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Newsletter to Your Friends (Use this link only if you receive this newsletter by email) Week of January 25, 2010This is an OPT-IN list ONLY! If you feel that you have received this message in error, please follow the directions at the bottom of this email to unsubscribe. Thank you.Click Here to view this newsletter online. Navigate This ColumnGrandpa Terry's Update Welcome to The Budget Stretcher! I put a lot of tips in our newsletter but the below link will hook you up with a bunch of them. Please take a few minutes to browse this site. http://frugalliving.about.com/od/randomtips/ I'm sure you've seen this banner before but have you taken the time to check it out? They are one of our sponsors that has some great free stuff that you can actually use. Click on the below banner to see how much you can save:  Getting old, are we? Reflexes slowing down? As I remember, the automobile driving manual Says the average driver's reaction time is: .75 seconds -or- 1 car length for every 10 mph... Test your reaction time with this special test. Click here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/sheep/reaction_version5.swf That's all for now. Remember, I really enjoy hearing from you folks. If you have any comments, complaints, suggestions or just want to say Hi, please send me an email to tre2000@midwest.net If you know someone that may be interested in subscribing to our newsletter just copy and paste the below link into an email to them and have them subscribe: http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/confirmsubs.html Have a great week, Grandpa Terry Sponsor AdvertisementSale Ending Soon So Order Now! Effective immediately and for the foreseeable future you can get the below products for only $5! Please take advantage of the Specials: The Complete Budget and Bill Organizer (ORDER THROUGH THIS LINK) The Quick-Find Filing System The Bill Pay Management System Grandpa Terry's Tip of the WeekBy Terry Rigg How do you keep track of when your bills are paid? If you don't pay your bills on time you could be subject to late fees. Currently, many credit card companies and others charge upwards of $39 for each late payment. In my community the electric coop charges 10% late fees if the bill is not paid by the 10th of the month. In addition, if your credit card payments are late the company will raise your interest rate. Depending on your current balance this could cost you hundreds of dollars a year in interest charges. Budget Stretcher's Budget Ledger can help you avoid these problems and ensure that your bills are paid on time every month. The Budget Ledger is simply a form where you can list your bills in the order that they are due. There is space to list the company name, date due and the amount you have budgeted for that bill. It's important to remember to pay these bills about 7 days before the due date in order to ensure that they are posted on time. The printable Budget Ledger is part of your budget organizer that is available with your subscription to this newsletter. You can find it by visiting the below link: http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/subbbo/tabbedBBO.html If you would rather have the calculating version of the Budget Ledger you can order it at the below page: http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/calcforms/screenshots.html Sponsor AdvertisementAre you frustrated trying to get by on the money you make? Would you like to get a good view to where all your money is going? Would you like to start saving your money, or save even more? Looking for something easier then software like Quicken or Money? Would you like to teach your children about finance? Click Here to check out My Budget Planner Today Grandpa Terry's EmailResponses To Subscriber Help EmailHey GT, I had a few things to say to your subscriber, Denice, who was feeling pressured by an online college to start immediately. I have a few questions: first, did she fill out financial aid forms or she paying for it out of pocket? I believe most schools give you a 100% refund if you drop out within a certain amount of time. As time goes on, that percentage goes down until eventually, you get none of your money back for that class. I'm currently attending school online through Grand Canyon University double majoring in Education/Special Education. I had a handful of colleges contact me and like Denice, I had one that used high pressure tactics to get me to attend their school. In the end I chose GCU because they didn't use these high pressure tactics and a friend from work attends the same school. In my opinion, Denice probably needs to withdraw from Ashford. Then, she needs to get back to basics and do much research as she can online and then talk to admission counselors. I think she'll find that there are some that really care about students and will take the time to clear up any questions she might have. That said, she might want to consider talking to someone at GCU as they offer a Bachelor's Degree is Justice Studies (although I'm not sure that this is exactly what she needs). If you'd like, you can (privately, please) giver her my email address. Just make sure she lets me know who she is right away so I won't toss the email. Hope this helps, Iva TurtleMom23@gmail.com www.thehorizontalyoyo.wordpress.com Hi Grandpa Terry! I am writing to respond to Denice, the woman wondering about a particular online school, and if she should or could get out of a class at an online school. Any time a business engages in hard line pressure tactics it should be considered a red flag. What is the rush and why is the pressure? If the business, in this case a school, is legitimate, there is no need for high pressure sales tactics. I would suggest Denice call the Iowa Department of Education and ask two questions: 1) whether Ashford is accredited, and if so, what kind of accreditation it has. In order to be eligible for state licensing, a student must graduate from a properly accredited school. If the State Department of Education express any doubts about graduates of Ashford being allowed to take a state licensing exam, you might want to get out of the school. Another good test is to call a state university registrar's office and ask if credits from Ashford would transfer to the state university. If not, then I would be very concerned. You could end up with a degree from a school - and the debt that goes with it - without being eligible for licensing. If you have no license, you can't work in the field of your degree. Catherine Grandpa Terry, my husband and I decided to really cut expenses this year and watch where our money really goes. I found some sites with food coupons for items we could use and I printed them. Today we went to Walmart to food shop and I was concerned that they might not honor e-mail coupons so I checked with them before I started shopping and sure enough they did honor them and we did save money on select items. I sure won't hesitate to check different sites and print coupons in the future. Sincerely, Joan Dix not a tip, just an idea I pulled a free copy of my credit report in November and did the same with my husband, but with a different Credit reporting agency. there were three items on there that I had a dispute with. I clicked on dispute and disputed them. Have not heard anything or checked anything with the credit report. Didn't want to look to often to affect credit rating.. What is my next step or what should I do now? Thanks Tammy Hi Tammy, According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act credit agencies have 30 days to respond to credit report disputes. If it has been over 30 days I would send a follow up letter similar to the one at the below link: http://www.debt-n-credit-letters.com/Report-Dispute/credit-report-dispute-letter-2.html Let me know if you have any other questions. All the best, Terry Featured Article10 Steps to reducing monthly mortgages Owning a home means money management and good sense. The first step is to sit down and take a hard look at your finances. Then decide to purchase a home where the down payment and mortgage will be what you can afford. Stay well within your means. If possible consult a finance professional and consider putting down a greater down payment. Cost factors will include: total cost of home; maximum monthly housing cost (approximately 32% of your gross monthly income); and monthly debt load (not more than 40% of your gross monthly income). Try and keep the debt ratio as low as possible. A reduced monthly mortgage payment is a dream come true for just about everyone. There are many ways in which one can do this:
• Consider changing from a short term mortgage to a long term mortgage. This will tide you over the financial crunch and enable you to pay lower monthly payments. If your situation strengthens you could always foreclose the loan. • Request for cancellation of the insurance you are paying to secure your mortgage. Once 20% of your loan is settled and you have established a good credit history ask the lender to wave payment towards the insurance. This will help reduce your monthly outlay. • Find out where lower homeowner insurance rates are being offered. You will succeed in reducing your PITI payment, principal, interest, tax, and insurance payment. • Check your calculations regularly make sure all adjustments are being made correctly. • Choose a mortgage that offers a degree of flexibility. In this interest is paid only on the balance outstanding every day. This means you can pay off the mortgage in accordance to your earnings. • Consider an accelerated equity plan or biweekly payments. This will reduce your burden quicker and yield big benefits. • Study the details of your mortgage; find out what constitutes the principal and what the interest. Every month try and pay a little more than the amount due to be adjusted towards the principal. By reducing the principal you will save considerable outlay of funds as interest. • Try variable interest or short term loans. Find out about ‘teaser rates”, loans which attract a lower interest for asset period. • Consolidate your loans into a single loan with lower payments. Study all the loans, home, car, education, and so on. Make a table and analyze the outlay. Consult a mortgage specialist and find out what consolidation will mean and how much it will reduce your monthly payments by. Mortgages @ 
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