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Newsletter to Your Friends (Use this link only if you receive this newsletter by email) Week of September 14, 2009This 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! Look for jobs in your area at Walmart Job Listings. I checked on jobs in my area (within 50 miles of Fredericktown, MO) and found 982 listings. These range from professional to entry level positions and include job requirements and application procedures. So far this is the best job listing service I've found on the internet. Just enter your zip code and hit search and you will have a list within seconds. They will even email you any new job listings that match your search criteria. Here is the link to get started: http://walmart.oodle.com/job Buy or sell practically anything on Walmart Classifieds absolutely free. You have to look at this site to believe it. You can search nationwide or local. Check it out at: http://walmart.oodle.com/ Last Wednesday evening I watched the President's speech to congress explaining his new health care proposal. I'm not sure whether I feel more informed or more confused than I was before. Like millions of Americans I'm skeptical anytime the government decides to stick their noses in the private sector. Historically, this leads to enormous cost and more bureauacracy and the people that are supposed to get the benefits wind up on the short end of the stick. But, that's just my opinion. I would like to hear what you think. Please send your comments to tre2000@midwest.net and I will publish them in our newsletter. 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\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ THE FASTER YOU CAN PAY THEM OFF! Paying 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: How To Own Your Paycheck Again! \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Grandpa Terry's Tip of the Week(First published in May 2003) An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career. When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is your house, " he said, "my gift to you." What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well. So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built. If we had realized, we would have done it differently. Think of yourself as a carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity. The plaque on the wall says, "Life is a do-it-yourself project". Who could say it more clearly? Your life today is the result of your attitudes and choices in the past. Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and choices you make today. 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 EmailHello Grandpa Terry,I pray that your Labor Day weekend is going well. I had meant to email you last week but time got away from me - between school, work, college work and kids...it's been hectic. But everyone is (for the most part) healthy and happy. Last week, you had an article in your newsletter about everybody having a little bit of money that they were responsible for. I wanted to let you know, that while this may sound strange to some, it really works! It took my husband and I a couple of years (5...6...?) to really 'get' this. It makes a huge difference. Every two weeks, my husband takes his 'allowance' out of his check and gives me the rest. With this money, I pay bills, buy groceries, and take care of the extras (haircuts, school fund raisers, school lunches). While I do take care of 'it all', I'm constantly letting my husband know: 1) how much the bills are, 2) how much I paid (if didn't pay a bill in full - electric is a prime example: I usually divide it between the two paychecks since it's so large), 3) what I plan to pay next paycheck. The reason I do this is two fold: 1) it keeps him in the loop. He doesn't feel helpless or clueless. Basically, we're both making the money decision, I'm just the one writing the checks. 2) It keeps our money issues our money issues. Both of us take responsibility for them. And it goes without saying that the lines of communication are always open. In fact, my husband tends to get annoyed with me if I tell him I spent $20 on something for me. He tells me he doesn't care, I deserve it, etc. But to me, it's important to tell him these things. And now for a tip: I plan on creating a excel file containing all of the websites and passwords I use to pay our bills. I'm going to password protect this file and keep it on my desk top. This way, if anything should happen to me, my husband is able to access this information. Do you think this is a good idea? Keep up the great work! Iva My Response: Hi Iva, You and your husband have the perfect setup. It's extremely difficult to manage your finances when you can't work together with your spouse. The most important thing is that you are on top of your money and that is 90% of what it takes to get by. Can I use your email for the newsletter? I think it may help others work together on their bills. Response to your tip: I don't see anything wrong with you listing your passwords in Excel. I trust their password protection. You may want to give your desktop icon a name that doesn't imply that it is your bank access codes. Have a great week, Grandpa Terry Featured ArticleWhat to Watch Out For By David Berky Question: I have recently heard of agency out there that will reduce your debt by 70%, just by them somehow talking to them [your creditors]? Do you know anything about this method? Is it legit? I have even heard it on my local radio station and they talk like it is totally legit. - Kevin Answer: It really depends on what they mean by "reduce your debt by 70%" and most likely it is "up to 70%" and not all customers can get a 70% debt reduction. What could this mean? Several things. One could be bankruptcy. Several "companies" and "debt counselors" are just fronts for bankruptcy attorneys. A Chapter 13 bankruptcy can significantly reduce your debt. All your creditors get notified and have to respond in order to maintain their claim on you. If they don't respond, they lose out and you don't have to repay the debt. A judge will then look at your income and decide what you can afford to pay toward your debts each month. S/he then decides how long you will make payments and what portion of each payment goes to which remaining creditors. But, of course, a bankruptcy on your credit report completely hoses your credit. You can still borrow money, but you will be paying 25% rates and it will cost much more in the long run. Also your bankruptcy may not be approved and you could end up owing the attorney money for his/her time. OR it could be a form of debt negotiation. The company calls up your creditors and tells them that you are considering bankruptcy. If they want to help you avoid bankruptcy (and thus preserve your debt to them) they must either lower the amount you owe, reduce the interest rate, or halt the interest charges. Sometimes this works, sometimes not. But when a creditor writes off part of your debt, they usually report it to the credit agencies and it appears on your credit report and also adversely affects your credit scores. They may also flag your file as a possible bad debt and later deny you additional credit or services. OR it could be that they are trying to help you lower your monthly payments, usually through a debt consolidation loan, home equity loan or a complete refinancing of your home. If this is the case and you don't own a home, they will quickly "refer you to someone who can help" (yeah, right!) because they are just looking to make a quick $5000 on loan fees. These companies are just fronts for mortgage brokers. OR other companies want you to make a single payment to them and offer to pay your bills for you. They use teasers like reducing your debt 70% to get you in their door. While it may seem nice to only have to make one payment instead of 10, there is usually a hefty start-up fee and you pay the company monthly fees of up to $50 or more for this service. (10 stamps are much cheaper.) The problem with this arrangement is that you have not done anything to change the habits and actions that got you into trouble to begin with. And you have no direct feedback as to how the debts are being paid off. And if the company should have financial troubles and miss some of your payments, your credit report could get hammered (this happened in Utah recently). These companies realize that you probably will continue to get further into debt, but by doing this you will continue to be a good customer for them. If they make money off of you, they have a motive to keep making money from you. So do they really want to see you get completely debt free or just remain a steady customer? Watch out for companies that want a large up front fee (more than $200) or will charge monthly fees to manage your bills. Watch out for companies that claim they can clear up your credit report; some try illegal tactics that will get you (not them) into trouble. Remember you are considering employing them to negotiate with your creditors on your behalf; be sure you know exactly what they are going to do and say. If they don't disclose their methods, watch out. Also remember, just like they say, "Don't believe everything you read," don't believe everything you hear, especially in advertisements. Radio and TV stations generally do not take much responsibility for what their advertisers say; that is up to the FCC and FTC. If you purchase an ad you can pretty much say what you want so long as it doesn't get the station in trouble. Check out some 2 a.m. infomercials; they are a hoot! David Berky is president of Simple Joe, Inc. makers of the popular Debt Eraser PC software, which helps people create a rapid debt reduction plan to get themselves out of debt much sooner and save $1000s in interest payments. Visit http://www.simple joe.com/debteraser for more information. |
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