The Water Bill

Out of all my monthly bills, one of the smallest is my water bill. Paying this bill gives me a good feeling - enough so that I can tackle the higher bills for the month!

Don't Forget That Stamps Go Up 2 Cents Monday!

The price of mailing a first class letter will go up 2 cents on Monday. That means if you mail a letter this weekend then it would behoove you to add the new rate. While the post office says that they will give some lee-way as far as this is concerned - why take chances?

There is supposed to be a new stamp on sale called the "Forever" stamp. It's cost is 41 cents - which corresponds to the newly updated price of a stamp but this stamp is special because you will still be able to use it even if the stamp rate goes up.

PayDay Loans

Payday Loans? I really can't agree with these things! I know that there are circumstances that come up where people may need quick cash fast but I would advise that you stay as far away from these things as possible. First of all the money that you have to pay back will be considerably higher than the money you get. Secondly you will be charged very high interest rates!

If you can manage it at all start an "emergency" account. You can start off with any amount of money that you have. Keep adding to it even if its just a penny! Soon you should have enough to put it in some kind of bank account - hopefully a bank account that pays interest. Keeping adding to your emergency fund and watch it grow. Don't spend any of it unless it is a real emergency and then replace it as soon as possible.

Health Insurance

What can you say about health insurance? It's expensive and they don't cover every thing and you get loads and loads of ads about purchasing it!

Its not like it was in the "old" days - the days before HMO's. If you're lucky your job provides you with health insurance. But even that is becoming more of a problem because more and more news stories are about workers striking and one of the major issues has to do with the employee having to take a cut out of their paycheck to put towards health insurance coverage.

But that still leaves a lot of people without health insurance. Since I do a lot of grant research I know that there are some government programs where you can apply for health insurance benefits but you have to make sure that you're eligible.

Unfortunately even with the government programs that still leaves a lot of people without health insurance (and you may be one of them)

The only real advice that I can give you is that you shop around for the best rates. Just like with everything else you should do some investigating, research and comparison shopping when you are looking for a health insurance plan. Maybe you can get some feedback from friends and neighbors. You can also go online and search around for some forums and message boards where other people discuss about their health insurance coverage. There's no better "word of mouth" than the people that have the coverage themselves.

Barack Obama Has A Website

I know that most of the politicians have a website but it just struck me as something interesting. Here is a link to his website:

Barack Obama's Website

There is also a blog but its written by his staff. You can post comments and find out what is going on currently in his campaign bid for President.

Owning Your Own Home

One of the best pieces of financial advice is to own your own home. I realize that not all people are "homeowner" people. Some people are "apartment" people. One of the reasons why owning your own home is advised is because paying a mortgage is quite different than paying rent. It has been said that when you pay your rent every month that you are essentially throwing it away. When you are paying a mortgage you get one step closer to owning your own home completely. You are building equity in your property and your home becomes more of an assest.

If you're an "apartment-type" person and you like things just the way they are then that is fine for you because that's the way that you want it to be.

If you ever thought about owning your own home, there may be many options available to you. I do know that there are some grant programs to help first time home buyers. (And I'm going to put more information about it in my Grant Basics 101 Blog that I just started. Realtors seem to be very helpful and useful to those that want to buy a home (they get a commission of course) so you may find that using a realtor to help you will be helpful. There are also things like sheriff sales and tax sales that go on and you should check to see if there are any going on in your area.

If you want to become a homeowner or are seriously considering it then you should investigate further about being able to own your own home. I do want to issue a word of warning though because many people are having problems keeping up with their mortgage payments and there is a big increase in foreclosures. A lot of people have gotten home loans, such as adjustable reate mortgages, where they can't meet the payments. The best kind of mortgage to get on one's home is a 30-year fixed mortgage.

Even if you feel that you won't be able to afford buying a house I urge you to look more into it. You may be surprised as to what options that you will have available to you!

Beware of Grant Scams!

Here is a link to a story about one of the grant scams that are going on out there in the world:

Beware!

Now there are a couple of points in the article that I don't agree with and they mainly have to do with "there are no grants for.......". As one of the people that do this kind of thing for a living I have to say that those are points of the article that I don't agree with. You would be amazed at the type of (and number of)grants that are out there! Did you know that a witch got a grant to start her own business? Do you know that there is a grant program that awards $100,000 to help people fulfill their own dreams? This money goes directly to the individual!

The parts that I DO agree with have to do with the fact that the IRS will not call you up and say that you are eligible for a grant. That is not their job. So if you get a call like that the best thing to do is to ask for more information and tell the caller that you will contact the IRS and that you would like them to leave you their name and number - that should result in a quick "hang up" from them!

For more information about Grant Programs and Grants in general be sure to visit my "Working From Home" blog.

Foreclosures - Losing Your Home

I was listening to the news and they reported that the number of foreclosed homes was expected to increase to 20%. I personally know someone that lost their home because the back taxes weren't paid. What makes it all the more worse is that the house will probably be sold for less its value and I don't even know what will happen to the equity (if the previous owners had any) that was in the house. Do the previous owners get that or do they not get anything?

I know that its the "in" thing to be investing in real estate which includes foreclosures but what about the people who are being foreclosed on? I'm sure they are not feeling like they are being part of the "in" thing. The news story goes on to say that there are some options for people who are behind in their mortgage payments. I think a lot of those options involve refinancing their mortgage. A lot of people have gotten those adjustable rate mortgages which are bad because the mortgage payments can go up. But I do understand why people get them. Besides questionable tactics by the companies that handle this, people just go through the procedure so that they can be able to buy the property. I know that this may not seem like a good excuse to some but there are just those instances where your logic takes a back seat and you can't think of anything but the matter at hand.

What's the solution? It's hard to say because everyone has their own different set of circumstances. In a nutshell, if you want to be able to keep your house but you are behind on your payments you should seek some help. If you have exhausted everything that you can do yourself then find someone to help you. First you should seek help from those that don't charge a fee (if you can help it). There should be resources in your own community that you can call and find out how you can address this issue. If the first place you call hasn't helped then call another and keep calling until you can find some help.

Now this may not be a popular subject but I am going to say it anyway and that is that you should start a budget! You can call it your "keeping your house" budget and in that budget you save! Any piece of extra money you put into that budget. You never spend it you just keep adding to it even if it is a few pennies at the start! You save enough to be able to put in a bank account and then you save enough so that you can put it in a bank account that will bring you some interest. Remember that this is your "keep your house" account and remembering that hopefully will rid you of the temptation to spend the money.

IRS goes after eBay, wants info on seller earnings

. In short, the US government wants to treat eBay as a "broker" who would then be required to file notices with the government about how much money its traders have made. The US proposal calls for this reporting to take place only when people sell more than several thousand dollars worth of merchandise in a year.



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A Science Teacher

Science Teacher From New Jersy

Here is an interesting blog from a science teacher. He's quite a fan of nature and it shows in his enthusiasm!

It's always interesting to see what others are doing all around the world.

It also shows the power of what having a blog can do. So if you ever thought about having your own blog but wanted to know how other's look you can click on the link above, read some of the entries and post a comment or two.

The reason why I included this blog is because he's a teacher and the fact that he's sharing his life is inspiring.

Congress.org

Here is a very good link that you should keep in your list of resources/references.

I know that a lot of people don't think that it would do any good to know the addresses of their Congress people but fortunately not all people feel this way. This link will take you to a page where you can find out what the addresses (including email addresses) of your Congress people are. Not only that but this site has a lot of information relating to Congress in general. You can find the Congress people for your area, get on the mailing list to see how your area politicians are voting on certain issues and a whole lot more. There are also examples of letter campaigns that have been done - and you can see examples of those.

I know that a lot of people don't think that it will do any good knowing this kind of information but I think that they are wrong. It's becoming increasingly hard enough not to be involved in politics because it affects so many areas of our lives.

I'm working on adding a direct link to this side on the side of my blog but I seem to be having trouble adding it but I will keep working on it.

Got Bad Credit? - There's A Loophole!

Debtors with poor credit scores can take advantage of a loophole to rent credit lines from people with better credit history. Because spending money in order to borrow more money is exactly what most debtors need to do

You can read more about this in more detail by clicking here

Auto Insurance - A Necessary Evil!

Of course I got another spam email and this time it was about auto insurance. Having auto insurance is a necessary evil but I don't think that I would go online to get it. I feel much comfortable being face to face with the insurance agent. I'm sure that not everybody feels this way because I'm sure that there are people who have bought their auto insurance online.

Maybe the procedure is not the same in every state but in my state you can't choose your initial auto insurance carrier. You can only choose them if you already have a policy in place.

I know its tempting to just go without having the insurance but if you get caught you will have to pay much more than the cost of insurance. I know some people get away with it but once when my auto insurance lapsed I got a notice from the DMV - how did they know? Well anyway if you get that notice from the DMV then you will be in trouble. If you have proof of current insurance coverage then it is alright and you shouldn't have to worry.

Like I said I know it can be tempting to go without it but I do know of a person who got his car towed away. He didn't have insurance, license and all that and when he went to claim the car it cost so much to get it that he ended up leaving it there.

I know its another added expense to your list of expenses but like I said it is a necessary evil so you don't want to get caught without having it.

Losing Your Home To Back Property Taxes

Here are some basic things that I know about this process....

If your property taxes are not paid (in some cases by the end of the year) then their is a lien put on the property. In that case if you sell the property then the amount of the back property taxed owed has to be paid before you get any money. If the property taxes aren't paid then the property is sold and the back taxes are paid from the amount that the property sold for.

I have heard different views on what a person can do in situations like this one. I have even heard the term "property tax consultant".

It is never a very pleasant thing when someone is losing their property especially when that property is their home.

Contests?

I was going to post about a photo contest that was offering a very huge money prize to the winner(s) but I wanted to check them out first. It is a very good thing that I did because I found out some very interesting stuff and it raised a few red flags in my mind!

There are many, many contests out there - everywhere from baking contests to writing contests and almost everything in between. But you have to be careful! Before entering any contest make sure that you read all of their rules and requirements. I know that this may seem to be a hassle but you don't want to get taken for a ride! This one particular contest that I mentioned above requires a person to send in $1000 to travel to the place where they will be given the award. Plus there was some added information about trying to sell you other things as well. In particular you should be very diligent in finding out the rules as far as writing contests are concerned. You have to find out whether or not you will retain the rights to your writing. In some cases in regards to certain writing contests you may be writing a specific piece for just that contest so you may not feel too bad about giving them total copyright but if copyright terms will be important to you then you should read the rules before you enter any contest!

Contests are a very good resource for getting extra money. Just be sure that the contests that you are considering entering are legitmate!

What is a FHA loan?

Many people hear the term "FHA loan," and incorrectly assume the
Federal Housing Administration is a mortgage lender. That is not the
case. Established in 1934, the FHA helps lower-income, first-time home
buyers get approved for a home loan by providing private lenders with
mortgage insurance. This gives the lender the security of knowing the
loan will be honored if the buyer defaults on the loan and allows
buyers who might not otherwise qualify for a conventional loan get
approved. FHA loans are available to individuals with less than
perfect credit and often require a smaller down payment (usually at
least 3%) than conventional loans. FHA loan limits vary throughout the
country depending on the guidelines that apply to the particular
market. The FHA and lender will require a real estate appraisal as a
routine part of the mortgage application process. For more information
on FHA loan insurance, visit the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban
Development's Website.

excerpt from Home Mortgage Blog

Winning The Lottery

I was just watching an interesting TV show about people who have won big lottery money. Some of the stories were very sad. Like for instance one man ended up committing suicide at his ex-wife's house. One man had to file for bankruptcy and a few years later he died from poor health. One of the winners went through their winnings so fast that he needed cash right away and sold his yearly payments of up to $10 Million dollars to get a cash payment of $2 Million dollars.

I have never won a lottery but I do buy the tickets from time to time. But some of these stories are so sad that it almost makes you want to not win the lottery.

I said "almost".

In Canada if you win you are required to reveal you're name and where you are from and agree to be photographed before you can claim your lottery winnings.

You can find out more about what other lottery winners have done and the advice they give to other potential lottery winners by going to the website below:

http://www.lotterybuddy.com/jackpot.htm