Stand Up And Be Counted

It's Census time in the U.S. Every ten years the United States conducts a census to determine who lives here. The count is used to figure out many things from how many Representatives each state has in the Congress to how much federal funding is needed in certain areas.

Census Day is April 1st, this Thursday. This year's census has caused some controversy as the government has also sent many homes a Community Survey, which asks for personal information some people are not willing to give. The law requires that each person living here participate in the Census. It might seem pointless and obtrusive to you, but it is important that you participate. The main reason being that you will have proper representation in the Legislature.

Today's Tip: Vote! In addition to letting the Dept. of Commerce know who you are and where you are it is imperative to your future that you send men and women to Washington who have your best interests in mind. We are a ways away from Election Day but this is an election year and the campaigning has begun. Vote for Congressmen and Senators who want to keep taxes low and cut government spending. This way you'll keep more money in your own wallet!

Check Your Statement

I have written before about the cost of credit. I'm not sure if this is part of the new credit card law, but I have noticed recently that our statements now include a section with bold type reading Minimum Payment Warning.

This is not the responsibility of the creditor (at least it wasn't under the old laws), but it is kinda handy. In the Minimum Payment Warning section the creditor has figured up for you how much you will pay in interest and how long it will take you to pay off the balance. For example, our Sam's Club bill this month would take two years to pay off with only minimum payments according to GE MoneyBank. We would pay an extra thirty per cent on the amount of our purchases. No thanks. I think we'll just pay for what we bought.

Let me be clear. It is not the credit card company's responsibility to keep track of your spending. That falls on you. It's also a good idea to look over each item on your statement to make sure there are no charges that should not be there. I just looked at one today that had on one line "***APR*** This Period 51.92%." I called to make sure that was incorrect and it was, in fact, a typo. While there was no balance affected by this rate, a rate like that means your credit is probably not that great and you want to take care of it before it becomes a problem!

March Sales

"Not all those who wander are lost." -J.R.R. Tolkien

Here are some things to shop for in March while they're on sale...
-Spring clothing
-Wedding gifts
-Air conditioners
-Washers and Dryers
-Garden supplies
-Outdoor Winter Sports Gear
-Luggage
-China (the dishes, not the country. You'd have to borrow money from China to do that)

*Remember- If it's not on sale now, it will be someday. Be patient and get the best deal you can!

Mr. Coffee

Tip of the day- Brew your own coffee!

I know I have hit on this before. I just wanted to share some more math I ran across the other night. It is the daily extra from my desk calendar I received last Christmas.

"Make your own coffee. At $4 a pop, a daily serving of coffee shop java can add up to nearly $1,500 a year. Making coffe at home costs only cents."

How many cents? Here's what we're paying. We bought five cans of Folgers for $4 dollars each when they were on sale a few months ago at Lowe's Foods. So far we have gone through one and a half of them in two and a half months. If the rest of the current can only lasts until the end of this month then we're on a pace of two cans of coffee every three months. That's one every month and a half. We make an average pot of six cups each day. That adds up to 270 cups of coffee per can. The can was $4 so each cup is costing us a penny and a half!

Check It Out

"The words stubbornness and perseverance are not synonomous but it is distressing to observe that some people do not understand the difference."
-Waite Phillips

Savings tip of the day: Go to the library. No, there is not some magical money ferry there that will give you a bag of cash. But it's free to check out a book you may pay up to $20 for at your favorite bookstore. The library also has DVDs to check out. Instead of heading straight to the chain movie store see if your local library has a copy of the movie you want to see. And if you must rent, find a Red Box near you.

Counting Chickens

Don't count your chikens before they're hatched!

This is one of those wise old adages I heard many times growing up. While the debate continues as to which came first, one thing is a known fact. Chickens now come from eggs. I don't know who first coined the phrase about counting chickens before their hatched, but I'm sure it's been around awhile. Of course, the saying means to not count your eggs and assume they are all going to produce healthy, living chickens. It's applied in many cases and best suits the subject of money.

I began this post several weeks ago and have been waiting to publish it on a day that seemed fit. Today is as good as any. You may have noticed that there are no ads on my blog today. For the past month I have allowed Google to place ads on my site with the agreement that I would be compensated for the advertising. As my readership grows and as more of you have been utilizing the services being advertised, Google has made a decision to disable my ad account.

According to an email I received, Google intends to break the contract we have and not pay me for ad revenue that has accumulated in my account with them. Here is the quote, "While going through our records recently, we found that your AdSense
account has posed a significant risk to our AdWords advertisers." I plan to have more ads up soon but it will most likely be through another service. I apologize for the inconvenience if you were trying to use one of the vendors you found at my site. I am working with Google to resolve the issue and I'll let you know how it comes out.

The check I was supposed to be receiving soon from Google was not a very large sum of money. I was not banking on the extra income to feed my family, but it was nice to be working with some advertisers that appeared relevant to the subject of this blog. I can only imagine how much Google has actually been paid by the same advertisers. You know they are getting paid!

Knowing what Google stands for I am not surprised at their failure to uphold our agreement. Still, it's a little disappointing that they have taken this action. It may be for the courts to decide whether my eggs should be chickens...

Tip of the day: Don't spend it before you get it and when you get it, don't spend it unless you have to.

What Makes You Tick?

For where Your treasure is, there will your heart be also. - Matthew 6:21

I have no profound money saving solutions today, just some words that might shed some light on why stewardship of money is important to me. We each have a unique view of money, earthly treasures, and how and why they should be spent. My whole life has been shaped by an event that happened 21 years ago today.

Those of you who know me know the close encounter I had with tragedy at an early age. I won't go into much detail here, but for those who don't know I'll summarize. I was in the seventh grade and a freak accident at school left me folded up on the floor in the hall. A massive head injury that resulted in a blood clot on my brain and partial paralysis nearly took my life. I awoke in the hospital to learn that I had had emergency brain surgery, a procedure with a 50% survival rate. Thanks to a praying Mom and Dad, church family around the world, and a loving God I walked out of the hospital a month later on my way to a 100% recovery.

I was not yet 13 years old and suddenly life had a brand new meaning. Things that were important before now seemed quite trivial. What was once insignificant and taken for granted now appeared very meaningful. Life itself was a gift. As I have grown older I have come to learn that everything good in our lives is a gift and not to be treated lightly. Not exempt from this is the treasure with whiich I've been entrusted.

Again, I have no money saving tip for you today. For me it is a day of reflection, the day I was given a second chance. I merely ask you to reflect upon how you are spending your money. You are drowning in debt and for what? On what have you spent all the money you've been gifted? Do you have all of the nicest material things this world offers and discovered you can't pay for it all? Have you given all you can to those who need it most? Remember it is a gift and the more you give the more you will be given.

Reading, 'Riting, 'Rithmatic Recap

"The bank is the place that will loan you money if you can prove you don't need it." -Bob Hope

I realize I didn't go into much detail with my last post, but the math portion of saving money is the most basic. The most difficult math you need to be able to do is multiplication (by 12 to figure annual cost, by # of years of a loan to figure total cost). Most importantly is the adding and subtracting. If you can do simple math you should never be overdrawing accounts or paying late. Follow these simple steps to educate yourself and save yourself time and money:

1. Read thoroughly every contract you sign and every account you open.

2. Write down every transaction you make with a debit card in your checkbook register.

3. Keep up with your account balances and don't spend money if you don't have it in the bank.

Tip of the day: Create an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of all of your bills monthly. Check it on a regular basis to ensure you do not miss any due dates.

Do The Math

The third "R", 'Rithmatic...

Last but certainly not least, when making any financial decision sit down and figure up the total cost of what you are doing. Compare all of your options and settle on the one that makes the best sense. A good example of where a lot of people are paying too much is a cell phone plan. When was the last time you shopped around for a different cell provider? How about your cable service?

What I do with any monthly bill I have is I look at what the service is costing me annually. It's a much bigger figure and saving a few dollars each month adds up to big savings at the end of the year!

Tip of the day: Buy a prepaid phone at Wal-Mart and switch the SIM card. Unless, of course you're getting a free phone from your carrier. Chances are you may save money not having a two year contract...

Write it Down

Part II in educating yourself is the second "R", writing. When you write things down you are more likely to remember them and less likely to forget to do something you meant to take care of.

It helps to have a daily planner where you can remind yourself each day what you need to get done. I sit down on the first of every month and write down what bills need to be paid on which days. This way I don't miss any payments or pay any late fees.

Keep a manual checkbook register. Even though you are doing your banking online you still need to write your transactions down. When you check your balance online it does not necessarily reflect all your transactions. For example, if you write a check it is not going to go through for several days. When you look at your account online you show a $1,200.00 balance. That does not mean you have $1,200.00 available. The mortgage check you dropped off at the bank still has not cleared and you actually have about $150.00 left. If you referred to your manual account balance you would know this.

I had a terrible time with a customer who relied solely on his online account balance to determine whether or not he could pay me. Always wanting to protect the innocent (or guilty) I'll just call him Karl. Karl constantly had checks out there that he did not remember writing or just didn't care that he had written. He had several employees with access to his debit card and would take cash out at random times. Karl bounced a lot of checks with a lot of people. After it happened to me twice I began cashing the checks at his bank so they would know if there was money in the account or not at the time of cashing them. I got to know the tellers on a first name basis because I had to make several return visits with the same check.
When Karl filed for bankruptcy he only owed me $500. I was one of the lucky ones!

Write down grocery items that you'll soon need and other errand tasks so you can do them all at once.

Write out lists of goals you wish to achieve. As you accomplish each task check it off. Maybe you're saving toward a new car. Write it down and put it on the refrigerator as a constant reminder...

Savings Tip: Today's tip comes from Cyana in NC, www.BrilesFarm.com . "I find that when I meet my friends at a big book store, I'll always buy a mocha latte and maybe a book or a magazine. If I meet my friends at a mall I'll find something I think need. I find it healthier all the way around to meet friends at a park or a hiking trail and take our dogs. I also rely on 'lists' to consolidate and keep myself focused when I do need to go shopping."

Extra Extra!

Read all about it. Before you sign your name to anything be sure to read all the fine print!

Do you feel like you're always getting ripped off by banks and other types of accounts you hold? It seems like there all always "hidden" fees and surprise charges popping up on your bill all the time. Chances are those fees and charges were disclosed at the time you opened the account. Banks are too smart to do anything that would be in breech of contract. Your responsibility is to know what the contract really says.

Don't know if you're paying unnecessary fees? Read your monthly statement. I was at the bank one day and the lady standing in line behind me was there to dispute the $20 maintenance fees she had been charged for a year and only just discovered. When she opened the account she was told there was no monthly fee. And there probably wasn't. Most "free" accounts now come with rules you must follow each month such as:

Free with direct deposit
Free with use of a debit card
Free with online billpay...

Know what you need to do to keep the checking free and follow the rules. Furthermore, if you have money in the bank they should be paying you! There are checking accounts about everywhere now that pay interest. If no bank near you offers this, look online. Our First Federal checking account paid 6% when we first opened it. It's down to just over 2% now but it's still better than savings account rates. Make sure you know the rules and check your statement each month to make sure it's working for you!

Tip of the day: Review your accounts (including credit cards) and switch banks if you must to get no fee banking!

Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmatic

Thought for the day: You don't always have to be great. Sometimes you just need to be present.

This week we're talking about the three "R"s. I'm assuming if you are reading this blog you can do at least two of the three. I'll show you how things as simple as reading, writing, and math can save you money. You can save a lot of cash by reading directions, contracts, rules, etc. By writing things down such as how much money you spend and where you spend it you'll find that you spend less and can get a better look at how to reduce spending. Simple math skills are all you need to balance a checkbook. Once you can do that you can start stockpiling cash.

Just the other night Karen summed it up. "People just need to educate themselves," she said. And we're not talking about spending thousands of dollars and going back to school. It's the information you already have but may not have read, i.e. the fine print on your credit card agreement, the contract with the fitness center. Don't take anyone's word for it when you're signing your name to anything. Always take the time to read what you're agreeing to before you initial a document in five places.

When was the last time you pulled your car's owner's manual out of the glove box? No, it's not a great read if you're looking for the featured title at next month's book club. But there are a lot of things you can do to keep your car running more efficiently. Keep your tires inflated to the proper PSI and check fluid levels regularly. Many small fixes can be done in your own garage with no service fees or hourly rates. The same goes for household appliances.

Tip of the Day: Organize your owner's manuals and user guides in one central location (except for the car's. It stays with the car). Next time something breaks down see if you can fix it yourself.