Personal Finance

Wixx has a new article up on small savings debt reduction showing that many people that want to reduce debt could do so at a quicker rate if they took the time to search for all those little savings.

Lots of new tax releases, but most probably not applicable to the majority here unless you are considering buying a hybrid car or you owe the IRS money:

The IRS announced that there will be an increase in the interest rates for the calendar quarter beginning July 1, 2006. Each of these interest rates increases by a single interest point over the rate in the second quarter.

The IRS also announced that Ford and Mercury Sold 6,100+ Hybrid Vehicles while Toyota and Lexus Sold 41,000+ Hybrid Vehicles this people can continue to claim the hybrid tax credit during the next quarter if the purchase a qualifying vehicle.

Lastly, the IRS had released updated information on the special enrollment exam

You will see at the bottom of the main blog page that there is now a link for "more entries" where you can now easily find the latest entries made. As the blogs have grown, the new entries don't even last a day now before they go off the front page. We expanded the list 2 times, but the number of entries being made has kept expanding too. We decided that the front page can't be forever long, so the more entries link was placed in. Hopefully this will make it easier so you don't miss any posts you want to see.

We will also be building a system where you'll be able to mark you favorite savingadvice blogs and hopefully this too will help you not miss entries.

Leave it to my wife to find us a new family member in the days before going back to the US. While we already have a houseful of Hello Kitties, we're also working on the real thing.

Our latest family member arrived this afternoon when my wife found a stray kitten sticking out of a water drain pipe of a cement wall next to a busy street. That meant instant new family member. He comes home to the current family which consists of three other stray cats and a stray dog which have been adopted over the years as they crossed our paths when we've been out.



His name is TsuTsu - which means drainpipe (the pronunciation) in Japanese. Now my wife likes the sound of tsutsu, but there was no way she was going to name the kitten "drainpipe" so she changed the Japanese characters to have the same pronunciation, but different Japanese characters.



Tsutsu appears to be about a month old or so - his teeth have all grown in, but still tries to nurse. The other cats don't seem to be too thrilled to have a new brother, but that always seems to be the case when a new stray arrives. Here are a couple more photos:

Another list of contacts provided by Flash (for coupons, newsletters and special offers)is now live - this one for Rich Seapak Foods which includes the following brands:

SeaPak, Farm Rich, Casa DiBertacchi, Rich’s Eclairs, Byron’s Barbecue

The IRS has released three new tax releases - probably won7t apply to anyone here, but have updated our sister site with the information:

There are seven Honda Hybrid Cars that have qualified for the hybrid car tax credit.

Charities have been reminded by the IRS not to participate in political campaign activities and has set up an enforcement program to make sure that charities don't do do.

The IRS has put in place an explanation on how commercial property owners can participate and receive the energy efficiency deduction for their properties.

I've decided on a goal of finding and writing about 101 gas saving tips along with some issues to think about with each one before going out and trying to adopt it. I listed Gas Coupons and Gas Discount Days as ways to possibly save and also wrote the first one where you're not likely to save money - Shop Around For The Best Gas Price - which is often given as a gas saving tip, but will likely cost you money in the long run. I'll keep adding these as I find time between my packing...

Another set of contact websites for those looking to get on newsletters and receive coupons from their favorite brands - this time for SC Johnson courtesy of Flash:

Drano, Edge, Fantastik, FloorCare, Glade, Grab-It, Pledge, Off, Oust, Raid, Saran, Scrubbing Bubbles, Shout, Skintimate, Windex, and Ziploc

It's not often that you come across investing articles that are also entertaining, but Green Investing is one of these. Instead of a straight article, it is written as if a investor and analyst were talking to one another with the theme being environmentally friendly companies that van be invested in:

Triple bottom consists of a company's social, financial, and environmental return. Green is good, right? All kinds of green. Cash green and Mother Nature green, as in environmentally friendly products...

A fun read even if you aren't into investing...

Placed a new article up on vacuum cleaner buying tips for those who are currently in the market (or soon will be) for one:

Match The Vacuum To The Job
Power Ratings: Fact or Fiction
Serviceability
Maintainability
Cost of Ownership
HEPA Filtration and Performance
Bagless or Bust
Warranty
Mass Market Hype
Add-ons You Need (or don't)

Currently going through packing and cleaning-up with the move, I can attest that a good vacuum cleaner makes a world of difference. This is one item I would pay more for to get quality and not opt for the least expensive unit you could find. There's nothing worse than a vacuum cleaner that doesn't pick up dirt...

While debt isn't a fun topic, it makes it a bit more enjoyable to read about when a good analogy is thrown in as with Taming the Debt Monster:

...The other scare process - the real scare process - is worse than anything Saw II or The Hills Have Eyes has to throw at you. No, the real scare process has to do with that hideous monster lurking in your life at all times.

Debt.

Debt really can be a monster when you have it weighing on your shoulders 24 hours a day, but there are ways to get rid of the monster - the first being to admit that the monster exists and it was likely of your own creation.

Take the steps to start reducing the monster's size and you'll find that it isn't near as scary as you once thought - at least in the sense that you are able to tame it when you take action to reduce it.

Good news for those that get tax refunds and would like to direct deposit a portion of it into your savings or retirement accounts. Until this year if you had your tax refund directly deposited, you could only do so into a single checking or savings account. The IRS announced today that starting next year, you can have your tax refund deposited into up to three different accounts:

The IRS will create a new form, Form 8888, which will give taxpayers greater control over their refunds. Form 8888 will give taxpayers a choice of selecting one, two or three accounts such as checking, savings and retirement account. Taxpayers who want all their refund deposited directly into one account can still use the appropriate line on the Form 1040 series.


This is good news for those who are better at saving when they money never goes into their general banking account.

Flash has put together another contact list for contacting companies about their brands and getting onto their newsletters. This time the list is for Sara Lee:

Ball Park Franks, Bryan, Earth Grains, Hillshire Farms, Jimmy Dean, Sara Lee, Senseo Coffee, Bali, Barely There, Champion, Playtex Bras, Wonderbra, Kiwi

A Tax Press Release today from the IRS saying that General Electric (GE) filed the nation's largest tax return by e-filing it this year:

On paper, GE’s e-filed return would have been approximately 24,000 pages long. After filing, GE received IRS’ acknowledgement of its filing in about an hour. The file was 237 MB

And I thought my tax returns were difficult...

When it comes to trying to reduce debt, there is nothing worse than being taken and finding yourself worse off than when you began to try and resolve the problem. Unfortunately, there are a lot of debt counselors out there that are a lot more interested in making a buck rather than helping those in debt out.

To avoid being taken for more money, you need to do your homework if you decide to seek help from a debt counselor. Roger Sorensen puts together a few things you can do to help make sure the debt couselor you choose is on the up and up.:

Call the Better Business Bureau
Check with the National Association of State Charities Officials
Understand your contract completely
Get all oral promises in writing
Be wary of "voluntary fees"

Taking a few steps can mean a lot less hassles down the road and make sure that the debt counselor you pick is one that is there to help you rather than their own pockets.

Wixx takes the concept of "no spend days" and shows how you can turn them into a family saving money game.

No spend days are an excellent way to figure out where all those little leaks are in your budget. They are a lot more difficult to accomplish than most people think, but just as with everything else, the more you practice, the better you get at them.

Roger Sorensen who manages Investing Page answers the following question: "Should I put it in EE bonds, the I-Bond or would the stock market be better?" over at Reduce College Costs

Another set of contact websites - this time for Playtex products courtesy of Flash. The list of brands includes:

Wet Ones, Playtex Gloves, Banana Boat, Playtex Feminine Care, Playtex Infant Care

Our sister site the Timeshare Trap has been updated with a mention of a huge timeshare scam broken up in Europe that is believed to have cost thousands of people their life savings. As I have mentioned a number of times, timeshare resort vacations are a subject that I probably receive the most mail about with people desperately trying to get out of their timeshare units. While they may seem to have appeal at first glance, take the time to thoroughly research and you'll likely find that they are not something you want to get involved with if you don't want to waste your money.

if you're willing to do a little searching on online auctions and keep an eye out for special promotions, you can get gas gift cards at below their retail value. The better deal you get, the more you save on gas.

When I'm back in the US, I often purchase Costco gift cards off of friends at 95% of value. Since the Costco stations offer the best gas prices in my area, this works out quite well for me.

Flash has added a list of contacts for Pfizer over-the-counter products to the Grocery Coupon Guide site. The brand names include the following:

Actifed, Benadryl, Bengay, Caladryl, Corn Huskers, Cortizone, Desitin, Doxidan, Dramamine, e.p.t. Pregnancy Test, Efferdent, Effergrip, Emetrol, Fresh’n Brite, Gelusil, Hemorid, Kaopectate, Lavacol, Listerine, Listermint, Lubriderm, Luden’s, Micatin, Myadec, NasalCrom, Neosporin, Pacquin, PediaCare, Plax, Polysporin, Progaine, Proxacol, Purell, Rogaine, Rolaids, Sinutab, SudaCare, Sudafed, Tucks, Unicap, Unisom, Visine, Wart-Off, Zantac

If you frequent a particular gas station most of the time and that particular brand has a gas card or branded credit card, you should consider applying for it. Even if it doesn't pay as well as the gas reward credit card, there will likely be promotions and special offers that are tied to it that can be quite valuable. The two combined together will make it much more likely that you always get the best refund back when purchasing gas with a card.

If you grocery store doesn't accept Internet printable coupons, there still may be a way to get the savings. In some cases the printable coupon can be mailed to you through snail mail. The best part of this is that the snail mail coupon is printed on special paper that can be verified as authentic by the grocery store. You can lean more about this and how to check to see if you can get the coupons mailed to at the Grocery Coupon Guide's latest article, Internet Coupon By Mail

Another list of contact websites and emails for coupons this time for Pepsico courtesy of Flash. The brands include:

AMP, Aquafina, Lipton, Mirinda Orange, Mountain Dew, Mug Root Beer, Pepsi, Quaker Milk Chillers, Sierra Mist, SoBe, Gatorade, Propel Fitness Water, Tropicana, Quaker Oats, FritoLay (Baken-Ets, Baked! Cheetos, Chester’s, Cracker Jack, El Isleno, Doritios, Fritos, Funyuns, Gamesa, Go Snacks, Grandma’s, Lay’s, Lay’s Stax, Light, Munchies, Maui Chips, Munchos, Oh Boy! Oberto, O’Kelley’s, Rold Gold, Ruffles, Rustler’s, Sabritones, Santitas, Smartfood, SunChips, Tostitos)

This is actually a neat little concept call the Fuel Bank. Basically what you do is purchase your gas at today's prices and they are locked in at that prepaid price. So if you purchase 1000 gallons of gas at $2.75 today and the price shoots up to $3.95 six months from now, you still are only paying $2.75 per gallon every time you fill up. While there are a few issues to look at and the program isn't nationwide yet, it is something to consider if you think that gas prices will continue to rise.

I've placed up a number of short posts about how you can save money with credit cards and cash when purchasing gas including some hints of what to do to make sure you're using the method that will get you the most money back.

Some gas stations offer a discount if you pay in cash rather than by credit card. There are also cash back credit cardsthat you can use to save money and now there are even gas specific reward credit cards to save you money.

Figuring out which of these gives you the biggest discount can save you quite a bit over the course of a year.

Flash has put together another major manufacturer contact list for coupons this time for Novartis which includes the following brands:

Gerber, Novartis Nutrition, Boost, Boost & Benefiber, Denavir, Ex-Lax, Gas X, Lamisil AT, Maalox, Habitrol, Otrivin, Theraflu, Triaminic, Voltaren, 4-Way, Bufferin, Comtrex, Excedrin, Keri, Mineral Ice, No-Doz, Vagistat

We're missing some contacts on this page, so if you happen to know any of the missing website URLs, please email me so I can make the list more complete.

I posted about a newer concept that is available in limited areas (supposedly going nation wide this year, but assume it will take a few years to cover most big cities) where you can place advertising on your car in exchange for receiving gas cards. You have to drive quite a bit to qualify (1000 miles a month minimum), but if you already drive this amount, it could be a good way to shave a little bit of money off your monthly gas bill.

I just spent the last few hours surfing the Internet looking for tips to save money on gas - there are quite a few of them. I need help if you know of any other tips (whether they work or not) that I may have missed. Thanks for your help in advance.

Posted a new article from an outside author on home budget tips with the following recommendations:


Keep your financial records organized and your filing up to date
Avoid spending cash, unless you are good at writing down cash expenses in a journal
Give your children a set allowance for things like movies, CDs, snacks and toys instead of just giving them money on as needed basis
Have a system in place for handling the mail
Avoid going to stores where you have had problems overspending in the past
Have written, long term savings goals
Have a set time each week to review and pay the bills

The one that I think a lot of people pass over which is so important is having long term goals written down and placed somewhere you can see them on a daily basis. As the saying goes, it's hard to get where you want to go if you don't know where that is