what are you doing this Valentine?

Valentine ideas for someone special ... where should we start?

• cosmetics and designer look
• box of candy - cookies - or other treat
• quick last-minute vacation
  
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home equity tips: life-event planner

Coupons have long been a staple of American life, offering clippable savings on a wide variety of food, clothing, entertainment, and personal items. When I was young, coupons ranging from five to ten cents were common, with the occasional twenty-five cent savings garnering the most attention.

These days coupon savings of at least fifty cents seem to get noticed, with customers preferring savings of one dollar and above or those for buy one/get one (BOGO) free items. Sunday newspapers long controlled the distribution market, sharing advertising revenue with coupons sent by US mail. Today, that has all changed as internet and “clipless” coupons prevail.

If you're looking to trim the cost of your grocery bill, coupons can help you do just that. Let's explore ways that you can save, to help you shave ten, twenty, even fifty percent or more off of your weekly grocery bill:

Go Clipless – In exchange for giving the grocery store some of your personal information, you can obtain a grocery card that can be used at that store which will automatically deduct store coupons for you without your needing to clip them. Saves you time and hassles, but make sure that you aren't giving the store more information about yourself then you want as you are granting them the ability to track your spending habits.

Newspapers, Magazines, and Flyers – The old standby are those coupons that still appear in the Sunday paper, are placed in magazines, or come in flyers via US mail. Their numbers have dropped over the years, but big savings on all of your favorite brand grocery items can still be found.

Double or Triple Coupons – The battle for customers is still intense, therefore some supermarkets still offer special double or triple coupons (usually up to $1). Suddenly, that fifty cent coupon is worth one dollar and, when you combine that with grocery store specials, you can realize additional savings.

Internet Coupons – Recognizing that so many consumers rely upon the internet for their news and human contact, those paper coupons can often be found on the web, oftentimes right on the manufacturers website. Print them out, bring them to the store, and save just as you would with any other coupon.

Special Coupons – Besides each of the other mentioned sources for coupon savings, your pizza box is frequently the place where food coupons can be found. In addition, check the back of your favorite breakfast cereal, the inside lid of your preferred coffee, and the inside of the label on your peanut butter jar. Some coupons truly are hidden in plain site!

Although coupons aren't always looked upon by consumers with favor, when used they can yield tremendous savings, just what every cash strapped American wants today.

2008/10/10 consumer tips

Consumers looking to reduce household expenses can find savings by reviewing their monthly bills and seeing which ones can be bundled together. In times past phone, cable, and cellular bills were billed separately, but these days companies are bundling various plans together and passing these savings back to their customers.

It isn't just utility bills which can be bundled as insurance companies also offer similar savings when you do business with them. Let's explore how you can save money, perhaps as much as $100 (or more) each month by bundling your expenses together.

Major Media -- If you have a cell phone, land line, cable connection and internet, some companies offer all four services to you at one low price. In some areas, Time Warner Cable offers such a plan (minus the cell phone) and charges an initial rate of $29.95 per month for each service for twelve months. After that, the offer expires, but you can save about $100 each month by bundling digital phone, cable, and internet connection together. Yes, the plan includes long distance including to Canada, giving you one flat bill every month. AT&T and Verizon are two providers which will allow you to bundle all four services together.

Insurance -- If you have car insurance and homeowners insurance, having one insurance company provide this service to you will generally result in savings of 5-15% off of your premium. However, make sure that the coverage you have is adequate when allowing one insurer to cover you and compare plans to see if insuring elsewhere, but through separate companies offers the best savings.

Heating, Cooling and Electricity -- In some parts of the country, consumers have choice when it comes to home energy providers. One company provides gas for heating and cooling while another one may provide electricity. If one company can adequately provide both services and offer to you a discount on their plan, why not consider giving them your business?

Food Shopping -- Who hasn't been shocked this year when they discovered just how fast food prices were rising? Like gasoline, food prices are shooting up thanks to the cost of transporting goods which are usually delivered by trucks. Guess what? Truckers are getting slammed by diesel fuel costs and need to recoup their costs too. Now is the time to consider consolidating your shopping to one store such as a warehouse club that carries food, household items, clothing, even discounts on fuel and tires. You'll have to pay a membership fee to join, but you'll get that money back within the first two times you shop.

Lowering your bills can be done by bundling accounts, a move that can bring about quick savings without instituting additional cutbacks. Take the money you save by bundling costs and put it into savings or use these funds to balance your budget and tackle whatever outstanding debt that you may have.

2008/10/06 consumer tips

Identity theft has gotten to be such a insidious problem that many consumers are requesting that they have their credit records frozen in order to keep thieves from opening up accounts in their names, thereby possibly destroying their credit. 45 states and the District of Columbia have enacted legislation to protect consumers with only Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, and Alabama having yet to pass what many consider to be a vital consumer protection law.

A security freeze works by giving consumers the choice to freeze or lock access to their credit file against anyone trying to open up a new account or to get new credit in their name.

All three credit reporting bureaus -- Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax -- are notified when a credit freeze is put into place, a move which keeps creditors from checking the credit file. If a consumer needs to apply for credit, they will have access to a personal identification number which they can use to temporarily lift the restriction long enough for a known creditor to access personal information.

State By State Control Over Credit Freeze Laws

Each state sets the parameters of applying for credit freeze for their residents, with most states requiring that consumers pay a fee (usually $10) to have their credit locked. In some cases, states allow consumers with a police report proving identity theft to lock their credit for no charge and more often than not the credit freeze is permanent until the consumer asks that it be lifted. Usually, fees are incurred for the temporary or permanent lifting of the freeze.

Voluntary Participation Helps Other Consumers Too

The three credit reporting bureaus are offering credit freeze protection to those states without legislation on their books protecting consumers as well as for residents of Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, and South Dakota, where state law only protects victims of identity theft.  In those states consumers must contact all three credit reporting bureaus directly to be included.

Of course, if you make regular changes to your credit including changing cell phone providers, seeking new employment, making government and other payments, or do a myriad number of other transactions in any given month, you could find that putting a freeze on your credit is more of a hassle than anything.

If this rings true for you, then buying a credit watch service could be the better choice, one that will alert you every time an account is opened up in your name.

Check with each of the three credit reporting bureaus to learn more about these types of programs.

2008/09/11 consumer tips

One way that families are making ends meet is to start a side business, one which allows stay at home moms to make some extra income or for Dad to supplement his income. Some part time businesses are managed by husband and wife, allowing one or both to step in to relieve the other.

7 Tips To Starting And Managing Your Home Based Business

Starting any business takes planning, research which you will need to do in order to lay out a business plan. The following seven tips are designed to help you get started:

Hatch A Plan -- If working for yourself, you need to develop a plan on exactly what you want to do. Will you be selling a product? Offering a service? Or will you be providing affiliate referral sales? On a sheet of paper, list the details of your business including inventory, cost of goods, selling price, targeted consumer group, etc. You may be the best seamstress in the world, but that doesn't mean that people will beat a path to your door to buy what you have. Be realistic!

Investigate Your Options -- The internet can help you find out a lot about your business. Search for small businesses or individuals selling what you have to offer and see how they are structured. You won't have to copy what they do, but you can figure out ways to improve upon their business model.

Consider Funding -- How much money will you need to launch your business? You may already have a number of resources available to you including a computer, printer, and internet connection, but if your business requires additional funding to buy equipment, how will you pay for it? The Small Business Administration offers limiting funding, but will that do? Consider a bank loan, borrowing from your 401(k), a home equity loan, or borrowing money from family members or a friend.

Investigate Your Legal Responsibilities -- In some states you may need to form a legal business in order to market what you have to offer. Contact your state's Department of Corporations or Small Business liaison to learn what you must do. Consider setting up a separate business with an employee identification number (EIN) and business checking account. The IRS can help you with your EIN; an attorney with the establishment of a business.

Set Up A Work Area -- Do you have a room in your home where you can manage everything? Even if your business is teaching piano to school aged children, you may need to have some sort of paper trail in place. Programs such as Quicken can track your business transactions; various software programs can help you handle your remaining business tasks.

Establish A Routine -- No business will succeed without the establishment of some sort of routine. This means setting up a schedule when you will work and when customers can contact you. Working parents would do well to inform customers about their limited availability when children are present or not sleeping. Most customers will understand your restrictions as they likely have had children of their own.

Persevere -- Many small businesses fail within the first few years because their owners have unrealistic expectations, poor planning, lack of interest, improper funding, etc. Side businesses can continue on indefinitely if you have a clear understanding of what you need to do. Adjust your business as often as needed and keep the big picture at hand: working for yourself can help your family and give you something to fall back on.

Do What You Want To Do

Most of all, find a business that you like. Just because you can make money managing people's travel arrangements doesn't mean that you like to do this type of work. Successful business people are those with a passion to do what they're doing and keep at it through thick or thin.

Should you work for yourself? That is a question only you can answer, one that will gradually unfold over time.

2008/08/20 consumer tips

My neighbor, Lester, is a good representation of so many of the people living in my area. He retired early, has a generous pension, is collecting social security, and he keeps track of his investments. Lester is also very thrifty, driving a nine-year old Chevy Impala that has less than 75,000 miles on the odometer.

Lester plans on buying one more car in his lifetime, figuring it'll last him long enough before he and his wife will head off for a retirement home. That car purchase wasn't going to take place until next year, but with so many new car incentives available this year, he plans on seeking the best discounts as soon as they become available.

It looks as if Lester's wait is now over.

General Motors, for one, is now offering their biggest discounts of the year, allowing buyers to take advantage of the company's employee pricing program. When an automaker rolls out this type of plan, they are showing that they mean serious business; car prices are slashed below the sticker price, and are offered at the deepest discounts possible.

Although the GM offer is the only one of its kind in place right now, other automakers are expected to follow suit between now and the end of the year. Sales for most car companies are way off and bloated inventories must be cleared. One way to do that is to offer slash prices to the bone. However, even with employee pricing, additional savings can be realized IF you think smart.

Employee Pricing? You Can Realize Additional Savings!

If you are planning to take advantage of GM's employee pricing or some other automaker's program, you'll want to know that additional savings are also available. These include:

College Grad or Military Discounts -- Recent college grads and active military members are often offered an additional discount by automakers. Ranging in price from $300 to $500, they are the kinds of deals that consumers often overlook and dealers don't always mention. Before heading off to your local showroom, get on that brand's website to learn about additional incentives.

Cash Discount -- If you are in a position to offer an all cash transaction, you might also be able to shave a few hundred extra off of the price of the car. This offer varies from dealer to dealer, but remember this: the automaker often slips the dealer rebate money for selling cars -- why not get a portion of that money for yourself as well? Lester plans on doing just that -- too bad he isn't a recent college grad or he'd be after that discount too!

Get More For Your Trade In -- Lester is giving his old Impala to his daughter, but you may be looking to trade in your car when you buy your new wheels. Be careful -- car dealers will often try to mix both deals together, i.e. the buying of a new car with the trading in of your old one. Better to work out the best price on your new car first and then see what the dealer will pay for your old car. Visit Kelley Blue Book at www.kbb.com to find out what your car is worth. Cars with larger engines as well as trucks and SUVs are depreciating much faster these days; you have high gas prices to blame for that.

I'm not in Lester's position financially nor am I planning to buy a new car right now. Regardless of what your financial condition is, before you spring for a new car, you'll want to use an automotive calculator to learn what you can afford and what your monthly payments will be. Visit our "Home Equity Auto Maker" to find a lending guide to help you with the car buying process.

(Photo Credit: GM Corp.)

2008/08/20 consumer tips