Young African American Women

Lower Your Bills

Patricia Williams — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 02:52:33 +0000

Online Checklist to Lower Your Bills

87 ways to save money, and counting…

Home & Auto Insurance

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Insurance is a great place to save money because:1. It’s expensive
2. Prices vary widely
3. It’s easy to compare online

You can get quotes from local agents or online.

Auto Insurance

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Get a Better Rate

SureHits will show you which companies offer competitive auto insurance rates in your area. They work with Geico, Progressive, Esurance and many other companies. This is a good option if you want to buy insurance directly from the company with no agent.Enter Zip:

With InsureMe, you can easily get quotes from several local agents. You fill out one form, and local agents will call or e-mail you with your quote.Enter Zip:

Auto Insurance Savings Tips

1. Don’t get collision insurance on older cars. For example, if your car is only worth $2,000 it’s not worth paying $500/year to protect it.

2. With no tickets or accidents, your rate should usually go down over time. If not, you should renegotiate or switch providers.

Homeowners Insurance

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Get a Better Rate

SureHits will show you which companies offer competitive home insurance rates in your area. They work with Geico, Progressive, Esurance and many other companies. This is a good option if you want to buy insurance directly from the company with no agent.Enter Zip:

With InsureMe, you can easily get quotes from several local agents. You fill out one form, and local agents will call or e-mail you with your quote.Enter Zip:

Phone, Internet & TV

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Some people find they can save the most money by bundling these services with one company. Here’s a site that explores the various bundling offers.

Landline

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Instead of a landline, consider internet phone services.

Vonage looks and acts just like a regular phone. With Vonage, you can use your internet connection to make unlimited phone calls for a flat fee of $24.99/month.

Another option is Skype. With your computer, you can talk for free to other Skype users, and make inexpensive calls to landlines and cell phones.

To use either Vonage or Skype, you must already have high-speed internet.

If you call long-distance a lot, use a calling card. Don’t pay more than a couple cents a minute. Beware of connection fees, though.

Already have a cell phone? You might want to reconsider whether you need a landline at all. I haven’t had one for 7 years.

Cell Phone

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If you don’t use your phone a lot, consider pre-paid plans like Tracfone, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Net10. It usually costs about 10 cents a minute, but your minutes can expire. The biggest advantages are cheaper plans and no contracts.Here are some pretty obvious tips for saving on traditional cell phones.

If you send a lot of text messages, make sure your plan includes them. This is the biggest way people get burned.
Don’t buy ring tones, joke of the day, or other add ons.
Get the cheapest plan, and save your long conversations for nights and weekends.

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I don’t get cable TV. Instead I use a monthly movie subscription service. I don’t miss the commercials. Plus it’s way cheaper.

Blockbuster Total Access offers movies by mail and at the store. Prices range from $4 to $20 per month.

Want even better savings? In some cities, you can borrow movies from the public library for free.

Secret Savings: Here’s a tip the cable company doesn’t want you to know. Prices are negotiable. Call up and threaten to cancel. Chances are, the retention department will offer you a lower rate for a limited time.

And of course, if you really want to save money, just stop watching TV entirely.

Health Care

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If you are not insured, you need to get insured right now! Why?1. Half of all bankruptcies are caused by health care expenses.

2. For the self insured, a high deductible health plan (HDHP) is probably cheaper than you think. With these plans you will pay for routine costs yourself, but you are covered in case of a serious health issue. In 2008, these plans cost as little as $60/month.

3. If you insure yourself with a high-deductible plan, you are eligible for tax deductions using a Health Savings Account.

4. If you don’t have insurance, health care providers will charge you higher prices. For example, in 2005, a clinic charged me about $750 for a CT scan. The cost to uninsured patients? $1,500! My insurance company didn’t cover the procedure, but I still saved 50% just for having insurance.

Get Health Insurance

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eHealthInsurance will compare various health plans so you can choose the one that’s right for you. It’s pretty convenient and they have the most providers.Enter Zip:

Use InsureMe if you want to get health insurance with a local agent. You fill out one form, and local agents will call or e-mail you with your quote.Enter Zip:

Prescription Drugs

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I’ve been told that you can save money by using free prescription drug savings cards. You don’t need to provide any information or do anything besides print out a free card and bring it to your pharmacy. I’ve never tried this myself so let me know if it works for you.

Mortgage

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You can sometimes save a lot of money by refinancing your mortgage to get a lower interest rate.I am a little wary of sites like Lending Tree, which could cause you some headache.

Try talking to your local bank, credit union, or mortgage broker. But be wary of hidden fees, rate hikes and other traps. This is one situation in which it pays to consult a lawyer before signing.

Credit Cards

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Reduce Payments

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If you have credit card debt, your #1 financial priority should be paying this down to zero. Pay your full balance every month!If you do have debt, considering switching cards to get a temporary 0% interest rate. Make sure that there is no balance transfer fee, however.

For those who qualify, Citi offers a card with a 0% APR for up to 12 months. One of our users writes: “We had transferred our debt onto it and enjoyed the grace period while we paid it down. The rate is still very good.”

Jason Skinrood, of PlasticRewards.com, wrote to recommend these other cards:

Bank of America Platinum Plus: A very popular transfer card with a high credit line available. Transfer fee of 3% and 0% APR for 12 months.

Discover More Card: Excellent customer service on a popular balance transfer card. Transfer fee. 0% APR for 12 months.

Clear from American Express: No balance transfer fees with excellent customer service. Get a fixed 3.99% APR for 12 months.

HSBC Cards: Several cards to choose from that offer 0% APR for 12 months. Balance transfer fee of 3%.

Get Cash Back

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If you have good credit you should be getting cash back. I personally use the Citi Dividend Platinum Select card, which gives me 1% cash back plus 2% on gas and groceries.It looks like that card isn’t available anymore, but Citi does offer some other decent cash back cards.

Jason Skinrood, of PlasticRewards.com, recommended these reward cards to us:

Blue Cash from American Express: A very popular card good for big spenders with excellent credit. Cash rebates up to 5% are tiered and American Express features excellent service.

Chase Freedom: Popular cash back card that is good for small spenders. Earn 3% cash back on top three spending categories with bonus cash and enhancement opportunities as a Chase banking customer. Some categories limited to $18 in rebates per month.

Costco American Express: This card is quickly becoming very popular because of the large 3% gas rebate. Card features excellent customer service but you receive your rebate as a Costco gift card.

Discover More Cards: The cards feature excellent customer service and earn up to 5% cash back. Rebates are tiered and Discover offers additional promotions throughout the year.

Savings and Investment

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Make sure your savings work for you. If your money is sitting in a low-interest checking account, you are losing money.

High Yield Savings Accounts

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Online savings accounts will pay a lot higher rates of interest than your checking account.

Interest Rates (APY) – May 2008
ING Direct	Average Checking
3.00%	< 1.00%

If you have $10,000 in a no-interest checking account, you could earn an extra $300/year by putting this money in an ING Direct account.

I personally use ING Direct. It’s really easy to link my ING account to my other accounts, so I can easily transfer money in and out. Their website works great, and my deposits are FDIC insured, meaning that my money is as safe as in any bank.

Stock Investment

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Stock investment can be very risky, since stocks often go down. However, in the long term stocks have significantly outperformed other asset classes. US stocks have historically returned about 10% a year.I highly recommend reading A Random Walk Down Wall Street. This book does a good job of explaining how the stock market works, including many common pitfalls and misconceptions.

Here are some general rules for stock investment:

1. Only invest money you won’t need for at leat 5 years.
2. Don’t frequently trade stocks. Buy and hold.
3. Diversify your portfolio.
4. Invest in mutual funds with low expense ratios.

$100,000 invested for 20 years – 10% return
Fund w/ Low Expense Ratio (0.3%)	Fund w/ High Expense Ratio (2.0%)
$636,990	$466,096

I personally use Vanguard Mutual Funds, which have very low expense ratios.

Retirement Plans (401k, IRA, etc..)

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If your employer matches your 401k contributions, invest as much as possible. This is free money.We also recommend investing as much as possible in your IRA, which allows you to invest with lower taxes.

Utilities

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Here’s a list of simple ways to reduce your utility bills:

Program the temperature. No point in wasting electricity while nobody is home.
Fans can sometimes work almost as well as AC, and at a lower cost.
In hot weather, close the shades during the heat of the day. Let the sun heat your house in the winter.
Use a clothesline instead of a dryer.
Compact flourescent bulbs use about 75% less electricity than incandescents.
Some cities will charge you less for garbage if you use a smaller can.

Gas and Car

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Tips for saving on gas:

Use a cash-back card. Some cards, such as the Citi Dividend Platinum Select card give you 2% or more cash back on gas.
Check your tire pressure regularly. This can reduce fuel consumption by 3%.
Take off the luggage rack! If you are driving around with a luggage rack, you could be reducing your fuel efficiency by 10%. Take it off it you aren’t using it.
Clean out your trunk. Some people use their cars as a second closet. All this extra weight reduces your mileage.
Don’t buy premium. Premium gas will not help your mileage or your performance unless your car’s manual specifically says you need it. If not, just buy regular.
Know when to use the AC. At slow speeds, it is more efficient to just roll down the windows. At high speeds, air conditioning is more fuel efficient because rolling down the windows increases wind resistance.
Avoid long idles. Turn off your car instead of idling for long periods.
Drive slower on the highway:

Car Maintenance Tips

Oil changes. Check your manual. You probably don’t need oil changes every 3,000 miles.
Engine flushes are a scam. Don’t fall for “engine flushes” or other expensive add-ons at quickie oil-change places.
Don’t put additives in your gas tank. They don’t work.

Driving Less / Not at All

The best strategy is to live in a place where you can walk to work, walk to shops and your children can walk to school. It’s great for your budget and your health.
If you do the same route every day, try car pooling or taking public transport. There are lots of carpool websites to help, including eRideshare.com, CarpoolConnect.com and RideSearch.com. You could save time driving in HOV lanes and avoid the stress of traffic.
Many families live without a car and use FlexCar.com when they need a car for a few hours.

Food and Groceries

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Groceries

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Here’s some simple ways to save on groceries:

Clip coupons. Find coupons here or in your local newspaper.
Buy generic. Many generic products are identical to the more expensive brand names, especially in the pharmacy. Haven’t tried generic recently? Some store brands, such as Safeway Select, can actually be better than the brand names.
Buy what’s on sale. Stock up on your favorite brands when they’re on sale. Otherwise, just buy whatever’s on sale. You’ll appreciate the variety and savings.
Double-check the price. Watch the register as items are scanned. Make sure you are charged accurately and that you actually do receive the coupon rate.

Dining, Coffee & Bar

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Here’s some tips to save on these fun activities:

Don’t Overeat. Skip on the overpriced appetizers and desserts. Better yet, split an appetizer, entree, and dessert between two people.
Pre-Drink. Instead of two drinks at the bar, have one drink at your friend’s house before heading out.
Hold the Milk. For me, drip coffee tastes just as good as a latte. It’s healthier too, and half the price.
I’m Slumming It. Gotta have the latte? McDonald’s is about 25% cheaper than Starbucks, and is just as good according to taste tests.
The Best Way to Save. Socialize at home with your friends, using food and drinks from the grocery store. Make your own coffee, and see how much you’ll save.

Asking for Help

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If you’re really struggling to make ends meet, help is available. Try your local food pantry, or apply for food stamps. 28 million low-income Americans receive government food assistance of some sort.

Miscellaneous

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Buy Used

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The best way to find used things is on Craig’s List.Expect to save 50% – 90% off the new price for furniture, electronics and more. Don’t forget to negotiate!

Many used clothing stores such as Buffalo Exchange sell like-new name-brand clothing for pretty decent prices.

Textbooks

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Save on Textbooks:

Buy Used. This is kind of a no-brainer. If you can’t find used books locally, try Amazon.com.
Use the School Library. Don’t buy the book. Just use the reserve copy at the school library.
Use an Old Edition. Ask the professor if you can use an older edition

Used Calculus Textbook Price on Amazon.com – May, 2008

4th edition (2004) 3rd edition (2001)

$47.00 $1.73

Calculus hasn’t changed. The publishers just put out new editions to sell more books. What a scam!
Always Sell Back. You may think you’ll need that textbook again one day. But if you’re like 99% of us, you’ll never open it again. Even if you change your mind, textbooks lose their value fast. You’ll always be able to buy it back again for cheaper.

Gym Membership

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If you actually go to the gym it’s probably worth it, but lots of people buy an expensive gym membership as a New Year’s resolution and never use it. Just be realistic.

Some insurance companies give rebates on gym memberships if you prove that you’re going to the gym. Worth asking about!

Did you know? Millions of people outside the United States don’t actively exercise and maintain a healthy weight. Combine exercise into your daily life by walking instead of driving and eating moderate portions of healthy food. It will help your waistline and your budget.

Bank Fees

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Banks love to slip in fees without warning. Check your monthly bank statement and talk with your bank about any fees. If you ask, they will usually waive any hidden fee.You might also consider banking at a credit union instead of a bank. They are less likely to charge annoying fees.

Big Ticket Items

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Try negotiating. Be friendly and see if you can get a discount by paying with cash. A local appliance dealer might give you a $50 discount if you pay in cash and let him know that you could be a repeat customer.Apparently, even big box stores are sometimes willing to negotiate.

Be wary of extended service plans. They are usually a rip-off, and in any case, you will have the manufacturer’s warranty.

Of course, the best way to save is to buy used. Try searching Craig’s List.

Free Credit Report

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Your credit score can affect your insurance rates, mortgage, and other bills. Get a credit report to ensure its accuracy. Get your free report here, and read the FTC’s warning about other credit reporting sites.

Travel

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Flights

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Flights are getting more expensive due to the price of gas. Here’s some ways to save money.

Dare to Compare. JetPunk allows you to search several other sites, including discount airlines like Southwest.
Still Around. Very occasionally, you can still get a better deal with a local travel agent, usually on international flights. It’s at least worth a shot.

Hotels

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Ways to save:

Name Your Price. Priceline lets you name your own price. This never works for flights, but for hotels you can save a lot. Here’s a tip to getting a great rate: always low ball your first bid. You will get the option to increase it later, so why not start low? Keep in mind that prices are often lower during the off-season and on weekdays. Shoot for a nice hotel while you’re at it, since prices for higher quality hotels can be about the same as for lower quality hotels. Expect to save at least 50%.
Hostels. If you are traveling alone, youth hostels can be an inexpensive option, usually around $20/night. If traveling with others, you might save money staying in a hotel, since hostels charge on a per-person basis. For the very frugal, some hostels will let you stay for free in exchange for work. Check out Hostelz.com for a good directory of hostels.
Shop Around. JetPunk is a simple site that lets you quickly search several hotel sites. A good way to cover your bases.
Ask About Discounts. Are you a senior? An AAA member? A veteran? Ask the hotel if they can give you a discount. Also ask about weekly rates.
Haggle. If all else fails, negotiate. Most independently-owned hotels will bargain with you over the phone, especially at the last minute. Remember that if they have vacancy, they want to fill it, so don’t be embarrassed to start low.
Who Needs It? Do you plan on spending a lot of time in your hotel? If not, then don’t waste money on a nice hotel. In some areas, camping can be a great option. Want to save even more? Stay with friends or family.
Make New Friends. Want to stay for free, but don’t have any friends where you’re going? Check out CouchSurfing.com. It’s a free web service that connects travelers and people willing to host them for free. A rating system helps to prevent bad experiences.

Seeing the Sights

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Find free ways to have fun like factory tours, brewery tours, nature hikes, free festivals, and live tapings of TV shows.

Rental Cars

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Rental cars are another area where you can save by naming your own price on Priceline. Remember to make your first bid low, since you can raise it later.Usually your rental car is insured by your existing car insurance or your credit card. If so, don’t pay for the extra insurance.

Don’t go for any of the rental company’s gas schemes. The cheapest way is to fill it yourself before you return it.

Remind Me to Visit Again

We recommend you visit this page every 3 months or so.

E-mail address:
Remind me in:	1 week 2 weeks 1 month 3 months 6 months 1 year
How many times?	Regularly Just Once

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Daily Savings Calculator

Small daily savings can have a big effect! See how your savings grow over time.Save $/day at % interest (APY).

10 Things You Can Do To Help Yourself

Patricia Williams — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 05:27:42 +0000

1.Don’t just go to school get educated and graduate.

2.Don’t have sex before marriage.

3.Don’t shack!

4.If you have children put them first and take care of them.

5.If you can’t go to college take online classes .

6.Set goals and Stay focused!

7.Live a balanced life responsibly (school,social life)

8. Listen, hear,and then speak.

9. Connect with positive people who will help you not bring you down.

10.Don’t give up when the chips are down.

Ways young people can make money online

Patricia Williams — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 21:01:59 +0000

10 New Ways to Make Money Online

You can make money in the new economy, though it might not be as easy or cushy as keeping your old job.

I’m not talking about advertising or affiliate marketing or selling your junk on eBay. Those are so last millennium! I’m talking about the new new economy.

1. Offer your professional expertise in an online marketplace.These days, you can do more than just sell your old books via Amazon and your old Coach handbags via eBay—now you can sell your professional capabilities in a marketplace. No longer are you limited to looking for a permanent or contract job on Web 1.0 style job sites like Monster or CareerBuilder. The new breed of freelancing and project-oriented sites let companies needing help describe their projects. Then freelancers and small businesses offer bids or ideas or proposals from which those buyers can choose.

Elance covers everything from programming and writing to consulting and design, while RentACoder focuses on software, natch. If you’re a graphic designer, check out options like Design Outpost or LogoWorks–you don’t have to find the customers, they’ll come to you. Wannabe industry analysts might sign up for TechDirt’s Insight Community, a marketplace for ideas about technology marketing.

2. Sell photos on stock photography sites. If people regularly oooo and aaaaah over your Flickr pics, maybe you’re destined for photographic greatness or maybe just for a few extra dollars. It’s easier than ever to get your photos out in front of the public, which of course means a tremendous amount of competition, but also means it might be an convenient way for you to build up a secondary income stream. Where can you upload and market your photos? Try Fotolia, Dreamstime, Shutterstock, and Big Stock Photo.

3. Blog for pay. Despite the explosion of blogs, it’s hard to find good writers who can turn around a solidly-written post on an interesting topic quickly. GigaOM is always looking for bloggers with great content ideas and solid writing skills. How do you get noticed? Comment and link to blogging network sites. Write blog posts that are polished and not overly personal (although showing some personality is a plus).

4. Or start your own blog network. If you like the business side of things–selling advertising, hiring and managing employees, attracting investors–and have the stomach to go up against the likes of Weblogs, Inc., GigaOmniMedia, b5media, maybe you should make an entire business out of blogs. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’ll get a lot of time to write yourself though.

5. Provide service and support for open source software. Just because the software is free doesn’t mean you can’t make money on it–just ask Red Hat, a well-known distributor of Linux that sports a market cap of more than four billion dollars. As a solo web worker, you might not want to jump in and compete with big companies offering Linux support, but how about offering support for web content management systems like WordPress or Drupal? After getting comfortable with your own installation, you can pretty easily jump into helping other people set them up and configure them.

6. Online life coaching. Who has time to go meet a personal coach at an office? And don’t the new generation of web workers need to be met by their coaches in the same way that they work: via email, IM, and VoIP? You could, of course, go through some life coaching certification program, but on the web, reputation is more important than credentials. I bet Tony Robbins isn’t certified as a life coach–and no one can argue with his success. For an example of someone building up their profile and business online as a coach, check out Pamela Slim of Ganas Consulting and the Escape from Cubicle Nation blog.

7. Virtually assist other web workers. Freelancers and small businesses desperately need help running their businesses, but they’re not about to hire a secretary to come sit in the family room and answer phone calls. As a virtual assistant, you might do anything from making travel reservations to handling expense reimbursements to paying bills to arranging for a dog sitter. And you do it all from your own home office, interacting with your clients online and by phone. You can make $20 and up an hour doing this sort of work, depending on your expertise.

8. Build services atop Amazon Web Services. Elastic computing on AWS is so cool… and so incredibly primitive right now. Did you know that you can’t even count on your virtual hard drive on EC2 to store your data permanently? That’s why people are making money right now by offering services on top of AWS. Make it easier for people to use Amazon’s scalability web infrastructure like Enomaly has with elasticlive, a scalable web hosting platform built on AWS.

9. Write reviews for pay or perks. If you blog for any length of time on a particular topic–parenting, mobile phones, or PCs, for example–you will likely be approached to do book or product reviews. You can get free stuff this way, but are you selling your soul? Is there any such thing as a free laptop? These are decisions you’ll have to make for yourself, because no one agrees upon what ethical rules apply to bloggers. Even less do people agree on services like PayPerPost that pay you to write reviews on your blog. Check out disclosure rules closely and see whether such a gig would meet your own personal standards or not.

10. Become a virtual gold farmer. A half million Chinese now earn income by acquiring and selling World of Warcraft gold to gamers in other countries. If you’re not a young person living in China, this probably isn’t a viable option for you. But what’s intriguing about it is the opportunity to make real money working in a virtual economy. People are making real-world money in Second Life too.

What other new ways do you know of to make money online?

Hello world!

Patricia Williams — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 20:55:43 +0000

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!

Used Calculus Textbook Price on Amazon.com – May, 2008
4th edition (2004)	3rd edition (2001)
$47.00	$1.73