It's Back to School

How can parents help?
We have some tips and online discount shopping centers that can help:

• back-to-school designer clothes
• great back-to-school supplies
• other online bargains - coupons
  
  
• help students pay for college
  
  
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Don't Forget Your Equity

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home equity tips: life-event planner - banker

It may be hard to believe but it's “back to school” time for some students. Sure, August is still a week away but some districts in Florida and elsewhere will get started by August 10th while a number of year-round districts are already in session. For everyone else, preparation for the upcoming academic year will soon be underway which means that morning traffic will be peppered with its share of big yellow school buses.

This school year promises to be a challenging one for students, parents, teachers and administrators alike. Funding cutbacks means classes will be larger with some special courses dropped and extracurricular activities discontinued. Families will also be faced with another challenge – back to school shopping – which can cost some people hundreds of dollars per student. Fortunately, there are ways for families to save including the following:

Tax Free Weekends – A number of states still have them so if your state is planning a “sales tax free weekend” then why not participate? Stores typically roll out their lowest prices of the season in a bid to compete for customers, yielding savings on that end. Additional savings are realized on the taxing end when eligible items are not taxed.

Back To School Sales – Some jurisdictions no longer support “tax free weekends” as funding problems have kept these governments from giving up an important amount of revenue. In any case, shoppers can still realize big savings by shopping at stores who are holding “Back To School” sales. During these times the biggest savings can be had with some stores agreeing to “pay” or discount the sales tax amount.

Shop Online – Your best savings may be realized if you choose to shop online for your family's back to school needs. Online shopping is often exempt from sales while shipping is sometimes included for free especially if you reach a certain spending threshold with one merchant. Moreover, overhead for online merchants is usually significantly lower meaning that some of these savings are then passed off to you.

Don't Buy – This is a tough call – so many schools share lengthy lists of items, but do you need to buy everything on the list? Some parents object to demands for copier paper, paper towels, tissues and other non-learning supplies, knowing that these items will be used corporately. Perhaps this is a small issue, but there is a principle some will stand on.

Of course, if you're buying for your children then avoid using credit cards especially if don't have the means to pay off what you owe right away. Some supplies may be able to wait until later in the school year, stuff that can be had at deep discounts if you wait.

2009/07/27 consumer financing SE

A home equity line of credit (HELOC) is type of revolving credit. When selecting a HELOC, your residence serves as collateral for your loan. If you have accumulated equity in your home and have a good credit rating, a HELOC can be easy to obtain. But first, you will want to get organized and create a strategy to help you secure financing through a financial institution.

Consult with your accountant. You may think that a particular, low-rate HELOC may be the most effective approach for you, nevertheless your accountant may not share your view. For some property owners the tax benefits of a HELOC may not be advantageous while a home equity loan (HEL) or other funding arrangement may be worthwhile over time. Talk to your financial adviser to come up with a borrowing strategy with the best tax implications.

Evaluate your needs. Your financial adviser will probably persuade you to borrow only what you may need. What this means is creating a spending plan outlining how much money to access. Even though a HELOC does not require you to tap all of your available funds, you may want to consider a line only large enough to pay for the money necessary for refurbishments or other work you need to have done on your house.

Check around for lines of credit. Your financial institution and your mortgage broker are two resources to seek out your HELOC. You will also want to examine their particular rates and compare those with what other lenders have to offer which means broadening your search accordingly. The majority of lines of credit offer adjustable interest rates; compare those rates along with fees and closing costs to figure out the best HELOC for you. Have potential lenders explain the terms of their contracts; negotiate for a lower rate or fees wherever possible.

Apply for a HELOC. Once you have found the HELOC you want, then apply for it. Your lender will obtain your credit information before granting approval and may ask for other documentation prior to closing.

Close on your credit line. Once you are satisfied with the terms of your line of credit, then arrange with your lender to close the deal. Consult with your financial adviser as needed.

Considerations

The Truth in Lending Act (TLA) may allow you to cancel your HELOC within three business days if you change your mind. Your contract should explain the procedure for invoking a rescission.

Caution

Be careful of lines of credit with an initial teaser rate. You may pay more for your HELOC over the long term once the rate resets.

2010/02/16 consumer financing SE

Air-conditioning may be comfortable but sometimes it isn't necessary and it almost always is expensive. When the next heat wave arrives with temperatures pushing up toward 95 degrees, you probably won't be able to imagine yourself without a/c though you may be tempted to keep it at a low setting in order to enjoy maximum cooling.

While air-conditioning is certainly beneficial, you could still realize significant cooling through the use of fans, especially if the humidity isn't all that high and temperatures are very warm, although not hot. True, fans alone won’t have much of an effect on lowering air temperature or removing humidity, yet they can work with your home's air-conditioning unit to lower energy costs while making your home comfortable.

Fabulous Fans For Every Homeowner

Let's take a look at some of the different types of fans which could be of benefit to you:

Ceiling Fans – What room doesn’t look elegant with a ceiling fan in it? Take an ordinary fan and add an extraordinary light fixture to it and you'll have a room that is cooler and better lit than a room without a ceiling fan.

Exhaust Fans – Your kitchen exhaust fan can do a terrific job extracting undesirable odors from the home. That smelly swordfish dinner might have tasted great, but the odor is not something you want to have on hand for many days later. By simply running your kitchen exhaust fan while you cook, you can do away with household odors. As for the bathroom, exhaust fans are designed to both remove heat and excess moisture, something that will stop fungus growth and keep the bathroom fresh smelling.

Oscillating Fans – Ceiling fans certainly do a great job of cooling a room, but they aren't favored by cooks as they can quickly cool off hot food. Instead, an oscillating counter top or floor fan can be a more fitting and wiser cooling device for the kitchen.

Patio Fans – Yes, even the great outdoors can benefit from a fan. Both outdoor ceiling fans or an all-weather oscillating fan can help move air while keeping disease carrying mosquitoes and other insects away from people. Some outdoor fans come equipped with a mister which can cool the surrounding air, bringing it down to a more comfortable level.

Miscellaneous Fans – Your personal computers come equipped with a fan to help keep it cool as do many of today's electrical devices. Fans offer a great way to control internal temperatures which keeps expensive equipment from being damaged from the heat.

Of course, using fans in replacement of air-conditioning completely doesn't work in many warmer climes. However, by making good use of fans, you can run your a/c at a higher temperature while still keeping everyone cool and your electrical bill down.

2009/06/10 consumer tips SE

If you're planning a trip this summer, then you are probably keeping your eye on the cost of gasoline which just this past week climbed above $2.50 a gallon nationally. Not nearly as bad as last summer, but a cause for concern for cash strapped families who were hoping not to be hammered at the pump as they were last summer.

Even then, with families eager to lighten the burden, they'll be looking at other ways to trim their costs including saving money on hotel stays, car rentals, airfare, vacation packages, you name. Fortunately, most resorts and travel related businesses understand these concerns and are offering what amounts to be unprecedented savings for travelers this summer. We've compiled a list of savings based on what some leading companies have shared with us, information that we are passing on to our readers.

Save Money On Travel Costs This Summer

Expedia -- This major travel site is working with hotels to deliver some of the best savings of the summer.  More than 5000 hotels at over 350 destinations are working with Expedia to pass on savings to their customers.

Disneyland Resort -- If you live in Southern California then you've probably have visited Disneyland numerous times. To get you to come back, Mickey and Friends have slashed the price of a three -day ticket, which means you can visits on any three days within a 45-day period to enjoy savings. Open to residents of southern California and Northern Baja California (Mexico) who live within select zip codes.

Choice Hotels -- Stay at most Choice Hotels this summer and you can get a prepaid cash card for three separate stays.  Includes all hotels operating under the Choice umbrella which are -- Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn.

Dominican Republic -- Regional and national travel boards are doing their best to woo people to their destinations. This means that consumers can find some of the best buys in years including in one country, the Dominican Republic, which has been become a popular tourist destination for North Americans in recent years.  Explore this Caribbean country for a vacation of a lifetime.

Los Cabos -- Worried that Americans are hearing reports about Mexico being a dangerous place to visit, the tranquil, safe and friendly Los Cabos region at the tip of Baja California is offering free room nights and resort credits to lure Americans to their white, sandy beaches.  Los Cabos is a thirty mile stretch of southern facing beaches with first class accomodations at rates that might surprise you.

None of the destinations here are endorsements by SayEducate and should only be visited once you have determined that your stay will be safe, carefree and enjoyable.  Comparison shop to find the best savings because an educated consumer is a smart traveler.

2009/06/05 consumer tips SE

With the financial markets having basically collapsed and with personal credit tighter than it has been for years, thinking about a debt consolidation loan seems like sheer lunacy to some. After all, wasn't it irresponsible consumers and greedy lenders who got us into this mess in the first place?

Of course, that mindset is like taking a broad brush and painting it across every lender and consumer you see. Most certainly, not every consumer is overwhelmed by debt and not ever lender is looking to abuse consumers. You're certainly not likely to get a bunch of debt consolidation letters or credit card offers in the mail as was common as recently as last summer, but lenders will loan money to people who have maintained good credit all along. In this case the operative word is good so be prepared to have your credit history examined thoroughly before applying for a loan.

Your Doubts About Debt Consolidation

Even with good credit you may have some doubts about obtaining a debt consolidation loan. In the best case scenario, a debt consolidation loan would tackle all of your debt and replace it with just one, low monthly payment. At least that is what the advertisement says it will do!

In actuality, that may not occur. In fact, bad credit could sink your loan application or force you to compromise by accepting a higher interest rate for your consolidated loan. Just in case you don't realized this, a debt consolidation loan is unsecured debt – just like your credit cards – which means your loan rate will be quite a bit higher than a loan that is secured by your home or other personal property. Thus, your hopes of securing a loan rate of 10, 12 even 15% isn't likely. Expect 20% or higher instead!

Considering Your Financing Options

If you're not careful about choosing the right loan you could end up going from several hard to manage debts to one impossible to control debt. Or, in a bid to procure a lower monthly payment you could find your loan dragged out for ten, fifteen even twenty years or longer. However, if you were to stop using your credit cards and began working toward reducing your debt, you might see your bills paid off in four or five years time. That's a huge difference in repayment time and you would save on interest charges as well.

In the end, the big difficulty for you is changing your conduct. You may need to take on a second job to have the funds on hand to lower your debt or you could get hold of your credit card providers and tell them you are in a desperate financial situation. Yes, just by hinting that you are considering personal bankruptcy you may find your APR as if by magic reduced on the spot. You just don't know, but it could be worth a try.

2009/06/01 consumer tips SE