Also should be noted that Foreclosure and Deed in Lieu are permanent public record. This has cost some people jobs in cases of security clearance requirements. Foreclosure is rarely a good idea or the only solution. http://www.GwenCanHelp.com for more information and helpful links.

Note:It’s advisable to fill out the short form.Let them call you back.The line is always busy due to so many customers.

When is the best time of the month to make an extra payment? Assuming you make your regular payment on the 1st of every month, and you want to put extra money toward the principal, should you do that in the middle of the month, or just shortly before you make your regular mortage payment? I read once that the less time that has passed since the last time your account was active, the more money will go toward your principal and the less to interest.

Pros:

a.) A systematic discipline to save/invest on a regular basis, for a long period of time.
b.) The “Potential” for a company match.
c.) “No touchy!” until age 59 1/2 or there are taxes/penalties.

Now…..Cons:

a.) Income risk. The defined benefit plan provided the income, now a participant will have no clue as to what their future income will be.
b.) Increased Market risk. Employees from all walks of life are now expected to “chart their own course” through treacherous waters they have Not navigated before, assisted generally by a meager color brochure with pie charts that they do not understand.

c.) Imprudent Investor behavior. When left to themselves, participants in a 401(k) are more likely to sell (get out of) a fund which they feel performed poorly, thus realizing undue losses and missing the actual growth of the markets. The result is that will not benefit from the “Market average growth” for the past couple of decades.
Hyper-activity, frequently changes fund choices causes increased losses and fees, and will many times lead a participant to seek the “safety” of the Money Market account.
d.) Greatly limited choices. I’ve seen as little as 6 choices, and as much as 1oo Fidelity Funds (which isn’t really helpful), versus over 30,000 choices in the free markets, equaling an unlimited number of allocation combinations.

I have posted a video response to the Time article, though I do not believe it should be “retired.” I believe employees should receive Unbiased advice, and be made aware of alternatives i.e the tax-free Roth IRA, or non-qualified investment options outside the employer plan.

What I’ve found helpful along with using the spending journal, is to go back over the last 3 months of bank statements with a highlighter and mark all transactions where you have nothing to show for it (except groceries,gas and “fixed” bills); we’re looking for “leaks” in the “bucket” so to speak, then re-direct some of those “lost” dollars towards debt reduction and savings!

We do not buy the the inventory and the owner has final say. We try to end the sale as quick as possible. Yes, we try to make as much for the owners as possible, but there are good deals for the smart shopper. The key is to shop the first day of the new discounts.

One last thing, I have never raised a price or suggested an owner or employee to do so. When I catch one doing it, I change the price back and talk to the owner about the credibility of the sale and they have a lot to lose by doing that.

One can purchase a home as soon as 30 days after a bankruptcy. After a foreclosure? It’s a minimum of 4 years and lately, I’m seeing underwriting push it to 5 and 6 years, regardless of how great your credit may be otherwise . . .

As pointed out by others if one is vegetarian or does not eat too much processed foods, one doesn’t find too many coupons of value.

While I do use an occasional coupon for toothpaste/soap/shampoo etc, I try not to stockpile either since I try to avoid overconsumption which is what excessive couponing leads to.

You should see my garage linked below.

-Dan Malone-

Several times, I’ve tried couponing. The two issues I’ve found are that it’s very time-consuming, taking away from time I could use to earn or at least to market my services; and it does seem that few coupons cover real food. Almost all the coupons are for processed, packaged quasi-food or for junk food snacks. As for shampoo, deodorants, etc.: Very nice, but how often do you buy that stuff? For a single person like me, one bottle of Pantene from Costco lasts months; daily bathing seems to pre-empt the need for chemical deodorants most of the time, so a package of that gunk also lasts months. Ditto hand cream, toothpaste, cleaning products, and most household goods, which are very cheap at big box stores.

At midweek, the Safeway here puts meat on sale for ultra-low prices: recently chuck roast was going for 99 cents a pound. Have that ground into hamburger for a much better product than the stuff that’s sitting on the counter and selling for three bucks a pound, and you’re probably saving about as much as a canny couponer can save.

You can do pretty well by shopping in the right stores at the right times, by stockpiling food when it’s on sale, and by using shopping lists religiously. Though I suspect an accomplished couponer saves more than I do, by the same token I’m not spending my time at a tedious daily or weekly chore, being herded into buying products I otherwise wouldn’t buy, or wasting other shoppers’ time shuffling pieces of paper at the checkout counter.

All I can suggest is that everyone that purchased in 2009 and does not qualify by this date should write their congress person.

Coupons for meat are irrelevant, as I am vegetarian. We don’t eat processed snacks at home ever (unless we are hosting a party). I don’t eat cereal; my husband eats Cheerios. I rarely eat/use eggs.

There are a few things that we will occasionally find coupons for, but we’re not going to cut our grocery bill in half (or even by a quarter) by clipping coupons. If I see a coupon we might use, I’ll clip it, but generally it’s not worth pouring over coupons for an hour a week to save $3.oo. We’ll shop sales and stock up on non-perishables if they’re on sale, but that’s all that we’ve found to be worth the time spent.

-Rick Francis

John DeFlumeri Jr

You know, I hear this a lot and yet, it’s not true. I’ve saved lots of money on organic eggs, organic snacks and cereals, produce, meat and baking products (yeasts, flours, etc). We love Fiber One, Kashi and Cascadian Farms products to supplement our “from scratch” cooking.

Everything I purchase is based upon a price point per serving. I don’t care how cheap a pre-made lasagna is, if the per serving price isn’t at a specific price point for me, I don’t buy it. Yes, we will buy processed stuff, cause I know for a fact that NO ONE eats all organic/healthy all the time. We don’t ever eat or drink out of our house unless it’s free, so for meals that we just don’t want to cook, we’ll eat something processed (which is a heck of a lot better for you than your local Del Taco or Panda Express).

I also know that I’m PAID to shop when I buy processed stuff on specific sales/events – so I’ll buy bunches of it and donate it to the food bank and I’ll use the “cash on your next purchase” certificates I receive to buy my fruits, veggies, dairy and meat.

I have no license, no formal training and every tool I own is at home depot (my day job in case your are drawing a correlation is Pension Plans, so sorry at a keyboard all day like most of us). Savings?? Rounded out, you save 30% on a job you do yourself. Which means you can spend the extra savings on the “upgraded” dishwasher, and ensure the craftsmanship is perfect as your patience level.

Contractors and mechanics are in business, that’s why you are encouraged to “Leave it to the professionals”. But there is also some value in the professionals, Your Saturday! The 30% savings can also buy you many weekends of leisure, rather than 15 trips to Home Depot.

I find the BEST way to save money is to make a list of what you need and stick to it.

Too many coupon shoppers fool themselves into thinking they are saving money. The truth is that they didn’t have the intention of buying the item in the first place, but they can’t overlook the “savings”. If you pay only 50 cents for a $5.00 item you don’t need, you have still paid 50 cents too much.

My uncle is like this. I see weird items in his bathroom storage closet, in multiples, neatly stacked – which he never uses. Must have been a great sale. LOL.

That is, unless LC only pays lip service to them.

The truth is, demanding that you bring your pet in once a year for unnecessary vaccinations is a ploy to get people in for an unnecessary annual exam, which costs a lot more than the shots themselves and gives chain veterinary clinics an opportunity to sell you a few products you could buy cheaper elsewhere and that you probably don’t need. Most pet owners can recognize if their animal is healthy or under the weather. Take your pet to a shot clinic and skip unneeded exams!

Contrary to what appears to be popular belief, cab driving is not a breeze. Often–as is the case I imagine with bartenders, etc.–there is a sort of milieu therapy that occurs within the sanctity of a cab. There’s also a good deal of abuse, as some view the cab as an opportunity to verbally abuse someone. Most people, however, are really wonderful. Hustling to make money beyond what you spend on the cab every day requires some energy.

I have a 157 IQ, worlds of experience in human service management, editing, graphic design, and alternative bodywork therapies, and am considered talented and successful in all the above-mentioned fields. However, times are hard, and I turned to cab driving as a viable supplement. Cab drivers span the gamut in terms of experience, personality, dedication, and acumen. And the work can be fascinating.

I’ll continue to learn a lot from career cab drivers. There are some really wonderful people driving, and getting the science and art down of successfully driving cab to feed your family is no easy task.

Lumping people into one category indicates tremendous intellectual laziness. Perhaps some cerebral calisthenics are in order.