monthly savings. You’ll then have a bit more money to divert toward debt retirement. If you haven’t shopped for a while, you should see what the market has available.

Posted by debtblog at 03:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

When you're trying to get debt free, you've really only got three basic options. As I've discussed before in previous posts, you can earn more money, reduce your expenses, or get better leverage on your existing capital. Preferably, you could accomplish all three debt reduction strategies. Obviously you'll have to actually divert some of the funds you've freed up toward retiring your debt. In that vein, there's a little known way to reduce your expenses on consumer electronics purchases. Leaving aside for a moment weather or not you should actually be making such purchases when you're on the road to debt freedom, this is a continuation of yesterday's post regarding discounts.

There is a class of products in consumer electronics known as 'B-stock'. These are products that cannot be sold as new for a myriad of reasons, but are perfectly fine and carry, in most cases, a full factory warranty. In some cases the warranty will be reduced and you should evaluate if the size of the discount warrants your continued consideration. In most cases the B-stock products are units that have been returned by consumers after little or no use. The products are checked by the manufacturer and then resold. The best part is that they are available for a substantial discount. In some cases, they will be advertised specials, in other cases, you'll actually have to ask if the retailer or web site has any B-stock merchandise for sale.

It goes back to what I discussed yesterday. You have to get up the nerve to actually ask what's available in order to get the best price. In this case, the retailer may have one or two products that are sitting in the stockroom, or they have made a purchase of multiple B-stock units. In the case of a larger purchase, they are more likely to have an advertised special. In the case of factory reconditioned units, they can be an especially good buy, if they carry the full warranty.

During normal quality control procedures, only a sample of units are actually checked for faults. The vast majority are simply pulled off the assembly line, packaged, and sent off to the consumer. When dealing with factory reconditioned units, every one is put through QC procedures to ensure the unit is fully functional, especially if the unit is to be covered under the full warranty. In such instances, you can get a stellar deal on things that are put through an even more rigorous QC procedure than normal.

Buying B-stock makes the most sense when purchasing components whose technology is relatively stagnant, such as speakers and power amplifiers. When you are looking at products experiencing fairly rapid technological improvements and simultaneous price reductions, such as flat panel TVs, computers, and camcorders, it may not make as much sense, unless the discounts are really steep. After all, the units are dropping in price very quickly, and the performance is improving rapidly on these products. This means that, unless you're getting a deal on current products, the newer models are likely to be substantially better performing and lower in price than last year's models anyway.

If you're purchasing a product you needed to buy anyway, this is just another way to grab product discounts and take another step on the road toward debt freedom.

Posted by debtblog at 02:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For something a little bit lighter, let's take a look at something that will benefit you, weather in your personal finances or in your business; maximizing your discounts. Many businesses, weather through cash flow problems or just plain disorganization, fail to take advantage of cash discounts offered by their vendors. Many vendors will offer cash discount terms on purchases of between 2% and 10%. These are typically available if the merchandise is paid on delivery or within a specified time period, such as 15 or 30 days.

Depending upon what percentage of your business's expenses are product related, these cash discounts could be the difference between making a profit and losing money every year. Work with your accountant to develop a plan that will enable you to take advantage of the discount terms offered by your vendors. Usually the discounts are offered as a future credit or as a deduction from invoice (DFI). A side note however, do not, under any circumstances, allow your pursuit of cash discounts (or anything else) to cause you to make late payments on your taxes. The IRS or state revenue department does not screw around! Delinquent tax bills not only accrue interest, but also penalties(which also accrue interest in most states). Pay those quarterlies on time, even if it means losing your vendor discounts.

Similarly, in your personal finances, be diligent in availing yourself of any discounts you may have available. As in your business, disorganization and poor planning can cause you to pay extra on purchases. Many organizations and credit card companies offer discounts on purchases. For example AAA has member discounts on everything from maintenance to hotel rooms. You can often get discounts for frequent flier miles that extend to many other products and services beyond air travel, such as hotels and rental cars. You can get student discounts on things from software and computers to car insurance.

There are two keys to getting discounts on personal purchases:

1. Be informed – Know what discounts you are entitled to. Make sure you plan to get those discounts. List all the organizations and associations to which you are a member and the discounts they offer. It's easy to lose out on thousands of discount dollars every year, either through ignorance or forgetfulness.

2. Ask for a Discount – You have to actually ask for a discount in many circumstances, it won't just be handed over like a sandwich. As an added bonus, you can, if you are a little bit skillful, ask for non affiliated or documented discounts. You can get these just by doing a bit of negotiation. This often works best on larger purchases. You may have to ask for the manager. Joe salesperson may not be able to make it happen for you. Some people feel weird asking for a discount, but you shouldn't let that take money out of your pocket, enough people are trying to do that already. You wouldn't just walk in and buy a car without asking for a discount, why buy your refrigerator that way? In some cultures, haggling for a bargain is the standard way of doing business. Here's something you can learn from them. Get a little courage and ask for a discount.

It will be easier to get debt free if you get that discount.

Posted by debtblog at 02:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

To make a break from the national trend, that is, along with an increase in productivity, fueling our Nation's economy, you'll need a plan. A plan that will lead to your becoming debt free and building a nice emergency fund, and retirement nest egg. To make that a reality, even as your neighbors continue to whet their consumption appetite with new Jet Skis and BMWs, you'll need a plan; a savings plan.

How can you develop a personal savings plan? Like any plan, you'll first need two things, followed by a third. The first two things you'll have to lay out are the hallmarks of any plan; goals and strategies. You'll need to have a target to aim at, and a strategy to allow you to hit that target. The third thing you'll need is the discipline to execute and pursue your plan. Focus is the key to success. I've said it before; treat it as a military mission. You must focus on your goals and objectives in the face of great adversity, and let nothing deter you from the completion of your financial mission.

The goals you set should be achievable but ambitious. Make your financial goals high and aim for the stars, as it were. The goals can be anything, but should hinge on where you'd like to be financially, at the finish. For example, as a start you may want to have an emergency fund of $25,000 in liquid assets. Or, you may want to save enough to provide a comfortable retirement income. You may have some short term sacrifice, but especially if you're relatively young, the payoff in the end will be immense. If they're too ambitious, you may fail to achieve them, but if they are to low, you may meet them and still not have the financial well being that you seek.

After you set your goals, you'll need a plan to achieve them. Obviously, funding the plan is paramount. You'll need to set an amount to regularly put into your savings and investment accounts. Many financial experts suggest you earmark 10% of your gross salary to divert to your savings plan. This amount may work for you, or it may need to be adjusted up or down. If you have substantial debt, you should probably work on being debt free first, so save less and use more of that diversion to retire your debt. After all, if you fail to retire your debt, you'll fail to retire yourself as well. The interest most people are paying on their debt will typically outweigh the interest they are making on they're savings or investment accounts.

Conversely, if you are fairly young, already debt free or close to it, and have lucrative employment, or are earning a good income from your own business, you may be able to contribute more to your savings and retirement. Even if you really enjoy working, you should plan to retire as soon as possible. Once your retirement is fully funded, you'll be left with many more options. You can always continue working if that's what gooses you. Whatever you decide as a contribution, you can always adjust it as needed, preferably up. I've said it again, but it bears repeating, if you're employer offers matching, take it. If not, you'll be violating one of the basic principles of both business and personal finance; “Don't leave money on the table.” Every dollar you leave behind, will, through the power of compounding, grow into a nice part of your retirement nest egg.

Finally, once you've derived a savings and retirement plan, you must get the ball rolling. For some the most difficult part is the execution, but execute you must. Most people never reach their goals simply because they fail to execute. It's true in business, and it's true in your personal finance life as well.

The keys of a successful savings and retirement plan are:

1. Goals – where do you want the plan to take you?

2. Strategy – How will it get you there?

3. Execution – Starting the plan and seeing it through is of paramount importance. Don't take your eye off the ball and focus on your objective like a laser.

Posted by debtblog at 02:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here is what I've found for the specials next week. In the retail & consumer electronics industry, the day after TDay is known as “Black Friday” Here's why:

NOTE: These sale prices are UNVERIFIED and just rumors, albiet from knowledgeable sources.

Circuit City:
Olevia 32-inch LCD HDTV -- $499 - Good deal, pretty decent TV
Normal price: $854

Panasonic 52-inch LCD Projection -- $999 - I'm not a big fan of LCD RPTVs, but this is alot of Normal price: $1,699                        screen size for the money.


Polaroid 40-inch LCD HDTV -- $999
Normal price: $1,599

Best Buy:
Westinghouse 42-inch LCD HDTV -- $999
Normal price: Unknown; model number not available.

Toshiba 50-inch Plasma HDTV -- $1,699 - Good deal, good TV
Normal price: Unknown; model number not available.

Sam's Club:
Philips 50-inch Plasma HDTV -- $1,898 - Good deal, good TV
Normal price: Unknown; model number not available.

Comp USA:
Olevia 32-inch LCD HDTV -- $549.99
Normal price: $699

Panasonic 50-inch Plasma HDTV -- $2,499 - Good Deal, Great TV
Normal price: $2,999

Sears:
Toshiba 42-inch Plasma HDTV -- $1199 - Very good deal, really good TV
Normal price: $1,999

My ratings apply as long as the TVs are not some loss leader, stripper models, but at least the Toshiba and Panasonic models are probably not. New flat panel TV models will be shown soon at the Consumer Electronics Show, the consumer electronics industry trade show held early every January in Las Vegas. In recent years, the trade show dedicated to the custom electronics installation industry, the CEDIA Expo, held in September, has had some TV introductions as well.

So, if you want to surprise the family for Christmas and blow through a wee bit of your hard earned savings, you've never been able to get as much for your hard earned entertainment dollar as you can now.

Posted by debtblog at 02:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

1. Drive past, not through – Hey, you're going to be eating well at grandma's anyway, you don't need to hit the Mickey D's or Wendy's drive through window on the way, especially if you're traveling with kids. Stop at the grocery store, buy some good food to stock up a cooler. With the money you save on food, you can get one of those cheap, portable DVD players to keep the kids from asking “Are we there yet?”every 7 ½ minutes. What price your sanity?
   

1. Go an extra block or two – In many places, gas stations at freeway interchanges don't have the cheapest fuel. You can often go an extra 3 or four blocks and find a fill up much cheaper. In addition, plan your fill up so you make those pit stops in less expensive cities. Often, you'll find gas that's 20 to 25 cents a gallon cheaper by getting gas in one of the cheaper suburbs versus the big city, or one of the more affluent suburbs.
   

1. Don't get thirsty! Seriously though, get your bottled water by the case at the warehouse discount store. You'll save huge on the initial purchase. It's common to get a 24 bottle case of ½ liter bottles for less than $5.00. Contrast that with paying $1.09 per bottle for the same thing at your local Circle K or 7-11. To make it even better, you can refill those bottles. You could save $10 - $15 a day on water alone.
   

1. Just Maintain!J Make sure you get an oil change and have the trusty steed checked out before you hit the road. Nothing's worse for your morale or your plastic than getting caught out on the road, broken down, in a blizzard. At least, if you followed the recommendations above, you'll have something to eat until AAA gets there.
   

1. Reign in your kids. Really. Set a limit and stick to it. They can suck you dry, no problem. It's so easy to give in. You're on vacation, and they only want a little something here and there. But, those things add up fast. Let 'em st in the car and watch Cars or Ice Age for a while.
   

Drive safe, and keep the plastic in your wallet!

Posted by debtblog at 03:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Watch what you buy at the grocery store. We've come to expect that the super large size packages of different products are the best deal on a cost per unit basis. It's one of those common knowledge kind of things. Everybody just takes it for granted that the larger containers and packages are a better deal. Except that, in more than a few cases, it's just not true. The larger containers are not a better deal. In some cases they're substantially more expensive. So, in effect, you're getting hit from both sides. Not only are you paying more for the product, you're also buying more of it. Sometimes far more than you need, or would typically buy at one time.

Here are a few examples from the local warehouse supermarket. I shop there regularly. They do have fantastic savings on most products, and even at the greater prices exhibited by the following examples, they usually price out much better than at the big, national chain grocery stores.

So, be careful and check your per unit pricing, either by looking at the store's price tag, or, if that fails to provide the desired pricing information, do it the old fashioned way, using cross multiplication. You may be surprised at how much you can save by buying the smaller quantity.

Small Cheerios pricing - 13.2 cents / oz 

Large Cheerios pricing - 20.9 cents / oz 

small Malt-O-Meal pricing -  14.5 cents / oz

Large Malt-O-Meal pricing - 18.3 cents / oz 

Sorry about the fuzzy, camera phone pictures. They do show, however that the size does not always give an accurate reflection of the per unit pricing.

Posted by debtblog at 02:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

More is great if you're talking about money, sex, Ferraris, or football, but not for how much you use when it comes to consumer products. Okay, so the title of this post is slightly misleading, but there is a way you can get a 50%, or even greater discount on many consumer products you use everyday.

It may seem self evident, but you only need use less of them. Many people tend to use way more than the manufacturer's recommended amount, and sometimes even the recommended amount is too much. Every time you use two dryer sheets instead of one, or use twice the amount of toothpaste, it is exactly the same as if you paid twice the store price for that item. You don't need to make the toothpaste look on your brush like it does on that pretty picture on the outside of the tube. Shampoo is another product people tend to use way too much of. If you're trying to provide jobs to those at the factories that make this stuff, well, more power to you.

Many products don't work any better when you increase the quantity you use past the effective amount. In fact, there are some that actually don't work as well. So, you're really not saving any money. If your floor cleaner says 4 ounces per gallon of water, follow the directions. Don't use eight ounces because you think it'll get your floor twice as clean in half the time! In fact, maybe you should try two ounces first. Many times, using less than the recommended amount works great for certain applications. Some of the people that complain the loudest about the price of things at the supermarket are the worst offenders when it comes to over using them in the home. I know some of these consumers well. These types of consumer products don't constitute anywhere near the largest budget category for most people, but they are significant nonetheless.

Medicine is another area where overuse is not only far more expensive, it can actually be dangerous. Acetaminophen, the pain reliever in Tylenol, is actually highly toxic to the liver if taken in excessive doses. Lest you think that's not very easy to do, the number of cases of Acetaminophen poisoning is actually on the rise. As a safety note, it is especially important to avoid overdosing small children and infants with the drug. If your asthma inhaler says one puff, it doesn't mean you should cause yourself arrhythmia by taking three. In addition, over use of medicines could cause you to run out before your insurance plan will cover a new prescription, and you know how expensive medicines can be these days if you're not covered by insurance, or on the Wal-Mart $4.00 medicine plan.

In addition to the financial cost to over use of various products, there is an environmental cost. You are using more, and thus throwing away more, and at a more rapid rate. Beyond that, you are causing greater quantities of resources to be consumed in the production of these products than is necessary. Let the Green Party member in you reflect on that for just a moment. Earlier this year, a California Air Resources Board (Yes, those same people that require special, California emissions standards for your cars) study done at UC Berkeley, found that the over use of household cleaning products and air fresheners posed a health risk. The study examined products containing ethylene-based glycol ethers, found in many cleaning products. It found the ethers reacted with the ozone to produce toxic materials. I could reprint the study for your edification, but it's 330 pages of abject boredom.

So, let your frugality kick in, even if it goes against your nature. Crack yourself in the hand with a ruler next time you catch yourself pouring, dumping, or popping in too much of something, and start saving more money.

Posted by debtblog at 01:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

168 hours. It's all you get. No matter how far behind you are, or how you badly may need them, 168 is the maximum number of hours you can cram into a week. Come to think of it, it's the minimum number of hours in a week as well. How you use each of the 168 is up to you. In theory, you'll have a healthy balance of work and family, office and fun. Too many people are not only trying to cram more into those 168 hours than is humanly possible, they're failing miserably at it.

Here is one place where it's possible to be too frugal. There, I said it; “Too Frugal”. It's too often the other way around. Most of us aren't frugal enough, and consequently, waste money. In this case though, you've got to include the value of your time. It seems, in this all-to-busy modern life we find ourselves in, some of us tend to undervalue our time. To wit, they spend hours fixing, restoring, or recovering things that, while they may be technically reusable or repairable, are not really worth the salvage effort. In this day and age, when you can get more for your money in many product categories than at any point in history, some things are just not worth the trouble.

If you enjoy the thrill of taking something that was once a fine example of whatever, and restoring it to it's former glory, that's different. If your idea of a fantastic Saturday evening is reclaiming something that they “just don't make it like” anymore, go for it! That's a great hobby, and everybody should have at least one. If you've found a way to turn a handsome profit on eBay polishing, scrubbing or repairing other's junk, that's a business. Everyone should have a profitable one of those, if only for the tax benefits. However, if you're caught in the trap of spending countless hours making something serviceable that was never all that great to begin with, and doing it only in the name of saving the few dollars it would cost to buy a new or good used one, you're wasting your time.

Time and family are the two resources that can never be replaced. No matter how smart, clever, or resourceful you may be, time is like real estate; they're just not makin' any more of the stuff. You should value your time, each and every second of it. If seen friends and family work all weekend, forsaking family, business, and good football games, to reclaim a total P.O.S. that was dime store garbage to begin with. It's just not worth it. They trumpet the savings, but after spending 9 hours to repair something that only cost $14.95 to replace, one can see they did, in fact, throw their time into the black hole of despair. Even if you work at Mickey D's, that's just not a good trade. Work a couple of extra hours and then spend the other 7 hours doing something that will bring your family closer together, help you blow off some steam, or prove more profitable in the end.

Money does not grow on trees, it's true (unless your investments are producing a good positive cash flow, or your business has a nice recurring revenue stream). But, money can be earned or replaced. You can always earn more of it, often at a higher rate by being more efficient. Time, on the other hand, is a one-shot deal. Once it's gone, there it goes. Kiss it goodbye. So, make sure you use it wisely. For some, repair or replace is a question they may need help answering.

Posted by debtblog at 01:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

“How do you make a small fortune in racing? Start with a large fortune.” Unknown

In yesterday's post there were three things many people do that can cost them a fortune. Well, maybe not a fortune, but they could get pretty expensive. Here are some more behaviors that can contribute to your financial decline.

1. Excessive brand loyalty. Marketing mavens everywhere are cursing my name right now, but it's true. Despite scads of marketing dollars spent throughout the world to influence consumers to exhibit loyalty to a particular brand, in many cases it makes no sense. Are Del Monte stewed tomatoes really better than the store brand? Are they're canned peas any better than Bird's Eye's? Maybe, maybe not, but you should at least find out. Buy what's on sale.

   There are some cases where brand loyalty makes sense, but in most cases you should thoroughly research a product before you buy, and then buy according to the results of your research, at the best price. Many times, service will enter into the equation as well, with good reason. Service is valuable and important, especially if it keeps you from making a purchasing mistake. You may have other reasons for choosing a particular product too, such as support for a local merchant. Perhaps it's worth it to you to buy brand 'X' because that's what they recommend at your local, family owned establishment you're trying to support. You may have many reasons for making a particular purchase, just make sure the label isn't your primary reason.

2. Neglecting to make major purchases where there is a good return policy. Perhaps, despite your diligent research, the product sucks. It happens. Even top rated products can have lemons or be unsuitable for a particular application. You should be able to correct the mistake within a reasonable amount of time (this varies according to the product) buy receiving an in-store credit, refund or exchange. Better stores will facilitate this, requiring only a receipt, a smile, and the product in it's original packaging.

3. Related to #1 above, not researching your purchases. It happens thousands of times every day. People make impulse purchases on products they should have checked on first. Now, impulse purchases should be kept in check in any case, but this really holds true on larger purchases. Good sales people notwithstanding, there is little reason to walk into a store for five pounds of 6d nails, and leave with a new DeWalt 36 volt, lithium drill, even if it is on introductory special.

   You don't need to make this type of mistake too many times a year to end up with a shed full of really cool stuff, and a $5k balance on your credit card (at 12%). Even if you did need the particular item in question, you should check it out before you buy in order to ensure you're making the best purchase. Re; the drill: Was that the best price available on that drill? Is that the top rated drill in the category? Is it really the best item for the particular need? Does the store have a good return policy?

4. Related to #3 above, making any impulse purchases at all. Sit down for just a minute, my quick spending friend, and think about this for just a bit. All those P.O.P displays on the end cap of the check stand are designed for one purpose; to separate you from your money in exchange for something you didn't need when you entered the store. These additional purchases can add up in a huge way. For example, if you purchased a candy bar for $.79 and a magazine for $3.99 only once a week, that would be, including the tax you've got to shell out in many states, over $5.00 a week. That's $260.00 a year in little purchases you barely realized you were making. At 8%, compounded and invested over 30 years, that $260/yr is over $20,500! And you thought it didn't amount to anything. For the sake of argument, say you go to the store 4 times a week, earned 9% in your investments throughout your life, and made $3.00 in impulse purchases every time you went through the checkout line. In the same 30 years, you'd have potentially squandered $49,268!
   

May these few little things to watch for actually cause you to do just that. Next time before you do something, spend something or buy something, take a deep breath first. Now, let it out. Ok! Now you can pull out your wallet, just keep that Visa inside it.

Posted by debtblog at 01:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

1. Caring too much about what your friends think. It's true. Far too many people place a lot of weight on what their friends think. This sentiment comes back to haunt them when they make purchasing decisions. Do you want that new Lexus because it is a well built car, has great resale value, performs well and cradles you in luxury? Or, is it more because a new Camry just doesn't make the same statement in your driveway? Are you more than a bit concerned with how the other parents think when you show up for soccer or to pick the kids up from Taekwondo class?

   I've actually witnessed someone cost themselves several thousand dollars because, in her words, “What would my friends think?” about the brand name on her new plasma TV. She was perfectly happy with the image and aesthetics of the first set, but the brand name was another story entirely. The original TV was a major brand name too, not one of those special, no name, mass merchandise units. Now the more expensive unit did have a better picture and connectivity options, however, that meant nothing to this person. She didn't even notice the improved performance. It all came down to what her friends thought about the name emblazoned on that new flat screen TV on her wall. This is a perfect example of how placing too much emphasis on your friend's sentiments can cost you plenty of money.

2. Paying your taxes with a credit card. Don't laugh, people actually do this. So many people in this country gripe about their tax bill being too high, and then some Americans actually make it even higher with this ill-advised strategy. You'll fork over a credit card premium to use this method, to say nothing of the added cash you'll waste paying the interest on the credit card balance. If it will keep you form paying hefty interest and fees to the IRS, and it's the only way you can avoid paying them, use a credit card. If however, you just spent the money, that's kind of a problem, isn't it. File an extension and put some of your stuff on eBay. Don't run up your credit card balance merely for the convenience of putting your tax bill on your already overburdened Visa.

3. Not contributing to your company 401k plan when your firm offers matching. This mistake is repeated throughout the U.S. on a daily basis. It's most prevalent among younger employees. It's free money. If I set $500 on a table in front of you, would you snap it up? You bet you would. That's what your employer is doing for you, and you should treat it the same way. To see how much this little slip up could cost you, take a look at this example. If you earn $40,000/year, and your employer will give you a 1:1, matching contribution up to 2.5%, you can chip in $1,000 to your 401k throughout the year and your employer will do likewise. If you're 28 yrs old and plan to begin withdrawing money from your 401k at 65, here's what the difference would be from just that first year, assuming a 6%, compounded return.

   That first year's contribution, without company matching, would be worth $8,636 when you began withdrawing at age 65. Had you availed yourself of your company's offer to match your contribution, it would be worth $17,272. If you contributed nothing at all, you'd have zip! So the decision not to contribute that $1,000 and grab the match along with it, cost you over $17,000. If you managed to get an 8% return, you'd have lost almost $35,000 at retirement. If you were fortunate enough to earn a 10% return for the life of the investment, that initial $2,000 would have ballooned into $68,008! That illustrates the power of compounding, how much a small increase in the rate of return will add to your investment, and the stupidity of leaving the employer's match on the table.

   May you avoid making these crazy money mistakes. Your account balance will thank you for it.

Posted by debtblog at 01:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

So, do you really need that Latte every morning? Some would argue that the gain in productivity provided by the concoction more than offsets the cost. Maybe so, but it brings up a good point. How vital is each item in your budget? Do you need to be spending your hard earned cash on that particular product or service? It points to the need for prioritization in your budget. Some budget items are truly necessary for modern life, such as rent / mortgage, electricity, water and garbage service. After that, you can begin to assign a number to each item, from one to ten, based upon it's importance in your daily life.

When assigning said number, give it some though and be prepared to make a few difficult decisions. It will make your final budget more livable. Sometimes it's the little things that make life bearable, however, in aggregate they also blow up your budget. You can use the priority number to weight each budget item when determining what stays and what simply must go. You'll probably find that somethings you though you simply couldn't live without are really pretty easy to forget once you've stopped using them. With the budget, it comes down to lifestyle. Once you've eliminated certain things from your lifestyle, you'll never look back. Budget prioritization numbers make the task of deciding what to ditch a little bit easier.

Posted by debtblog at 01:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

1. Control when you shop. You should never buy ski boats, motorcycles or convertibles in June. Similarly, avoid stocking up on Christmas decorations, ski equipment and snow tires in December. The savings from waiting to buy things until after the peak demand can be huge. Many people see the sales, but how many of you actually make it a rule to only buy things in the off season? You should, because you can save over 50% in some cases. The list is endless, weather it's due to seasonal factors or man-made holidays, you can get huge savings on virtually anything by controlling when you purchase it. You'd think this is so obvious that everybody would do it, but many miss out on the bargains you can get this way.

2. Control where you shop. This applies to many purchases, but some you may not have considered. In our area and many others as well, the price of that wonderful crude oil distillate we pay so much for can vary by over 10%, depending upon which station you hit the big 'E' next to. Yesterday I saw premium between $2.98 and $3.34. That wasn't at Bargain Larry's and Big Oil, either. They were both big brand oil stations that begin with 'S'. Plan a bit where you buy your fuel, food and almost anything else, and you'll reap big rewards.

3. Plan ahead before you buy. This allows you to avoid needing to make purchases where you may not get the best value. If you don't need things this instant, you'll usually save money. There's usually an inverse relationship between convenience and the amount of cash that gets sucked from your wallet. If you plan ahead, you can shop online and get real bargains at places like eBay and Buy.com.

4. Negotiate for everything. This may earn you the reputation of “Cheap Bastard (or Bitch)” from the workers at your local stores, but hey, who really cares what they think about your spending habits anyway. Look for goods with open (not okay for food products)or damaged packaging. In many cases, the store manager will take a percentage off if you just ask them to. Remember, it hurts to ask for a discount, and, in many cases, you'll actually get one! The key is choosing your purchases wisely. It's far easier to negotiate a discount on something that's not flying off the shelves already. You should use this technique for items large and small, and services too, such as repairs and rent.

5. Find where all the bargain items go. Many of the larger retailers, like Sears, have outlet stores where they dispose of damaged or out of date merchandise. Sometimes these are in outlet malls, but you'll find them hidden away in office parks all over the country as well. The outlet malls tend to have stores that are limited to a specific brand, while large retailer's outlets will offer a wider variety. Find that store, you'll save a bundle. In our area, Sears has an outlet store and repair shop in a large office / warehouse park, and there are fantastic deals there on a daily basis. These include tools, appliances, consumer electronics, and power equipment. Many of the goods are just damaged box and are in otherwise fine shape. Sometimes they even have sales that offer additional savings.
   

Remember, you can always pay more, but you shouldn't have too! This will help you on your quest to become debt free.

Posted by debtblog at 02:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (1)

1. Get a seller concession when you buy a home. A seller concession enables you to roll your closing costs into your mortgage by adding the closing costs to your mortgage. You have the seller add a percentage to the price of the home that is equivalent to the amount of the closing costs. That allows you to pay for them using the mortgage, with its tax deductible interest. If you're paying 7% for your mortgage interest before taxes, you should easily be able to make this strategy work for you. The key is to get a greater investment income on this money than what you pay for mortgage interest, after the tax consequences. One caveat for this strategy. Your home must be able to appraise for the total of the original selling price and the seller concession combined. The benefit is that it costs the seller nothing, and you avoid having to come up with a hefty amount of cash for closing costs. Obviously, the best scenario is to get your seller or mortgage company to eliminate the closing costs altogether, but failing that, you should try to get a seller concession.

2. Insurance is one of your largest financial obligations. You pay insurance on everything; your home, car, jewelery, yourself, health, etc. It really adds up, and fast. There are some easy things you can do to minimize the tremendous amount of money you shell out for insurance every month. After all, the insurance companies have plenty of money, you, on the other hand, probably don't. Let's put the balance just a bit more in your favor. First, shop different companies for the best rate. Some companies are better on different types of insurance than others.

   After you've got insurance from the company that you found to give the best value, the easiest thing you can do is to raise your deductibles as high as possible. In most cases, you try to avoid claiming anything relatively minor anyway, because the insurance company will just stick it to you with increased payments in the future. Sometimes they'll even deny you future insurance if you're too eager to make claims. You'll typically save at least 10% by increasing your deductibles.
   

Next, make sure you get every other discount you're eligible for. It sounds stupid, but many people are eligible for many discounts they're not getting. Go over everything with your insurance providers. For your auto insurance, you should get a multi-car discount, non smoking discount, multi-line (if you've got home owner's with the same company) discount, and a discount for good grades if you're still in school. If you're about to buy a new car, look at the insurance rates for that particular model first. Rates vary widely between models, and not always for the reasons you'd think. Compare before you buy, and it could save you big money.

Your home owner's policy is also a good candidate for review. Make sure you're getting all available discounts. Look at discounts for monitored security and/or fire alarm systems. They're starting to get pretty hefty. Ask your provider about anything else you can do to your home to lower your rate, such as earthquake preparation. If you're retired, check if your insurance company offers a discount for retired persons. Many do. As with your auto policy, you can raise your deductible to obtain a discount. You don't want to make claims for anything but major damage to your home or property anyway. You'll regret it.

1. Pay your bills online. You get multiple benefits from this strategy. First, you save time. Time is irreplaceable. Now you can do something constructive with that little bit of it. You'll save postage. It may not sound like much, but every bit adds up. The big benefit is never having to worry about a check for a credit card payment getting lost in the mail. One lost check could cause a bad chain reaction of late fees and increased credit card interest rates.

   A similar approach is to have the minimum payment on all your credit cards withdrawn automatically from your checking account. You'll never have to worry about making a late payment again. The secret is to make the same payment you were making before, in addition to the minimum (you say those are the same amounts??). This will eliminate your credit card bills much faster, because the minimum payment really just pays the interest and a small amount of the principal.

2. Make (and stick to) a savings plan. Just like a business plan works to lay out the financial details of a business, a savings plan will show you where, and how, you can save money. A savings plan is similar to a budget, except that it is dedicated to finding ways to put as much as possible into your savings and investment accounts. You'll find all sorts of leaks that can be funneled back into your long term financial future, instead of into the tip jar at Starbucks.

3. Start a business. Even a small business will offer substantial tax benefits (check with your tax accountant to be sure all is on the up and up). It will also allow you to diversify into multiple streams of income. Corporate stability isn't all it used to be. You could be downsized or acquired by the time you return from lunch, so be ready. Start with something small that lets you get your feet wet in the business world and requires little or no capital to get started. You aren't going to run out and start GM or Pizza Hut tomorrow, so don't waste time or money trying. Look at something you're really interested in, and hopefully good at. Begin on the side, in your spare(???) time. Make a business plan that covers all the details. There are many books and good software available to assist you. If you have MS Powerpoint, there is a basic business plan template included.

4. Finally, change your mindset. Yes, just like that! Make becoming debt free and financially secure a goal that you're addicted to. Work to make yourself actually feel uncomfortable when you're not actively pursuing the goal of financial independence. If you find yourself wasting money, mentally punish yourself. Soon you'll become addicted to the rush of earning money and watching your savings grow. It can be just as much of a rush as buying that new pair of Manolo Blahnik's or that new Winston bamboo fly rod you've just got to have.

Posted by debtblog at 12:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Cut your own hair. - OK, you probably do this for your kids, but what about using this money saving technique for yourself? (Men, don't try it for your wife!) Get a good set of clippers with guides and go to it. Not only will you save significant cash, but think of the time you'll save by not going to Fantastic Sam's or Hair Masters once a month. Savings = $18.00 / month + the hour and a half you get to use for whatever you want. If you take your kids in too, stop that as well. The savings will add up even faster.
  

• In the summer, dry your clothes the old fashioned way; on a clothes line. Your dryer is one of the biggest energy users in your home. This will save energy in two ways: The energy you don't use in the dryer, and the energy you save by not having to cool your house so much. The neighbors may look at you a little sideways, like the looks Jed and the clan got when they relocated to 90210, but who cares?
  

• Analyze how much things really cost before you do them. Include all those hidden expenses, like fuel and parking. This will just about make sure you never go out to do anything fun ever again! Seriously though, your entertainment dollars should be thoroughly scrutinized. For example, taking the family out for a movie once a month on Friday night, with those over priced treats, can get rather spendy. A family of five can easily drop $80 on a simple movie night in most metro areas. If you feel the cultural value of sitting in a dark theater together outweighs staying home and watching a DVD, at least make it a matin'ee.

  Add those figures in your noodle for a second. $80 multiplied by 12 months is just a gnat's whisker shy of $1000! Every year! If you really want to spend money on something, it's predicted by industry insiders that loss leader 42” plasma TVs will by under $1,000 by this holiday season. You could skip the movies for a year, then stay home and watch the show on one of those! You'd at least have an asset, instead of movie memories, like fighting for a parking place and hearing the teenagers mashing behind you. In addition, flat panel TVs probably won't be able to depreciate too much more than they have already.

• Stay focused when you go to buy something you need. It's so easy to spend twice what you intended by getting sucked in by POP displays or those sale tables. Treat shopping for a single item like a military mission. Go in quickly, stay focused on the objective, and get out. Home Depot and Lowe's are especially bad for me. They always seem to have so many things on those discontinued, returned or blem tables. Remember, you can't always save money by spending it, although it sure is fun to try!

Posted by debtblog at 02:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Your home is one of the largest expense categories in your budget. Even if you don’t include the mortgage interest most of you pay each month, you’re still paying more for home expenses than almost anything else. One of the keys to becoming and remaining debt free is to balance your budget. Lord knows the government has trouble doing it, and get away without doing so for years. You, however, have no such luxuries. Here are some ways you can (more or less) painlessly cut back. The money you save each month will contribute to your efforts to become debt free or your investment accounts.

1)      One of the largest budget items in most locales is energy. With prices skyrocketing, any savings here will add up in a hurry. There are some things you can do to pinch pennies from your energy bills every month. If you live in a cold or very hot location, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) consume most of your home’s energy.

Many utility companies offer free or inexpensive energy audit services. These will locate money losers throughout your home and make suggestions for ways to eliminate them.  If yours doesn’t do this, you can find a private company that offers the service. It probably won’t be as great a value, but it should pay for itself nonetheless. If all else fails, you can do it yourself. Look for leaks and cracks where the air you paid big money to heat or cool can escape, allowing outside air to take its place.

Common areas this occurs are around windows and doors, fireplaces and ductwork. A seemingly small crack can be bigger than you think. For example, a tiny, 1/8” crack under a typical 36” door is the same as having a 4” x 1” hole in the door. Most of you probably wouldn’t let that go unrepaired, and you shouldn’t leave the crack under the door either.

If your home’s insulation is poor, upgrade it. Sometimes you can get credits from your utility company, county or municipality for this. One other thing, no matter what so many people thing or how they use their thermostat, turning it up to 89 freakin’ degrees when you want to take it from 62 to 68 won’t make it go up any faster. Just turn it up to 68, relax and just wait for it. What will happen is you’ll forget to check it, and your home will be up to 75 before you realize it. There, you just paid to heat your house up 7 extra degrees for nothing. Keep the heat off in rooms you don’t use. If you have to go in there, gut up and wear a sweater, whimpy! You probably don’t need to keep it so frosty inside during the summer Phoenix sun, either, 75 degrees is fine. Moderation in temperatures is key to saving money.

Another energy saving tip is to hang blinds outside your windows to block the sun. This willl keep a tremendous amount of solar energy away from your windows, where it will infiltrate your home and cost you money in increased HVAC bills. You can put the blinds inside the house, but they will be much more effective outside.

If you can cook something in your 1,200 watt microwave for 5 minutes instead of cooking it in your 5,000 watt oven for 15, you’ll save energy. It’s simple math. I know the oven isn’t on the entire 15 minutes, but you have to preheat too, so don’t forget about that.

As a bonus to saving money, you’ll help cut U.S dependence on foreign energy sources.

2)      Another big budget item is you homeowner’s insurance. You can cut back here in a few ways that won’t affect your daily life. Many insurers are now offering big discounts for monitored security and fire alarm systems. In many cases the discount is much larger than the monitoring fee. This is especially true if the alarm system includes fire alarm capability. If you live in one of the thousands of homes throughout the country with a security system that isn’t used, check with your insurance provider. It may be worth getting it monitored.

Make sure you are getting maximum discounts from your insurance company. Most offer bundling discounts for using one company. If you have different home and auto policies, check with both to verify this and go with the one offering the best deal. In addition, you should usually raise your deductible to $1,000.  The discount can be substantial. You won’t want to claim small loses anyway. Your rates will probably rise, or worse, you could get blacklisted. Many people have found, after making several claims against their homeowner’s insurance in a certain period, such as 2 years, their rates drastically rise. When they go to get insurance from another provider, it’s the same story, if they are able to get it at all.

This may seem evident, but shop around. You can get better deals at times through work, industry associations and alumni groups. If you’ve been with the same insurance provider since Methuselah was a child, you may qualify for a discount as well.

Another insurance related savings can be found by eliminating private mortgage insurance (PMI). If your home equity is greater than 20%, you can probably eliminate this money sucker.

3)      There are all sorts of miscellaneous ways to conserve.

In many cases, you can use less detergent in both your dishwasher and clothes washer. Usually, it will work great.

If you’ve got so much crap you’ve put some of it in storage, it’s time for a yard sale! Get rid of your excess stuff and the storage rental fees at the same time. If you’ve got stuff you haven’t seen in over 5 years, unless it’s your wedding album or other item with high sentimental value, ditch it! You’ve probably forgotten you had it anyway.

How much do you really use those premium movie channels anyway? Do you really need both HBO and Showtime? What about just a Netflix subscription for $6.00 a month? Do an inventory of your home’s communications bills every month. Between cable TV, satellite (yes, I know people with both), Internet, cell phone, land line phone and newspaper, you could be spending $300 - $400 monthly. How much use do they get? Can you get a bundling discount for using a single utility for multiple services in your area? For example, cable TV companies now offer TV, Internet and telephone services. You can usually get a discount by getting all three from them. Do you need both a land line and a cell phone? If not, verify you can still use 911 services.

There are so many ways to save money on your house bills, it is almost impossible to list them all. Not all of them apply in every location. You don’t have to give up the big screen and the pool, but do you have to keep the pool so warm?

Posted by debtblog at 05:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

To really get you off your duff, here is what some of your savings will add up to over the long term.

Cutting back from two packs a day to one
Daily savings = $4.25, Monthly savings = $127.50

Bringing lunch to work instead of spending $8.00/ day eating out
Daily Savings = $5.00, Monthly savings = $110.00

Using regular gas instead of premium if you can (and most likely, you can) 1 x 20gal fill up per week.
Daily savings = $.71, Monthly savings = $21.43

Ditching all the premium movie channels – Don't worry, you can keep NFL Direct Ticket!
Daily Savings = $1.97, Monthly savings = $59.00

Doing the free things you should to save gas (properly inflate tires, no rapid acceleration, use less A/C, coast up to stop signs & lights, etc.) figuring 15,000 miles a year, a 15% fuel mileage improvement, and a vehicle that improves from 22mpg to 25.3mpg. Gas price average of $2.97/gal.
Daily Savings = $.72, Monthly savings = $21.60

Only eat out one night a month, instead of 4 – Dinner for 2 with inexpensive bottle of wine & tip = $62.00
Daily savings = $6.20, Monthly savings = $186.00

Raise your insurance deductibles from $250 to $500 – savings vary widely, but you could easily save 8% on your homeowners and auto insurance policies. Average insurance payment $250/month.
Daily savings = $.67, Monthly savings = $20.00

Shop at the warehouse grocery store instead of the big, national chain grocery stores. The savings can be huge. Most of the warehouse grocery stores have a wide selection and the same brands you'll find at the big chains, in addition to money saving house brands. If you currently shop at a specialty grocery store, shame on you, but you'll save even more by switching. Savings average 20% for a family of four's grocery bill of $600/month.
Daily savings = $4.00, Monthly savings = $120.00

Just doing these simple things can do more than save you money now. Take a look:

These savings add up to $686.96 a month! That's a huge number, and it's achieved without a major sacrifice or lifestyle change. I didn't even have you eliminate the morning Latte at Starbucks. To make it even more impressive, it's all pretax dollars, meaning that, depending upon which tax bracket you're in, you have to earn between $850 and $1000 a month to pay the $686.96! Wow! You just got that huge raise you've been asking for.

The most impressive thing is what happens when you compound those savings over a period of years. If you take the $686.96 per month and compound it over 25 years. If you earn 9% over that 25 year period, and invest the entire $686.96, it turns into an astounding $770,165.92! Holy Crap! If you stretch the period out to 30 years, you're a millionaire!! $1,257,647.54! This is on money you already make. If you're 30 years old, and start this now, you'd have a million invested before you were 60. That is addition to any savings plan, pension, 401K or 403 plan you may have already. Go to it!

Posted by debtblog at 01:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (1)

Experian, our friends in the credit reporting business, issued a new report a few weeks ago concerning American's increasing levels of personal debt. In the last two years, Experian reports our personal debt is up a robust 12%. We obviously can't afford it either, as they list the incidence of late payments up 20% during the same time period. What does this say to you? I really have no idea, but it says to me that most Americans were on the border of what they could afford each month and have now stepped over that ragged line. If you take into account that personal incomes are actually up over the last two years, it says that we've lost our collective minds. When Best Buy has a plasma TV sale, we need a new 50” HDTV, and we need it RIGHT NOW!

Now while this level of consumer spending does fuel the economy, and helps many business reach their quarterly sales targets, we really can't afford it. The next time you think about taking the missus out for a fillet and a good bottle of Merlot, stop and think for a second. Are you going to use plastic? If the answer is “yes” for any other reason besides wanting to get some very-hard-to-redeem airline miles, you should reconsider. Have a nice evening with Netflix instead.

Since Diner's Club issued the very first credit card in 1950, our national lust for credit has allowed over 20,000 different credit cards to flourish. They've assisted us in creating the most personal debt ridden society in world history. Although credit spending does fuel the national economy, one estimate indicates that the average consumer ends up paying a staggering 112% more for purchases than if they paid cash. Imagine if we actually did pay for most of the goods we purchased with cash. We could buy twice as many products using the same resources. Think for a second how that would boost the economy! You could still buy that plasma TV, you may just have to wait a few more months.

Bankrate.com reports that 90% of Americans say that credit cards are not a source of worry for them. That must mean that the 11% of Americans who had debts that went to collection in 2003 weren't worried about their debt. Ditto those contributing to the astounding 98% increase in personal bankruptcies experienced by Americans between fiscal 1994 and fiscal 2003. It's great to see we're all enjoying Songe d'Automne.

Posted by debtblog at 01:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Okay! The first stage of the gas saving device shootout is completed. I completed the baseline portion of the test, averaging 18.1mpg overall for the first 2,000 miles. The gas was mostly Chevron 87 octane regular. The average high temperature for the period was 63F and the average low was 46F. The first device I’m going to install is the Tornado. This device purports to increase combustion efficiency by inducing a vortex in the intake air column. According to the folks at the manufacturer, increases in power and gas mileage should follow.

Logic dictates this theory has a problem. Immediately downstream from the induced vortex lays the throttle body. Even if the air was in a spinning vortex, you would expect the throttle body / plate assembly to disrupt it. The effect of a vortex, even if reached the combustion chamber, is debatable anyway. Normally when trying to increase an engine's horsepower, you try to smooth the airflow through the intake manifold and into the cylinder. Upon entering the combustion chamber, the geometry of the port and chamber may be designed to induce a spinning effect. Note: If I experience a radical decrease in either gas mileage or drivability, I will remove the device before the 2,000 mile period of the test is complete.

Posted by debtblog at 06:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Limiting our speed to 55mph was a dismal failure the last time we tried it and it will be just as bad if they implement it again. Why not reintroduce prohibition? Is our time worth nothing? Let everyone decide for themselves if they want to incur additional fuel costs by driving 70mph on a trip. Why take an extra hour of your time (that you'll never get back) by forcing you to drive like a sloth with a broken leg? I personally, would rather spend the extra $6 or so to save an hour. Most of you probably make more than that on an hourly basis. A 55mph speed limit would be bad on many levels. All our goods will take longer to get to market, you'll spend more time behind the wheel. Write to your senator and congress member and tell them Just Say No to more 55.

Now on to other business....

They're a total environmental mess. That's one way China can compete globally. They have little in the way of environmental controls that American and European businesses have to deal with. China is home to six of the world's ten most polluted cities. Looks pretty in pictures, stinks in person. It's a whole lot easier to keep production costs low when you can ignore what your competition must spend precious resources on; keeping your environment clean. That may be changing, as China has indicated they plan to spend almost $200 billion in the next 15 years to increase their renewable energy supplies to 15% of their total. Earlier this month, the World Bank signed and agreement to loan $200 to Chinese firms for energy efficiency and conservation measures.

In the next five years, GE alone plans to sell over $20 billion of energy related products and services to the Asian giant. GE's Chinese subsidiary has a technology agreement with China and forecast up to $500 million will be spent by the Chinese on wind turbines alone in that time period. This is huge opportunity for GE, the king of wind turbine producers, and other wind turbine manufacturers. GE also has a deal to sell new, fuel efficient locomotives to China. China could soon be the world's largest market for clean and renewable energy technologies. That, coupled with increased demand from the U.S. in the face of rising fuel costs, spells opportunity for you. Take a look at the renewable portion of the energy sector when looking at new investments. The demand for such technologies is likely to be strong for the foreseeable future.

Personally, you can save your hard earned pennies by conserving energy at home and in your car. There are 3 quick and inexpensive things you can do to easily conserve energy.

• Switch to compact florescent light bulbs. You'll save a ton of electricity for lighting. As a bonus, they last about 8 – 10 times as long. Make sure you put CF bulbs in hard to reach places such as cathedral ceilings, where you hate to change bulbs. One of the downsides to these bulbs has been that they can't be dimmed. That's now changing. Look for newer units with dimable ballasts.

• Get a programmable thermostat. These used to be pretty expensive, but they're not any more. No more excuses. If you don't have one, spend the $80 and go get one. If you've got a newer home, chances are you've already got one. Get off your butt and program it. It may take you all of 10 minutes. Keep your heat low (66 deg) and A/C high(78 deg). Heat and A/C are some of the largest energy users in your home, start knocking them back.

• Drive to conserve gas. This is a no brainer and it'll cost you nothing. It's way better than most things you'll get for free. Keep your speed down. Accelerate slowly, don't punch it away from lights and stop signs. Your A/C compressor already turns off at idle in most newer cars, so don't worry about that. Make sure your tires are properly inflated and your engine is well maintained and tuned up. Practice conservation of momentum wherever possible. Lift off on the gas early before a stop, don't go right up to the stop & then use the brakes to slow down.
  

Posted by debtblog at 01:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In this era, when U.S. gas prices are approaching that of Europe, these larger vehicles are still in high demand. GM, for example, saw an overall 2% decline in SUV & truck year over year sales for April, compared to 2005. However, hiding within this 2% drop, one of GM's largest SUVs, the brand new for 2007 GMC Yukon, showed a robust 36% sales increase! Obviously, American consumers still like their big SUVs, much to the chagrin of some (you know who you are). A key component of the increase, beyond the complete redesign of the vehicle, is likely the inclusion of GM's technology to deactivate ½ the big, 5.3L V-8's cylinders under light load conditions to save gas. This contributes to an EPA highway rating of 21MPG for the 2007 4WD Yukon.

Other automakers use similar technology in their V-8s as a gas saving measure. If they could just dispense with the advanced engineering and manufacturing required for such complicated gas saving schemes, such as seamlessly turning off ½ the engine's cylinders under certain load conditions, and add an easy to manufacture gas saving gizmo, don't you think they would have? For those who see large corporations as just profit hungry monsters, the answer to that question is easy; hell yes, they would! Beyond that, it just makes good business sense. Getting a similar result with much lower capital investment means you can use that capital for increasing profit in other ways.

So, logically, the simple gas saving devices probably don't work. But I'll try a few out so you don't have to. I'm not doing complete, scientific testing. However, I am completing a 2,000 mile baseline test now. I'll try to be consistent with the driving conditions as much as possible. Hopefully the 2,000 mile distance will let everything average out. The vehicle is a Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4 with the selec-trac transfer case, 4.7 V-8 & 50,000 miles. Prior to the start of the baseline, it was given a new set of plugs, the engine was checked by a mechanic, and the air filter was cleaned and re-oiled. The aforementioned air filter is the only modification on the vehicle so far. When new, the factory air filter was replaced with a K&N factory replacement filter. Stay Tuned.

Posted by debtblog at 01:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)