Europe’s Financial Crisis Leads to Suicide Surge
The harsh spending cuts introduced by European governments to tackle their crippling debt problems have not only pitched the region into recession — they are also being partly blamed for outbreaks of diseases not normally seen in Europe and a spike in suicides according to the AP.
The report goes on to say that the “worsening health was driven not just by unemployment, but by the lack of a social welfare system to fall back on. People need to have hope that the government will help them through this difficult time”.
I think that it is “nice” to have public assistance programs available for the truly needy. There is however something inherently wrong with these social programs. I believe these programs promote government dependency.
A growing dependency of government is what got us into so many of our problems, and what is our own government doing? They are promoting that very dependency. Instead of raising people up, we are keeping them down. We are creating a generational dependency on social programs.
According to the 2012 Index of Dependence on Government more people than ever before—67.3 million Americans, from college students to retirees to welfare beneficiaries—depend on the federal government for housing, food, income, student aid, or other assistance.
Once considered to be the responsibility of individuals, families, neighborhoods, churches, and other civil society institutions, Americans are looking to the government to take care of them.
The ethic of self-reliance joined with a promise to the brotherly care of those in need appears threatened, well nearly absent in today’s society. There was a time, before all of the social programs, when people took care of each other. If you were having trouble the first thing you did was —anything you could — to get back on your feet.
There was no sitting around waiting for the government to come to the rescue. Your church, or family or friends helped out, and you helped others when they were in need. We took care of ourselves without a dependency on the government.
Our social programs including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are unsustainable in their current form.
Over the next 25 years, more than 77 million baby boomers will begin collecting Social Security checks, drawing Medicare benefits, and relying on long-term care under Medicaid. There will be no event so financially challenging to these programs over the next two decades than this shift of boomers into retirement.
More than 70% of Federal spending goes to dependency programs.
With so many Americans on or soon to be on the government dole and nearly half of all Americans not paying income taxes, there is no way we can pay for all of this and our spending will spiral out of control (it’s almost there now). With an increase in recipients and a decrease in the number of workers left paying for these programs, we will soon reach our fiscal tipping point much as other countries have already, and this will put us in a certain domestic debt crisis of our own.
In doing research for this article I have found no evidence that Americans are suffering a rise in medical ailments and suicides. But we have not quite reached the same crippling financial problems as our friends across the pond.
…but trust me when I tell you, it’s coming.
H&R Block Snafu Delays Refunds
…mandatory field on tax form left blank
Marketwatch.com — H&R Block, the nation’s largest tax preparer, confirmed that its software failed to fill out a mandatory field on Form 8863, which is used to claim educational credits. The IRS would not say what percentage of the roughly 600,000 faulty returns came from H&R Block (US: HRB), but the company received thousands of complaints on its Facebook page and on Twitter.
I have to tell you, I would be pretty mad if this had happened to us. My wife and I used TurboTax to prepare and file our tax return; we have for the last 5 years or so, and have never had a problem. I used H&R Block when I was younger and all I remember was an expensive “loan” in order to get my return immediately. I thought the days of those short term refund loans were over but they are not. Now there is what is called a RAC / RAL or Refund Anticipation Check / Loan.
RALs are those short-term loans usually at outrageous interest rates, for the amount of an expected refund. Tax prep fees are usually deducted from your return amount also. A “good” RAL might have an APR of 40%; a bad one can end up costing 10 times that much.
When combined with other the cost of the RAL can approach loan-shark levels.
Thankfully, this might the last year people need to be warned about RALs. That’s because the RAL industry is getting squeezed by federal regulators, who are cutting off bank funding to the biggest RAL lenders, and by the Internal Revenue Service, who is making it easier to get refunds quickly and without crazy fees.
You know, what’s really problematic is the fact that you have to pay H&R Block something like $150 for 30-40 min of time with their “tax consultant”. If I’m paying for an “expert” to prepare my taxes, I would expect there to be no errors. I realize the “tax consultant” is a human, prone to making mistakes, but this goes farther than the individual tax preparers, the fault falls on H&R Block for failing to stay up-to-date with the IRS and failing to properly train their “tax consultants”.
H&R Block explained that a form had changed, Form 8863 relating to student tax credits, and that in previous years, five lines on the form could be left blank for a “no” answer. Starting this year, preparers must enter an “N” in those fields or risk a delay.
H&R Block said it learned about the tax form change after it had submitted hundreds of thousands of tax returns. The IRS said it was aware of the problem and it is continuing to review the situation and work with “affected software companies to assist in the processing of those tax returns.”
You know, I was always instructed when filling out any form, to never leave a “blank”. If it’s a “no” answer, mark it “no”. If something doesn’t apply, use “n/a”. You would think that H&R Block’s highly trained tax preparers would follow this thinking just from common sense, especially if you are dealing with the Government.
I feel sorry for Mr. & Mrs. John Q. Public who filed their tax return and is expecting their refund only to find out it’s going to take at least 21 days for the IRS to figure everything out and issue the refund.
Now, my good friend TurboTax is not exempt from errors either. Last week, the Minnesota Department of Revenue warned taxpayers against using TurboTax to file their state income taxes, finding 10,000 returns had problems. In a terse statement, the Minnesota Department of Revenue said it would stop processing tax returns filed through Intuit (the company that operates TurboTax) if the problem is not fixed.
Well, I don’t live in Minnesota so it doesn’t affect me but if I did, I wouldn’t be as upset with TurboTax since I know full well that I am filing my return on my own with the help of a computer program. There’s not a $300 an hour “Tax Consultant” using their knowledge and expertise to make sure my return is done correctly.
If you want to insure your taxes get prepared correctly, seek out an Accountant or Bookkeeper certified to prepare tax returns.
… Often times you get what you pay for.
Little Known Database That Helps Debt Collectors Call You at Work
…The Surprising Way Debt Collectors Know Where You Work
BusinessInsider.com — It is “perhaps one of the most powerful and private databases of American’s personal information ever created, containing 190 million employment and salary records, covering more than one-third of US adults.”
So there is this site called The Work Number and basically what they do is employment verifications for employers. That sounds OK right? Well, it is. It keeps companies from having to spend time verifying employment, they just outsource the job. One catch however, is that the company is required to provide The Work Number with weekly salary and employment information. So to make this requirement easy to handle, most companies provide The Work Number with access to their HR database directly.
What this means is that The Work Number has the work and salary history of millions of Americans. You might think that this is no big deal, after all they have to do employment verifications, and they need that information. Here’s the problem, The Work Number is owned by Equifax, one of the big 3 of credit reporting agencies, and they like to sell information, and sell they do. They market directly to debt collectors.
…ever wonder how the bill collector got your work number? Well, there you go.
Are debt collectors allowed to call you at work? Yes and no. Let’s take a look at some of the things the bill collectors can and can’t do. Keep in mind that what applies to debt collectors doesn’t always apply to the creditor who is trying to collect their own debt.
- FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) is what regulates debt collectors and their practices.
- Third party disclosure — debt collectors are prohibited from disclosing or discussing your credit or debt, with any third party. There are exceptions however, they may talk to your attorney, a credit reporting agency and the original creditor. They can also contact your spouse or your parents if you are a minor.
- Debt collectors are not allowed to contact you at unusual or inconvenient times or places. Typically the time to make calls is between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.
- They are not to contact you if you have an attorney or other agency handling your debt.
- They may contact you at work unless, your employee prohibits calls at work or you advise them that you cannot receive calls at work, it’s best that you send a letter to that affect.
- They may not harass or threaten you. Specifically they cannot:
- Threaten violence
- Any harm or threaten to harm you or another person’s reputation or property
- Use profane or abusive language
- Call you repeatedly, or
- Make calls to you without identifying themselves as bill collectors
- Collection companies are not allowed to add interest of fees or charges that are not authorized by the original agreement or by state law
- …and many others
There is one tried and true method to get the debt collectors off of your back… pay your bills! I know it sounds easier than it is. If you find yourself overwhelmed with debt the best thing to do is contact a professional to help you get your life back.
If you are currently past due, the benefits of a debt management program will provide you with a fresh start. The biggest long-term benefit of the debt management plan is the reduction in interest. Reduced interest allows you to pay off your principal balances faster while saving you possibly thousands of dollars in finance charges.
In order to determine your eligibility you can fill out an online budget application form Now and then you will speak with one of our Certified Personal Finance Counselors © at (800) 920-2262.
Saving Money on Five Dollar Gas and Other Concerns
With gas prices on the rise once again, it’s hard to predict how much the added expense will affect the average family. Experts seem to think that consumer confidence is up despite the fluctuation which leaves me feeling a bit skeptical. If the average person is ready to accept $4 a gallon gas, what happens when the price at the pump gets to be $5 a gallon or higher? Will it really be easy to smile then? I seriously doubt it.
Here are a few things to consider:
When the price of fuel increases, it causes other items to jump in price as well. For example, have you ever noticed that milk seems to be the most subjective to these changes? My local Walmart has gradually increased the prices of its dairy products. The last time I checked, a gallon of 2% cost me almost $4.00. That’s a hard number to swallow especially since my household goes through at least two gallons a week. That’s over $300 a year spent on one grocery item!
The more a person pays to commute, the less money they take home on pay day. Even if you’re paid a decent wage, every work-related expense, no matter how large or how small, cuts into your earnings. If it costs more to fill up your tank each week, it will require you to put in more hours at work to make up the difference. (To find out how to get around this problem, read the tips located below.)
The money has to come from somewhere. People living on a fixed income can not afford new expenses without cutting back on something else. Many rely on credit cards when they’ve run out of cash. The biggest problem with that are the interest rates. Daily house hold items purchased with credit cost twice as much once interest is applied to the balance each month.
So, what’s a person to do? Stop driving altogether and wait around for things to get better? I wouldn’t suggest that. I would, however, like to give you a few tips that can help you save money on the rising costs of gas.
Here are some things worth trying out:
If possible, change your schedule. If you’re used to working five days a week, strike up a deal with your employer to work later four days a week or to telecommute one day a week. This will not be an option for people in retail or the service industry. Working from home is easier for people that already have office jobs.
Switch to public transportation for long commutes. If you have to travel a long distance day in and day out, consider purchasing a bus pass or taking the commuter train. This will allow you to keep traveling costs at bay and will also give you time to better pre pare for your day. You can review notes from last week’s meeting, catch up with an old friend via phone or text message, and even read a chapter or two of that new book you’ve been dying to read.
Car pool. Not only is it environmentally responsible, carpooling is also cost efficient. Four to five people can travel for the same price as one. Consider carpooling to work or school rather than driving solo. Pitch in a few bucks each week for gas if you’re riding in the car with a family member, colleague or friend.
Use a Walmart gift card to receive 3 cents off per gallon at select filling stations. This is still one of the best ways to fuel up cheaply. Simply walk into your local Walmart and purchase a gift card in a designated amount. Go to an affiliated gas station and use your card to pay at the pump. The amount that you save over the course of a year doing this one simple thing is astonishing.
Use Gas Buddy to find the best prices on fuel in your area. If you’re not familiar with Gas Buddy, you may want to take a moment to get acquainted with it. (You can even down load the app on your iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad.) By typing in your zip code, you can see all of the filling stations in your area and the prices that each one is charging for a gallon of gas.
Keep your car maintained so it can run more efficiently. Do not go over the speed limit. Do not idle too much. Fill the tank fully. Make sure your tires are properly inflated. You can improve gas mileage by around 3.3 per cent by routinely monitoring your tire pressure. A tire gauge is therefore a wise investment.
Consolidate trips. Plan your errands accordingly. If you know that you’re out of certain house hold items, plan to pick them up on the way home from the doctor’s office. Also, stop and pay your bills and drop off your dry cleaning. Make it so you drive less but accomplish more.
Buy an electric bike. Electric bikes are much more economical than driving. They retail for about $350 to $400 and go up to 15 miles an hour. One charge can get a rider up to 20 miles in distance. The best thing about these bikes is that they don’t require a single drop of gas to run!
Eliminate the need to drive. Use online banking and bill pay. Make purchases through the net and have them delivered to your home. Walk or bike to your destination if time permits. The point is to not give up driving entirely but to lessen your dependency on your vehicle. You do not have to fall victim to intermittent gas prices. Take charge of the situation instead of letting it get the best of you. You have control over your finances and how much you spend at the pump. Unleash the saver in yourself by finding alternatives to paying full price for fuel.
Like any other type of adjustment that you make in your life, the aforementioned list of suggestions is yours for the taking. Do what you feel is right for you and your family. If the price of fuel is the least of your concerns, then more power to you. If you’ve tried everything listed here and have suggestions of your own, I welcome you to share them with me. After all, we’re in this together. We might as well pool together our resources. Isn’t that what blogging is for?
10 Ways to Simplify Your Finances
People can have several bills to pay each month. They will have the mortgage, the electric bill, the water bill, the gas bill, their auto insurance bill, their cell phone bills and the list goes on. There can even be times when a bill is missed and the payment is late. This can be dangerous for something like the car insurance because one missed payment can mean the insurance will be cancelled. What would be a tremendous help would be to simplify the finances. Following are ten ways to do this effectively.
1. Make Electronic Payments
Setting up electronic payments means that people don’t have to do anything. Their payments will be taken from their bank accounts when they are due and they can never be late. This frees up the time they would have had to take writing checks and mailing these bills every month; it also saves money on stamps.
2. Take Advantage of Electronic Statements
Receiving statements in the mail means that people have to keep track of a lot of paperwork. A better plan would be to have electronic statements. The company would be happier with this arrangement because they save on administrative costs, and the customer can keep everything in a convenient place online.
3. Use Online Bill Pay
Online bill pay with the bank makes it possible to pay the bills online. This makes managing finances simple like in the previous example.
4. The Old Tried and True Spending Budget
Creating a budget helps people tremendously who don’t know where their money is going every month. A budget is a plan, and people who make a list of all the necessary bills they have to pay know they will be able to pay those bills when they give them the highest priority.
5. Reduce the Amount of Money Spent Each Month
When creating a budget, people might notice that they have too many different types of bills to pay each month. This can mean that they will have an unmanageable number of spending categories in their monthly budget. If the budget is too complicated, it’s not going to benefit people who want to make their finances simpler. They need to keep all of their spending categories to a minimum in order to make the budget strategy work.
6. Consolidate Accounts
A big help is to consolidate accounts which will keep them all in one place. For example, some people have more than one savings account. If all of these savings accounts are under one bank then these accountholders can log into that one bank and see all of their accounts in one place making managing money much easier.
7. Set Up a Level Pay System for Utilities
When people set up level pay for their utilities, they know that they will be billed around the same amount of money each month. Utilities can be unpredictable and in some months, people can use more than of one type of utility than another. For example, in the summer people tend to use their air conditioning more often. Level bill pay will help keep them from overspending during these months.
8. Give Things Away
By giving things away, the house is much less cluttered and there are fewer things to manage.
9. Purchase a House that Fits the Family’s Needs
When purchasing a new home, be sure that the house is exactly what will be needed and nothing more or less. This will ensure that the mortgage payments will be easily manageable and that the maintenance on the house isn’t overwhelming.
10. Make a List of Things to Accomplish
Making a change from a disorganized state to a more organized one can take a little time. Before getting started on this project, people can make a list of their most important goals down to the least and finish each goal before moving on to the next. Setting a time when they would like to have the goal accomplished will ensure that the item gets done and can be crossed off of the list.
Save Money When Back to School Shopping
Back to school normally means a shopping trip that can quickly overtax your wallet. This single shopping excursion can have a major impact on your budget if it gets out of hand. There are a few ways to save money and still provide your children with the experience and excitement of getting ready for school. This can actually be a great opportunity to have fun with the kids and introduce them to creative budgeting.
Create a Checklist
The all important checklist is your ticket to saving money on back to school supplies. You can find pre-made checklists online and at many local discount and dollar stores. Use a generic checklist as your basic template and tailor it to meet your child’s specific school supply needs. Next, divide the checklist into two sections. One section of your checklist is for supplies that are one time only purchases such as backpacks, lunch boxes, rulers, protractors, mini-staplers, safety scissors, and binders. The second section of your checklist should be for items that will need to be restocked throughout the school year such as paper, erasers, pencils, notepads, and crayons. By separating the list into two categories you can be sure to stock up on items that will need to be purchased again when you find a good deal.
Where to Buy Back to School Supplies
Your first back to school shopping experience should be at home. Find as many of the supplies on your list from around your house. You probably already have a bunch of cool pencils, erasers, crayons and other school treasures that can be found in various places around the house. You might even want to make a game of it with the kids, a kind of scavenger hunt with a prize at the end. Grab your checklist and check off all of the school supplies you find. You don’t need to buy what you already have.
Before you venture out to the nearest mall, pull all of the sale ads you can find to get an idea of the prices at various stores. Make a few notes on your checklist – which store is offering what supply at the best price. Now is also the time to make use of the two sections of your checklist. You do not need to buy large quantities of supplies that need to be restocked at regular intervals. Keep these supplies down to a minimum.
The first store you should visit is the neighborhood discount and/or dollar store. Go through the store with your shopping list and compare the prices of the sale ads to those of the dollar store. Purchase all of the items on your list at the dollar store if the prices are better than the sale ads for other stores. A word of extreme caution – do not over buy! Dollar stores normally have really great prices and it’s easy to fall into a shopping frenzy. Only buy what is on your list – avoid impulse shopping.
You may also want to wait a week or two after school starts for supplies your child doesn’t need immediately. Many school supplies are significantly discounted once school starts. This is the time you might want to stock up for the year. Keep all of your school supplies well organized so you know exactly where they are when you need them.
Back to School Clothes Shopping
Once again your checklist is the best way to ensure you get everything your child needs and still manage your budget. Find out if the school has a specific dress code before you start your clothes shopping and take that into account when developing your checklist. Next, go through all of your child’s clothes and find out what still fits and what needs to be purchased. Clothes that no longer fit should be donated or traded at the local thrift or consignment shop. You might even receive cash or store credit at some of these stores to help stretch your shopping dollars. Or you can have a garage sale and make a few extra dollars to help with your back-to-school expenses. Your child can look like a million bucks for less if you shop wisely.
Clothes can be a little trickier than school supplies as children may have their own ideas of what’s trendy. If they absolutely must have the latest teen idol on their shirt you can agree to one or two trendy shirts and still stay within budget. Use the same principle of mix-and-match for your child like you do for your own wardrobe you’ll be able to save money and please the kids. A few pairs of pants or jeans in neutral colors that can be matched with various trendy shirts will meet your child’s need to be fashionable while saving you money. Pants are typically not as noticeable as shirts so spend your money where it will have the most effect.
Try a few alternative shopping strategies before heading for the local mall. It might be kind of fun to go through the racks of your local thrift and consignment stores. You can also make a day of shopping and treasure hunting at the nearest swap meet or neighborhood garage sales. Another fun way to shop is online. Sit down in front of the computer with the kids and make up a wish list. You might even find some great deals in your own living room.
Finally, consider shopping throughout the year for both supplies and clothes. Keep your checklists updated and spread your school-related expenses out over time. You can stay on top of the latest trends, look for the best deals, and save money in the long run. At the very least, back-to-school expenses won’t hit your wallet with a huge wallop at one time.
Save on Textbooks
Finally, for your older child’s back to college needs, you can save a lot of money carefully shopping for textbooks. It’s no surprise that college textbooks are one of the biggest scams around. You buy a book to use for a semester only to take it to the bookstore to sell it back and guess what? You only get a fraction of what you paid while the bookstore just jacks the price back up to almost full retail and sells them to the incoming students. College students can literally spend a thousand dollars a year or more on textbooks so being able to save even 20% each year could mean hundreds of extra dollars in your pocket.
One of the easiest ways to save is to buy your textbooks at a place such as TextbookX. Here you’ll find new and used textbooks and general books up to 90% off retail prices. Even better, you’ll get free shipping on orders over $49. Once you’re done with your textbooks you can resell them, but don’t just go to your local college bookstore. If you have a little extra time you can sell them to a place like TextbookX, Amazon, eBay, or even throw up an ad in your local Craigslist page and take out the middleman completely.
Spend Now and get Rewarded Later?!
Do you ever feel like you should be getting rewarded for staying loyal to your favorite stores? Maybe you can and don’t even know it! Countless stores and other businesses are starting to use rewards programs to lure customers in and forge a loyal relationship.
One famous café that has a rewards program is Starbucks! Not only does this program offer bonuses like free coffee and tea refills and trials of new upcoming products, customers can move up levels allowing their rewards to increase. In addition, on your birthday you can get a free beverage of your choice!
Two other stores that are famous for their rewards programs are Winn-Dixie and CVS/pharmacy.
The Winn-Dixie rewards program is one of the customer friendly by far. You simply need to provide some basic information, such as your name, address and phone number and the savings can begin! Winn-Dixie card holders can instantly save on all types of grocery items and can use coupons at check out too, which help double the savings!
As for CVS/pharmacy, their rewards program works a little differently. This program allows customers to get 2% back on their purchases, though some exclusions apply. Then, after three months, customers receive a print out of the “Extra Bucks Rewards” they have obtained and can spend their bucks in store or online.
Another rewards program that might be beneficial to sign up for, especially if you plan on buying appliances or electronics, would be the Reward Zone program at Best Buy. The more basic option that is offered at Best Buy has no fees and allows its members to be part of exclusive sales and also includes a birthday bonus. Similar to the CVS program, the Reward Zone works off of a point system. With every purchase you make you rack up points and that translates to a discount later. For example, if you make a purchase of $1,000 that converts to 1,000 points which means a $20 discount towards a future Best Buy purchase.
These stores are just a few of the many that offer rewards programs. Ask your favorite store if the offer any type of savings or reward program or check out http://www.heyitsfree.net/2009/04/08/budget-busters-2-customer-reward-programs/ for a list of a few more stores.
Overall, reward programs due benefit customers, but beware of those that require signing up for a credit card or may have hidden fees. Also keep in mind that even with a rewards program in place at one store, researching and comparing prices among several stores is still the best way to save.
If you know of any rewards programs that are especially beneficial, share your thoughts and comment!
Sources:
Starbucks: https://www.starbucks.com/card/rewards/program-information
Winn-Dixie: http://www.winndixie.com/Reward_Card/Reward_Card.asp
CVS: https://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/user/extracare/extracare.jsp
Best Buy: https://myrewardzone.bestbuy.com/programOverview.jspx
Maintaining as a MIlitary Family- Managing a Move
This is a new series of the blog titled “Maintaining as a Military Family”. A little about me…I go by codename Di and have joined the ranks of the fab bloggers for debthelper.com. My goal is to add some insight into what a Military Family does to “get by” and SAVE!!
Military life can be excruciatingly painful on the wallet. My husband joined the Army in the lowly (but highly respectful) rank of Private 14 years ago. We had children young (not uncommon within our Military communities) and therefore money was TIGHT. Relying on one income was almost unbearable. One of the biggest expenses is when there is a Permanent Change of Station (PCS or what normal people call relocating). Most Military Families have traveled and spent time overseas. This was the beginning of our journey, but not before I had to stay behind with our daughter while he went away to “Army school”. We could have rented an apt near his school and collected minimal Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), extra pay based on location, rank and years in service. However, this was never enough to cover all the expenses (utilities, incidentals, etc). So, we did what would save us the most money and I moved in with my mother for 3 months. While this is not ideal…it allowed us to actually earn money (Basic Allowance for Housing is a benefit no matter where you live). The way to manipulate this situation in order for everyone to be happy is pay your Family or friend, with whom you shack up with, a portion of what you receive and stash the rest for your upcoming move (there always an upcoming move in the Military).
Moving is quite expensive and the Military does a pretty good job of covering all the basic expenses…AFTER you get to your new location. Reimbursements are always a killer for young people starting out in their career because it requires you to come out of pocket ahead of time. The best way to tackle this problem is to plan your move. MilitaryOneSource.com has up to the minute info on all things Military…preparation and planning is their purpose. Once a person is aware of the upcoming expenses, the bottom line doesn’t seem as scary. If flying overseas is how you will relocate, there isn’t much to control or decide as far as actual travel. Hotels stays before & after the flight, rental cars and food costs are the main expenses of a move that are controllable. I always use coupons and ask what kind of discounts there are…there’s usually always a coupon online or a discount offer at hotels, just ask.
Here are some sites I use when traveling (during a move or not):
http://www.retailmenot.com
http://www.hotels.com
http://www.destination360.com
http://www.roomsaver.com/
http://www.hotelcoupons.com/
http://www.valpak.com
http://www.savings.com/c-Restaurant-coupons.html
The obvious Orbitz, Travelocity, and Expedia are first choices for airfare, rental cars and hotels, but my personal fave is Hotwire. They have the best prices and package deals, plus they are fair when it comes to disputes and customer service. (I once booked a sport utility vehicle for a week and when I showed up there were only vans, which would have sufficed. I did call Customer Service to ask them about the difference in pricing and they refunded me HALF of my fee for the week.) Asking for a discount makes a big difference sometimes.
Moving also requires you to go through all that “junk” lying around in the garage or attic. One of the benefits for me when it comes to moving is that I am motivated to purge….my old stuff that is. There are several things you can do with that old jewelry box or winter coat…all WHILE earning money.
Have a yard sale without even leaving your home
Rent a booth at a flea market and sell your heiny off (beware of hagglers)
Find your nearest consignment shop and let them sell your stuff (my fave)
Donate to the thrift store or Goodwill (and get a tax deduction)
Someone is bound to love that wicker basket you are sick of.
Overall, my best advice is to begin saving the MINUTE you join the Military (more on that later). Moving is just one of the many expenses you will incur in a lifetime. Don’t even get me started on the surcharge for kids.
We’ll save that for next time…
False Economy: Think You’re Saving Money? Think Again
You assume you’re being a savvy consumer by doing things like using coupons, getting free shipping with online purchases, and shopping in stores with no-hassle return policies. But are you really being taken for a sucker?
There are plenty of programs and promotions out there that claim to save you money. However, retailers don’t come up with these promotions to save you money. They come up with them to make profits. The game comes down to who is playing who.
You can save money through many of the programs and retailers below, but the trick is to make sure you’re working them, and not the other way around.
Coupons
It’s great to get a discount on something you were going to buy anyway. But coupons are often used to entice folks into purchasing stuff that’s not normally on their shopping lists, and that they don’t really need—so if you buy, it’s a net loss, even if you’re buying at a discount. There’s an interesting discussion on whether coupons are a waste at FiveCentNickel.com. Most bargain hunters use them, but use them carefully, strategically. To use coupons wisely, you must be willing to jump from brand to brand and from store to store, and you must keep your eye on what you’re actually paying out of your pocket, rather than what you’re supposedly saving with some coupon. As one commenter said:
There is no point in saving $0.50 on a $4.00 bottle of salad dressing, when the one you normally purchase is $2.39.
Which brings up another point: Even if you have a coupon for a national brand product, a generic store brand equivalent might be cheaper, and tests have shown that store brands generally taste just as good or better.
0% Financing
Yes, you can get a deal with 0% financing—but only if you pay back the loan in its entirety before the 0% period runs out. As a Consumer Reports post said, retailers like Best Buy and Wal-Mart offer 0% financing for big purchases like flat-screen TVs, but once that no-interest period expires, you’re looking at interest rates of around 30%. Again, no harm done if you’re certain you can pay off the balance in the agreed-upon time frame. The problem is that many people are attracted to 0% financing because they don’t have the money to pay in full. They may think they’ll be able to cover the debt in the 6, 9, or 12 months detailed in the contract, but, especially because the economy’s been so dodgy, do they know for certain?
Stores That Are Always on Sale
At some stores, the discount hype never ends, and there’s always a readily available coupon to knock 20% off your purchase. Kohl’s and Bed, Bath & Beyond come to mind. The result of the non-stop sale-o-rama is that the retail price is pretty much meaningless. No one ever pays the list price (or at least no one ever should). The price after you’ve factored in the coupons and the never-ending discounts—that’s the true price. And often, it’s still not that great. The bottom line is, well, your bottom line. Don’t be bowled over by a flashy discount; look at what you’re paying, and see if you can get it cheaper at another store.
Stores With Good Return Policies
Of course, a good return policy is good for consumers. But the fact is that, per a WSJ story written to inform the business side of the equation:
… customers who know they can return anything they buy, no questions asked, for a full refund are likely to buy more than shoppers who are afraid they might get stuck with something they don’t want or lose money on the return. They’re also more likely to refer the retailer to other shoppers, broadening the company’s customer base.
Retail researchers study this stuff inside and out. They know, for instance, that there’s a lower likelihood of an item being returned if it was purchased at a discount, or that a customer who usually shops in the store will be less likely to return items purchased online.
I’m not saying to avoid shopping in stores with easy return policies. I’m saying that you should be mindful of the puppeteers who come up with these strategic return policies, and that you should only purchase the items you really want. And if you decide after the fact that you don’t want the item, by all means return it. A no-hassle return was one of the reasons you were shopping in the store in the first place.
Free Shipping
The issue here is similar to stores with no-hassle return policies: It’s commonplace to get duped into buying more than you normally would have. Many retailers have carefully-considered dollar minimums that a shopper must meet to get free shipping. So, even if you only wanted to buy one $12 item, you wind up spending $50—but with free shipping!
Studies have shown that consumers are far more likely to buy a $5 item that comes with free shipping than to buy the same item for $2.50 and pay $2.50 for shipping. Makes perfect sense, right? Don’t trick yourself into thinking you’re getting a deal, when what is really happening is that you’re spending more than you planned.
Extended Warranties
You pay more upfront with the idea that it’ll save you money down the line when the car or laptop or whatever breaks and needs to be fixed. The two big problems with extended warranties are that they are expensive (sometimes 30% or 40% of the cost of the item itself) and that consumers rarely ever use them (and stores make as much as 80% profit on extended service plans because of it). Net result: Very few consumers get their money’s worth out of extended warranty, even though they may think that buying them is the prudent thing to do.
10 tips to cut your expenses
While some are declaring that the recession is over, the good news has not trickled down to my pocketbook. My husband and I are looking closely at all our expenses to cut our overhead. Our wages have decreased in the last year, mostly due to the slow down in my business, but costs have continued to rise. Utilities, gas, taxes, and food are taking more and more of our shrinking paychecks. We decided to take some action after looking at every expense in our budget. Maybe some of these tips can help you too:
Make coffee at home. Savings: $2,920 per year. I previously wrote about our addiction to Starbucks coffee, which was costing us about $8 per day. Since we already had a latte machine, it was an easy transition to make our morning drinks at home. We pack them in thermal mugs and take them to work.
Quit boring clubs. Savings: $385 per year. I have belonged to a local women’s group for the last 15 years. While initially it was fun to network at the events, I find that I have lost interest in the past couple of years, yet the luncheons and dinners are relatively expensive, $25 and $35 respectively. When you add that to the dues, I have been paying about $80 per meeting. I’m not renewing this year. I will see if I miss it.
Stop journals and magazines. Savings: $240 per year. For years we have been getting the local Business Journal and Newsweek magazine. Half the time, they just lie around the house because no one has time to read them.
Cancel the paper. Savings: $210 per year. We both read the paper online in the morning while we sip our fresh coffee. It is possible to find most of the papers and magazines online.
Turn the heat off. Savings: $350 per year. We live in Wisconsin, so we can’t turn it off completely. But with the gas fireplace in our family room and a space heater in my office, we have not turned on the furnaces yet. I have them on programmed timers so they won’t kick in until it is really cold.
Work at home one day per week. Savings: $480 per year. As my job is about 25 miles away, I can save close to a tank of gas per month by working at home. Eventually, I’d like to expand it to two or three days per week. Not only does it save in gas, but I can work in my pajamas.
Pack a lunch. Savings: $432 per year. I’m not talking peanut and butter sandwiches here (though that is an option). I run into my local Pick’n Save every morning and hit their fresh salad bar. With a large variety of fresh fruit, salads and soups, I can put together a great lunch for about $4, and it is a lot more exciting than last night’s meat loaf.
Dye your own hair. Savings: $300 per year. I have my hair dyed every month or so to the tune of $50. At least half the time, I could be doing this myself. (The other months, I will need a cut anyway). It is also a better use of my time. Instead of just sitting at the salon, I could be getting things done at home.
Dump the land line. Savings: $458 per year. Not sure why this one has taken so long. We rarely get a call that isn’t a marketer and the whole family has cell phones. I won’t miss the interruptions during dinner time.
Use coupons. Savings: $450 per year. We never buy clothes that aren’t on sale or where we can use coupons, but we have drifted away from using coupons at the store. By using an online coupon site like Coupons.com or SmartSource.com, you can print coupons for those things you buy all the time, such as paper products and soap.
Source: WalletPop
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