|
|
|
|
|
Newsletter to Your Friends (Use this link only if you receive this newsletter by email) Week of June 28, 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! Last November the Federal Reserve Board announced final rules that prohibit financial institutions from charging consumers fees for paying overdrafts on automated teller machine (ATM) and one-time debit card transactions, unless a consumer consents, or opts in, to the overdraft service for those types of transactions. Effective July 1, 2010 you will be required to sign up for overdraft protection even if you are currently covered. Click on the below link to get the details: http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/bcreg/20091112a.htm I would like to recommend a new Yahoo Group I think you will find helpful. You can join others that are interested in saving time and money. Click on the below banner to learn more about frugalista-living-wise: 
Click to join frugalista_living_wise 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 Advertisement and Bill Organizer Extremely Easy To Setup and Maintain! Offers Forms & Worksheets (paper & calculating), Money Saving Tips, 35 How-To Articles and Easy To Follow Instructions. Backed By Unequaled Support. You Won't Know How Easy Budgeting Can Be Until You Try "The Complete Budget and Bill Organizer" Click Here For Immediate Download! Grandpa Terry's Tip of the Week1. Part 1 - Writing descriptions that sell the item. 2. Part 2 - Including photos in your listings. 3. Part 3 - Ebay storefronts 4. Part 4 - What sells and what doesn't sell. 5. Part 5 - Building a powerseller reputation. Like I said, it's free. To order the ecourse just visit the below link and enter your first name and email address. You will receive one part per day for the next 5 days: http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/EBAY/ebaycourse.html Sponsor AdvertisementPaying highest-interest debt first is the SLOWEST way out ... You can laugh at money worries - if you follow our simple plan. Discover savvy consumer money secrets your friends don't know and banks won't tell you. Limited time only. ACT NOW: ///////////////////////////////////////// Grandpa Terry's EmailHelloCan you find out the calendar they use, I really like that idea. I work midnights and time gets away from me on dates really quick thank you Tammy My Response: Hi Tammy, I checked with the subscriber that sent the email and their calendar program came with the computer they bought in 2004. I use a program called Smart Desktop Calendar that is exactly what you are looking for. It's easy to set up and it has pop up reminders that you can set to remind you up to several days ahead of the event. It does cost $19.90 for standard version and they offer a free trial. Here is the link: http://www.smartdesktopcalendar.com/ Here are a couple of links to free desktop calendars: http://www.calendar.google.com http://www.desksware.com/desktop-icalendar-lite.htm I hope this helps Terry Hi, Terry, I read Catherine's suggestion to Linda to get free a credit score. The link is http://www.creditkarma.com/. I'm not criticizing Catherine. I'm sure she sent this to you in good faith. But when I get a website that is forwarded to me by friends or links I see, I will put the name of the company in Google and write the word scam after it. With this company, for example, I Googled credit karma scam. It pulled up over 7 million pages! I was in shock to say the least. Thanks again for all your hard work. Linda in NC My Response: Hi Linda, It's good to hear from you. I'm not exactly sure why Google had so much negative info on creditkarma. I've been a member for almost a year and have nothing but praise for them. When I joined I had to enter my social security number on a secure web page. Then I was asked a question about info on my credit report to ensure I was who I said I was. Since that time they send me a reminder each month to update my credit score. My credit score there is in the range of what my score is through FICO on the 3 credit bureaus. They also include free critical info to help you increase your credit score. You are never asked to spend any money at all. Of course they have advertising but they have to pay for their service some way. Creditkarma.com is the only way to get a free credit score without having to sign up for credit protection that I know of. You have a great week, Terry Grandpa Terry: By the end of October I’ll have all credit cards, other charge cards, etc. paid off. In another 7 years (or 2-3 years) will have mortgage and equity loans paid off as well. Recently ran into a problem with BP (used to be Amoco). Missed a payment because I didn’t receive bill. Now they’ve raised my interest rate to about 29%. I’ve been a loyal customer for 20 years, always paid my bills on time/ahead of time and last 5-6 years always paid bill in full. Tried to speak with someone @ BP but they gave me a “bad attitude, told me too bad, nothing they could do about it. I’ve since opened a Sunoco account (which of course is paid in full every billing. My question is do I just leave BP account open (but not use) or will it affect my credit store if I simply cancel. Val My Response: Hi Val, Congratulations on paying off your credit cards. If your BP card doesn't have an annual fee you should keep it open and not use it. As much as 35% of your credit score is based on how much credit you have available on your credit cards. Cancelling the card will lower this figure. I hope this helps, Grandpa Terry Grandpa Terry, I enjoyed your article on keeping your checkbook balanced. For the longest time, I used your spreadsheet checkbook register to keep track of things. It worked out great except when I found myself forgetting to put charges into the file and bouncing checks (yikes!) So, I've gone back to the old pen and paper method. And I have a few suggestions to your readers; things that work for me. (Idealy, one should use BOTH your bill pay system AND the "old fashioned" method if they wish to keep track electronically and physically). First - I get sidetracked very easily. If I don't do something exactly when I'm thinking about it, I will forget it. When dealing with a checking account or bill paying, this can mean trouble. Like you suggested in your article, I take the time to AT LEAST right down the date and the place where I've swiped my debit card (I swipe it as credit, however, to gain points through my bank). As soon as I'm able, I sit down and consolidate my checkbook register. It is especially important for me to do it immediately because when I swipe my debit card as credit, it does NOT exit the account right away. Hence, my checkbook never "agrees" with the bank (mine is always less because it's "real time"). Second - To make subtracting and adding easier, I round my charges to the nearest dollar. This means if I make a purchase at Kroger for $29.59, I'll enter $29.59 in the debit column, BUT $30 in the far column. If I go to the gas station and accidentally go over $20 by a couple of pennies (I hate that!), I'll round UP to $21. This means that my account NEVER agrees with the bank (which is why I put the real amount in the debit column - because I do check off those things that have cleared my bank). What this also means is that I've inadvertently "saved" money. I've heard that many people do this with actual change - they will write checks for the next dollar amount and add the change to a jar at home (and doesn't one of the banks do this automatically and add it to a savings account for the customer?) Anyway, the pennies add up. This is my way of saving money to jump start our savings account (I haven't been saving for about six months - I want to get back to it. First on the list: emergency fund!) Third - I LOVE bill pay! This past week, my husband and I had the stomach flu and while I was in bed, attempting to get better, two of my bills were paid. I could set these bill pay bills up automatically, but I don't because I never know when things change (for example, last month, we had to shell out $400 unexpectedly to fix our car (paid for!). Had I have had a few bills to be paid automatically, I probably would have bounced my checking account. So for me, as soon as we get paid, I sit down and bill pay most of my bills with bill pay. AS SOON AS I SET UP A BILL TO BE PAID FOR THE MONTH, I enter it into my checking account. I DO NOT wait until it clears! Fourth - I have a notebook where I keep track of bills that need to be paid and which bills have been paid. This folder also has a pocket, so I keep the bills in the folder as well. It's very simple, actually. We get paid every two weeks. I will layout, on paper, which bills get paid during which paycheck. I also put the amount of the bill beside it (rounding up - just makes the math easier). I also use a sticky note program on my computer to add a sticky note of which bills need to be paid during the next pay check on my desktop. When a bill is paid, it gets erased from the sticky note, checked off on the list, and I will write the date and the method of payment I used on the bill's envelope (bill pay, check, cash, online, etc). Then, I will move the paid bill to the pocket in the back of the folder until the new bill comes in. (Also, it goes without saying that as soon as a bill comes in, it goes into the front of the folder and it get added to the list). This is just another method that keeps me on track. I'm attempting to increase my credit score (which is embarrassingly low) and I know that one way to increase it is to pay bills on time. I've never been really good at this because I can't pay bills as soon as I get them - I have to wait until payday. One day, I hope this will change, but for now, this system "keeps me straight" and helps me pay bills on time. I'm beginning to see, GT, that money is very personal. It doesn't matter how much you make - it is how you save/spend/gift it (and not necessarily in that order!) It has taken me a very long time to find a system that "works" for me. I encourage your readers to try different systems until they find one that just "clicks" with them. The basics of budgeting are the same: don't spend more than you make, make sure you know exactly how much you know is coming in and going out, etc. But how we keep track of it is what makes it unique to us. My next step is getting into the habit of paying ourselves first. I need to make adjustments in our debt so that I can do this. I have a plan, so I will be able to do this soon. I can only imagine how good it is going to feel when one day, my husband and I are debt free. But for now, I find a tremendous amount of peace knowing exactly how much money we have coming in each month, how much money is going out, and having a plan to save towards an emergency fund. I've tried it the other way - making my way through our finances in the dark and I can tell you and your readers - it feels horrid. It's scary when the panic sets in and one just feels...lost. While I'm not where I need to be, I'm getting there and believe me - lighting your path, instead of blindly stumbling through it is so much better. I highly recommend it. I'm sorry this is so long :o) Happy Father's Day to you and your readers! Iva Featured ArticleThe Dollar Stretcher Blog by Gary Foreman Dear Dollar Stretcher, My grandson, a corrections oficer in California, is getting paid only 3/4 of his salary due to California's money problems. He is on sick leave due to injuries to his knee which he probably received on the job but is unable to prove it. He is to have surgery in about two to three weeks. The balance he owes on his house is more than the house is worth. He has two toddlers and his wife is a diabetic, has a pump and been advised not to work outside the home. He also has other debts. He is 32 and has never been in this type of situation. I asked him if he asked anyone for financial advice and he said he wouldn't know where to go. I would appreciate any information you can give. Thank you, L.W. Sounds like LW's grandson has a lot on his mind. Sometimes that makes it hard to know where to focus our efforts. Often it's helpful to look at problems from different perspectives. We'll begin by trying to understand each individual problem. Then we'll look at the big, overall picture. Based on Grandma's email we'll consider the following problems: Grandson's salary, his health, his wife's health, other debts, and their upside down home. Grandson's salary is likely to stay frozen for quite awhile. It's public knowledge that California is having a severe budget crunch. So the only way to increase his income would be to find a new higher paying job. Granddaughter, although not able to work outside the home, might be able to bring in some income. Between her health and the toddlers, work might be impossible. But it's wise to ask the question. It's surprising how many people bring in income with small home businesses. While we don't know what type of health insurance Grandson has, as a general rule county and state employees have plans that should cover all but deductibles for his surgery. If he hasn't already, Grandson should talk to someone in the worker's comp office. Whether he's eligible or not, it's good to know for certain. As to his home, the fact that he owes more than it's current value probably isn't important as long as he can continue to make the payments. Unless he's planning on selling the house or can't make payments there's nothing that he needs to do. While it may be tempting to walk away from a home that's worth less than what you owe on it, as long as he can keep up with the payments and isn't planning on moving he'll want to stay in the house. Letting the home fall into foreclosure will crater his credit score. And, the bank would have the right to pursue him for any shortage when the home is finally sold. Plus, the amount of the shortfall will be added to his taxable income. The fact that he has other debts isn't surprising. Many young families do. But interest going to credit card companies can be especially painful if your finances are tight. Finding some way to repay those debts would be very helpful. If the credit card debt totals more than $10,000 he might want to consider credit counseling. Often then can get the interest rate reduced which makes it easier to pay down the balance. Now that we've looked at each individual issue, we'll take a look at the whole picture. It could be that when taken all together that a different picture might emerge. There appears to be two overriding issues. Do they have enough income to support their lifestyle? And, will health issues force any changes? Let's begin by comparing income to expenses. If there's a gap, Grandson will need to make some changes. The first is to increase income or reduce their standard of living. That may not be hard, but it is necessary. Putting it off now will only make it worse later. If that's not sufficient to close the gap he'll need to begin credit counseling and consideration of a short-sale on their home. If that's still not sufficient, then Grandson may need to consider bankruptcy. Health issues could have a serious affect on their plans. Consultation with their doctors should give them an idea of whether any lifestyle changes are in their future. This is something that they'll need to consider on a regular basis. Grandson doesn't need to feel overwhelmed by all the different events in his life. Looking at circumstances individually and then taking a 'big picture' approach will help him know what actions need to be taken to prevent big problems in the future. Gary Foreman is the editor of The Dollar Stretcher.com. Check out their frugal living page and enewsletters including Financial Independence. Financial Independence is designed to walk step-by-step with you as you take control of your finances and achieve financial freedom! |
|
Copyright © 2000-2010 Budget Stretcher All rights Reserved. |
