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Newsletter to Your Friends (Use this link only if you receive this newsletter by email) Week of November 2, 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! There has been some isolated problems with email I receive and publish in the newsletter. Some are embarrassed about the content of the email and others are very concerned about their privacy. When I receive an email I naturally respond as soon as I can after researching my response if necessary. At the same time I consider just how either the content of the email or my response would be to subscribers and members if published in the newsletters. If I feel that it would benefit a large number of subscribers it will appear in the newsletter. By default I will publish any email I select in the newsletter and include only the first name of the sender. If you would rather not have your email published in my newsletters or would like to remove your name please let me know when you send your email. In addition, if you have a web site or blog you would like to promote you are more than welcome to include a link in your email and I would be happy to include it in the newsletter for you. I have something else that may be fun to list in the newsletter. Every state and many citys have laws that are just crazy. I'm going to list one of those law each week. Let me know what you think!! LOUISIANA Biting someone with your natural teeth is "simple assault," while biting someone with your false teeth is "aggravated assault." Compliments of Loony Laws.com Our "Secret Offer" may be a free download or a program that I recommend for you that costs a little bit of money. This is not a gimmick or a trick and you make the final decision whether you want the offer or not. 
Tawra from Living on a Dime.com is offering her free ebook again this year. However, this year you can also watch a video on the below web site to learn how to make these beautiful wreaths for just a couple of dollars. Click Here to get yours free. 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 AdvertisementTHE 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: http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=107959 Grandpa Terry's Tip of the WeekYesterday, my daughter and I was looking at her ATT Cell phone bill to see if she could cut her payments. To me it looks like the national debt but these days everybody has to have a cell phone. She has 5, one for each family member. Yes, I do have a cell phone with a whopping 100 minutes and only costs me $32 a month that I use for business. No frills just a phone without a cord. On her bill there were 7 phones listed. Two of the numbers she had never seen before with about $38 in charges between them. This was on her April bill that had already been paid. She didn't have much trouble getting credit for the charges but if we hadn't been checking the bill these charges could have gone on for months because she doesn't check her bill every month. All of us are guilty of this. We get busy, the bills come in and we just make the payments. What's even worse is that if we do check the bill and see a charge that doesn't look right we just accept it. Those of us that do check our bills every month are usually the ones that have been burned. It is a real pain to look at each bill as they come in to see if it has any mistakes because most of the time they are accurate. But, believe me it's well worth the time. The rules are simple: When you receive a bill check it over carefully for anything that doesn't look right. If you find something make the call immediately before making the payment. Don't take no for an answer. Make them satisfy you that the charge is legitimate. If the charge shouldn't be there make them credit your bill and change the payment to reflect the credit. Do this for every bill every month! 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 EmailCan You Help?Well, enough blabbing. The favor I have is to ask the computer "whiz kids," who contribute to your newsletter, regarding replacing the Vista OS with the up and coming Windows 7? Is it worth it? I've not had trouble with Vista; no crashing and so on. I am, however, finding problems with Mozilla Firefox. Time to find a new browser. But this started recently so..... Joelle Send your responses to tre2000@midwest.net If this hasn't been done yet, it should be mentioned that Target stores will be offering .05 cents per bag to those who bring in their reusable shopping bags. I wouldn't be surprised to see other stores follow suit. Hi Terry, I am a BSP lifetime member and am very very happy to be one. You have been so much help to me 7 my husband on learning how to become debt free. not quite there yet but close. I have a question ...My son and his wife have gotten themselves into some CC debt. My daughter in law was handling all finances and unbeknown to my som had really gotten them messed up (by the way, she is a sweetheart and we love her dearly). But like many young couples sometimes financial things get out of hand. Well she had not told my son about the financial difficulty she was having and he thought they had no CC and had no idea what had happened until she had the bank account messed up as well. She never kept a check book ledger and she never got bank statements in the mail. Well they are getting the bank straighted out after many many overdraft charges. But the credit cards are costing them about $450.00 per month to just pay the minimum carges on three different CC. And because she has missed some payments the interst rate has gone up to 29%. They have 3 cards with a total on 12 thousand dollars on them. My son called the CC companies to see if they would work with him and at least lower the interest rate so he could continue to make payments and get them paid off eventually. Well they refused and there is no way in there entire life time they will be able to pay these. And they are a struggling family of 5 like so many others. My son has a good job and my daughter in law has daycare in there home...but because of unemployment being the highest in the country here in Oregon she has lost some kids. so their income has dropped and prices going up. They rent their place so would not be able to do a loan on their home. Which I would not want them to any way. He tried to reason with the CC company...but they got rude and so he said you are making it impossible for me to pay this debt unless you lower the interest rate. She then said "How many different ways do I have to tell you we WILL NOT lower the interest rate"! All we can do is lower your minimum payment". My son said I would never get you paid off that way. So I just don't think I can pay you. Then she said "Well I guess then you won't pay us" My question is if he does quit paying what can they do. Are CC unsecured loans? Now Ben would feel terribly guilty not to pay back this money and I actually think he is going to do all he can to pay them BUT, if he can't what can they do to him? Woul appreciate your input on this. Thank You, Jo My Response: Hi Jo, Yes, Credit cards are unsecured loans and the credit card companies have no collateral in the event of a default. However, they have a right to file a law suit for non-payment and more and more of them are doing this. My recommendation would be to contact a Debt Settlement company. They will negotiate a payoff lower than the current balance and help your son make payments. This will almost certainly will hurt his credit score but not as much as defaulting on the credit card. I highly recommend http://www.careonecredit.com/ . But please make sure that your son asks questions and is comfortable with their program before committing. You may want to recommend that your son take a look at his overall bills and expenses to see if there are any areas that can be cut to help him eliminate this debt. Give can him your username and password to BSP to help. If you have any other questions just let me know. All the best, Terry Hello Granpa Terry, I'd like to add to the article on house insurance that it does pay to shop around and talk to family and friends. We just bought a home - and initially thought (assumed) the company that handled our tenant insurance would be the way to go. Ironically we did end up going through the same company - but the broker made all the difference in the world. We live in Saskatchewan Canada and are currently undergoing a boom of sorts. To our dismay our original broker thought he'd capitalize on this by trying to OVER insure us. (ie: replacement cost of $500k) Yikes. We were looking at $1100 a year in payments.........we tried another broker (same company - different office) and they figured our replacement cost should be $325K with a $900 a year premium............then we talked to mom and dad......... We went to their broker (same company again - just a different office) and he got our insurance down to $720 a year with a $325k replacement value. Confused? Were we ever. I don't understand how they get their figures - but in times like these an extra $200 a year is quite a difference!!And if we can get more or the same for less - we'll take it. In closing, shop around, find someone you can trust and go from there..........it's stressful and time consuming, but well worth the effort in the long run...... Just my 2 cents. Darlene in Saskatchewan, Canada In Response to my Tip of the week last week: You just don't go to the car lot and pay cash for a new car unless you are Bill Gates. When you go to the car lot you wonder if you are going to get approved or if you will be able to come up with the down payment. I have to disagree with that!! Hubby is not Bill Gates, nor is our total annual household income (4 adults in household) anywhere near what Bill makes in a week, but we could have paid cash for the last two new cars-- and did pay cash (an electronic transfer, actually...) for a used car for #2 son. The two new cars had "pre-approved loans" from our credit union before we went to the dealers; both were paid off in full when the first payment was due (no interest charge that way). Of course, we didn't by a just-released Lexus model or a Hummer with all the custom options... we got "end of the model year" Matrix', with whatever "options" were available on those particular cars along with "absolute requirements" (like, stick shift, anti-lock brakes). I suggest "loan shopping" before "car shopping". Credit union members can get much better rates than you get from car dealers; and, if you go through Cost Co, you can get special pricing from dealers who participate in the Cost Co program (I think it is $250 over dealer's cost).Some credit unions will sponsor sales with similar pricing "deals"-- we got our son's car at one of those, which is why we could do an electronic transfer on the sale lot. Kaytee www.simplexities.net www.simplexities.etsy.com www.simplexities.blogspot.com Dear Terry, My boyfriend has been paying off a number of credit cards, but the only ones he is having real problems with is Bank of America. He has been paying on time for years, and hardly uses them. For this he is apparently being punished in various ways, for example by lowering the limits. He is getting no results by calling them. They are very nasty. I know you have mentioned something about this on your website in the past, but wonder if you have any new ideas on how to deal with them. Best Wishes, Cristina My Response: Hi Cristina, Your first action would be to call them again and insist on speaking to a supervisor. Make a complaint that their representatives have been very rude and you will not tolerate this. If you get nowhere with the supervisor threaten to transfer your balance to another company. I understand that transferring your balance may be easier said than done but it may help get their attention. If you still receive no positive help make every effort to transfer your BOA account to another card with a similar or lower interest rate. If this fails you may want to make a complaint to your states Attorney General. Here is a list with contact information: http://www.naag.org/attorneys_general.php I hope this helps, Terry Follow up: Terry, Thank you for the helpful info. However, since I emailed you my boyfriend did call again, and I guess by luck got a friendly, helpful person who told him something about an account (not BofA) going to collection being reported. This may be an "error", too soon to say what the source is, but my boyfriend will report it to BofA as a wrong charge. The bad info may be coming from student loans which have been full of problems - boyfriend is in the process of backtracking through years of probably wrong charges such as falsely charged late fees resulting in increased interest rates and wrongly going to a collection agency. One move was to report the corrupt earnings of the student loans to the IRS. Only recently has he been learning how to deal with them. They sucker in innocent, trusting students! I will let him know about your note, and will let you know what happens, if it is anything interesting. Best Wishes, Cristina My Response: Hi Cristina, That's great. I'm glad he found someone to listen. I would recommend that your boyfriend obtain all three of his credit reports. He can do this free by using the below link: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp Then go over the credit reports very carefully. The should show exactly what the problem is. If he finds an error he will need to correct it immediately. Below is a link to an excellent web site that shows step by step how to correct errors on your credit report: http://homebuying.about.com/cs/yourcreditrating/a/correct_errors.htm I would be interested to know how this turns out. All the best, Grandpa Terry Hello again! I didn't think I would be back this soon with a tip I just remembered. I was checking out one of the links - the frugal living and having fun one - when I clicked on the coupon button on her website. I just learned recently that if you're in the habit of printing off coupons from the internet, this will use up a lot of printer ink - both color and black. The cost to replace those could get out of control and not make online coupon printing worth it. But if you (generalization) set your printer to black ink and "draft copies" or some-such, you can truly save yourself a good deal of money. As it is, I buy my ink cartridges for my HP printer from inkjet123 , where the link is accessed from one of the cash rebates websites, such as BigCrumbs.com or Mr. Rebates , etc. I also prefer to buy remanufactured ink cartridges over brand new ones. Cheaper and doing something for the environment. Just some thoughts. Thanks much! Joelle Featured ArticleBy Terry Rigg This article is for those families that have sat down at a desk or the kitchen table time after time trying to develop a family budget that they can live with. Why don't they work? There are several answers to that question. Most budgets are doomed from day one because they are too complicated, don't have the commitment of all involved or the numbers simply don't add up. The biggest culprit is that most people don't allow for unexpected expenses. Let's tackle these one at a time: Too Complicated: When you list every expense you have on your budget you set yourself up for defeat. Some budgets include such things as cleaning supplies, dog food, haircuts and car gas. In order to keep track of all of these you would need a new box of envelopes every month. Answer: Streamline your budget. By simply including a topic on your budget entitled "Household" where you can include everything you spend money on each month, excluding bills. Groceries will undoubtedly be the largest expense in this category. By taking the extra time to figure what needs to go into your household budget when you set it up, you can save a lot of time each payday. Commitment: 2. People get into spending habits that are hard to break. 3. There is constant friction in the family over money. 4. It is more comfortable to live beyond your means. Answer: You have to consider all of the above problems when setting up your budget. The Family Budget is just that, the FAMILY BUDGET. Everyone in the family that is old enough to count should be included. I don't mean to say that children should have a say in where the money goes, but they should be aware of what the spending limits of the family are. If you work closely with your spouse in developing a family budget you both are more likely to stick to it. There is one other detail that will help. By setting aside money for yourself and your spouse, that you don't have to account to the other for, your budget is more likely to succeed. The Numbers Don't Add Up: You have more budget than you have paycheck. Generally, this is caused by not being realistic in your budget. You try to make your paycheck fit your budget. Answer: Start by listing your household expenses and bills. Then include 10% of your income for long and short term savings. If this total is more than your paycheck, you have to cut back. Start by looking at your household budget. Are there items that you can do without? If you have money left over after considering all of the above, then increase your savings. Unexpected Expenses: This can be from your car breaking down, need a new washer or any number of other expenses that you can't predict. Answer: While long term savings is for things such as a home or car purchase or college for the kids, short term savings is just as vital to your financial security. A short term savings will accomplish two things. It will provide you with the money you need to pay those unexpected expenses and it will cut down on the use of credit cards. The short term savings could save you hundreds of dollars a year. When you develop your budget, keep the following things in mind:
2. Get the family involved. 3. Make your budget fit your paycheck, not the other way around. 4. Plan for the unexpected. 5. Visit The Complete Budget and Bill Organizer for more details |
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