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In This
Issue
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Cool Quote |
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Switching heads and bodies |
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Auto Insurance on the Rise |
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SURVEY: Envelope Budgeting System |
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Secret History of Credit Cards |
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10 Simple Things You Can Do To Save Money |
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"Good Book--five stars" |
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Car dealers make cash regardless of the deal |
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Household Math™: Coupons and Sandwiches |
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ID-protection ads come back to bite pitchman |
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Simple Strategies to Eliminating Debt |
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Best Places to Find Free Software |
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The 15-Minute Tip: Avoiding Bank-Fee
Surprises |
Cool Quote
"A mistake is a future benefit, the full value of which is
yet to be realized."
--Edwin Land, inventor of the Polaroid camera
More cool quotes from past issues
Have you heard this one? A graphic designer working on a
high school yearbook mixed the heads and bodies of students. The yearbook
company said that it was an honest mistake. They said the high school required
them to make heads the same size and eyes at the same level in all photos. This
is a case where digital switching didn't turn out to be profitable because they
had to pay to reprint all the yearbooks. So what does this have to do with your
credit cards?
Finish reading this article
Nationwide, the average cost of auto insurance jumped 50%
between 1989 and 2005, but average per-car spending on coverage rose just 13% in
California, according to the report. Other states where price hikes were held
down, relatively speaking, included New Jersey with a 20% increase in that time
period; Hawaii, 25%; New Hampshire, 30%; and Pennsylvania, 31%. States with the
steepest rate changes were Nebraska, where average per-car costs surged 118% to
$620 from $285 between 1989 and 2005, and South Dakota, where costs jumped 107%
to about $565 from $274. Other high-increase states include: Montana, 104%;
Wyoming, 101%; and Kentucky, 100%. Wyoming does not control rates, and the other
four states require companies to file notice of rate changes but don't require
state pre-approval of those changes.
More credit card and debt statistics
Envelope budgeting is where you take your cash and
distribute it into envelopes for categories like groceries, charity, utilities,
dining out, etc. I'm working on a developing a new approach to this old system.
An approach that will allow credit use, gift card use, and more. This is "not
your grandfather's envelope budgeting system." Please give me a hand in
developing this 21st Century Envelope System by completing this survey.
Complete
survey here
Secret History of Credit Cards
This PBS and Frontline special aired about four years ago.
It was great then, and it's still great today. Check out the inside story
on how the banks try to stay one step ahead of the law and the consumer.
See story here
Here are ten simple things you can do to save money:
1) Start clipping coupons from the Sunday paper, and go
online to find websites that offer printable coupons for Target, Wal-Mart and
many local grocery stores. Yes, I know. Clipping coupons is a hassle. But if
you take a few minutes each week to quickly go through the coupons to see which
ones you'll really use and then use them each time you go grocery shopping, you
will save money. You can call your local grocery stores to ask if
they double or triple the face value of coupons and on which days they do it. Go
shopping on those days.
2) At the end of every day, take your...
Finish reading the article
Following suggestions, one phone call got a 10% discount.
But, since that's not good enough, will transfer to competing 0 balance, still
lowөr interөst ratө cards. Also, some helpful chapters at the back for dealing
with disputes, calculating rates, etc.
Book is concise, straightforward and well-organized. Good
information for anyone with a credit card to know.
--Amazon.com Bookreader
Learn how to
"Talk Your Way Out of
Credit Card Debt"
Car dealers make cash regardless of the deal
by Craig Howie
(AOL Autos) -- You may have heard this before when
negotiating to buy a new car at invoice price: "But I have to feed my family,"
pleads the finance guy at the dealership, "I don't want to lose the shirt off my
back."
So did you ever wonder why some car dealerships let their
cars go at invoice, when all possible customer rebates have been taken into
account and at a price that seems to leave a dealer no operating profit?
It has to do with a little-known secret called dealer
holdback. If the dealer has a sensible buying strategy, a complex series of
payments from manufacturer to dealer and the bank will ensure he's always able
to feed his family, oftentimes regardless of how good a deal you secure.
Read article
Here's something we, here at DebtSmart, were discussing
last week. We're always ordering from this Sub Shop down the street and, being
the thrifty folks we are, we decided to figure out the most money-saving way to
get lunch. An excellent example of math that can be applied to everyday
situations:
Every time you order a sub, whether it's a whole sub or a
half-sub, you get a coupon. When you accumulate 15 coupons you get a free whole
sub. Four (4) of us from work are going out to lunch, everybody is going to
order the Cheese, Boiled Ham, Proscuittini, Cappacuolo sandwich which costs
$7.45 for a whole sub and $4.70 for a half-sub. Each person eats a half-sub for
lunch, and we plan on going here all the time.
We've already collected 11 coupons. Is it better to get 4
half-subs now and get the free whole sub next time? Or, is it better to split 2
whole subs this time and next time, and get the free whole sub on the third
lunch trip?
Answer this math problem
ID-protection ads come back to bite pitchman
by Jordan Robertson
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Todd Davis has dared criminals for two
years to try stealing his identity: Ads for his fraud-prevention company,
LifeLock, even offer his Social Security number next to his smiling mug.
Now, Lifelock customers in Maryland, New Jersey and West
Virginia are suing Davis, claiming his service didn't work as promised and he
knew it wouldn't, because the service had failed even him.
Attorney David Paris said he found records of other people
applying for or receiving driver's licenses at least 20 times using Davis'
Social Security number, though some of the applications may have been rejected
because data in them didn't match what the Social Security Administration had on
file.
Read article
If you've taken on more debt than you can handle, don't be
discouraged. You're not alone. Thousands of Americans are in the same boat, with
many of them carrying huge debt loads. It doesn't matter how much money you
make. If you can't live within your means, you become a slave to your creditors.
This article is by no means a comprehensive treatise on financial planning.
Nonetheless, what follows are a few strategies to regain your financial freedom.
Ask Yourself Why?
Money is a powerful force that can destroy you if you let
it. You must learn to master your money instead of letting it master you. If you
don't do this, you'll never get out of debt. I'll say it once more. If you do
not learn to control your spending, you'll never get out of debt. Be brutally
honest with yourself. Examine your internal reasons about why you are in debt.
I'm not referring to financial blows beyond your control, but about the times
when you let the power of money control you.
Finish reading this article
Best Places to Find Free Software
I've mentioned before about saving money on software by
finding the good, free stuff--and there is plenty! A few of my favorites are Freespire (Linux OS), WordWeb (Windows dictionary), OpenOffice (Windows, Linux,
and MAC office suite), Abyss (Windows and Linux web server), IrfranView (Windows
photo editing), and Google Docs. You can find many great packages listed at: (1)
PCMag; (2)
Yahoo Tech; and (3)
Download.
The 15-Minute Tip: Avoiding Bank-Fee Surprises
by Jennifer Openshaw
Switch to the offensive to stop them before they hit you
again.
I was filing some old bank statements during a routine
desk cleanup. One I hadn't opened from last April had a surprise in it. A small
slip of paper -- a new fee schedule -- fell onto the floor.
An unopened bank statement? OK, you got me. No, these days
I don't balance my checkbook every month. Simply don't have the time.
But that's not the issue -- it's bigger. New fees for
services, new "punitive" fees. Some lower, most higher. And only for certain
types of accounts. Now, with all the accounts they offer, do I remember what
kind of account I have? Nope.
Read
article
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