Money,Mortgages,Stocks,Taxes,Debt

4 Green Travel Tips That Save You Money

Erik Folgate — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:00:09 +0000

Traveling is one of the harshest activities we engage in against the environment. We take transportation that pollutes the air, we produce a lot of waste, and we’re typically less conscious of conserving resources. I’m not a tree hugger, and I don’t come down on people for not recycling, because I think it needs to be a personal conviction to be better stewards of this Earth and our resources. There are several ways to travel greener AND save money at the same time. Here are 4 tips that I try to follow: Pack lighter. This is one of the most important green travel tips, and with all of the airlines trying to nickel and dime us nowadays, you can literally save hundreds of dollars simply by packing lighter. Many airlines charge $50 for every checked bag that’s over 50 pounds, and many charge for additional checked baggage. Packing lighter helps the environment, because it makes the airplane, car, train, or bus lighter, which allows it to use less fuel and run more efficiently. Choose pieces of clothing that can be mixed and matched to create dozens of different outfits. Also, take less shoes and bring eBooks with you instead of real books. Bring a stainless steel water bottle with you. Choose a sturdy, stainless steel bottle that’s BPA free. You’ll save a lot of money on buying water bottles and you’ll use less plastic while on your trip. Choose an economy-sized rental car. I would say choose a hybrid, but most rental car companies that offer them will charge a much higher rate than a compact or economy car. If space is not an issue for you, go with their smallest model, because the car will get great gas mileage, and it will be their cheapest rate. You’ll save money on gas, the rental rate, and you’ll be helping out the environment. Buy snacks for your trip from your local farmer’s market. You’re supporting your local economy, and you’ll spend less on your food budget if you have some great snacks like peanuts, dried fruit, beefy jerky, and popcorn. Unplug all of your appliances, close your blinds, and turn the water off . Preparing your house for no one to be in it for a little while can be a huge money saver. Your house will spend much less energy if everything is unplugged and the water is turned off. I love knowing that what I’m doing is helping to preserve God’s beautiful creation, but one of the best auxiliary benefits of traveling greener is that it helps you save money at the same time. Some of you all are so creative, and I know you’ve got some sweet ideas for green travel that saves you money. Let’s hear them! ( photo credit: ingridz ) Related Posts: How To Save Money On Airline Fees Save Money On Your Summer Rental Car Dream Green Vacation Giveaway from Green Travel Hub Ten Inexpensive Ways To Be Green on Earth Day Six Quick Tips To Spend Less On Entertainment and Travel 4 Green Travel Tips That Save You Money is a post from: Money Crashers

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Personal Finance Round-Up: What To Do When Your Friends Ask You For Financial Advice

Erik Folgate — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 21:07:09 +0000

Money Crashers has been around for about four years now, so all of my close friends and family know about my passion for personal finance, and I get quite a few questions from close friends and family about their own finances. I really don’t mind helping the ones closest to me. Most of the “advice” that I give is common sense, and I don’t get too technical with my recommendations, because I’m not licensed properly to give certain financial advice. Flexo, from Consumerism Commentary, recently ran an article about how to handle requests for financial advice. I really liked his advice about being careful to jump into financial conversations with acquaintances such as co-workers, and I also liked that he advised not to lend money to friends or family to solve their financial problems, because usually the problem isn’t money. The problem is the decisions they make and the bad financial habits they’ve formed. If you’ve never checked out Consumerism Commentary, it’s one of the top personal finance sites that I’ve been following since 2006. Other great articles to check out from the past week: Make and Save Money By Getting Rid Of Your Junk. I am a huge proponent of not being a pack rat. My wife and I use the rule of thumb that if we haven’t needed it or thought about it in the past year, then we obviously don’t need it. Depending on what it is, we’ll either sell it or give it away. [Free Money Finance] When Will I Get My Tax Refund and What If The Check Amount Is Wrong? These are questions we all have during tax time! [Five Cent Nickel] The Art of Saying “No”. I am the worst at saying “no” to people, because I am a people pleaser, but sometimes my time is too valuable, and I end up doing things that I shouldn’t get involved in. I also need to learn to say “no” to myself when I see a new gadget that I really like! [Frugal Dad] How To Turn Your Failures Into Opportunities. Over the past few years, I’ve trained myself to become less fearful of failure. If I give everything, but I still fail, I can learn a lot from that experience. This article does a good job at teaching you how to turn those failures into opportunities. [Christian PF] 16 Things Your Lawyer Won’t Tell You. It’s so easy to be charged too much from a lawyer, and you need to treat their services like you would any other purchase. This article will equip you with some information to help you save money when in need of an attorney. [Wisebread] 8 Tips For Protecting Your Credit Information While Shopping Online. I don’t think about this stuff enough, so I thought I would share it with you all. [Gen X Finance] Don’t forget to Follow Us On Twitter and Become Our Fan on Facebook . Also, if you haven’t entered our latest giveaway, we’re giving away 3 FREE iPads for those of you that file your taxes with one of our partners! Do you know any other PF blogs giving away iPads? I don’t think so! Enter the giveaway here. Related Posts: Articles Crashing the Personal Finance Scene Money Crashing Articles of The Week Great Articles To Check Out From The Personal Finance Community Personal Finance Round-Up: How Does The IRS Pick Tax Returns To Audit? Money Crashing Articles of The Week Personal Finance Round-Up: What To Do When Your Friends Ask You For Financial Advice is a post from: Money Crashers

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Personal Finance Round-Up: What To Do When Your Friends Ask You For Financial Advice

Prescription Drugs: Are Consumers Paying Too Much?

Erik Folgate — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:42:16 +0000

The other day I was going through my prescription receipts for the past year in order to get ready for my taxes. I began noticing, in very small print on the receipt, the retail cost of the drug. Since I used several different pharmacies throughout the year, I decided to do a price comparison. I take several maintenance medications, so I was particularly interested in the cost of those. I compared prices at CVS, RiteAid, Target, Walmart, and Walgreens. What I found was that no pharmacy quoted the lowest price for all of the medications. CVS was $80.00 cheaper than Target for the same medication, dosage and strength. With my insurance, I pay 15% of the retail cost, so that directly affects what I pay for the medication. In many cases, it was a small difference, but it varied. The other interesting thing is that none of the pharmacies I compared quoted the same price for the same medication, dosage and strength. I would have never thought that the major chain pharmacies would charge such different prices for the same drugs. I am definitely not an expert on prescription drug costs, but I am an educated consumer, and with all the healthcare reform pending, I feel obligated to be informed on how I can get the best possible price for my medication. Since we can’t clip coupons for our prescription medication, our only line of defense is to educate ourselves. Here are a few suggestions for saving money on prescription drugs: When the doctor issues you a prescription that you aren’t familiar with, ask if it is an expensive drug. That way he may be able to prescribe a comparable drug that is more affordable. If you don’t have insurance, ask for samples. Many group insurance plans have a flat dollar amount for prescriptions and are priced on a tier basis. Every year these amounts keep going up. If your prescription insurance is a flat amount, price comparison probably won’t apply. However, many insurance plans base the co-payment on a percentage basis. If that is the case, then price comparison can benefit your bottom line. You are under no obligation to purchase a prescription that has been filled. If it costs more than you are willing to pay, tell that to the pharmacist. They may be able to call the doctor and see if there is another less expensive medication that can be substituted. It takes a little effort, but call the pharmacies in the area where you live, and ask for the retail price for the prescribed medication, including the strength and dosage. In recent years, the drug companies finally allowed numerous generic prescription medications to be priced at $4.00 for a 30 day supply. Some pharmacies offer a price of $9.00 for a 90 day supply that is dispensed. This has been an enormous benefit for consumers. If you have a Publix supermarket in your area, their pharmacies offer a number of antibiotics that are free of charge when you fill a prescription there. Check advertised flyers for incentives a pharmacy may have for a new or transferred prescription. These are a few of my findings that you might find helpful. A little time and effort is worth it if it translates into big savings on your prescription medications. There is no price to be paid for good health and staying well. The younger you are when you are proactive about your health, the greater the rewards are as you age. We all know that, but have you made that your priority? This is a guest post from my wonderful mother, Lynn Folgate. She’s a piano teacher, a baby boomer, and she currently lives in Simpsonville, South Carolina. She’s a big fan and supporter of Money Crashers and the information we teach. Her hobbies include quilting, playing the piano, and reading. (photo credit: ep_jhu ) Related Posts: How I Pay $85 A Month For My Health Insurance Policy Watch Out For New Health Coverage Programs To Offered By Your Employer for 2008 More Ways To Save Money On Your Pets What I’ve Learned About Saving Money On My Pet Reforming Health Care and How it Affects Your Finances Prescription Drugs: Are Consumers Paying Too Much? is a post from: Money Crashers

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Prescription Drugs: Are Consumers Paying Too Much?

How I Got A Great Deal On An Apple iMac

Erik Folgate — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:30:23 +0000

Last week, I finally took the plunge and switched my alliances with PC and Windows and switched to Apple. I bought a 21.5″ Apple iMac with 4GB of RAM, 500GB hard drive, ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics card with 256MB memory, and a 3.06GHZ Dual Core Intel processor. I should just move to San Francisco and start wearing black turtlenecks, because I will never go back to the days of Dell and Microsoft. It’s been 4 days since I first started using it, and I love it. My ability to quickly create screen casts, web videos, manipulate and edit photos, and work in several different programs all at once has vastly improved. I don’t know what it is about the Mac OS or the programs designed for Macs, but they load and run SO much quicker than Windows and Windows-based programs. For example, Firefox opens instantly, whereas, even in Windows 7, Firefox hesitates to open for about 10 seconds. Ever since I bought an iPhone about a year and a half ago, I’ve had the itch to switch my computers to Apple, but the price tag had always deterred me from making the switch. I never thought I’d be able to spend less than $1,700 to $1,800 for what I wanted, but I ended up getting this iMac for $999, which was exactly my threshold for what I was willing to spend. How did I do it? Read below: Step 1: Do your research. If you’re looking to make the switch to Apple, you need to test drive their products and find out which one will best suit your needs. Go to the Apple Store about 5 or 6 times. I went about 10 to 12 times, and I played with all of their products. I finally settled on the 21.5″ iMac, because their massive 27″ model just wasn’t worth paying an extra $700. All we had at our house before this purchase was a Dell laptop that was about 4 years old but still performed great, so I figured that a desktop made the most sense. I’ll still be purchasing a 13″ Macbook Pro in the future to bring to work, on the road, and so my wife and can use it in the living room while I’m working on the iMac in the office. But, the iMac made the most sense for my first Apple computer purchase. Step 2: Search for Apple certified refurbished models. This is how I scored such a great deal on my iMac. Visit the official Apple store refurbished Mac page , and you’ll find dozens of refurbished Apple Mac products that have been professionally refurbished by Apple professionals. You can find products discounted anywhere from 14% to 28% off the retail price. The iMac I purchased retails new for $1,199, and I paid $200 less for a product that has absolutely no blemishes or signs of wear on it, runs perfectly, and comes with all of the same peripherals that the new model comes with. I checked their refurbished Mac site for months, and I noticed that there is no rhyme or reason to what products they post on there. It’s based solely on availability, so make sure you check twice a day for the refurbished product you’re looking for. Step 3: Choose free shipping. The only problem with buying Apple certified products is that they only sell them online. You cannot walk into one of the retail stores and buy a refurbished product. Fortunately, Apple offers FREE shipping for FedEx Ground service, which takes about 5 business days to get to your doorstep. If you’re buying from a state where an Apple retail store exists, they’ll charge you sales tax, which ran about $63 for me, so my total purchase with free shipping was $1,062, shipped straight to my door. If you plan on buying new, I suggest not purchasing from the Apple retail store or their online store. Look at MacMall.com or PowerMax.com, because they usually offer free shipping and they won’t charge you sales tax, so you’ll save a lot of money by being patient and purchasing from an authorized reseller. Some Facts About Apple Certified Refurbished Products The same one-year limited warranty applies that’s standard with new products Eligible to purchase extended Apple care warranty You get the same peripherals and software as with new products One disadvantage of buying refurbished is that you cannot customize the machine you want. But, if you aren’t really picky and you don’t mind upgrading or installing software on your own, refurbished is a great option. If you’re looking to buy a Mac or upgrade from an old one and you have any more questions for me, feel free to post a comment below. I highly recommend saving the 20% on the retail price and going with an Apple certified refurbished Mac. It’s well worth waiting for the shipment and spending a little time waiting for your specific product to be posted on the refurbished page. Related Posts: How To Save Money Buying A Laptop For A College Freshman Are Extended Product Warranties Worth The Money? Will The Google Nexus One Change The Way We Buy Cell Phones? Benefits of Buying a Slightly Used Car How To Save Money Using Google Shopping How I Got A Great Deal On An Apple iMac is a post from: Money Crashers

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Becoming Wealthy Is Like Becoming An Olympic Athlete

Erik Folgate — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:06:11 +0000

The Winter Olympics started last Friday, and I am not too intrigued by most of the sports included in the Winter Olympics, but I do love the women’s figure skating, downhill skiing, snowboarding, and the bobsled competitions. As I was watching the Olympics the other night, I gained more appreciation for the athletes the more that I thought about the training it took for them to reach this poing of being one of the best in the world in their respective sport. Then, I started thinking about how all of the principles of an Olympic athlete correlate to the financial principles that help people build wealth. Passion, Perseverance, and Discipline are three attributes of an Olympic athlete that we must all possess if we want to win with money. Passion Your income is the most important tool for building wealth over a long period of time, and studies show that people that are more passionate about their work are more likely to gain promotions or start their own business and gradually increase their income as they get older. When you’re passionate about your work, it gives you more motivation to get up in the morning and be the best that you can. Olympic athletes must be passionate at the sport they train for, or else they wouldn’t have any motivation to get up early in the morning and spend an entire day training and practicing like it’s a full-time job. Perseverance When you want to be the best at a particular sport, you will always face adversity. There will be obstacles, you will get hurt, sponsors will drop out, and your pursuit of being the best will seem bleak at times. When you decide to make changes in your life to turn around your financial future such as getting out of debt, contributing to a retirement account, and paying cash for large purchases, it’s easy for bad things to happen during that time. Emergency trips to the hospital or giving money to a family member to help them out, come at times when we least expect it, and we must have perseverance to build wealth over a long period of time. Discipline If you can master discipline, you can be successful at anything. Olympic athletes are some of the most disciplined people in the world. They must follow a strict training schedule, they must sacrifice a social life, and they must work through pain, because they know that the chance to represent their country and win a gold medal is an experience of a lifetime. If you want to win with money, and if you want to break the cycle of living paycheck to paycheck, you must have discipline. You must have the discipline to avoid impulsive purchases at the mall, eat out 5 nights a week, and throw away credit card offers when you get them. You must have the discipline to pay yourself each month by saving money on a consistent basis. You must have the discipline to write out a budget and spend your money on paper before it’s spent. Can you do it? Can you act like an Olympic athlete in order to win with money? You will take control of your money and your life is you find work that you’re passionate about and train yourself to persevere and be disciplined on a consistent basis. (photo credit: pan pacific whistler ) Related Posts: Why Rich People Go Broke Get Financially Fit in 2010: Have The Heart Of A Giver The Difference Between a Career And a Job Watch Out For the Young Indian Generation Find The Career You Love in 2009 Becoming Wealthy Is Like Becoming An Olympic Athlete is a post from: Money Crashers

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More Americans Are Saying “No” To Credit Cards

Erik Folgate — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:49:10 +0000

The other day I wrote about an article I saw from a writer at the U.S. News and World Report about the apparent rise in consumers paying credit card bills before they pay their mortgage bills. I called it the worst financial advice I’d ever seen from a major publication. It may not have been “advice”, but rather the writer’s interpretation of data he had gathered and people he interviewed, but the point of it was that the writer NEVER challenged his own point of view. He bought into the idea that maybe it’s better to pay your credit card bills over your mortgage payment. I was more suprised at the quotes from some of the people he interviewed and one in particular was this one: “It is hard to operate in our society without a credit card today,” Gumbinger says. As you know, I don’t use credit cards and I don’t think they should be considered “financial tools”, because rich people will never attribute their wealth building to how well they use their credit cards. This is a controversial topic for some of you. You don’t see the problem with using a credit card. I don’t think any differently of you for using one, I just don’t think they’re worth it. Every policy from a credit card company is set out to rip you off from the fees, to the terms, to the interest rates. One slip up, and they take you to the cleaners. I had written the article not even realizing that the USA Today came out with another article on the 8th talking about the decrease in credit card use among Americans. Of all publications out there, the USA Today money section is getting it right. People are using their credit cards less, because in hard economic times, they realized that the plastic wasn’t helping their situation. Credit card usage is slowing. Revolving credit — largely made up of credit card debt — fell by nearly 20% in November, the largest drop on record, according to the Federal Reserve, reflecting less borrowing by consumers and banks’ tighter lending standards. Through October, the number of new credit card accounts was down 46% from the same period in 2008, according to Equifax. You could definitely interpret these statistics as the result of credit card companies tightening up their lending practices, but honestly, do you really believe that credit card companies have slowed down how many pre-approval applications they send out? We still get them all the time. We’re seeing a fundamental shift in the way we manage our money, and credit cards are not part of the equation. We don’t trust them anymore, because they’ve done nothing to build our trust. This is a great chart which reveals who we trust most and least in the financial sector. Look at that, that poll shows that we trust lawyers and car dealers more than credit card companies, the federal government, and national banks! That’s crazy to think about, but I think it’s accurate. Even investment firms have lost the trust of us, because their corruption has been exposed, and they almost bankrupted this country. The arguments for credit cards will always be brought up, and here are a few that I often hear: I can’t use a debit card to rent a car, book a hotel, or a flight I’m not protected with a debit card I get tons of reward points and cash back for using my credit card My credit score will suffer and I won’t be able to buy a house Here are my answers to those arguments: Show me a hotel chain or rental car company that won’t accept a debit card with a visa or mastercard logo on it, and I’ll take back my words publicly on this blog. They might hold a deposit on the card, but if you don’t have enough money to cover the deposit in the account, should you be traveling in the first place? You have the same protections from a debit card that you do from a major credit card. If it’s got Visa on it, it has the same protections. How many of those reward points have you actually used over the years? Don’t lie! And the cash back thing is such a joke, you need to spend $10k just to get $100 back. I’ll pass on the $100 for the security of knowing that if I have a crazy emergency, I’m not floating a bunch of money on my credit card just to get 1% back. Your credit score doesn’t matter if you stop applying for credit cards and car loans. The only time it matters is when you apply for a mortgage or insurance. If the company won’t manually underwrite your application and look at the CASH you’ve got in the bank to be a good risk, then don’t do business with them. If an employer won’t hire you because all they do is look at your credit score and don’t ask you why it’s low, then they probably aren’t someone good to work for. Plus, if you’re paying a mortgage on time with no other debt, your credit score is not going to suffer much by not having a revolving credit account. The FICO score only measures people with debt. Why would you want debt for the rest of your life? Why don’t we come up with a financial score rating that measures the net worth of individuals and make risk decisions based on that? I probably still didn’t convince some of you, but I really don’t go on my soap box about credit cards too often. This week happened to be an exception, because it was relevant to the national press writing about it. My point is that we need to stop focusing on how to effectively use credit cards and start focusing on how to increase our income, how to start spending less than we earn, and how to save wisely for the future. Focus on those things, and you won’t care about how many reward points your credit card gives you. (photo credit: World of Good ) Related Posts: Win $500 In The Credit Card Chaser Love/Hate Credit Cards Contest Exposing The Universal Default Provision In Credit Cards Paying Your Mortgage Payment With Your Credit Card You Spend More Money When You Use A Credit Card How to Build Your Credit Without Going into Debt More Americans Are Saying “No” To Credit Cards is a post from: Money Crashers

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The Worst Advice I’ve Ever Seen From a Major Publication

Erik Folgate — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:00:06 +0000

Today, one of our writers came across an article that made me want to throw up just from reading the title: Forget the Mortgage, I’m Paying My Credit Card Bill. Oh man, where do I start? I honestly feel bad for the people that write this crap and for the people that they interview, because they really have no idea how much damage their advice is doing to the American people. I thought the title was a joke at first. I thought the article would make a case for paying your credit card first, then go back to reality about how paying your mortgage and keeping a roof over your head should be the first priority. But, that never happened! The article starts off with statistics from TransUnion about the increase in defaulted mortgages and a decrease in defaulted credit card accounts. A recent study developed by TransUnion found the percentage of Americans who were current on their credit cards but behind on their mortgage increased to 6.6 percent in the third quarter of 2009, up from 4.3 percent in the first quarter of 2008. Meanwhile, the share of consumers making mortgage payments on time but behind on their credit cards moved in the opposite direction, sliding from 4.1 percent to 3.6 percent over the same time period. Did the “journalist” ever stop to think that this statistic could be interpreted a different way? Could it be that the amount of people working to get out of debt has increased more than the amount of people defaulting on their mortgages? This recession and unemployment rate has made people wake up. They don’t want credit card debt anymore, but that doesn’t mean the same people that are paying off credit cards are also defaulting on their mortgages because of it. They’re selling stuff, taking second jobs, and getting the HELL out of debt, because being in so much debt was what got them in a bad situation in the first place. Then, he goes on to blame the housing market for the reason that people are defaulting on their mortgages and choosing to pay their credit card bills first. When home prices turned south–falling roughly 30 percent from their peak in the second quarter of 2006–a great deal of borrowers watched the value of their homes drop below what they owed on their mortgages. Today, roughly one in four homeowners finds himself in this position, which is also known as being “underwater.” Without equity in their homes, such borrowers are more likely to default. There are some people doing this, but most of them are investors who aren’t treating the property like it’s their HOME. Why do you care about the appraised value of your home when you have no intentions of moving? Why does it matter? The market value of a home is ALL relative. The house is worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it. Yes, if you bought during the speculative boom in 2004 or 2005, you probably bought at an inflated price, but that’s no reason to walk away and trash your credit for the next 7 years and not be bankable AT ALL for the next 3 years. Then another smart soul chimes in: “They don’t see any value in putting money into an asset that has lost that much value and will probably never regain that value to offset the mortgages,” says Celia Chen, of Moody’s Economy.com. Never regain its value? Those are some pretty strong words Celia. How is she so sure that the house will NEVER regain the value they bought it for? Now on to Keith Gumbinger, the VP of HSH.com. His organization MUST really love credit card companies, even though his website is all about mortgages, because this guy is out of his mind. “It is hard to operate in our society without a credit card today,” Gumbinger says. Yeah, it’s so hard to operate without a credit card. I don’t know how I would ever survive without one. Oh wait, I do survive without them every single day and so do millions of other Americans. This is just garbage that bankers try to brainwash us with. They want us to be dependent on consumer debt for the rest of our lives. They want us paying a payment every single day of our adult lives. Is that what you want? Do you want to be a slave to a lender for the rest of your life, or do you want to have the freedom of knowing that you don’t owe anyone, anything. Here’s another great one from Gumbinger: “For a borrower who has got a significant [cash] shortfall, it is a completely rational decision [to pay off a credit card bill while defaulting on a mortgage],” Gumbinger says. Let me be clear (I sound like Obama). Do not ever pay your credit card bill before your mortgage or rent. You need to take care of your basic necessities first in this order: food, utilities, shelter, clothing/basic transportation. Everything else gets pushed aside if you cannot pay it. Credit card issuers loan you unsecured money (meaning there’s no physical object attached to the debt), and they hope that you pay them back in good faith. Because this debt is unsecured, they charge you a crazy interest rate to make up for the risk they are taking by loaning you the money without any collateral. Paying off your credit card first and jeopardizing a roof over your head for you and your family is ridiculous. Yes, you will have 6 months to a year before a mortgage lender actually forecloses on you, but it will NOT be a fun, easy process. Your credit will be ruined for a very long time, and they will SUE THE HELL OUT OF YOU for the difference between what you owe and how much they resold the house for. The article never talks about that part of walking away from a house. The credit card company can sue you too, but it often takes them longer to file suit then it does a mortgage lender. Would you rather be sued for $5k or $50k? I really wish stuff like this was never published, because all it does is make people more dependent on credit cards and make them think that walking away from their mortgage is okay and everything will be fine. Pay the IRS first, the mortgage second, and everything else after that. (photo credit: wynlok ) Related Posts: Are Credit Cards the Next To Fall After the Mortgage Subprime Crisis? Bank of America Takes One Step Closer To Global Domination First Time Home Buyers Dealing With The Prepayment Penalty In Your Mortgage Adjustable Rates Cause Mortgage Havoc The Worst Advice I’ve Ever Seen From a Major Publication is a post from: Money Crashers

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How I Scored 4 Free Flights Last Year – All Without Using Frequent Flyer Miles

Guest Author — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:46:53 +0000

You don’t have to wait to redeem your credit card rewards or frequent flyer miles to earn a free flight. With a little bit of patience, flexibility, and luck you can be on your way to a free flight quicker than you can say “overbooked.” Overbooking flights is a standard practice in the airline industry. It’s a way to hedge against passengers who skip out on reservations or to collect double fares if a prepaid passenger doesn’t show up. Most of these no-shows are business customers – leisure flyers tend to book trips early and show up when they say they will. (Source: America’s Most Overbooked Airlines / Forbes.com) For most, it is an inconvenience that is avoided at all costs. However, I have changed my outlook and in 2009 saved over $1,200 in travel costs by taking advantage of overbooked flights. My first experience came in October 2008. I was on my way home from a weekend visit in Detroit, MI. I had a layover in Chicago, IL and that flight was overbooked. At first, I ignored the employees plea for a volunteer even though they were offering a $200 voucher that would be redeemable on any Southwest flight. After the 3rd announcement, I realized that I didn’t have to work on Monday (Columbus Day), so why not take advantage of the offer? I was given a flight voucher, meal voucher, and overnight hotel voucher. This was the start of my love for overbooked flights. Below is a breakdown of the the lessons I’ve learned and how to effectively take advantage of an overbooked flight: Flexibility: Volunteering for an overbooked flight works best for the independent traveler. If you are traveling with kids, chances are the airline will not need to bump all of you. Young children may test your patience while waiting for another flight. Also, if there is a caregiver waiting for you to return home, the responsible thing to do is get home as soon as possible. However, if there is nothing pressing waiting for you at home, you may be in the ideal position to take advantage of an overbooking opportunity. I have started planning the possibility of an overbooked flight into my schedule. Typically, when returning from a long trip or vacation, I take a day of rest anyway before returning to work. For example, if I am planning to be out of town from April 1-3rd, I’ll block off the 4th as well as my rest day. My calendar is now clear should an overbooking opportunity arise. Patience: If you volunteer for an overbooked flight, expect to wait around for a while before you receive your voucher. While the airline employee is truly grateful for your volunteering, their main focus will be to get other travelers on the plane on time. You will not receive your voucher or any detailed instructions until this is done. When you volunteer, they will ask for your airline ticket and offer you another flight either later that day or the next day. If it is a next day flight they will offer you a hotel voucher as well. If they don’t mention this, make sure to check with them. Once you agree to a later flight, they will book you on that flight and return their attention to the boarding passengers. Take a seat near the information desk and wait until they call you. Do not wander off! Sometimes they’ll realize seats are available at the last minute. If that is the case, you are expected to board and should still get the compensation! Planning & Anticipation: Overbooked volunteers are taken on a first-come, first-served basis. It seems as if more people are realizing the value of taking advantage of an overbooked flight by volunteering rather quickly. To ensure I am the first in line, I ask if a flight is overbooked as soon as I approach the terminal gate and offer myself as a volunteer. Packing: If you have been moved to a later flight, any checked in luggage will be waiting for you at your destination. Make sure that you have previously packed anything you would need or want overnight in a carry-on bag. This includes thing like your laptop, night clothes, medication, toiletries, and snacks. Costs: When done right, there are no additional costs as the hotel and flight are paid for. However, I usually carry extra cash to tip the shuttle drivers. Follow these tips so your extra day out of town does not cost you money: Most likely, the hotel will ask for a credit or debit card. Even though you are not paying for the room, an authorization hold or charge may be placed on your account. This is especially true for debit cards where a significant amount of money can be held for up to 72 hours or more after checkout. I usually ask the hotel clerk to turn off “incidentals” instead of assigning my credit or debit card to an account. Some hotel chains are OK with this while others will insist on some type of financial deposit. This is pretty much the only time I’ll use a credit card. You may be given meal vouchers, usually they’ll expire within 72 hours or less and are only redeemable in the airport terminal. You will not receive change when these are used so it is best to spend the entire amount of the voucher. If you are not hungry at the moment, get something that can be easily warmed up later in a hotel microwave. Familiarize yourself with the hotel shuttle schedule. Some hotel schedules have a sign-in sheet, others only run on the hour, by request or limited hours. Determine the shuttle hours as soon as you check-in. If you wait until it is close to your flight time, you may find yourself spending money on a cab, or worse missing your flight. Miscellaneous: Most vouchers expire within a year of the issue date. Keep track of your voucher and make sure you use it before the time is up! The vouchers have a unique code that is asked for when they are redeemed. Do not lose this! Vouchers cannot be replaced. Keep them someplace safe. Most vouchers are transferable. In other words, you can apply some or all of your voucher dollars to someone else’s domestic flight. Airline loyalty points are still accumulated when you use a voucher. Hotel loyalty points are not accumulated when you use a voucher. I’d love to hear your airline travel stories! Have you been asked to voluntarily surrender your seat on an overbooked flight? How was the experience? This is a guest post from Lakita of Personal Finance Journey , a website that offers encouragement, education and advice to those on the road to financial freedom. You can find her on Twitter ( @PFJourney ). Related Posts: debunking the claim that debit cards cannot be used everywhere Get a $10 Flight On SkyBus.com How To Save Money On Airline Fees The Best Ways To Find A Deal On An Airline Ticket 10 Ways to Get a Cheaper Honeymoon How I Scored 4 Free Flights Last Year – All Without Using Frequent Flyer Miles is a post from: Money Crashers

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How I Scored 4 Free Flights Last Year – All Without Using Frequent Flyer Miles

Only You Can Create New Jobs For This Country

Erik Folgate — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 23:00:42 +0000

If you’ve been following the financial news today, then you saw articles like this one from Yahoo Finance about the unemployment rate falling to 9.7% , which is a five-month low. That sounds like good news, and it could be, but when you look deeper into the numbers and throw some logic into the equation, it doesn’t make sense that the unemployment rate would fall that much. Does this mean the numbers are cooked? Are we on the road to recovery for job loss? I really hope so, because it’s the single most glaring eye sore to our economy right now. It’s the one road block that will keep our economy from heading in the right direction. Here’s a quote from the article I referenced above. Beneath the headlines, the government reported the U.S. economy has lost 8.4 million jobs since the recession officially began in December 2007, a sharp upward revision from 7.2 million previously reported; that includes 930,000 jobs more than previously estimated in the 12 months ended March 2009. and here is another quote from a financial analyst trying to explain the discrepancy in the numbers: “The payroll data and the unemployment rate come from two separate surveys, which explains some of the divergence in the data,” writes Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial, attempting to explain this conundrum. “The drop in the unemployment rate was particularly surprising, as it was predicated on households reporting an increase in employment. This could be capturing the self-employed doing slightly better than they had been, but it is still puzzling.” What can we believe? Do these numbers and statistics even mean anything, anymore? Wall Street didn’t bite on the headlines. At one point today, the Dow Jones dipped below 10,000, and it finally recovered a little to gain a 10 points. I think Diane Swonk may not have realized it, but she hit the nail on the head when she said that the possibility of the self-employed doing better than they had been. We can’t trust big banks, we can’t trust the government to come up with a balanced budget, and we can’t count on the government to create jobs. So, people are going out and making their own job. They’re taking the self-employed route, and I think that they’re finding success, because that’s the American way. If we continue to think that the government is going to create jobs for this economy, we are sadly mistaken. It wouldn’t matter if it was a Democratic Congress, a Republican Congress, or a Green Party Congress. Government can’t create lasting jobs. Sure, they can pump a lot of government grant money into a particular industry that will temporarily create new jobs, but most of those jobs will be contract work, not real, lasting careers. The only way to create jobs is for someone like you and me to make a dream into a reality. Start a business and hire employees. That’s the how this country was built. People like Walt Disney, Dale Carnegie, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Truett Cathy are the reason why this country has enjoyed one of the most successful, robust economies the world has ever seen. Let’s stop talking about what the statistics say and how the government should pass this law and regulate that. Let’s start creating jobs the only way we know how to, and that’s by supporting, encouraging, and training young people to be entrepreneurs. There’s not one school in America that teaches high school kids how to start their own business. They are told to go get a “real job”. Right, like developing a product or service, marketing it, hiring employees, managing inventory, filing quarterly tax estimates, and engaging in customer service isn’t a “real” job? If we want this country to start putting Americans back to work, WE need to do something about it. (photo credit: Samyra Serin ) Related Posts: The House Passes Obama’s Massive Economic Stimulus Recovery Plan Make Extra Money While You Are Looking For A New Job Florida Government Cuts Tax Holiday For Hurricane Supplies The State of The Economy: Don’t Believe What You Hear On TV Congress Agrees To Stimulus Package That Puts Your Money Back Into Your Pocket Only You Can Create New Jobs For This Country is a post from: Money Crashers

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Only You Can Create New Jobs For This Country

25 Online Resources For Freelancers and Small Businesses

Erik Folgate — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:00:09 +0000

Last week I revealed to you how my best friend and I started a side business doing internet marketing for small businesses and one reason for our success was that we found clients before we set up the business. Now that we have some clients, we need to look a little more legit, so we started shopping around for some online resources to help us get more organized as a business. Doing freelance work and/or starting a side business is one of the best ways to earn extra money to help you pay off debt, save for retirement, save for kid’s college, or save up for a large purchase. You should focus on seeking out clients first, and then set up business processes. When that time comes, here are 25 online resources to check out when setting up your business. General Office Applications Google Apps: You can get Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Docs integrated into your domain for FREE. I use DreamHost for my web hosting, and they have a feature that automatically installs Google Apps onto your domain, so I can manage my Presence Media mail while maintaining an email address that looks like soandso@presencemediagroup.com. This is essential, because you can collaborate on a calendar and documents with partners and/or employees. Open Office: A solid alternative to Microsoft Office and iWork. It’s open source software, so it’s constantly in development, being tweaked, and modified to suit user’s needs. RightSignature: We use this one too. You can upload contracts, invoices, or estimates and get them electronically signed by clients, rather than playing the faxing game. Get this, there’s an iPhone app that allows clients to sign your iPhone using their finger! How sweet is that? Invoicing, and Bookkeeping Freshbooks: We chose Freshbooks for all of our invoicing needs. Freshbooks as a great API that allows it to hook up with other services for seamless integration. You can also create estimates in Freshbooks, which was a huge feature for us. Zoho Invoices: It lets you send 5 invoices for free, but after that you’ll need to pay for the service. Zoho has an entire suite of small business applications, but everything is a-la-carte, so their services can quickly add up. Outright: We chose Outright for all of our tax filing needs and expense logging. Outright helps you prepare tax documents for the end of the year and for estimated quarterly tax filing. The best thing about Outright is that it’s FREE, and it hooks up with Freshbooks, Expensify, credit cards, and Paypal. Curdbee.com: This is a simple, straightforward invoicing system that’s the cheapest we could find, but didn’t have all of the features we wanted. It hooks up with Paypal and Google Checkout so clients can pay you directly online from the professional invoice you sent them. GoToBilling.com: A full-service invoicing and bookkeeping system, but it runs a little on the high side for monthly fees. It’s part of the suite of applications such as GoToMeeting and GoToMyPC. CannyBill.com: CannyBill can help you accept credit cards, export data to QuickBooks, automate invoicing and late payment notices and a host of other tools. Expense Reporting Shoeboxed: Once we have more monthly expenses and we’re traveling more, we’ll definitely sign up for Shoeboxed. It allows you to take a photo of a receipt, and Shoeboxed will record the expense, categorize it, and keep a digital receipt. It hooks up with Outright.com to record expenses for tax purposes. Expensify: Expensify is similar to Shoeboxed, but it helps you create expense reports and automatically reimburse a credit card for expenses. If you’ve got employees or contractors that work for your business and you want a simple way to reimburse them for their expenses, this is a great application. It also allows you to scan receipts by taking a photo with your iPhone, Blackberry, or Android phone. Time Tracking MyClientSpot.com: Helps you keep track of your billable hours, staying organized, tracking leads and numerous other features. TickSpot.com: This application allows you to easily track time and expenses, and it has an iPhone application to easily track time while away from your computer. Calendars and Scheduling Appointy: An online appointment management tool. SuperSaaS: This is online scheduling software that allows you to accept appointments booked directly on your website. Contact Management Systems SalesJunction: Sales Junction looks really easy to use, it’s easy to customize, and best of all it’s affordable. BatchBook: BatchBook is a small business CRM that manages contacts, communications, and to-do lists. It’s also good for managing email lists and labels. Mojo Help Desk: If you do freelance IT work, web development, or any other tech-related work, you must have an organized system for fielding client needs. This is a great help desk application that creates help tickets to easily manage and prioritize requests and tasks. File Storage and Information Management Pixily: An online service that lets you aggregate, organize, find and share your documents. Thinkfree: Online access to files, collaboration space for your team, and the ability to edit documents and post to blogs with a Web-based editor. Soonr: We use this application for file storage, file sharing, and collaboration, mainly because it has a virtual team drive feature. It creates a virtual hard drive on your computer that you can access without logging into the website application. Planning and Project Management Torch Project Management: Torch allows you to collaborate using messages, e-mails, files, tasks, Google Docs, and other methods. You can bid, track your time and invoice clients directly. Offers seamless work flow (connecting bidding, project management, time tracking and invoicing). PlanPlus Online: An online calendar, time management, project management, and contact management suite from FranklinCovey. Comindwork: Project management, knowledge management, and collaboration software. Related Posts: A Review Of the Mint.com iPhone Application USAA Offers Check Deposit Feature With iPhone iPhone Apps To Help You Save Money My Favorite Personal Finance iPhone Applications Five Steps to Getting and Staying Out of Debt (Step 2) 25 Online Resources For Freelancers and Small Businesses is a post from: Money Crashers

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25 Online Resources For Freelancers and Small Businesses