Pay Off Your Mortgage 8 years early

Adapt MoneyClub.com’s Dollar-a-Month Plan.  ” If you have a 30-year fixed rate mortgage for $150,000 at 6% today, just add an extra dollar to your $900 payment each month — $1 the first month, $2 the second month, $3 the third, and so on.”

You’ll end up paying off your 30-year loan in 22 years (just be sure your loan has no prepayment penalty).

Savings: Over 30 years, interest would probably total about $174,000; using the Dollar-A-Month plan, you’d pay approximately $122,000, an impressive savings of $52,000! Now that’s something to be happy about!

Read Full Post »

Love free stuff?

We sure do! Check out Kiplinger Magazine’s Fabulous Freebies 2009. The slideshow offers a wealth of goodies, including how to access free movies, videogames, birthday treats (ice cream!), and more. See how many freebie tips you already make use of.

Read Full Post »

Your free personal finance calendar, courtesy of Schwab

Sometimes, life gets so busy that we don’t have time to breathe, let alone go to the bathroom. So it’s no wonder that personal finance planning gets shelved for another day. But the truth is that you need to focus on your finances on a regular basis. Schwab’s handy personal finance calendar makes it easy. Just enter Schwab’s advice into your Google Calendar or Outlook.

Get started by taking action and following August’s to-do list:

• Compare what you actually spent on vacation to the amount you projected for in your annual cash flow plan. Start thinking about your holiday budget.
• As the kids or grandkids get ready for school, think about establishing or contributing to a Coverdell Education Savings Account and/or 529 College Savings Plan on their behalf.

Read Full Post »

Living with less–share your strategies

The New York Times recently launched a Web page where readers can share their strategies for getting by in the economic downturn? Share your best advice, ask a question, comment on other peoples’ strategies and recommend the most helpful ones.

Some of my favorites:

• LESS Amazon, Borders & BN and MORE Public Library (@iBelin, via Twitter)
• Stop going to the movies or Blockbuster and go to your local library. They have a large selection of DVDs you can check out, for free. (Bonnie, Wilmington,DE)

• Look for freebies on craigslist, it’s fun shopping without spending a dime. (@ziggywiggy, via Twitter)

• Go talk to your landlord about a rent reduction, especially if you have you a good history! Don’t be afraid to try, it works in this economy (Bill Randle, Big Apple)
• Volunteer. You’d be amazed… it’s entertaining, it’s free, it eats time that you’d spend doing expensive things, and it opens doors…(Brian, Boston)
• Ditch sodas and bottled water for regular tap water – improve your health, your pocket and the environment (Michael Donohoe, Brooklyn, NY)
• Use olive oil. For your hair (as a conditioner), as a moisturizer, on your food. Cheaper than store bought H&B aids, and great for the skin. (JG, Carmel, NY)

What are YOUR favorite tips?

Read Full Post »

100 ways to save money immediately

Ruby Herman, a budget and financial consultant with Future Performance Consulting, shared a list he created of 100 ways to save money immediately. Not everything will apply to everyone, but it’s definitely worth reading.

Some highlights:

24. Move money to high yield savings accounts

44. Borrow movies from the library for free

60. Order your prescription medicines via mail order whenever possible

61. Pay your bills on-line

88. Pay your mortgage on the 10th of each month. As much as the banks like it on the 1st, it’s not usually due until the 30th. They have a right to charge you a late fee if it’s after the 10th or the 15th, depending on the bank.

90. Prepay your mortgage by 7-8 years. Adding $100 a month to an average $300,000 mortgage at 6% will lower your payment schedule by 7-8 years. If you can pay semi-monthly ½ the amount due, you could lower a 30 year mortgage to 18 years.

91. Only use doctors in your medical plan (in network). Pay for all out of pocket expenses from a FSA, or HSA. Negotiate all medical bills not covered by insurances.

94. Order a credit report from all three credit bureaus, and clean up your credit report. 90% of credit reports have at least one error, or more. Dispute any errors, or items older than 2 years. Increase your credit score.

To read the entire list, visit Ruby’s Web site and scroll down to the “list of files to download.”

Read Full Post »

Is your money working for you?

Pop quiz: How much interest are you earning on the money socked away in your savings account? If you don’t know, you better take a look. According to an article in today’s Wall Street Journal, checking accounts and some money-market mutual funds that invest primarily in Treasurys are yielding as little as 0.01%, or $1 a year for every $10,000 invested.

Why give your bank a free (or almost free) loan? Instead, shop around for the highest rate using bankrate.com. Just be sure that the bank is FDIC-insured. I use DollarSavings Direct, which is currently yielding 2% (but you need to keep a minimum balance of $1,000 the entire month, or else that rate plummets). If it weren’t such a hassle to transfer funds, I’d switch to Ally Bank (formerly GMAC), which is offering 2.25%, with no minimum deposit. Just be sure to check the rate every once in a while — they tend to change without much warning.

Read Full Post »

Do you clip coupons?

I do. But I can understand why many people don’t. It’s a real hassle and when you’ve finally reached the checkout counter, the last thing you want to do is be that person, the one who holds up the line and spends 15 minutes searching through her coupon wallet.

Utah’s “Grocery Guru” Ken Roesbery says that coupons are one way to save up to 70 percent on groceries. Roesbery advises savvy shoppers to keep the coupon inserts from the Sunday newspaper in a file (for about a month) and clip only those you are going to use that week after seeing what’s on sale. (Read more about Ken in this Salt Lake Tribune article).

What are your tips for saving on groceries?

Read Full Post »

Are you FruCool?!

You know, FruCool. As in, frugal + cool = FruCool.

How FruCool are you? Check out these tips courtesy of CreditKarma.

Are you FruCool?Pay with cash or debit card, avoid paying with a credit card. That way, you won’t buy more than you can afford and won’t incur interest fees.

• Use free services instead of paid services. Why pay for a gym, when you can take advantage your local neighborhood parks? Being financially healthy is just as important, so to stay on top of your credit health, get your credit score  for free at CreditKarma.com.
• Save instead of spend. Fidelity Investments reports that Gen Y members between the ages of 20 and 29 are saving more, spending less and generally doing a better job of managing their money.  Most (84%) have limited their discretionary purchases, and nearly half of those are putting aside a median of $150 a month for rainy days.
• It’s cool again to pack a lunch. Brown bagging is back! Calculate how much you can save at http://www.dinkytown.net/java/LunchSaver.html
• Coupons are FruCool – paying full price is not cool. According to Inmar, coupon redemption in the fourth quarter of 2008 grew nearly 10% compared with Q407.

Read Full Post »

Get free business cards

I’ve had lots of side businesses over the years. When I was eight, I created my own magazine, which I photocopied and tried to sell for 10c each. That didn’t work out too well. As a teenager, I love putting together beautiful baskets for my mother’s friends to give as baby presents and hostess gifts. In recent years, I’ve done a lot of freelance work.

Throughout all these varied experiences, I’ve noticed that people respect your enterprise more when you have a business card to hand them. A business card acts also makes it easier to promote yourself. And they come pretty cheap. So if you’re currently dabbling with a side business (from cutting and styling hair to selling homemade handbands), get yourself at least 100 business cards. Now, business cards come cheaply. Plus, you can write them off on your taxes as an expense (if they’re for business purposes).

• Visit Moo.com to receive 10 business cards for free, including free shipping.
• Staples is currently offering small businesses the opportunity to buy 100 business cards for just .99! Offer good through May 23. Just enter coupon code 27813 during checkout. Just tried ordering and discovered that you can’t pick up the cards in store, and therefore have to pay $7 shipping. Not such a great deal anymore. Although if you’ve recently lost your job, Staples is offering 20 free resumes and 40 business cards, though June 13.
• There’s always Vistaprint.com, where you can get 250 business cards for free. Shipping is $5.67 but can take close to three weeks.

Have business cards helped you grow your business? Do you have a preferred place to buy business cards? If so, let us know.

Read Full Post »

Want to improve your finances? Top 10 action tips to take right NOW.

Here’s a handout Pazit distributed at the “Jewish Economic Survey” event tonight. We hope you find it helpful. Feel free to add comments with additional tips.

BUDGETING
1. Sign up at Mint.com or Thrive (justthrive.com) to gain a better picture of your finances. Add all your bank accounts, credit cards, and loans (student, car, etc.).  Sign up for automated reminder emails to make sure you pay your bills on time. (Late fee$ add up!)
2. Know what your after-tax income is. Guessing won’t work.
3. Use the after-tax figure to calculate your monthly expenses – rent, utilities, food, transportation. Be sure to take into consideration tzedakah you plan to give. Also, include expenses such as shabbos meals, lulav & esrog, mikvah payments, etc. Then, subtract your expenses from your income. You should have money left over for savings and investment. (Confused? See the Pazit Budget).

SAVINGS
4. If your savings account is earning you only pennies in interest, switch to a higher-yield online account like EmigrantDirect or DollarSavings. Right now, the rate is only 2%…but that’s better than 0.5%!
5. Take a good, hard look at your checking and savings accounts. Many banks charge fees or fines if you don’t maintain a minimum balance.
6. Ditto for ATM withdrawals. Try to visit your own bank’s ATM to minimize fees.

DEBT
7. If you have credit card debt, call up your credit card company and negotiate a lower interest rate. If that doesn’t work, find a new credit card with no transfer fees and a low interest rate (under 10 percent). That will save you hundreds of dollars in interest. Then, resolve to pay it all off!
8. Sign up to receive your FREE credit report at annualcreditreport.com. Choose only one of the three credit bureaus; that way, you can check your credit for free every four months. Make sure there aren’t any mistakes that are lowering your credit. A lower credit score means you’ll pay more for a mortgage or car loan down the road. Make a note on your calendar to do this again in four months.

RETIREMENT PLANNING
9. If your company still offers to match your 401(k) contributions, do it. It’s free money!
10. Have $100 (or more, if you can handle it – up to $5,000 a year) deducted automatically from each paycheck and deposited into a Roth or Traditional IRA. (The Roth allows you to invest after-tax dollars, which then grow tax-free). If your IRA is made up of at least 70% stocks (which it should be if you’re in your 20s), you’ll reap the benefits of dollar cost averaging (a fancy term that means that you buy steadily, month after month, rather than waiting for particular highs or lows).

The key to gaining a handle on your finances is being comfortable talking about money. Gain that comfort level by reading the business section of a daily newspaper (The Wall Street Journal’s Personal Finance section is great!) as well as magazines like Money. If you have any questions, email Pazit at info@pazit.org.

Read Full Post »