home equity guide

Yahoo! Finance has a fantastic section that deals with home equity.

It will answer pretty much all the questions you have on calculating how much equity you have in your home, how to access it and turn it into cash, and both the pros and cons of doing so.

I definitely recommend checking it out if you own a home. Whether you are looking to raise money or tap into the equity or not, it is good to be informed.

A guide to home equity

account theft at 2 major banks

Over 100,000 people with accounts at Bank of America or Wachovia may have had their bank account information stolen.

It was discovered that bank employees had stolen the information which could be used for fraud or identity theft.

Both banks are informing the the affected customers and providing them with free credit reporting services.

source article

Mortgage rates drop again...its not too late to refinance

Mortgage rates dropped again this week. The average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell from 5.77 to 5.71. At this time last year it was 6.30.

The average rate of 15-year mortgages is now 5.27, down from 5.33 last week. At this time last year it was 5.67.

If you are currently paying higher rates, you should consider refinancing. You can compare rates with different lenders with Lending Tree.

source article

a great resource for investors

A great site that I visit all the time is The Motley Fool. It's goal is to educate individual investors about investing in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate and more.

You have to register in order to read the articles, but it is free. The articls are witty, informative, and insightful. They are meant to help beginners understand the stock market and other investment vehicles, but more advanced readers can also pick up some useful information.

If you are looking to get your money working for you, I'd highly recommend checking out the website and reading up as much as you can.

Saving money is like dieting?

When people go on diets, they usually do it in one of two ways. First is the crash diet where you cut way back on calorie intake and exercise like crazy. Usually this will work if you need to lose a little weight fast, like if you have a friend's wedding in two weeks and need to lost 5 pounds to fit into your dress. This kind of dieting will usually work short-term, but its tough to keep up.

The other option is less of a diet and more of a lifestyle change. The goal is not really to lose weight quickly, but to lose it gradually and to maintain a healthy lifestyle permanently. To do this, you may eliminate junk food, quit smoking, exercise more, and learn to cook more healthy dishes.

I think there is a similar distinction when it comes to saving money. Some people may face a sudden expense or layoff and be forced to cut expenses and save every penny they can. Others will re-evaluate their priorities and change their lifestyle so they can cut out what they don't really need and have more money to do what is truly important to them.

This is what I went through last summer when my wife and I had our baby girl. My wife quit her job to take care of the baby and we had to find ways to cut our expenses and save money (our income was cut in half!)

But we managed to pull it off and that's where I got the idea for my eBook, Saving 101. It's an easy read, and I hope you will take advantage of all the work I did putting it together.

More info on the Saving 101 eBook.

lesson learned...always check your receipt

Saturday afternoon my wife and I took a drive with our little girl. On the way home we stopped at Shoprite to pick up a few things. We were running low on soda, so we decided to buy some cans to fill up the fridge.

I usually drink Coke, but Pepsi was on sale so we got that instead. The price advertised on the shelf and the flyer was 4 twelve-packs for $10 (must buy 4).

I generally hate the concept of Must Buy 4 or whatever. I really only wanted one 12-pack, but in order to get the sale price I had to buy four.

So we bought the 4 cases of Pepsi and went home. It wasn't until later that I glanced at the receipt and noticed that Shoprite charge us full price (13.34). I was pissed.

We were forced to buy more than we wanted in order to get the sales price, and then they ripped us off of $3.34.

And while it was likely an innocent computer error, it made me wonder how often these types of errors occur. Think about it, it could be happening to you each time you stop at the store. So, make sure you check that receipt before you head home.

As for us, we saved the receipt and the flyer showing the advertised price. It's not worth making a special trip, but the next time we go to Shoprite we plan to stop by the Customer Service desk to get our money back!

bad news on pensions

More proof that traditional defined-benefit pensions are on the way out...United Airlines transferred its pension plan to the PBGC.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp takes over pension plans that have failed and pays benefits to retirees. United Airlines' plan was underfunded, but so is the PBGC. This means that future retirees may face cuts to their benefits. Coupled with expected cuts in Social Security benefits, this could be a ruinous combination for retirees who are expecting to have these benefits to support them.

source article.

More people investing in 401ks

An article in Yahoo news states that more and more people are contributing to their employer-sponsored 401k plans. This is great news...we all need all the help we can get when it comes time for retirement.

With traditional pension plans all but gone and Social Security up in the air, Americans are going to have to rely on their own savings to support them in retirement. 401k plans are an excellent way to save because your contributions grow tax-free until you withdraw them. And if your employer offers a company match, it's an even better deal.

But the article also notes that many investors have too much money invested in their company's stock. Now there is nothing wrong with investing in your company's stock, but you need to diversify your portfolio to protect yourself from catastrophe.

Remember Enron? Employees who invested the bulk of their money in company stock were financially ruined when the company went under. But many Americans still have not learned the lesson. If you put all of your eggs in one basket, you are playing with fire.

source article

Saving 101 ebook launched!

I am happy to say that this weekend I was able to complete and launch my new ebook titled:

Saving 101 - One Hundred One Proven Techniques for Cutting Expenses, Increasing Savings, and Getting Out of Debt.

Order a copy today...I promise the ebook will pay for itself in the first month, and then some. My family has used the tips I have gathered to save hundreds of dollars per month. You can do the same too.

Check it out at:
http://www.saving-money-and-living-debt-free.com

intro

I'm starting this blog as a place to share tips and suggestions for saving money.
This is a topic that I have been spending a lot of thought on recently. My wife and I has our first child last August and we decided that my wife would quit her job to stay home and raise our daughter.

I don't regret the decision, since my daughter is very happy to have her mom around. But it was a major adjustment! We basically cut our income in half, so we had to eliminate a lot of unneccessary spending.
But I'm glad to say we did it! =)

And now with this blog, others can learn how to save money and cut expenses so that they too can be in control of their finances.

I am going to be launching an e-book very shortly that will offer the top 101 Money Saving Tips that helped my family achieve its financial goals. I hope to have it up any day now, and I will make an announcement on this blog and include a link to my website where the e-book is available.

In the meantime, I hope everyone can learn a thing or two, and perhaps share a few tips of their own so we can all enjoy financial freedom.
Good Luck!