Your "#5 The No-Brainer: Buying Used" is good advice. I just bought a used car but with a slightly different twist. I bought a Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV). This isn't for everyone but if your state is friendly to NGVs it could save you a lot of money. I pay 93 cents a gallon for CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) and get a $2,500 tax credit on the car. There are other advantages but some disadvantages. The purchase generated so much interest amongst my acquaintances that I had to post the details online. ( http://www.rickety.us/2009/11/driving-on-the-cheap/ )
I like this NGV so much am I considering another purchase, this time a bi-fuel NGV.
I'm work for UserTesting.com and wanted to answer the questions from comments #5 and #6:
The sample tests are only used for the purpose of determining who can provide useful feedback. All potential testers review the same site: Kiva.org. (Kiva.org is not a customer of ours...we just love their mission.)
Joy Smith: I deeply apologize for the experience you had trying to sign up for UserTesting.com. What you experienced is not normal. Please write to support@usertesting.com or call 1-800-903-9493 and we'll troubleshoot your problem.
Wow. Full page ad. I thought that these needed to be marked with "SPECIAL AD SECTION" like in print newspapers so that readers know exactly what's going on.
As easy as this job may seem, sure. But first you have to be approved and that's the problem. When applying I had the option to use my phone to record a message for the sample video instead of using a microphone. So I chose that option.
Unfortunatly, when recording, usertesting automatically hangs up on their end at 40 seconds which isn't enough time for the video. I was also not taken to the page to type my answer as it said I would be. It simply took me to their website which said thank you for applying.
I then recieved an email with the same thank you. The email also explained that companies would let me know if they are interested in hiring me. If not, it means I'm not going to be hired. So I'm assuming I won't be since user testing would not allow me to record long enough to show anything positive to companies from my end. You may have better luck using a microphone or landline phone.
Another thing to consider, the program you will need to download takes up a lot of ram. So if you have any programs running in the background you should close them all out if you have an older computer or not a lot of ram. Otherwise it will tell you it cannot install the program until you do so.
Your percentage is right on. That is what used to be required until all the investors poured money into the market. Old standards were 25% income and no more than 33-35% income minus total debt.
Before you give money to your school, pay your parents back all the money they spent on your education as well as for general living expenses!
You own your Alma Mater NOTHING b/c you already paid for the tuition. The only thing I encourage all to do is be proud of your alma mater and sport easily recognizable gear during social functions or sporting events :)
Keigu,
Financial Samurai
"Slicing Through Money's Mysteries"
JungleCrazy is a very famous site for amazon deals, same as amazon discount finder . Both of them are my favorite deal sites for Amazon.com. I used to buy all products from Amazon.com because they have free shipping.However I heard about AmazingWatcher.Com which is a free website that will “watch” items for you on Amazon and let you know when amazon has them in stock at regular retail price.
JungleCrazy is a very famous site for amazon deals, same as amazon discount finder . Both of them are my favorite deal sites for Amazon.com. I used to buy all products from Amazon.com because they have free shipping.However I heard about AmazingWatcher.com which is a free website that will “watch” items for you on Amazon and let you know when amazon has them in stock at regular retail price.
Then try Topincoupons.com which provides sample product images available for the coupon. You can also find the detailed instructions for using the coupon. So never confused shopping coupons.
Use coupons, coupon codes, promotional codes available at Topincoupons.com and save your money.
I work for a national furniture store. Daily I get asked for discounts, sales, wanting to buy off the floor, you name it, I have heard it. I can respect asking for a discount, but when the answer is "no", leave it at that. In my company asking the manager is not going to get you anything. Also as a salesperson that works on commission, just remember that you are taking money out of my pocket, and let me tell you that it is not easy as it is. I could try to be like a used car salesman, but I am proud of the fact that I treat all of my customers the same without showing favortism because someone says "I don't pay full price for anything"...I must ask if you ask for a discount for toilet paper too?...Oh and I love the sleaze bags that ask if I will buy them furniture on my discount....get real! like I'm going to loose my job for you...Oh and don't go asking to be part of a friends and family discount either! I know that Oprah says "ask for that discount"...I can tell you that she has promoted merch from my company, and guess what...she paid full price.
Disappointing article...shouldn't Wise Bread bloggers be wise with their $$$? I mean seriously, I read Wisebread to learn how to be more financially savvy - and I have learned so much and generally enjoy the articles but not this time. Enough with the whining - take some responsibility, balance your checkbook, maybe look into direct deposit if you are cutting it that close.
For me, the money saving tip is to look for grocery coupons before you go to any grocery store such like price chopper or CVS. PriceChopper always gives you a lot of coupons after your check out. I will put all these kinds of coupons into my coupon book by the date time order. That save me large amount of money.
As you know, even in grocery, there are many kinds of coupons, some coupons can give you buy one get one, some coupons can give you 20% to 50% off. In my option, the latter one is better than previous one. Why? Because I always find that if I choose the previous one I would have one or two things which I may not need anymore. But, if you just find out something you need having buy one get one then that's another story.
The last time I ran the numbers, it was worthwhile to get a credit card with cash rewards rather than frequent flyer miles. The cash was roughly equivalent to the cost of the flight I could redeem it for, and no worry of mile devaluation, blackout dates, or inferior customer service for award flights.
For me, the money saving tip is to look for grocery coupons before you go to any grocery store such like price chopper or CVS. PriceChopper always gives you a lot of coupons after your check out. I will put all these kinds of coupons into my coupon book by the date time order. That save me large amount of money.
Another tip is to shop online. Amazon will offer some grocery coupons every month. And sometimes you can save up to 50% off for drink or sneaks. I love amazon, so I build a coupon site for it.
I also sign up for all deals or coupon sites mail list to get their promotion coupons online.
Anyway, keep in mind that you should try to look for coupons before you buy anything.
A couple of things for those in CA (I am an insider):
1. The interviewers do NOT automatically believe the claimant is lying. We do understand that Employers lie too as they have an interest in lying to us. The employer pays into unemployment, it does NOT come out of your checks.
2. If you are collecting unemployment and are engaging in self-employment or have a part time job, you MUST report your wages as you EARN them, not as they are paid.
-we will find out you are working and we will penalize you for it, it is fraud. We also know if you are working in other states.
3. If you do not have childcare, you do not qualify for benefits.
4. If you are caring for a relative full time, during your normal working hours for your occupation, you do not qualify for benefits.
5. If you are going to school during your normal working hours, you do not qualify for benefits. We do find out if you are in school.
6. We find out about everything you do, whether it's anonymous tips from people that know you, from other states, from your employer or former employers etc.
7. Employers in CA can fire you for any reason (except those protected under Civil Rights Act) or no reason. They do NOT have to give you a reason. The majority of the time, the ER's are the ones holding up your benefits!!!
8. You are more likely to get benefits if you get fired than if you quit.
9. We know when you go on Disability, you cannot collect both.
10. It is not a good idea to miss your interview if you have one! You will most likely be disqualified. They do not have to leave you a message to have you call back.
It is your responsibility to make sure you are available.
-it is your responsibility to make sure your information is correct, that you're reporting correctly, etc. Ignorance is not an excuse when it comes to the law and government money. There is literature that we mail out and there is PLENTY of literature online.
11. If you have a question during your interview, wait until the interviewer is done. **Many interviewers are jaded and impatient, it is not your fault, we deal with many MANY people that do committ fraud and should not be entitled to benefits. So it makes it harder for us to sympathize with those of you that are legitimately out of jobs.
12. The EDD staff do their jobs to the best of their ability, they have deadlines and standards of their own that are set by the Federal Government. They do not make the rules, they just follow them. They do not disqualify arbitrarily, we are trained to follow the letter of the law (the California Unemployment Insurance Code). If you dont' like it WRITE TO CONGRESS!!!!
To anyone considering taking out a student loan for themselves or for their children, DO NOT. If you want to know how student loans really work, I highly recommend you read this book.
My husband and I finished our college endeavors twelve years ago and owe more now than what we did then. My husband lost his job in the tech crash and had trouble finding a decent job for about two years. In the course of the past twelve years, we had forbearance periods in our loans totaling a year and a half. So to be fair, we did take a year and a half off from paying. So in that time, interest continued to accrue. However, that leaves ten and a half years of solid payments of anywhere between $500 and $800 per month, depending on interest rate fluctuations. Around 2005 I believe it was, the government passed a new law allowing those who had consolidated their college loans to take their loans to a new company with a better rate, something that had not been allowed before. We looked over all the incoming offers and filled out all the paperwork only to find out that Sallie Mae had the right to hold our loans and refuse to release them, and they did just that, locking us into our higher interest rate. With that said, we consider ourselves lucky because we never defaulted on our loans. Lord help you if you go into default. They will tack on so much interest and penalities, you will NEVER find your way out. And the government has give them the right to do this, almost unlimitedly. There are people out there, tons of them, who began with twenty or thirty thousand dollars worth of debt and now owe $100,000 or $200,000. This debt is not forgiveable by bankruptcy and they can and will garnish your wages, your tax refunds, your social security checks. If you don't believe me, check for yourself. To sum up, unless government does something to put a stop to the heinous acts these student loan companies are allowed to commit upon people, do not take out a student loan.
Before everyone stating that's it's the account holder mistake remember this point. Banks are profit driven businesses.
Just like any big corporate business, it's driven by ethics and leadership or lack of both.
Everyone makes mistakes. But if your bank or local businesses decides that it can capitalize on your mistake to maximize their profit. Please change banks. Because if their leadership encourages it to happen, who knows what else they're getting away with.
Choose a bank which takes care of their customers first. That bank will also undoubtedly take care of their shareholders too. This is capitalism at work. Support the business that supports your community.
I am fairly new to following Wise Bread but, as someone who works to live within my means, it seems that this article is just the whining of someone who did not do that, thus not being wise.
Yes, large corporate banks charge exorbitant fees. But they charge them to anyone who chooses to do business with them and then chooses not to manage their resources, however little they have. Credit Unions tend to be a better option for those of us who do not have much extra cash; fewer monthly transactions; pinching pennies here and there, all things that can help. We all know large banks can be predatory, but whining about our mix-ups while playing with predatory banks does nothing to help instill lasting change.
It seems a blog entry highlighting how we can wisely manage our resources would be more helpful for this site.
Its easy to assume that the bank manipulates this to maximize fees and cause they are evil and just want your money. But to play devils advocate they are doing customers a service by paying higher value withdrawals first. Look at it this way: if you have $1000 in your account and you write one $5 check at Starbucks and then on the same day you write a $1000 check to your mortgage then which check would you like to post and clear first? Would you prefer the process the $5 to pay Starbucks then not clear your mortgage? I'm pretty sure most customers want the mortgage to be paid as a higher priority. Generally larger withdrawals are more important and consumers want the big checks to go through first to ensure they are paid. So it makes sense for the bank to pay the higher value withdrawals first. Back in the olden days before overdraft fees you would be paying $25 for each of several bounced checks and your bills wouldn't have been paid. Now you're paying $25-35 for each overdraft but your bills go through. As the consumer we are supposed to keep track of our check balance and not spend more than we have.
Course I'm not saying overdraft fees are great and I do think that some banks have purposefully set it up to milk as much as they can out of you in fees.
Your "#5 The No-Brainer: Buying Used" is good advice. I just bought a used car but with a slightly different twist. I bought a Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV). This isn't for everyone but if your state is friendly to NGVs it could save you a lot of money. I pay 93 cents a gallon for CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) and get a $2,500 tax credit on the car. There are other advantages but some disadvantages. The purchase generated so much interest amongst my acquaintances that I had to post the details online. ( http://www.rickety.us/2009/11/driving-on-the-cheap/ )
I like this NGV so much am I considering another purchase, this time a bi-fuel NGV.
I'm work for UserTesting.com and wanted to answer the questions from comments #5 and #6:
The sample tests are only used for the purpose of determining who can provide useful feedback. All potential testers review the same site: Kiva.org. (Kiva.org is not a customer of ours...we just love their mission.)
Joy Smith: I deeply apologize for the experience you had trying to sign up for UserTesting.com. What you experienced is not normal. Please write to support@usertesting.com or call 1-800-903-9493 and we'll troubleshoot your problem.
Wow. Full page ad. I thought that these needed to be marked with "SPECIAL AD SECTION" like in print newspapers so that readers know exactly what's going on.
As easy as this job may seem, sure. But first you have to be approved and that's the problem. When applying I had the option to use my phone to record a message for the sample video instead of using a microphone. So I chose that option.
Unfortunatly, when recording, usertesting automatically hangs up on their end at 40 seconds which isn't enough time for the video. I was also not taken to the page to type my answer as it said I would be. It simply took me to their website which said thank you for applying.
I then recieved an email with the same thank you. The email also explained that companies would let me know if they are interested in hiring me. If not, it means I'm not going to be hired. So I'm assuming I won't be since user testing would not allow me to record long enough to show anything positive to companies from my end. You may have better luck using a microphone or landline phone.
Another thing to consider, the program you will need to download takes up a lot of ram. So if you have any programs running in the background you should close them all out if you have an older computer or not a lot of ram. Otherwise it will tell you it cannot install the program until you do so.
Your percentage is right on. That is what used to be required until all the investors poured money into the market. Old standards were 25% income and no more than 33-35% income minus total debt.
What exactly are the two ways you are focusing on to make money online now?
Thanks.
Keigu,
Financial Samurai
"Slicing Through Money's Mysteries"
Before you give money to your school, pay your parents back all the money they spent on your education as well as for general living expenses!
You own your Alma Mater NOTHING b/c you already paid for the tuition. The only thing I encourage all to do is be proud of your alma mater and sport easily recognizable gear during social functions or sporting events :)
Keigu,
Financial Samurai
"Slicing Through Money's Mysteries"
JungleCrazy is a very famous site for amazon deals, same as amazon discount finder . Both of them are my favorite deal sites for Amazon.com. I used to buy all products from Amazon.com because they have free shipping.However I heard about AmazingWatcher.Com which is a free website that will “watch” items for you on Amazon and let you know when amazon has them in stock at regular retail price.
JungleCrazy is a very famous site for amazon deals, same as amazon discount finder . Both of them are my favorite deal sites for Amazon.com. I used to buy all products from Amazon.com because they have free shipping.However I heard about AmazingWatcher.com which is a free website that will “watch” items for you on Amazon and let you know when amazon has them in stock at regular retail price.
Nice article. More people should be using frequent flyer miles.
like the part of 'work hard, play hard.'
Are you Confused while shopping coupon sites?
Then try Topincoupons.com which provides sample product images available for the coupon. You can also find the detailed instructions for using the coupon. So never confused shopping coupons.
Use coupons, coupon codes, promotional codes available at Topincoupons.com and save your money.
Shop http://www.topincoupons.com/ Now.
I work for a national furniture store. Daily I get asked for discounts, sales, wanting to buy off the floor, you name it, I have heard it. I can respect asking for a discount, but when the answer is "no", leave it at that. In my company asking the manager is not going to get you anything. Also as a salesperson that works on commission, just remember that you are taking money out of my pocket, and let me tell you that it is not easy as it is. I could try to be like a used car salesman, but I am proud of the fact that I treat all of my customers the same without showing favortism because someone says "I don't pay full price for anything"...I must ask if you ask for a discount for toilet paper too?...Oh and I love the sleaze bags that ask if I will buy them furniture on my discount....get real! like I'm going to loose my job for you...Oh and don't go asking to be part of a friends and family discount either! I know that Oprah says "ask for that discount"...I can tell you that she has promoted merch from my company, and guess what...she paid full price.
Disappointing article...shouldn't Wise Bread bloggers be wise with their $$$? I mean seriously, I read Wisebread to learn how to be more financially savvy - and I have learned so much and generally enjoy the articles but not this time. Enough with the whining - take some responsibility, balance your checkbook, maybe look into direct deposit if you are cutting it that close.
For me, the money saving tip is to look for grocery coupons before you go to any grocery store such like price chopper or CVS. PriceChopper always gives you a lot of coupons after your check out. I will put all these kinds of coupons into my coupon book by the date time order. That save me large amount of money.
As you know, even in grocery, there are many kinds of coupons, some coupons can give you buy one get one, some coupons can give you 20% to 50% off. In my option, the latter one is better than previous one. Why? Because I always find that if I choose the previous one I would have one or two things which I may not need anymore. But, if you just find out something you need having buy one get one then that's another story.
G
Member of Amazon Coupon Codes
The last time I ran the numbers, it was worthwhile to get a credit card with cash rewards rather than frequent flyer miles. The cash was roughly equivalent to the cost of the flight I could redeem it for, and no worry of mile devaluation, blackout dates, or inferior customer service for award flights.
Sounds like these tips beat cash. By how much?
Hi, thanks for your roundup for personal finance.
For me, the money saving tip is to look for grocery coupons before you go to any grocery store such like price chopper or CVS. PriceChopper always gives you a lot of coupons after your check out. I will put all these kinds of coupons into my coupon book by the date time order. That save me large amount of money.
Another tip is to shop online. Amazon will offer some grocery coupons every month. And sometimes you can save up to 50% off for drink or sneaks. I love amazon, so I build a coupon site for it.
I also sign up for all deals or coupon sites mail list to get their promotion coupons online.
Anyway, keep in mind that you should try to look for coupons before you buy anything.
G
Member of Amazon Coupon Codes
A couple of things for those in CA (I am an insider):
1. The interviewers do NOT automatically believe the claimant is lying. We do understand that Employers lie too as they have an interest in lying to us. The employer pays into unemployment, it does NOT come out of your checks.
2. If you are collecting unemployment and are engaging in self-employment or have a part time job, you MUST report your wages as you EARN them, not as they are paid.
-we will find out you are working and we will penalize you for it, it is fraud. We also know if you are working in other states.
3. If you do not have childcare, you do not qualify for benefits.
4. If you are caring for a relative full time, during your normal working hours for your occupation, you do not qualify for benefits.
5. If you are going to school during your normal working hours, you do not qualify for benefits. We do find out if you are in school.
6. We find out about everything you do, whether it's anonymous tips from people that know you, from other states, from your employer or former employers etc.
7. Employers in CA can fire you for any reason (except those protected under Civil Rights Act) or no reason. They do NOT have to give you a reason. The majority of the time, the ER's are the ones holding up your benefits!!!
8. You are more likely to get benefits if you get fired than if you quit.
9. We know when you go on Disability, you cannot collect both.
10. It is not a good idea to miss your interview if you have one! You will most likely be disqualified. They do not have to leave you a message to have you call back.
It is your responsibility to make sure you are available.
-it is your responsibility to make sure your information is correct, that you're reporting correctly, etc. Ignorance is not an excuse when it comes to the law and government money. There is literature that we mail out and there is PLENTY of literature online.
11. If you have a question during your interview, wait until the interviewer is done. **Many interviewers are jaded and impatient, it is not your fault, we deal with many MANY people that do committ fraud and should not be entitled to benefits. So it makes it harder for us to sympathize with those of you that are legitimately out of jobs.
12. The EDD staff do their jobs to the best of their ability, they have deadlines and standards of their own that are set by the Federal Government. They do not make the rules, they just follow them. They do not disqualify arbitrarily, we are trained to follow the letter of the law (the California Unemployment Insurance Code). If you dont' like it WRITE TO CONGRESS!!!!
To anyone considering taking out a student loan for themselves or for their children, DO NOT. If you want to know how student loans really work, I highly recommend you read this book.
http://www.amazon.com/Student-Loan-Scam-Oppressive-History/dp/0807042293
My husband and I finished our college endeavors twelve years ago and owe more now than what we did then. My husband lost his job in the tech crash and had trouble finding a decent job for about two years. In the course of the past twelve years, we had forbearance periods in our loans totaling a year and a half. So to be fair, we did take a year and a half off from paying. So in that time, interest continued to accrue. However, that leaves ten and a half years of solid payments of anywhere between $500 and $800 per month, depending on interest rate fluctuations. Around 2005 I believe it was, the government passed a new law allowing those who had consolidated their college loans to take their loans to a new company with a better rate, something that had not been allowed before. We looked over all the incoming offers and filled out all the paperwork only to find out that Sallie Mae had the right to hold our loans and refuse to release them, and they did just that, locking us into our higher interest rate. With that said, we consider ourselves lucky because we never defaulted on our loans. Lord help you if you go into default. They will tack on so much interest and penalities, you will NEVER find your way out. And the government has give them the right to do this, almost unlimitedly. There are people out there, tons of them, who began with twenty or thirty thousand dollars worth of debt and now owe $100,000 or $200,000. This debt is not forgiveable by bankruptcy and they can and will garnish your wages, your tax refunds, your social security checks. If you don't believe me, check for yourself. To sum up, unless government does something to put a stop to the heinous acts these student loan companies are allowed to commit upon people, do not take out a student loan.
As we have all probably heard in the news, the banks will stick it to you any way they can.
Its up to us to remain repsonsible and not to let it happen.
Before everyone stating that's it's the account holder mistake remember this point. Banks are profit driven businesses.
Just like any big corporate business, it's driven by ethics and leadership or lack of both.
Everyone makes mistakes. But if your bank or local businesses decides that it can capitalize on your mistake to maximize their profit. Please change banks. Because if their leadership encourages it to happen, who knows what else they're getting away with.
Choose a bank which takes care of their customers first. That bank will also undoubtedly take care of their shareholders too. This is capitalism at work. Support the business that supports your community.
I am fairly new to following Wise Bread but, as someone who works to live within my means, it seems that this article is just the whining of someone who did not do that, thus not being wise.
Yes, large corporate banks charge exorbitant fees. But they charge them to anyone who chooses to do business with them and then chooses not to manage their resources, however little they have. Credit Unions tend to be a better option for those of us who do not have much extra cash; fewer monthly transactions; pinching pennies here and there, all things that can help. We all know large banks can be predatory, but whining about our mix-ups while playing with predatory banks does nothing to help instill lasting change.
It seems a blog entry highlighting how we can wisely manage our resources would be more helpful for this site.
Its easy to assume that the bank manipulates this to maximize fees and cause they are evil and just want your money. But to play devils advocate they are doing customers a service by paying higher value withdrawals first. Look at it this way: if you have $1000 in your account and you write one $5 check at Starbucks and then on the same day you write a $1000 check to your mortgage then which check would you like to post and clear first? Would you prefer the process the $5 to pay Starbucks then not clear your mortgage? I'm pretty sure most customers want the mortgage to be paid as a higher priority. Generally larger withdrawals are more important and consumers want the big checks to go through first to ensure they are paid. So it makes sense for the bank to pay the higher value withdrawals first. Back in the olden days before overdraft fees you would be paying $25 for each of several bounced checks and your bills wouldn't have been paid. Now you're paying $25-35 for each overdraft but your bills go through. As the consumer we are supposed to keep track of our check balance and not spend more than we have.
Course I'm not saying overdraft fees are great and I do think that some banks have purposefully set it up to milk as much as they can out of you in fees.
Woww, I like that.
Jabulani Leffall
Monetary Gadfly, Common Currency
00000 Broke Blvd. Kitchenette #68 & 1/2
Lowcash, CA 90000-0000
i hate these question
"when a costumer said Not how you turn NOT into a yes ?????
someone help me pleaseeeeee? or