Getting Married: The day most women dream about all through their childhood marks an important milestone – and creates a variety of new tasks you should to to become better prepared. If there are large assets involved, a financial planner or prenuptial agreement may be a good idea.

If the assets are minimal, there are concerns to address now in the event on partner passes away unexpectedly – things like having powers of attorney and health-care proxies so that in the event one partner is incapacitated, the other can make decisions.

Having Children: In addition to the most common concerns of parenting and raising children, there are several other considerations when you begin a family. Who will take care of the baby while the parents work, or will one partner remain at home? How will you handle the loss of income and the increase of living expenses?

When you have dependents, it becomes imperative that you have life insurance in order – if one or both parents die, life insurance can help ensure the family has money to maintain their lifestyle. Wills, while important before, are an absolute requirement when you have dependents as you can designate who will become guardians of the children if both of you should die in an accident or for any reason.

Planning for the future of your children becomes just as important as planning for your own retirement. The earlier you start putting money aside for your child’s college education, the more they will have when they’re old enough to go to college. Try a 529 plan.

Divorce: No one wants to consider their marriage may end in divorce, but with the statistics showing that 1 in every 2 marriages ends in divorce, it’s necessary that you are prepared just in case. If your husband handles all of the finances and investments, they are likely to be in his name. Make sure you know where money is being saved or invested and where the paperwork is kept.

Put some accounts in your own name, even if you are the stay-at-home parent, or a housewife. There should be some assets and liquidity in your name as you may need access to money when going through mediation or divorce.

Death: If your spouse becomes terminally ill, get your financial affairs in order immediately. It’s not what you want to be thinking about during such a difficult time, but it can save you unbelievable stress later on.

If your spouse should die unexpectedly, not knowing anything about your family finances creates a nightmare that you must work through and your mind and heart will not be in any condition to be forced into worrying about such things. Hopefully, you will never find yourself in this situation, but it’s better to prepare for it and not have to use that preparation than to find yourself up the creek without a paddle, later! Create a balance sheet of assets and liabilities, and keep it up to date.

What Women Must Know During Every Life Event was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Overdrafts and Fees
Banks are used to charging overdraft fees (also called Non-Sufficient Funds – NSF fees), they have been doing it for years.  But what is particularly bothersome about this is that the overdraft fees are very expensive.  In fact, they usually top $30.00.  Then, in addition to that retailers add on their own fees which can be as much as $25.00.  Also, a common practice is to try to re-submit the charge again by the retailer.  That results in another fee.  You can have charges of around $100 real quick in this scenario.

Also, banks have begun to offer automatic overdraft protection.  But what this does is prevents them from just rejecting the transaction, and instead allowing it so that they can charge the fees.

Lining Bank’s Coffers
This practice by banks has them raking in more in overdraft fees than they collect on credit card fees.  It has become a big profit center for them and there is nothing that you can do about it.  Most banks will not renegotiate these fees down.  They stand behind their written policies while you drown in a sea of charges that straps you financially.

Security Concerns
Another concern for debit card use is the inherent security risks involved.  This is because debit cards do not have the security protections that credit cards provide.  If you have unauthorized charges on your debit card, then you are out that money unless you can discover who used your card and retrieve the money through legal means.  And the chances of that happening are slim to none.

Consumers are using debit cards more frequently than credit cards these days, so the need to understand the risks and then avoid them is real and necessary.
The federal government is looking at enacting legislation that protects against the usurious nature of the banks practices.  Until then, it is more than likely that you will experience an event such as these on your accounts.  At least knowing the risks should help you be more vigilant with your accounts.

Consumer Debit Card Use Getting Expensive was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Scrimping Child Support Harder For Family Budgets was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

However, thanks again to technology today, you can have a heads-up about different charities before you donate. The website Charity Navigator is a watchdog for charities. The website scores charity groups based on different factors. Charity Navigator was started in 2001 and has quickly become the nation’s most used resource for evaluating charities. Last year, more than 4 million people used the website to research companies. Not only do consumers find the website helpful, large companies like CNN also use the resources of Charity Navigator to identify legitimate charitable organizations. The group actually has enlisted the assistance of professional analysts to review the financial documents of several thousand non-profit organizations. They then established a numbers-based rating system to help consumers better understand the charity prior to donating.

The two main areas the rating system concerns itself with are how the charity functions responsibly on a day to day basis and how well it is able to sustain its programs throughout time. The site awards a charity ranging from 0 to 4. You can search the site by charity name, its location, and the type of charity. The site also offers expert advice, tips for donating, and top 10 lists that highlight the tops and bottom contenders of charitable donations. The professional analysts behind the site have even been regular contributors to the major news outlets when reporting about charities, their responsibilities, and ethics in fundraising.

Even while many consumers are in financial turmoil of their own, people still manage to find a way to give back. Donations big and small do not stop coming in to assist those in need. It is because it is now too easy to create a believable charity that kind-hearted people would want to help. As people struggle to pay their own bills, worry about fraud and being taken on a charitable donation prevents many from helping. With a site like Charity Navigator, not only can consumers check out their intended charity, they may also be able to use the site to discover other charities that need help.

Choose Your Charities More Carefully with Charity Navigator was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

It’s that time of year once again to round up all those tax deductions and head off to the accountant! In the upcoming weeks, checks will start pouring out from the IRS to millions of Americans who paid more than their share of taxes. With the uncertainty of todays economy, it is vitally important to make sure you make the most of any refund you receive and to disperse your money wisely.

Here are Four Things NOT to do With This Years Return:

1. The “rapid refund”. This is nothing more than a quick loan with extremely high interest, often averaging more that 120%. If you look at the end result, this is NOT a refund at all, it will cost you money and that’s why it’s first on the what NOT to do list!

2. Spend it all! So many times people get that refund check and indulge in self gratification. There is nothing wrong with splurging on a little something for yourself, but be cautious. Don’t buy impulsively, the refund will be gone before you realize it. Instead, plan out your purchases for maximum satisfaction and try to set some aside for savings or emergency purposes.

3. Deposit and leave in your checking account. While this sounds like a good idea and I am sure you have good intentions- don’t do it. Before you know it, it will be spent on little, unnecessary things that you won’t even remember where it went after it’s gone.

4. Lend your money. This may sound harsh and rude to not lend out your money to a friend or family member who asks, but why should you lend your money – interest free, and in turn have to pay interest on your own bills that you could have paid off if you had the money in your account?

Here are Ten Better Ideas for Your Return:

1. Plan to put one fourth of your return away in some type of interest earning savings. If you don’t already have a “safe savings” account, now is the time to establish one. This should equal about 3-6 months of living expenses.

2. Make sure you have enough money to pay any up coming bills, such as real estate taxes, vehicle insurance, homeowners insurance, etc.

3. Make an investment that could seed your own business, this can be tax deductible next year and also, give you another stream of income.

4. Know the difference between “wants” and “needs”. A want is something you desire, a need is something you must have to survive. Go for the needs before the wants.

5. Do a home improvement project to make your home more energy efficient. This will give you a fresh feeling and adds value to your home. It should also save you money over time in less expensive utility bills.

6. Lay the foundation or your children’s financial future. Start a small investment or open a savings account.

7. Rid yourself of as many monthly payments as possible. Pay off the ones with the highest interest first.

8. Start a retirement plan such as a Roth IRA, or add to an existing one.

9. Make an extra mortgage payment. By paying one extra mortgage payment each year, you could reduce your interest by about 20%. So on a $150,000.00 mortgage at 6% for thirty years; you will save about $26,000.00 in interest.

10. Invest in your health. By keeping yourself healthy, you can avoid unwanted medical bills.

As you can see, there are a wide variety of things that you can do with your tax return to help improve your financial status or set a strong financial path for your future.

10 Do’s and 4 Don’ts For Your Tax Return was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

For several months a lot of the major mortgage lenders stopped providing some of the worst offenders in the sub-prime mortgage loan market. Very few companies were offering option payment loans, 50 year mortgages, and interest only loans with a massive balloon payment at the end of the term. It seemed that the mortgage market had returned to sound statistics and reasoning as to whether or not to originate a loan, but as the real estate market decline very few people were buying homes and thus very few people were taking out mortgages. The volume of mortgages that the real estate industry has seen has shrunk dramatically, leading some mortgage companies to desperate measures to originate new loans.

Many of the mortgage companies which were hit the hardest by the collapse of the sub-prime lending market are now offering the same types of loans which got them into that mess in the first place because they’re so desperate to generate any type of new mortgages they can. Countrywide Home Loans is sending out mailers with offers for a $511,000 jumbo mortgage to refinance or remortgage your home. According to the LA Times, aI I number of other mortgage companies are sending out flyers for option payment loans, which are loans in which the customer is not even required to pay off the interest each year! If you’re in brittian, consider a buy to let mortgage.

Just because these loans are becoming available again does not mean you have any business taking them out. You might get initially a low payment for the first few months, but after that the rate will adjust upward and you’ll be paying much more in the long run. Stick to a conventional 15 or 30 year fixed mortgage, pay your payments each month, and you won’t have any surprises along the way.

Lenders Still Making the Same Mistakes Which Caused the Sub-Prime Mortgage Mess was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

1. Moonlight:  One way to supplement your income is to start your own side business where you can utilize the skills you have acquired while “on the job.”  There are many benefits to creating your own business, one of the biggest being the tax deductions that can save you thousands of dollars per year.  Another benefit to moonlighting is that you do the work when you can fit it in, and you charge however much you want to charge.  Go to Craigslist to find moonlighting possibilities in your area and begin your own company.  Eventually, you may be able to quit your day job altogether. 

2. Ask for a Raise: What easier way can you think of to get more money?  Although for some, this may seem impossible, for most it will be easy to achieve without having to do more work.  To be taken seriously, be prepared when you approach your boss.  On a blank sheet of paper, create two columns.  One column will list all of the jobs that were part of your job description when you got your last raise.  In the other column, list all of the jobs that you have taken on in addition to the previous jobs.  Be thorough and hold nothing back.  (Quantity often counts more then quality when negotiating.)  Approach your boss and show them the list.  Let them know that you are willing to continue the extra jobs, but only if you can get paid for them as well.  They will most likely ask you how much more you would like to be paid.  Have a high number in mind ahead of time so that when your boss comes back with a lower amount, you won’t be totally disappointed.  Then again, how stoked will you be if you get what you are asking for? 

3. Change your deductions at work:  When you began working at your job, you probably filled out a W-4 (also known as an Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate).  This form is needed to know how much money an employer is going to deduct from your paycheck.  If you would like to take a little bit more money each pay period, go to the person who prints your payroll checks and let them know you would like to fill out a new W-4.  When you do, increase the number of deductions you claim.  This may mean a smaller tax refund at the end of the year, but it also means you will have more money in your pocket daily that you can spend or save as you see fit.  Why loan the money to the government all year long when you can use it to turn your own profit? 

4. create an Online Store:  Consider opening an eBay store for auctioning sellable items.  You can find a plethora of products to auction at Freecycle.org, a Yahoo company where people go to get rid of items they no longer want.   If you sign up for an account at eBay, be aware that you can also set up an online store at the same time listing all of your different products.  Paypal can also help you set up an online store for free and it is easy to link to your personal / business website.  Cafepress and Amazon are two other sites that can help you set up online stores quickly and easily. 

5. SWITCH YOUR SAVINGS ACCOUNT TO A MONEY MARKET ACCOUNT:  Why get less then 1% interest on your money when you could be making much more?  Begin shuttling your money into a money market account and you can see the interest quickly accumulate.  I recommend ING Direct since they have a wide variety of high-yield savings accounts and mutual funds.  ING Direct’s Global Real Estate Fund has an average 19.94% growth since its November 2001 inception date (a highly risky money market account), while it’s average Money Market Fund has had an average growth rate of 4.03% since it’s April 1994 inception date (a much safer rate).  Having recently acquired Sharebuilder (where you can trade stocks yourself), Sharebuilder’s Money Market Account through ING Direct has a 7-day yield as high as 3.18% as of February 20, 2008.  The best thing about using ING Direct and Sharebuilder is that you can transfer as little as $25 to your account on a monthly basis and have it transferred back to your checking for free within 24 hours of the request date. 

6. MAKE BETTER SALES:  Everybody sells something whether they intend to or not.  When you tell your family about a great movie you saw and convince them to go see it, you have just sold that movie.  Sincerely suggesting a product that you believe someone will benefit from is selling.  When dealing with customers, you want to find out what they are looking for so that any sale you make to them is one that they will love and not return.  Here are a couple ways to make that sale even better. 

6. 1. NEVER SELL THE FEATURES…SELL THE BENEFIT.  A customer does not want to hear what the features of a product are.  Features are boring!  They don’t care if it’s the best product of its kind on the market, or even if it’s the best priced.  They just want to hear what the product is going to do for them…how it’s going to make their life better.  If you go on and on about your product’s features, you will lose your customer’s attention and you will lose the sale.  All your customer wants to know is WHY they should buy what you’re selling, and focusing on that is what will close the sale. 

6. 2. USE SUGGESTIVE SELLING TO INCREASE EACH SALE.  No matter what your customer is buying, always suggest a complimentary product BY NAME.  By suggesting to your customers that they will be happier trying new products alongside the one they are buying, you open up the opportunity for future sales, and increase the current sale.  By naming the product, you give them a chance to visualize what they are buying.  This is a common trick used in restaurants.  When a waitress asks a customer if they would “like dessert with that,” the common response is no.  The customer is full and they can’t imagine taking another bite of anything.  But, when a waitress suggests a piece of “chocolate mud pie for dessert,” the customer is no longer thinking about how hungry they are.  They are thinking about how good chocolate mud pie might taste.  Use this trick when suggesting other products and you improve the odds of increasing the sale. 

Now that you have an idea of how to greatly increase your income, also check out the other three articles in this series:  “Cut Your Expenses,” “Get the Best Deals,” and “Supplement Your Income.”  Also check out “20 Free Things You Can Do to Put Cash In Your Pocket” for more ideas. 

Keep Your Money to Yourself Part 4: Make More Money was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

1. Affiliate Programs: I mentioned Affiliate Programs in Part 2 of this series, and I am revisiting this issue because of its effectiveness. You see, even though having affiliate links on your website can save you money, it can also supplement your income when your customers, family and friends shop through your website. The best part about being an affiliate is that you are able to find out first what discounts an affiliate company is offering. By placing linked coupons on your website, your website will soon become the place where your acquaintances will look first for the best deals, thus supplementing your income when your affiliates pay you a commission. A few excellent choices are Commission Junction, Affiliate Showcase, and ClickBank.

2. Google AdSense: For anyone running a website or blog who does not want to go to the trouble of searching for and picking out affiliates, then Google AdSense is the perfect solution. When you sign up, you go through a three step process to create an HTML that you then paste on your website or blog. Google AdSense then reads the tags you create for your site and posts related ads that it changes constantly. It’s a sweat free way to make extra money that takes you less then a half hour to set up.

3. Blogging: Whether you own a business or are just looking to make some extra cash, a blog can actually help you achieve both goals. By writing something interesting and informative, you can build up a loyal readership that can easily turn into a clientele. Post some affiliate banners or ads from Google AdSense on your blog pages, and soon you will be adding bit by bit to your bank account, plus building your expertise and credibility among your “fans.” Check out HubPages or WordPress for a few places to get started blogging for free.

4. Freelance Writing: By occasionally writing articles for websites like Helium or Constant Content, you will be able to supplement your income a little at a time. Both companies sell articles to other websites giving you cash in your pocket as well as giving you a chance to become an expert in your field. Post links to your articles on your websites and your colleagues will soon believe you are an expert and look to you first for advice on shopping.

5. Surveys: If you have very little time to create a supplemental income, then I recommend you try filling out surveys. They are delivered to your e-mail inbox and you fill them out on your own time. (Just be sure to create a new e-mail to receive these offers or you will soon be inundated.) MyPoints has many wonderful survey offers which they give you points for, and those points can be turned in for gift certificates. Also check out Cash Crate for a plethora of offers that will net you cash fast.

6. Secret Shopping: Secret Shopping is a valuable tool to many businesses when they want to know exactly how customer-oriented their employees are. Obviously, when they watch their own employees to decipher this information, an employee is going to be on their best behavior. Many companies hire Secret Shopping Companies to gather this information on the sly. When you apply for these assignments, you are given a time frame, a scenario to play out, and a target to watch and review. You complete the project in your free time and then fill out a survey later. The Secret Shopping Company pays you once a month (usually the month after you complete the shop). Just be sure to NEVER PAY to become a secret shopper, as making you pay is a common Secret Shopping Scam. I’ve worked with SG Marketing, Bare International and Shop N Chek in the past, and all three have paid when they said they would. Also, check out this thorough list at Moms Wallet for other companies.

7. Online Auctions: Whether you are looking to sell a business product or something from your home, online auctions are a great way to move your items without spending a lot of time or effort to get the best price for your goods. Sign up for a free eBay account and you will soon be moving your product without investing much of your own capital. If you do go this route, be sure to always respond quickly to any comments and to do your best to keep your ratings up. By doing so, you will make more sales since ratings give people a sense of confidence in you and your products.

8. Use a Card that Offers Cash back Bonuses: Although I brought up getting a rewards card in Part 1 of this series, it bears mentioning again. A rewards credit card is always a better decision then a regular credit card since you can receive annual cash bonuses. Discover, Citibank and Chase all offer low interest cards that have no annual fees, plus you can cash in any time of year.

Be sure to check out the first two articles in this series (Cut Your Expenses and Get the Best Deals). Also, come back next week for the final article on strategies for increasing your income.

Keep Your Money to Yourself Part 3: Supplement Your Income was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

1. Download the Upromise Toolbar, even if you don’t need college money. Upromise.com has a free toolbar you can use to find the best deals on absolutely any NEW product you could possibly want. By simply typing the name of the product you are looking for, you will be given a list of thousands of matching items, prices, and the stores where you can buy your desired product. Once you have your list, you can then narrow it down by features, lowest price, brand, store, and cash rebate amount. With just a few clicks, you can find the absolute best deal whether you decide to buy it from www.Upromise.com or another website.

2. SIGN UP FOR A FREE EBATES.COM OR SAVINGSWATCH.COM ACCOUNT. Although I have no experience with www.SavingsWatch.com, many of my readers have commented that it is an excellent website to purchase products from and receive large rebates in return. I do, however, have a history with www.Ebates.com and I know that they do pay you on a quarterly basis no matter how little or how large your earnings are. Once you have found the best deals on Upromise.com, pop over to Ebates.com or Savingswatch.com to buy the product for the price you’ve found and receive up to an additional 30% off. By doing so, you will always get the best prices and make a little extra cash back on the side. (Right now, Ebates.com is having a sign-up special. If you have a friend who has an Ebates.com account, enter their email address to earn $5 instantly for you and your friend.)

3. SHOP AT HALF.COM FOR CHEAP BOOKS, MOVIES AND CDS. www.Half.com is an eBay company that allows everyday people to post their new and used books, music and movies for sale without paying a posting fee. A customer can then purchase the item for as little as $0.75 and spend approximately $3 for shipping and handling. Within one to two weeks, the items are delivered to your door. Compared to walking into a book or movie store, you can save a lot of money over a relatively short period of time. Just be sure to read the condition comments to avoid any surprises, and only buy from sellers with a good rating.

4. SHOP AT EBAY FOR MANY OTHER ITEMS (AND COUPONS). Since I mentioned Half.com, I may as well bring up www.eBay.com as well. Just like Half.com, you can find a wide variety of new and used products that people have put up for auction. Also just like Half.com, be sure to buy from sellers with good ratings and email them requesting details should you require more information. One more thing to look for at eBay would be coupons. Many people get hold of coupons for everything from travel to groceries, and you can purchase those coupons and save yourself a whole lot of money.

5. USE COMPETITOR PRICING TO DRIVE A HARD BARGAIN. Whether you are an entrepreneur trying to get the best pricing on your business purchases or a thrifty shopper, you can use competitor’s pricing to your advantage. By getting quotes from one company and presenting them to the place where you normally make your purchases, you can get your favorite stores to consider lowering the price just for you. In fact, many large department stores (like Sears and Home Depot) have price matching policies. They will often meet or beat a competitor’s pricing on a product, but only if you can present an ad listing the item you wish to buy. Just be aware, it has to be exactly the same item to get the best deal. Not only will this get you the best pricing, but it will also get you the best financing deals with companies you may already have credit with. (Check out competitor’s websites for printable weekly ads if you don’t receive the newspaper.)

6. USE COUPONS AND REBATES TO SAVE EVEN MORE. Many office supply stores have an “online rebate center” where you can see all the rebates being offered for their in-store and online products. It’s a great place to start when looking to make a large purchase. www.Coupons.com and www.Smartsource.com both offer hundreds of manufacturers coupons every month on grocery store products. www.Wow-Coupons.com offers rebates and coupons for restaurants, travel, retail and grocery items. Sign up for newsletters at your favorite shops and websites and you will soon receive exclusive coupons via mail and e-mail.

7. BECOME AN AFFILIATE. If you have a website, join an affiliate company. Not only will it help you supplement your monthly income when your friends, family and customers make purchases through your websites, but it will also help you find the absolute best deals on anything you want. One really good company to join for free is Commission Junction (www.cj.com). You can immediately search for thousands of products and make your selections based on price, available coupons, and commission. Every time you net $25, they mail you a check the following monthly pay period. By doing so, you can easily “earn” hundreds of dollars per year while also finding the best prices.

8. ALWAYS SHOP THE CLEARANCE SECTIONS. There is one in every store, and you can save as much as 80% off of regular-priced items by browsing this section first. Several times a year, the stores will slash clearance prices even lower to clear away out-of-season products and make room for new products. January, especially, is a great time to begin your search since stores over-purchased items for the Christmas Season.

9. TRADE SERVICES FOR WHAT YOU NEED. If you know someone who offers a product or service you need (like website development or video production), offer to trade services with them. Look for a need they have which you might be able to provide free-of-charge in exchange for something you need free-of-charge. This kind of win-win situation benefits everyone.
   

Try some of these tips today and see how much money you are able to save. Don’t forget to read article one in this series (“Keep Your Money to Yourself – Part 1: Cut Your Expenses”) to save even more. Also look for article 3, “Keep Your Money for Yourself – Part 3: Supplement Your Income” where I show you a few simple things you can do instantly to supplement your income.

Keep Your Money for Yourself – Part 2: Get the Best Deals was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

1) Use a rewards credit card. A rewards card offers just that…rewards. Often, these rewards can be turned in for free products or cash.

2) JOURNAL EVERY MILE YOU DRIVE. In November of 2007, the IRS announced that business miles could now be written off at $0.505 per mile, medical or moving miles at $0.19 per mile and charity service miles at $.14 per mile. Therefore, whether for business or personal, add these miles up at the end of the year and get back a bigger refund, or pay less tax.

3) BECOME A NETWORKER. Word-of-Mouth advertising is the best and cheapest method for advertising. It gives you credibility, saves you money, and increases your odds of “getting the job.” Therefore, create your own networking group by asking friends and family to put you in touch with other business professionals. In no time, you will have a powerful sales force looking for customers and you will be doing the same for them.

4) GET A FREE PAYPAL ACCOUNT. www.PayPal.com offers the lowest fees for accepting credit cards whether you are a business owner or selling on eBay. For as low as 1.9% of a sale, you can accept any credit card through your computer instantly and transfer it into your bank account within 24 hours. Not only will you increase your sales, but also you will be able to create a free 24/7 online catalog.

5) TELECOMMUTE. With companies like www.GoToMyPC.com and www.PCNow.WebEx.com, you can now logon to any computer from anywhere and see all your files instantly. By telecommuting, you will be able to save on gas money, travel time, automobile expenses and office overhead, while at the same time acquiring several money-saving tax deductions.

6) USE THE UPROMISE.COM TOOLBAR TO FIND THE BEST DEALS. Upromise is a website dedicated to helping people accumulate money for college. However, they also have a free toolbar that you can download and utilize to find the best deals on the Internet. Simply type in what you are looking for, and then narrow the selection by features, price, and store. Not only can you save hundreds of dollars a year, but you can also get money back that can be used for anyone’s college education, or to pay down student loans.

7) JOIN AFFILIATE PROGRAMS. Affiliate programs are free to join and allow you to sell hundred of products on your website instantly without ever investing in an inventory. Furthermore, if you have a product to sell, you can offer a commission to affiliates who want to sell your product, and you pay nothing until they make a sale. Commission Junction (www.cj.com) is one of these companies that have some of the best affiliates on the web.

SUGGESTIVE SELL. Whether you are selling at a garage sale or selling to maintain your livelihood, ALWAYS suggest a second item or third item to go with the first. However, be certain to name a product and not just ask “Would you like anything else?” By naming an associated product, you create a mental image in the buyer’s mind and give them a chance to give you more of their money.

9) ELIMINATE TROUBLESOME CUSTOMERS. While it would seem that eliminating customers will cost you money, freeing up the time that troublesome customers consume will allow you to find better customers who order regularly with or without you. Stick to the customers you enjoy working with, and you will increase your cash flow immensely while also reducing your stress level.

10) CREATE A BUSINESS PLAN. This is recommended for every business for several reasons. Not only does it help focus your business and your goals, but it can also help guide your business’s choices and get you funding when most needed. Look online for free business-plan templates and just fill in the blanks.

11) SIGN UP FOR MILEAGE PROGRAMS. www.United.com is one of the best mileage programs available since you can earn miles by simply registering for their grocery and dining programs. As soon as you’ve accumulated as little as 13,000 miles, you can earn a free flight in the off-season to hundreds of locations. Programs such as these are free to join and make it easy to earn free flights.

12) UTILIZE DROP SHIPPING. Drop Ship companies are designed to ship out the products that you sell to your customers while charging you a flat fee. Not only can this save you money on paying for a shipping staff and postage embezzlement, but it can also save you from having to pay for a storage area for your inventory. Go to www.WorldWideBrands.com to find companies that can help you with your products.

13) GO TO WWW.SCORE.ORG FOR FREE BUSINESS ADVICE. This company is comprised of retired entrepreneurs who spend all their time mentoring people into thriving businesses. You can get free advice regarding everything from venture capital to business plans.

14) START A BLOG. Whether you own a business or are just looking to make some extra cash, a blog can actually help you achieve that. By writing something interesting and informative, you can build up a loyal readership. Post some ads from Google AdSense on your blog pages, and soon you will be adding bit by bit to your bank account, plus building your expertise and credibility among your “fans.”

15) USE TESTIMONIALS. People want to know that you are a good company. By asking your current clients and friends to give a testimonial about you that you can place on your website and in your brochures, you gain credibility and increase the odds of making new sales.

16) DEDICATE AN AREA OF YOUR LIVING SPACE TO A HOME OFFICE. If the home office is used for business purposes, you can deduct a portion of your mortgage/rent, utilities and supplies legally.

17) OPEN AN IRA. Although you may not consider putting money into an account a profitable situation, at this time of year, shuttling $2,000 into an IRA before April 15^th can actually reduce your tax bill or even get you a larger refund. Plus, you are keeping that $2,000 for use at a later date.

18) OPEN A HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNT. If you are enrolled in a high-deductible health plan, you should consider opening a Health Savings Account (HSA). This money is tax deductible and can be used immediately for any kind of medical expenses at any time without federal tax liability. Just like an IRA, you can write off the money you set aside and have more money in your pocket at the end of the year.

19) OPEN A COLLEGE SAVINGS ACCOUNT FOR A CHILD. Also like an IRA, there are several college savings accounts that offer tax deductions, thus keeping more money in your pocket and earning interest to boot. Some of these plans include a 529 Plan or a Coverdell ESA.

20) SIGN UP FOR TRAVELOCITY’S EMAIL ALERTS. If you are looking to travel, Travelocity’s e-mail alerts can alert you to the best prices on the flights you want on a daily basis. By signing up for their free e-mail alerts, you will never pay retail again, thus saving hundreds and even thousands of dollars.

20 FREE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO PUT MONEY IN YOUR POCKET was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Tip 1 – Use your Profit and Loss Report

For businesses owners, a Profit and Loss Report (P&L) is a common tool. For everyone else, this would be the same as a Spending Journal with one little extra: your income. Your P&L (or Spending Journal) adds income and subtracts expenses. When totaled, the profit or loss (a.k.a. cash flow) is left behind. By carefully analyzing this report for a specified period of time, you can deduce where you are spending too much money and which expenses should be cut.

TIP 2 – CONSIDER SWITCHING BANKS

Since the banking industry is extremely competitive, you can renegotiate all kinds of banking fees. This includes your monthly fee, bounced check fees, and over-the-limit fees. Contact your banker and ask them to reverse these unnecessary expenses and to convert your account into a free checking account. Banks will often cooperate just to keep you happy, or they will upgrade your account at no extra charge based on your banking history. If you use QuickBooks to do your bookkeeping, make sure your bank can create a QuickBooks Web Connect file and you will be able to reduce your bookkeeping expenses as well when you download all your transactions instantly. Bank of America, Citibank and Wells Fargo are three banks that work well with QuickBooks.

TIP 3 – ASK YOUR CREDIT CARDS FOR BETTER INTEREST RATES

It is common for credit card companies to raise your interest rate to as much as 24% if you are even 24 hours late. Most people never notice because they are not contacted separately, it is simply presented discreetly in your next bill. Contact your credit card company and ask them to lower your interest rate and you can cut your monthly bill in half instantly. Also ask for Balance Transfer Deals and you can wipe out interest altogether for a period of several months to a year or more.

TIP 4 – GET A REWARDS CREDIT CARD

If you do not have a credit card with rewards or a low interest rate, you should consider switching. Rewards cards can supplement your annual income, or be used to reduce other business expenses (such as airline tickets or hotel rooms). By paying for all of your needs on a credit card and then paying that credit card off every month, you can accumulate interest on the money in your bank account while also rapidly accumulating rewards. Both Citibank and Chase offer excellent rewards cards with no annual fee.

TIP 5 – REDUCE YOUR COMMUTING EXPENSES

While in the past, the best way to reduce your commuting expenses was to carpool to and from work, there are many other ways to cut commuting expenses. One would be to invest in an energy-efficient vehicle, like an electric car or scooter. Another would be to ride a bicycle to get where you need to go (also a healthy option). The best recommendation I can make, however, is to begin “Telecommuting” to work. Thanks to technology today, people can work from home and become more productive and efficient then when working in the office. Another added bonus here is that you could cut daycare costs (if you have children) and work whenever your child is sleeping. You will find you have focus on your work, freedom from micro-managers and more time with your family…all while saving commuting time and costs. (If you need advice on getting your boss to approve of telecommuting, get Timothy Ferris’s book “The Four Hour Workweek.” He will walk you through the process step by step.)

TIP 6 – DON’T SPEND DOLLARS ON PENNY JOBS

The Mary Kay Company has always taught their 1.2-million+ consultants to never waste their valuable time doing jobs that you could pay someone else less money to complete. For example, if you make $50 an hour working at the things you do best, then why spend your spare time cleaning your house when you can pay someone else $10 an hour to do it and you spend your time bonding with your family instead. Whether your boss does or does not allow you to telecommute, there are many things that you could outsource saving you time and therefore money. Elance.com is a great website that connects with independent contractors from all over the world to complete all kinds of jobs, and many of these jobs can be completed for as little as $2 (American) per hour. Why not use them to research your competition or develop a website for you instead of spending days doing it yourself? Or, why not simply use them to research business grants or college scholarships instead of struggling to find them yourself?

TIP 7 – REEVALUATE YOUR DUES

It is a good practice to look at your insurance every year. Premiums generally increase on your anniversary date. By simply “shopping around,” you may find that you can get a better rate somewhere else. If you choose to stay with the company you are with, you may be able to bargain them to a lower price by simply having their competitors’ quotes in your hand. Also, ask them what their best-discounted specials are. You may find that by adding another policy, you can actually save money. For example, State Farm Insurance offers a large discount on auto insurance when you add life insurance or homeowners insurance to your policy. Often, the discount is large enough to pay for the new policy while also giving you a discount and protecting your assets. Reconsider your networking fees, Internet fees, telephone and cell fees…anything you regularly spend money on. By shopping around, you will be able to renegotiate and cut expenses instantly.

These are just a few things to look at today. Hopefully, they will inspire you to reevaluate your spending habits and find where you can increase your cash flow. Also, check out article 2, “Keep Your Money to Yourself – Part 2: Get the Best Deal” on ways to always get the best deal on what is on your shopping list.

Keep Your Money to Yourself – Part 1: Cut Your Expenses was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Of course it isn’t a lot of money being put into the cup weekly, but over time is adds up. It has come in handy when I need to grab some lunch money, Girls Scout dues, or parking meter money as I am walking out the door. I also make it a point to occasionally collect all of the spare change in other areas of the house and roll them into coin wrappers to be deposited into my daughter’s savings account. Sometimes I just grab a handful of change and let my daughter put it in her own piggy bank. At five, she has a decent concept of saving her own money and any loose change she finds on her own, goes right into her piggy.

In the past, I have used laundry change as my spending money on a trip to the Bahamas. Saving for a year, I managed to collect over $300 dollars in spare change alone. I have an aunt that collects all of her change and uses them at Easter time as prizes in the plastic eggs that are hidden for the kids. It’s also a nice bonus for trick-or-treaters.

Spare change can also lead to a fun family adventure. Make a rule that all spare change be collected in a jar. Each month or so, count and roll the change together and based on the amount, pick a fun thing to do for a family night out. While spare change from the laundry may be irritating and seemingly miniscule, it can also be a forgotten treasure you can use with a little imagination.

Pocket Change was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Pretty soon we’ll all be looking for deductions, gathering our 1099 forms and the like and putting together our tax forms for the year and sending them off to the IRS. In addition to your social security and Medicare taxes, here’s how much income tax we’ll be paying in 2008.

Single Filers
10% on income between $0 and $8,025
15% on the income between $8,025 and $32,550; plus $802.50
25% on the income between $32,550 and $78,850; plus $4,481.25
28% on the income between $78,850 and $164,550; plus $16,056.25
33% on the income between $164,550 and $357,700; plus $40,052.25
35% on the income over $357,700; plus $103,791.70

Married Filed Jointly
10% on the income between $0 and $16,050
15% on the income between $16,050 and $65,100; plus $1,605.00
25% on the income between $65,100 and $131,450; plus $8,962.50
28% on the income between $131,450 and $200,300; plus $25,550.00
33% on the income between $200,300 and $357,700; plus $44,828.00
35% on the income over $357,700; plus $96,770.00

Married Filing Separately Filing
10% on the income between $0 and $8,025
15% on the income between $8,025 and $32,550; plus $802.50
25% on the income between $32,550 and $65,725; plus $4,481.25
28% on the income between $65,725 and $100,150; plus $12,775.00
33% on the income between $100,150 and $178,850; plus $22,414.00
35% on the income over $178,850; plus $48,385.00

Head of Household Filing Status
10% on the income between $0 and $16,050
15% on the income between $16,050 and $43,650; plus $1,145.00
25% on the income between $43,650 and $112,650; plus $5,975.00
28% on the income between $112,650 and $182,400; plus $23,225.00
33% on the income between $182,400 and $357,700; plus $42,755.00
35% on the income over $357,700; plus $100,604.00

2008 Federal Income Tax Rates was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

One million dollars seems like it’ll be a lot of money to retire on, but a million dollars simply does not buy what it used to, and when it comes time for you to retire a few decades down the road, it’ll be worth even less. This money has to last you for the rest of your life, which could easily be 25 years after you say goodbye to work for the last time. The typical life expentency for someone in the United States is around 70 to 75 years, but that statistic factors in individuals who died when they were very young. If you make it to 65, you have a very high likelihood of making it to age 85 or 90.

When it comes to planning for retirement, you have to expect that you’re going to live quite a while after you retire, potentially 25 years. You don’t want to underplan and then find yourself being 85, have no means to provide yourself an income and be flat-broke. For someone in their thirties and forties in the middle of their working lives, one million dollars simply will not be enough to retire on.

Let’s look at some numbers. The median family income in the United States is approximately $40,000 a year and most financial planners recommend that you only spend 4% of your nest-egg each year, so with the value of today’s dollar, you would need exactly $1,000,000 to retire on. Unfortunately, you’re not retiring today, so you’re going to need a lot more than that. If you’re 35 right now and plan on retiring in 30 years, you’ll need a lot more like $3.25 million to retire on to live the same type of lifestyle someone retiring with $1,000,000 would today.

This assumes that your living expenses don’t increase as you age. Most people think that their living expenses will decrease as they retire, but sometimes medical issues and additional lesiure activities such as vacations actually cause seniors to spend more than they when they were in their working lives, so potentially you could need even more than just the 25 times your income that most financial planners recommend.

The moral of the story is that you have to be very serious about planning for retirement. To live well in your golden years is not an inexpensive proposition. You need to be intentional about saving and investing so that you have plenty of money to retire on when the time comes.

Why Some Millionaires Don’t Even Have Enough For Retirement was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Textbooks

1. Buy your textbooks online, they will be cheaper in 100% of cases compared to the bookstore. If the campus bookstore doesn’t provide ISBN numbers, email your professors and they will tell you. Take the ISBN number of the book that you need and place it on BigWords.com. It’ll find you the best price out there when it comes to text books.

2. Only buy the textbooks you need. In a lot of classes, you won’t need the textbook. I recommend that you don’t buy your books until two weeks after the semester starts. If you haven’t needed to use a textbook by then, you’re not going to need the textbook for the entire semester. If you absolutely need a textbook right away, just borrow one from a friend in the class until you can order it.

3. Buy used copies, international versions, and old versions of the book. Your professor will generally require that you get the latest and greatest edition of the textbook that you have. However quite often you can get by with a version of the textbook that’s a couple of generations older, and save tons of money, often as much as 90% of the purchase price. You can also get international versions of the book which aren’t technically supposed to be on sale in the United States, but I won’t tell anyone if you don’t! Of course there’s never anything wrong with a used textbook, sometimes they come pre-highlighted too, which is another bonus!

4. Sell your old textbooks back. Most of the time bookstores will buy back books at the end of the semester, and most of the time they don’t check and make sure you actually bought the books from them. There was one semester that I bought a book for my economics class online, and sold it back to the bookstore for a higher price! If the bookstore doesn’t want your old books, place them on eBay or the Amazon Marketplace to subsidize your purchases of textbooks next semester.

Food

5. Stay away from McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s, Carl’s Jr., Subway, Chick Filet, and the like. College student’s don’t have a lot of good food available to them, and aren’t really adept at cooking in most cases, and when they want something half way decent, quite often they go out to eat. This is fine in moderation, but most college students let it get a bit out of hand. Minimize your tips out to eat and make use of that meal plan you already paid for.

6. There are lots of free pizza opportunities available. Each and every club wants to draw members in at the beginning of each semester. They usually will have welcome meetings for potential new members and offer free pizza or other food as an incentive to come. Go ahead and take the free pizza, there’s a pretty good chance it’s paid for by the university’s activity fund too!

7. Don’t let your meal plan go to waste. I’ve noticed that either students will use their meal plan up a month before the semester ends and have to buy food, or they have way too much money left over on their meal plan that gets wasted. Most food-service monopolies don’t allow you to carry your balance over semester to semester, so make the most of it. Buy a bunch of candy bars or pop if you have to, but don’t leave a big balance on your meal plan at the end of the semester!

8. Opt out of the meal plan if you can. Most of the time university food is ridiculously expensive and let’s face it, not very good. If you can get out of having a meal plan, you should. This will enable you to buy groceries for a lot less money and do some decent cooking. When you are paying for a meal plan, you’re essentially eating out for every meal, and it is that expensive. It’s not uncommon for university students to be paying $250-$300 a month to the university just for their meal plan! This could feed a family of four in groceries!

9. Be smart with your groceries. You’re going to get sick of university food sometime, but when you do, be smart with your purchases. Go buy some groceries, but only buy stuff that you know you’ll eat in the next week. Make sure to use plenty of coupons and get generic brands while you there. It’s fine to get groceries, just be sure to get stuff you’ll actually eat and get that stuff at a good price.

Alcohol

10. Don’t drink alcohol, if you don’t drink, you’ll never have to pay a penny for beer. Of course this is totally un-realistic for most college students. Honestly, I don’t drink, but the typical college student does. I asked a couple of my frequently un-sober friends for some advice to save money on drinking, and here’s a couple of tips that offered me.

11. Be cheap with your drinks. Buy the inexpensive beer such as PBR and Keystone Light. When you’re going to a bar, go to whichever one has specials that night, and if you do drink heavily, be sure to drink a bit before you go out to the bar. The stuff from the grocery store is always going to be cheaper than the bar.

12. Everyone loves free beer. If you’re in a college town, chances are there’s going to be lots of parties, and chances are there’s a few that you can go to and not have to pay for the beer. Just make up some lame excuse and bum alcohol from your friends.

Entertainment

13. Quite often universities will partner with the local movie theater and offer specials for college students. At my university, we have the option of $1.00 movie nights every now and then, which can’t be beaten! Be sure to make special use of these promotions.

14. Don’t buy movies and music. This is not an endorsement of piracy, but if you do want to watch a movie, chances are someone on your floor has a huge collection that you can borrow from. My RA last year had over 200 movies in his collection, and it was pretty much a rental store without any of the fees. If you want to listen to music, head on over to Pandora.com.

15. Make your own movie theater. Frequently we’d invade one of the hall lobby’s that featured a nice big plasma HDTV for us to watch. We’d hook up a DVD player, make some popcorn, and have our own Wednesday night movie theater with all of the fun, and none of the price.

Dating

If you’re a guy, you know that paying for dates, flowers, chocolates, cards and the like can get rather expensive. Here are a few tips to cut down on the cost of keeping your girlfriend, fiancé, or possibly wife happy.

16. Chocolate on the cheap. Women love chocolate, but they’re not too picky about what type of chocolate they get. Don’t bother getting a big fancy heart full of chocolate when a 75 cent Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar will do just fine.

17. Student Discounts on Flowers. Both of the flower-shops in town offer a 10% discount on flowers for college students, which come in quite handy. They know that you’re in college and don’t have a whole lot of money, most of the time you can get something decent for your special someone for under $20.00. And remember, Birthday’s, Anniversaries, and Valentine’s Day are a must for flowers!

18. A Dinner In. If you’ve been dating a woman a while, chances are she would find it absolutely romantic if you were to cook for her and have a candle light dinner. You’ll spend a lot less, and chances she’ll like it much more than if you just want somewhere and wrote a check.

Shopping.

19. Chances are there’ll be a lot of free samples available in the campus bookstore, or just around somewhere. Whenever they have them, grab as much as whatever they are giving out. Axe dropped some stuff on campus once, and I got over a year’s supply of deodorant for nothing!

20. Don’t buy software. There’s a major chance that your university already has site licenses for Windows, Microsoft Office, and all of the other productivity software that you need. Most of the time you can get a copy of these programs for next to or nothing from your university’s technology department.

21. If you’re a guy, you probably rarely ever worry about buying clothes. Most of the time the women in our life will buy us clothes when they think we aren’t dressing very well. If you find yourself in a situation where you absolutely need to buy clothing, go look for a consignment sale shop. You’re buying used clothes, but hey, you’re getting used prices too!

22. If you live in on campus housing, you know that paying for laundry sucks quarters right out of your pocket. When I lived in the dorms, it would cost me $1.50 to do my clothes per week, and that’s just because I mixed my whites and darks and washed it all on cold. I can only imagine what women have to do. Bring your clothes home to wash them whenever you go there, if you know anyone in town, ask to use their laundry machines, because it’ll be a lot cheaper. If you don’t know anyone, comparison shop the local Laundromats along with the university’s prices.

Everything Else.

23. Don’t pay for a gym club membership, chances are you already have one through the university. If you did pay for a gym club, statistically you wouldn’t make very good use of it anyway. Most of the time universities partner with local fitness centers and recreation centers to get their students discounted or free memberships.

24. Driving. Whenever you go home, usually you have to drive there and gas gets expensive. Try to carpool home on weekends with people from the same town as you to save on gasoline. If no one likes you or there’s no one else from your town at the university, make sure your vehicle’s in tip-top shape to avoid wasted gasoline.

25. Don’t move off campus. There is very rarely ever a situation where it will be cheaper to live off campus than on campus. Even if it looks a little bit on paper, you will find yourself eating out a lot more, spending more in gasoline, and spending more on your utility bills than you expected. Only move off campus if you have a very good reason to.

Hopefully these tips will help you save a few bucks here and there. If you have anything that I missed or would like to add to it, be sure to leave a comment with your suggestions as to how to save money in college.

25 Realistic Ways to Spend Less and Save Money in College. was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Adjust Your Monthly Services – Re-evaluate your cell-phone plan, your cable plan, and telephone plans. Make sure you use all of the services that you’re paying for, and if you’re not, downgrade your plan to something more affordable that you’ll get better use of. Many people pay for 1000 minutes a month on their cell-phone provider and never end up using any more than half of that. By sending less out each month, you’ll have more money in your pocket for other things.

Be Smart With Your Utilities – Almost all of us are paying too much for our utility bills because of inefficencies in our homes or in our usage habits. The EPA produces several publications and websites that will help you optimize your electrical, water, and natural gas usage which will end up saving you money.

Be a Smart Shopper – Whenever you go shopping, there’s almost always a cheaper way than just going into whatever seems to be the best store to go to and picking out what you want. Use coupons, compare prices, and research the products you buy thoroughly. Compare major purchases amongst several retail stores as well as retailers online to make sure you’re not paying too much.

Avoid Unnecessary Waste – Many people stop at a coffeeshop or coffeestand each morning and grab a beverage on the way to work, it’s so much cheaper to make it at home. Many of us buy namebrand clothing and foods when generic versions do the exact same thing for less money. Consider the parts of your life where you spend money on a regular basis and ask if there’s a way to do it for less money.

If you’re truly undercompensated, it’s worth it to fight for a raise, but if you just want more money in your pocket at the end of the day, it’s a lot easier to be smarter with the money you already have than to go and try to get money from your employer that you haven’t proven that you deserve.

Four Ways to Give Yourself a Raise was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Being Overly Restrictive – Most people start budgetting because they don’t have enough money, so they cut everything back to the bone. They take away all of their fun and entertainment out of the budget and have numbers written down that almost no one can live on. For the first two months that you budget, try not to dramatically change your spending habbits unless they’re out of control. Come up with reasonable approximations of what you spend on any given category each month, spend that much and nothing more. After a few months and you’ve got the hang of it, you will then have a good idea of where there’s waste and can make appropriate adjustments to how much you spend.

 Failin to Plan for Emergencies – You never know when your car is going to break down, a medical issue will come about, a job loss will occur, or you’ll find out something is wrong with your house. Everyone should have an emergency fund to pay for these types of emergencies. You should work to have at least 3 months of living expenses saved up to take care of these type of things.

Trying to Track Every Last Penny - A lot of people think they’re professional accountants and try to keep track of every last penny and where it goes each month when they start budgeting. Lets face it, it’s unrealistic to try to track every receipt and how much you spend. A great way to keep yourself in check without having to save receipts and keep track of every last purchase you make is to make use of the envelope budgetting system, in which you designate certain a amount of money for specific categories each month, such as groceries and gasoline, and then put that amount of money in those envelopes. You do your spending out of those envelopes and leave you checking account alone except to pay regular monthly bills.

Being Overly Optimistic – A lot of people want to see their budgets succeed and move them in a very positive direction. Many people are too optimistic about how much money they bring in. A person might plan for a big Christmas bonus whether or not they actually receive one or not. You’re only setting yourself up for dissapointment by creating an overly-optimistic and unrealistic budget. Be reasonable about what you expect to earn and spend each month.

Four Common Mistakes People Make When They Try to Budget For The First Time was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Health Care

An Enigmatic Conundrum (How Insurance Companies Are Trying To Get You to Take On More Risk) @ InsureBlog

Changing the way we see disability @ Workers Comp Insider

Dangers of Getting Your Health Insurance on Your Own @ Consumer’s Health Insurance Blog

Fitting Health Care Into The Budget @ Insurance Shoppers

Medicare Part D and Switching Costs @ Healthcare Economist

Investing

10 Common Investing Mistakes Or Just Personal Choices? @ The Digerati Life

Ben Stein vs. Goldman Sachs: Market-Makers, Brokers, and Trusted Advisors @ Trust Matters

Common Mutual Fund Investing Mistakes @ Bullreturns.com

Our 7 Mutual Fund Investing Mistakes! @ Fire Finance

Risk Management – Pure Risk and Speculative Risk Explained @ Personal Financier

The Fund Authority Score – A Better Mutual Fund and ETF Rating System @ The Skilled Investor Blog

Real Estate

Renter’s Insurance, Pay a Little, or Lose Everything? @ Debt Free

Rent Back House Tips To Avoid Home Loss @ FYIAbout.com

Business and Insurance

What Everybody Ought to Know About Car Insurance @ Personal Finance Strategy

Political Calculations: The Business of Bootlegging @ Political Calculations

Strategic corporate reputation @ Sox First

The Fed to the Rescue Yet Again, But at What Cost? @ The Agonist

That’s Crazy Talk! (About Debt, Savings and Emergencies) @ I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…

Cavalcade of Risk – December 18th, 2007 was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Check Your Air Filter – Having a clean air filter can improve your gas mileage by up to 10%, and studies indicate that one out of every four vehicles desperately need a new filter. Purchasing a new filter will save you the equivalent of 25 cents per gallon alone!

Properly inflate Your Tires – The NHTSA says that the average car tire is under-inflated by 7.5 lbs of air pressure, causing a loss of 3% in fuel efficiency. Making sure your tires are properly inflated will save you 7.5 cents per gallon in gasoline

Get Your Car Aligned – If your vehicle is improperly aligned, your tires will wear out more quickly and your engine will have to work harder. This can reduce your gas mileage by up to 10%, or 25 cents per gallon!

Get a Tune Up – Getting your vehicle properly tuned up can improve your gas mileage by 4% according to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration. It might not seem like much, but that’s 10 the equivalent of 10 cents per gallon if the price of gasoline is $2.50

Keep Your Foot Off The Breaks – By avoiding using your breaks, you will reduce the wear and tear on them as well as dramatically improve your fuel efficiency. If you have a “heavy foot” you could improve your fuel economy by up to 35%

Drive the Speed Limit – For every 5mph of speed that you drive on the highway, you will reduce fuel consumption by 7%. If you switch from driving 70 on the highway to 65, you’ll save 19 cents per gallon of gasoline.

A lot of people think they need to purchase a new car to get better fuel economy, but that’s just not the case. You can do a lot with the car that you already have to improve the efficiency of your engine.

How to Use 25% Less Gasoline With The Vehicle You Already Own was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

You Don’t Have a Down Payment – When purchasing a home, you should be able to put some amount of cash toward the purchase right away. This will give you a substantially better interest rate and if you make at least a 20% down payment, you will be able avoid having to pay private mortgage insurance which will easily save you $100 each month. Don’t buy a home unless you can afford at least a 10% down payment.

You Have a Tight Budget As It Is – You might be able to afford a mortgage payment, but just barely. If this is the case, you should probably wait to buy a home. If the slightest emergency happens, you’ll find yourself behind on your house payment and facing foreclosure. Give yourself plenty of wiggle room and have a nice emergency fund built up as well to take care of any hiccups that come along the way.

You Can’t Get a Decent Loan – If the only mortgage that you can get is an interest only, adjustable rate, or other sub-prime loan, you should wait and work to improve your credit until you are bankable for a traditional mortgage. You might also check into seeing whether or not you can be manually underwritten for a mortgage to get a traditional mortgage if you do not qualify for a loan based on your credit score.

You Don’t Have a Real Need – If you’re a single person and don’t have a lot of stuff, you probably don’t have a lot of need for a home right now. It’s sometimes a lot for one person to handle when you consider the utility bills, the cable bill, the mortgage, the up-keep and regular maintenance. If you don’t have an itching desire to purchase a home, it might be a better option just to live in a nice apartment.

 You’re Moving in Less Than Five Years – If you plan on moving anytime in the next few years, you probably shouldn’t be buying a home. When you consider all of the closing costs and fees associated with purchasing a home up front, it probably just makes sense to rent a home for the next few years instead of buying one and then trying to sell it.

Purchasing a home can be a great blessing if you purchase it at a time when you can actually afford it and have a legitimate need for a home, but it can also be a great curse if you buy one when you don’t realistically have the money to pay for it!

Five Signs That You Shouldn’t Be Buying a House was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

To help alleviate this problem, the idea of a wedding registry was created. The bride and groom can come up with a list of items they would enjoy having and then attendees can designate that they will be purchasing an item for the couple and then everyone else will know not to buy that gift. It was a really innovative idea, but it has some drawbacks. A lot of couples already have all of the towels, kitchen utensils, and traditional things that are given as wedding gifts. A new website, WedCred.com, offers a solution to couples in this situation.

WedCred.com is a new type of gift registry that allows wedding attendees to pool their money and purchase a larger gift for a couple than any one person could afford. Couples setup their wedding registry on WebCred.com and specify the items they hope to purchase. Their guests can then go to the site, look at the larger gifts the couple hopes to purchase, and then give a gift to help pay for whatever it is the couple is looking to buy.

Couples can use the money for all sorts of things, such as the down-payment on a house, purchasing a new car, or perhaps maybe a large flat-screen television. This way there are not a bunch of redundant small gifts the couple likely already has and they can get something they surely want.

WedCred.com makes their money by taking a small percentage of any donation amount that is given through their website. WedCred.com will take a transaction fee of 3.5% the amount of money that is given as a gift. This helps pay for credit card processing fees and to keep the site alive.

The idea of a monetary gift registry gives couples a lot more options when it comes to their wedding. Instead of receiving a large amount of house-warming gifts, many of which they probably don’t really need, they can use the money to help them achieve a financial goal, such as purchasing a new vehicle or paying off a student loan.

Get Better Wedding Gifts with WedCred.com was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

When it comes to flooding, your standard homeowner’s insurance policy will likely not cover any damages. A specific flood insurance policy will cover things like damages tom major appliances including your furnace, air conditioner, water heater, and the like. It will also cover any structural damage that was done to your home, cleanup of debris, and damages to your flooring. Some policies will cover the loss of your personal possessions and some will not, so make sure you find one that will cover your belongings in the event of a flood.

How do you know if you need flood insurance? FEMA has done the statistics and identified whether or home is likely to flood and your mortgage company will use that information to determine if you should be required to have flood insurance. They identify areas that are very likely to flood as “Special Flood Hazard Areas.” If an area has a 1% chance or higher risk of flooding a year, it’s designated as high risk. You will want to buy flood insurance if you live in these areas even if your mortgage company does not require it.

Your mortgage company will likely be able to tell you whether or not you live in one of these zones. Alternatively, FEMA offers a service that will allow to search your address online any they will tell you whether or not you live in a high-risk flooding area. You can find that website at http://www.floodsmart.gov/

Another type of insurance might just seem like another bill to pay each month, but it is well worth it. A major flood can be financially and emotionally devastating; it’s just not worth taking the risk.

Don’t Be Up a Creek Without A Paddle. Buy Flood Insurance. was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

A Lesson Learned – As you put in all of that extra effort in budgeting, spending less, and working more, you’re going to really feel the true financial and emotional cost of borrowing money. It’s really easy to get into debt because there’s no cost up front and everything’s paid through the back end. By working hard and paying off your debt, you’ll be much less quick to jump back into it.

Cash Flow – Instead of writing huge checks to banks, credit card companies and mortgage lenders each month, you’ll actually have control of your money. You’ll be able to decide where you want it to go rather than having your financial obligations deciding where it goes for you.

Decreased Risk – By paying off all of your debts, you’ve significantly decreased the amount of financial risk you have in your life. You won’t have any monthly payments, so if you lost your job, the world won’t come tumbling down. You could probably squeak by with a service job until something better comes along.

Lower Stress Levels – When you’re in a significant amount of debt, it has a tendency to affect you in your inner-most being. We as Americans spend a lot of time worrying about our financial situations and it adds a significant amount of stress to our lives.

More Free Time – After removing debt from your life, you’ll spend a lot less time worrying about money, paying bills, and pouring over the budget to make it all work out. If one of the family members is working an extra part-time job to help pay the bills, after you get out of debt, there would be the freedom to not have to do that anymore as well.

Freedom To Do What You Want – By getting out of debt, you’ll no longer be an indentured servant to your banks and your creditors. If you want to get up and move to another part of the country or the world, you’ll be able to do it! If you want to take a lower salary somewhere else because it’s what you would love to do with life, you can do it! When you’re out of debt, you have so many more options than you did before. You can make decisions without having to question if you’ll still be able to pay your bills, and that my friend, is true freedom.

Financial Freedom: 7 Benefits of Getting Out of Debt was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

This is true for all sorts of professional services, especially financial advisors. There are a lot of good people out there that can help you with your money, but there just as many out there that will actually put you in a worse financial situation than you are now! There are actually two types of financial advisors, and one of them you should avoid like the plague.

The first type of financial advisors is commissioned sales people. For every financial product they sell to a client, they receive a commission. Since the amount of commission they receive varies from product to product, they have a clear financial motive to sell you the financial products that will make them the most money, not what’s best for your pocketbook. This is not to say that all commissioned financial advisors feel they obligation to do what’s in your financial best interest, but there’s a clear conflict of interest.

Commissioned financial advisors and financial planners are why so many people get stuck in bad financial products such as whole-life and other cash value life insurance plans. The numbers are appalling yet thousands of people buy into them each year. Did you know that you can get the same amount of coverage in traditional term insurance for about 7% of what you would pay for the equivalent insurance in cash value life insurance? It’s true!

The other type of financial advisors are fee-only, meaning that you pay them a fee for their information and they make no money by selling you any sort of financial products, whether it be investments, insurance, or anything else. When you’re dealing with fee-only financial advisors you know that the person you’re dealing with doesn’t have that conflict of interest and have no reason to give you bad advice.

Even when you do choose a fee-only financial advisor, make sure that you choose someone who is well qualified to give you financial advice. If you choose someone who’s under-qualified and they give you a bad piece of advice on something such as taxes, you could be out thousands of dollars! Before you meet with a financial advisor, ask about their training, education, and even for a couple of references. You want to make sure you’re dealing with someone who’s well qualified and knows what they’re doing!

The use of credit cards is now increasing at such a rate that they have now taken over from cash as the preferred payment option by consumers. Many analysts believe this to be one of the main reasons why debt has became a serious problem, however, it cannot be ignored that credit cards offer consumers a valuable service especially when you consider the types of credit cards that offer 0% balance transfers, 0% on purchases and cash back credit cards.

Why Going to a Financial Advisor Might be Financially Disastrous was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Check and Correct Errors on Your Credit Report – Most studies show that 1 out of every 3 Americans have mistakes on their credit reports that are significant enough to cause us to not qualify for the best interest rates available to us. Head on over to AnnualCreditReport.com and check your three credit reports for free to make sure everything on them is accurate and correct! If there are any errors, dispute them and get them corrected.

Reduce Your Consumer Debt – If you have credit cards or other consumer debt, pay down on them! This will lower your debt utilization ratio and improve your overall credit score.

Don’t Open New Accounts – Six months before you apply for a mortgage, don’t sign up for any new credit cards or other accounts. Credit inquiries and opening new accounts will lower your credit score by anywhere from 10 to 50 points.

Pay Your Bills On Time – It seems simple, yet many people don’t keep good track of their finances and make a payment late every once and a while. Even a few late payments will significantly lower your credit score and prevent you from qualifying for an optimal mortgage. Make sure to pay each payment early or on time each and every month!

Don’t Close Paid Off Accounts – A common misconception about credit scores is that if you pay off an account and close it, your credit score will go up. People think that if they have large credit lines with no balance that the bank will think they could potentially just go out and borrow a bunch of money and be in a much worse situation. It would make sense that having a bunch of credit available to you would damage your score, but quite the opposite is true. If you have a large amount of credit available to you, but don’t use it, you will have a much lower debt utilization ratio and have a higher score.

Don’t think that you’re stuck with whatever mobile home loans the bank will offer you now. Take active steps to improve your credit score so that you can get a better loan from the bank.

Looking to Buy a Home? 5 Tips to Improve Your Credit Score to Get a Better Mortgage was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

We need to keep a good balance of risk and reward in our investments in order to ensure that we are earning a decent interest rate, but not take on too much risk. In order to determine how much risk you can take on with your investment, you first have to ask yourself what this money is for.

Is it for short term savings that you might need to use in the near future? Is it for emergencies only in case you lose your job or there’s a medical problem? Is this money for a savings goal that is under five years, say maybe a down-payment for a mortgage on a house? If this is the case, you want to avoid taking on any significant amount of risk. You don’t have the luxury of waiting for your investment to recover if it drops in value for the short term, so you want to be sure that the money’s there. You should put this money in a high-yield savings account at a place such as Emigrant Direct, ING Direct or HSBC Direct. You’ll earn around 4% to 5% APY on your money, and it will be 100% FDIC insured.

If the money that you have to invest is for retirement, or for long term wealth building, it’s okay to take on some more risk. You’re investing for the long hall, at least 5 years and probably a lot closer to 20 or 30 years down the road. If your investment goes down in the short term, it’s not a big deal because you won’t need that money for a few decades. If this is the case, you should not feel hesitant about investing money into quality mutual funds or rental real estate (if you really want to become a landlord).

Before you invest money any where that’s not federally guaranteed, you really need to do your homework. Make sure that you understand the investment and why it will make money. You also want to make sure that the investment has made money in the past and has a proven track record. Don’t put your money into any security lightly! It’s definitely worth contacting a fee-only financial advisor to help you choose your investments if you are not extremely comfortable with investing and business.

Why a Higher Interest Rate Isn’t Always Better When Investing was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Since Social Security’s future is rather shaky and we simply cannot depend on receiving our full benefit, we have to supplement that money by saving for retirement on our own. Fortunately because of the power of compound interest, we can put a small amount of money away each month and over time that money will grow and snowball to be a significant chunk of change by retirement.

For example, if you were 25 and invested $100 a month into a decent mutual fund, you would have a pile of $500,000 by the time you retired. That would be plenty of money to supplement your Social Security income and allow you to avoid an impoverished retirement. If you save any more than that, you could even improve your lifestyle when you retire.

When you are doing your retirement planning, you should put your money inside of your company’s 401K plan if they offer any sort of match or into a Roth IRA. Either of these vehicles will allow for growth without having to pay taxes on your earnings every single year. If you’re not terribly familiar with the issue of finance, it’s definitely worthwhile to sit down with a fee-only financial advisor and have them look at the options you have for retirement. They will be able to help you come up with a plan that will allow you to retire quite comfortably by doing some simple planning ahead.

Social Security Bankrupt by 2042, Plan Your Own Retirement. was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

With a total of 8 Democratic candidates, 8 Republican candidates, and a number of independent candidates running for president, it’s a hard choice to figure out which individual (if any) should get your support. Perhaps the best way to decide whom to endorse is by examining all of the candidate’s proposed policies and seeing which of the presidential candidate’s plans will be the best for you and your individual financial situation. So, which candidate would be best for you in the 2008 race?

You’re welcome to accuse me of being one of Ron Paul’s “irrelevant internet supporters” but his policies will unequivocally put the most money back in your pocket. First of all, Paul wants to make participation in Social Security voluntary. This means you would get the 12.4% of your income that the government takes from you to pay for Social Security Back. If you make $40,000 a year, you just earned a $5,000 raise each year! With $5,000 you can easily pay for the disability coverage that Social Security Provides and have a retirement plan that will yield you much more money than Social Security would.

Paul also hopes to eliminate the Internal Revenue Service once and for all and substantially reduce the size of the federal government. This would essentially put the 10%, 15%, 25%, or 33% that you pay in Federal income taxes and put it back in your pocket. That’s another instant raise right there. You could then use that money in whatever manner you wanted and would not have to subsidize all of the ‘services’ that the government offers, the vast majority of which you do not use or benefit from. Most of the services, such as roads, hospitals, and schools that we actually do use are funded by state and local governments, not the Federal government.

Finally since Ron Paul wants to significantly reduce the size and scope of government, the economy would blossom. Without all sorts of meddling from the federal government, small businesses and companies could flourish like never before. Each business would decide what the best practices for running their business model are and not have the government’s cookie-cutter standards enforced upon them. There would be all sorts of added competition in the business world to provide you the best deal for your money. Prices would certainly go down, and you would have a lot more money in your wallet at the end of the day.

With the Paul Presidency, you would get all of your Social Security money back, your income taxes back, and a lot more competition in the business world which would lower prices. All of the other candidates have proposals to spend more tax money that the government just doesn’t have, but not Ron Paul.

Editorial: Which Presidential Candidate Would Put the Most Money Back in Your Wallet? was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

So you have the call letter for a job interview in your mail. Get going and do your homework done immediately. Find out all about the company, the job you applied for, the competitors, the products and all other relevant information by browsing the Internet, company literature, the annual report. Get the facts in your application right. If you perceive a weak area be prepared with convincing answers – if you spend enough time on it, you will find some. There is no reason why you should not be able to answer any question about you if you are prepared.

While preparing for the interview, get your perspective right. Pitch in hard for the job by showing your best side. By showing a good learning attitude and displaying qualities such as team spirit, ability to communicate well, ability to take upon responsibility and to think independently, you will make a positive impression on employers.

All your preparation for the job interview will pay because the interviewer will instantly know how serious you are about the job. One thing about preparation is that it shows in small ways. It is as simple as a layman who can make out the difference between a performing artist on the stage who has prepared and one who has not.

Once you have packed your soft skills well it is time for you to make the best physical impression. Dress well in clothes and colors that suit you (in conservative shades). Some clothes make you feel more confident than the others, so get those clothes out. Dress like a thorough professional in business clothes. Get your hair, beard, fingernails etc done. Use colognes or perfumes that are subtle and not too loud. Check your papers and leave for your interview early to avoid any unforeseen traffic delays etc. Land up at the venue early, relax and enjoy the process.

Be prepared to answer all the regular questions that interviewers ask such as why you want the job, something about yourself, how you fared in your last job, your strengths and weaknesses, why you think you are good fro this job, how you would be contributing to the job, why you want to work for the company, what you know about the company and the industry, whether you will be willing to travel, what is the salary you expect etc. Similarly be ready with your own set of questions about the organization. You may want to know your growth prospects, the hierarchy, job responsibilities, company’s future plans, company’s expectations from your job, training and other such questions.

Do not forget to ask about when they will decide on your interview results. Practice all the questions in front of a mirror or have someone ask you the questions while you answer.

Prepare your entry into the room as well. Walk in confidently but without being brash or overly aggressive. Smile, wish everybody, shake hands firmly and warmly. Speak clearly. Look at the entire interview panel in the eyes. Sit straight, be relaxed (not too loose and not too stiff). Keep your legs together (don’t shake them nervously), bend slightly forward (show receptivity, no slouching), use your hands if you wish to be more expressive etc. Do not say negative things, do not lie or fib (its simpler to say that you don’t know the answer), do not speak too fast or unclearly, do not drop names, make excuses, speak badly of ex-employers etc. Please switch off your mobile phones, do not smoke, do not be aggressive. Or shy.

Concentrate on what the interviewers are saying, ask them to repeat themselves politely if you have not understood the question, smile and be relaxed and confident. At the end of the interview thank the interviewers for their time and ask them the next step in the hiring process. Shake hands firmly, smile and make eye contact with everyone.

Follow up the interview with thank you letters to the interviewers and a call at the appropriate time to know the decision regarding your interview. But with all this preparation, there is a good chance that you would have bagged the job already.

Have a Job Interview Coming Up? Here’s How to Not Screw It Up. was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Your name and contact address on top of the page along with your contact details, phone numbers. e-mail ids etc. followed by the date of writing the letter. Below the date, print the name of the person to whom the letter is addressed. A word here. Find out the correct name of the person who is reading the letter and you will serve your cause well. Make sure that you have the name and the designation right (no spelling mistakes) because the slightest oversight here could make a big difference. People are very sensitive about their names and designations. A bit of research (such as calling the company to confirm the details) will do. Address the person formally with a Mr. Or a Ms or whatever is appropriate – do not ignore any Dr. or Professor wherever required.

Having thus put the employer in a pleasant state of mind, your letter must now proceed to make a real impression. Form letters will make no impressions on anyone, so customize your cover letter for each job. Keep the content of the cover letter simple and professional in tone and about half a page in length (stretching to a maximum of one page). Briefly mention the job you have applied for in the first paragraph and the source from where you have heard of the opening.

In the second paragraph briefly highlight the qualities that make you the best candidate for the job. Think creatively and write persuasively and crisply. Put yourself in the employer’s shoes and present yourself in a manner that would attract his attention. One way is to mention how you could add to the organization’s bottom line. Be careful not to repeat what is in the resume. Merely use a line or two to say why you are the best person for the job. A phrase that gives them the idea that you have done your homework about the company would leave them in a favorable state of mind as well.

It is important that you leave your personal mark so write it in your own words because that adds a touch of authenticity to it and makes it stand out from a lot of form letters. Having put together a neat letter make sure that there are no grammatical errors or spelling mistakes. Check and recheck and get it proof read by a third person.

Add the most important bit i.e. closing the transaction by requesting time for an interview and mentioning the time when you would follow up. And having done that, please do follow up. Mention the enclosures after your signature.

How to Write a Cover Letter That Doesn’t Suck was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

The reason most people don’t give other people cash and rather give them gift cards is because they want the person receiving the gift card to use the money on themselves as something special, and not just let those funds disappear into their regular spending money. If you want to give them money to explicitly spend on themselves for fun, then do it, but don’t do it in the form of a gift card. Get creative about it. Attach a letter telling them why gift cards are terrible, terrible things and tell them to spend the money on themselves and request a report on how much fun they had spending it. It might not be the best gift idea in the world, but it sure is better handing out a gift card!

When you buy someone a gift card, you are sending them a message that you know how to manage their money better than they are, and should be able to decide which store they spend the money you give them at. It might surprise you, but not every goes to the same restaurants and retailers that you do. In fact, gift cards are never even used. That doesn’t even count the gift cards that are used but only half the balance ever gets eaten up and then it just sits in a drawer somewhere while the balance slowly declines over-time thanks to inactivity fees which are completely junk fees. Chances are they’ll be hit with all sorts of other fees which are designed to suck money off the balance of the card.

There’s only one time when it makes sense to use a gift card, and that’s when you’re given a discount on it. Since a lot of people realized that gift cards are total junk, many restaurants have been offering gift-cards at a discounted rate. You might be able to get a $25 gift-card for just $20.00. In this case it makes sense to get a gift-card if you know that you’re going to make use of it. It’s essentially free money, but that’s the only time it makes sense to ever purchase a gift-card, otherwise you’re just putting un-needed restrictions on your money!

Gift Cards are the Worst Possible Present to Buy Someone This Christmas was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Business Week recently ran a story entitled “Prisoners of Debt” in which they reported that a group of banks, collection agencies and even credit bureaus were working together to undermine bankruptcy law. They found that Capital One, Bank of America, Chase, and Discover were all ignoring existing bankruptcy laws, whether by accident or on purpose, and selling debts illegally to collection agencies so that the collection agencies could go after you and try to collect the bankrupted debt. There was recently a court case in which a Chase lawyer testified to a judge that bankrupted debts are sold all the time in the industry.

The article in Business Week stated that the banks public relations arms said that these actions were an “unintentional mistake,” but let’s look at the facts. Multiple banks have neglected to wipe out people’s debt when they file for bankruptcy and then sell the debt off to a collection agency so they can collect the money. The credit bureaus then help by listing debts on your credit reports, even though they are not valid. There’s a clear financial gain for banks and debts and collectors to flaunt the law like this and since there’s been a clear pattern across a number of different companies with a large number of consumers who have filed bankruptcy, it’s very difficult for these banks to pass off these actions as an “unintentional mistake.”

If you’ve found yourself the victim of banks and debt collectors who are trying to collect bankrupted debts, contact the banks y phone and in writing and try to get them to update the status of your debts which are legally expired. If that fails, your best bet is to go back to the bankruptcy court where you filed and present the matter before the judge.

Bank of America, Capital One, Chase and Discover Caught Actively Working to Undermine Bankruptcy Laws. was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

You Spend Less – Dunn and Bradstreet did a study a while back showing that the average purchase size on a credit card was over 10% more than the average cash purchase size. That number went up higher in some retail establishments just as fast food restaurants. Whatever the reason, when we pay cash, we end up spending less.

No Finance Charges – A lot of people use their credit cards to pay for small impulsive purchases, and over-time these add up into a big pile of credit card debt if you don’t pay on them every month. If you aren’t under some 0% APY introductory rate and just pay the minimum payments, you could easily pay for your purchase two or three times because of the finance charges that you’ll have.

No Overdraft Fees – It can be very difficult to keep track of one’s checking account with all sorts of bills that come each month, checks you forgot you wrote, and automatic drafts that come out each month. If you don’t keep a good padding of cash in there, it’s very easy to lose track of how much money you have in there and be spending money you don’t technically have. Once $20 overdraft fees start coming in left and right, it begins to hurt!

No Going Over Budget – The cool thing about paying with cash is that you can never accidentally pay too much. At the beginning of the month you can take out exactly how much you plan on spending for that month and nothing more. If you don’t carry your credit and debit cards around with you, you can never spend more than you had hoped to at the beginning of the month.

Get a Deal – If you pay for larger ticket items with cash, you can often get a great deal by paying for cash on the spot. There’s something powerful about cash when it comes to negotiation and it will be very hard for a sales person let you walk out the door when you have hundred dollar bills in your hand.

Five Reasons to Always Pay with Cash (And Throw Your Credit Cards Away) was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

The average family in the United States will spend around $850.00 on Christmas presents this year for friends, family and coworkers. That’s a huge number considering the fact that most people have very little money put away in savings, practically nothing for retirement, and lots of debts to be spoken of. The cash just isn’t there to pay for Christmas presents, so they charge them to their credit card and figure that they can take care of them at a later date, but how much are these presents really costing them?

Let’s say that you ended up spending $1,000 on Christmas presents this year and put it on a credit card with a 15.00% APR. The minimum payments you would probably expect to pay would be around $20.00 a month. Assuming you charged absolutely nothing on the card ever again, it would still take you 6 and ½ years to pay the debt off! You would also be paying an extra $579.00 in interest! Getting 10% or 15% off on a Black Friday deal doesn’t sound nearly as good when you’re paying a 58% fee to pay for your Christmas presents at a later date.

But what if you’re a “savvy” consumer and pay extra on your minimum balance? Is it okay to pay for your Christmas presents on your credit card then? Let’s take a look at the same example, but this time you are going to pay twice the minimum payment each month. It’s still going to take you two and a half years to pay for Christmas, and you’re going to pay $206.00 extra just to pay for your Christmas presents after the fact. Do you really want to be sitting 2.5 years down the road paying for your Christmas presents? How would you still like to be paying for your 2005 Christmas presents?

Fortunately there’s a better way to pay for your Christmas presents. Christmas comes in December each year, so it’s very easy to plan for. Decide how much money you want to spend on Christmas each year and divide that number by 12. Open up a separate savings account at your bank and have 1/12th of how much money you would like to spend on Christmas transferred each month to that. When Black Friday comes around each year, you can take that money out and spend it on Christmas presents. This way there’s no credit card debt to take care of after the Christmas season.

Why the Black Friday Deals You Scored Might Not Be Deals At All was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Raise Your Deductible – The premium that you pay is inversely proportional to the size of deductible that you have. If you have a higher deductible, you’ll pay a lower rate. Usually you’ll want to go with a higher rate because insurance companies tend to cancel you if you make a lot of small claims. Get a high-deductible and use the savings to pay for the little things that come up here and there.

Compare Prices Between Companies – It’s worth your time to go sit down with an independent insurance agent. They will be able to look through dozens of different insurance companies at once and be able to tell you which company will be able to provide you the best deal on your homeowner’s insurance. You will want to read a review of the company before signing on, because the quality of service each company offers can vary dramatically.

Quit Smoking – A very common cause of house fires is a lit cigarette. It might fall out of the person’s mouth if they fall asleep, or if they throw it into a trash can full of flammable materials. Often your insurer will give you a discount for quitting smoking!

Get a Security System – Installing a home security system will statistically decrease the likelihood that your home will be robbed. Since your premium is directly associated with the amount of risk you represent to the insurance company, you can almost always get a lower rate when you decrease the risk to insure you by installing a home security system.

Raise Your Credit Score – Insurance companies use your credit score as part of the calculation which determines how much your premium should be. If you have a higher credit score, you statistically represent less risk to them and will likely be able to save some money on your premium.

Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms – Getting smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors (if you use natural gas), are a great way to give your family and early warning sign if there’s a fire or a gas leak. Many companies will lower your rate if you have a good amount of detectors in your home.

Homeowner’s insurance is certainly not the most exciting topic of discussion, but who doesn’t want to save a few dollars each month? Follow these tips and you’ll be able to cut back significantly on the check you write to your insurance company each month.

Cash In: How to Lower the Cost of Homeowner’s Insurance 6 Different Ways was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Federal Law permits anyone making under $114,000 (or $166,000 a year if you’re married) a year to invest a certain amount of money into a special type of investment account known as a Roth IRA. You will never have to pay a dime in capital gains or dividend taxes on the money you put inside of your Roth IRA, meaning that it will be able to grow much faster than if you were to put it into a taxable account. For 2007, you will be able to invest up to $4,000 into your Roth IRA and in 2008 you’ll be able to invest up to $5,000. After that the amount you can invest will increase in $500 increments every year.

Most financial advisor will recommend that you put at least 15% of your income away for retirement, and if you make more than $26,500 a year, you’re going to want to put in more money than your Roth IRA will allow. At this point, the number of tax beneficial options you have really start to dwindle, but there are still some things you can do.

If you have any sort of small business or self employed plans, you can invest inside a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) plan or a Solo 401(k). You can deposit up to 20% of your business’s revenues or a maximum of $45,000 a year into a SEP plan. With a solo 401(k) plan, you’ll be able to deposit $15,500. It’s probably worth while to sit down with a fee-only financial planner to help you get started with either of these two options.

If you don’t have any self employment income and have already maxed out your Roth IRA, you can start looking at what are called tax-managed mutual funds. They’re essentially mutual funds which invest into bonds and the stock market and are designed to minimize the amount of taxes you have to pay. You’ll essentially pay zero tax until you decide to sell your investments then will have to pay the 15% capital gains tax on the amount of money that your investment earns for you. It’s not a great a deal as putting your money inside a retirement plan, but it’s better than paying taxes every year on your investments.

Just because you don’t have a 401(k) plan at work doesn’t mean that you can’t prepare for retirement, there are plenty of options to help you put money away on a tax-advantageous basis.

How to Plan for Retirement If You Don’t Get a 401(k) or a 403(b) at Work. was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Have you ever considered why you chose the bank that you bank at? Was it because your parent’s bank there, it’s close to your house, or that it was the first place you stopped at? Most of us end up banking at large mega-banks with billions of dollars in assets, even though these types of banks offer some of the worst deals out there when it comes to savings and investments.

These major mega-banks are not terribly concerned that average Americans with average incomes become their customers, rather they put their emphasis on scoring big accounts because those are much more profitable to hold. Many of them don’t put much of an effort in the products they create or the marketing that they do for the average customer.

Many of these banks have very lousy products for the average consumer, especially when it comes to savings accounts. Wells Fargo is offering a meager 0.1% on their standard goal savings. Bank of America is offering a 0.2% interest rate on their regular savings and Wachovia is offering 0.15% on their “Premium” savings.

Most of these banks have very lousy checking accounts as well. You might get a free checking account with the first set of checks for free, but that’s about it. No ATM refunds to speak of, no free checks later on, and if you want to just about anything out of the normal, you’re going to end up paying a fee to make it happen.

There are so many better options when it comes to your checking and savings accounts, especially when you shop for them online. There are a number of banks, such as HSBC Direct, ING Direct, Emigrant Direct, IGO Banking and E-Loan that are offering high-yield savings accounts to their internet customers offering rates anywhere between 4.0% and 5.25% APY. AmTrust Direct is currently offering a savings rate of 5.26% APY, that’s 53 times more than Wells Fargo will give you with their basic savings!

When it comes to checking accounts, you probably won’t earn a dime in interest from any major bank, but when you go online you can easily get from 3% to 4% APY on the money that’s sitting in your checking account. Some of the accounts available will even refund any ATM fees that you incur!

Major mega-banks have been giving their regular customers a raw deal for far too long, if you still keep your money at one of these banks offering you an abysmal savings rate, it’s time to move your money.

Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Wachovia and Other Major Banks are Ripping You Off. was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Because of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, Americans have the right to obtain their C.L.U.E reports every year just as they can with their credit reports. ChoicePoint has setup a website called www.ChoiceTrust.com which will enable you to check out your personal home, personal auto and personal health insurance on a yearly basis. You’ll have to fill out a few simple forms and provide your Social Security number, and then they’ll provide you those reports for free.

Once you get your report, you’ll see a listing of all of the claims you’ve had on your various insurances in the last five years. These will be things such as stays in the hospital, car accident claims, home-owner’s insurance claims and the like. You should carefully look at each of your reports to make sure that there isn’t anything that was accidentally put on your report that isn’t yours, or that something of yours wasn’t reported properly.

If you find a mistake on your C.L.U.E report, you can contact ChoicePoint at 866-718-7864 and report the item as inaccurate. ChoicePoint will take your complaint, try to verify the information with the insurance company or other organization that reported it, and then get back to you within 30 days of what they found out.

It’s very important to make sure that your C.L.U.E report is accurate, if there are claims on there that aren’t yours, you could look a lot less beneficial to potential insurers, meaning that you might get turned down for health insurance, automobile insurance, homeowner’s insurance, or life insurance.

You check your credit report, but what about your C.L.U.E report? was created by and is property of American Consumer News.