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Money Saving Links: 2/29/08
Happy Leap Day! On to the links …
20 Money Hacks: Tips and Tricks to Improve Your Finances - Zen Habits
Improving your finances improves your happiness, in general, so I thought it would be important to share stuff that's worked for me.
I'm in the best financial shape in my life, despite quitting my job and my wife recently quitting hers too. A lot of that is thanks to you guys, the readers, but it's also thanks to frugality, to eliminating debt, to saving as much as I can. To these hacks.
Facing The Frustrating Realities With Which We Must Deal - No Credit Needed
As you move away from financial irresponsibility and towards financial stability, you will find yourself becoming aware of certain new realities. First and foremost, you will note that the vast majority of Americans live without much regard for their own financial futures. Supported by a massive government that believes in handouts and bailouts, many folks have forgotten the idea of personal responsibility. Living well beyond their actual means, most have succumb to the pressure to have more, get more, and use more.
Lessons I've Learned From Being Broke - Kiplinger.com
Being broke has taught me how to better manage my money so I can actually meet my financial goals. Sounds cliché, but it's been a blessing in disguise.
That's not to say poverty is a requirement for acquiring good money skills. Anyone can learn to be a good steward of what he or she has — whether plentiful or lean.
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Money Saving Links: 2/28/08
Free Credit Score Report Card and Analysis - My Money Blog
In case the last 5 free ways to get your credit score weren’t enough, there’s also the free Credit.com Report Card. It is actually a pretty comprehensive analysis …
Rent Your Way to Good Credit - Kiplinger.com
Late-night commercials for used cars promise "no credit, no problem." But for the 50 million Americans who have little or no credit — among them young people, recently widowed or divorced individuals, immigrants and those who proudly operate on a cash-only basis — it's "no credit, no luck" if they want to get a credit card, take out a car loan or buy a house.
To remedy the situation, Fair Isaac, the company that compiles the FICO credit score, has developed an Expansion score, based on nontraditional consumer-credit data, including deposit-account records and layaway purchases.
HSBC Is The Most Identity-Theft Prone Bank - The Consumerist
If you're a customer with Bank of America or HSBC, you're more likely to be a victim of identity theft, according to a new report. Chris Hoofnagle, a senior fellow at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology at the University of California at Berkeley, compiled a list of all the banks mentioned in identity theft complaints filed with the FTC for January, March and September of 2006.
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Do You Manage Your Money Online?
Within the last year, there has been a proliferation of interactive money management sites. If you don't know how they work, they basically categorize your income and spending so that you can better track your finances.
Depending on the service, you enter in your own data or can have it scraped from online banking sites you already are signed up with. Kind of like what one would see in Money or Quicken, but online, and often they give advice based upon your data.
For instance, if they see you have a high-interest credit card, they might suggest one with a lower rate. As of now, they all seem to be free of charge.
Some examples: Wesabe, Mint, Buxfer, Geezeo, Billeo, Quizzle. I know I've seen even more. I can't recommend or offer too much individual comment on any of these because I haven't used them enough and, frankly, I don't feel like going through the set up for each one.
I really don't know how anyone decides which ones(s) to use.
The ancestor of this technology seems to be the account aggregators, such as Yodlee. With the explosion of so-called Web 2.0, they've evolved into something more. It's inevitable there will be a shakedown sometime soon, with some collapsing, some merging, maybe some charging, and some being bought by banks or online banking providers.
Until that happens, I plan to sit on the sidelines.
Is anyone using any service like this yet? If so, how has it (or not) helped you?
Tom Valenti is a marketer and project manager who currently works for a financial institution in New Jersey. For more info, visit him at http://tomvalenti.com.
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How PayPal Manages Their Money
Ever wondered what PayPal is doing with your money when you are transferring it, receiving it, or just holding on to it in your account?
Fortune Small Business is taking a look at the online finance site, in reaction to the recent announcement that PayPal will hold some transactions for up to 21 days if it deems them "high-risk."
Any funds PayPal holds for dispersal are automatically deposited in a corporate bank account, which earns interest, according to Paypal representative Amanda Pires. The money is kept there until it's ready for distribution. PayPal, which processes payments for eBay auctions as well as e-commerce transactions from elsewhere on the Internet, counts interest payments on those funds as one of its revenue streams.
So what if you don't want to contribute to PayPal's interest and would rather accrue your own?
PayPal's Pires said accountholders should be aware that they have the power to collect interest for their own use on delayed funds. It's as simple as enrolling in the company's PayPal Money Market Fund, Pires said.
For enrolled accountholders, any funds earmarked for a hold are diverted into the Money Market Fund rather than PayPal's corporate bank account, Pires said. The dividends earned are credited to user accounts on a monthly basis.
I don't have any interest in opening a PayPal money market account, but I understand why and how they manage their money like they do.
It doesn't bother me, but if you're one of the sellers they hit with a 21-day hold on funds, I can understand the frustration.
Fortune Small Business - What PayPal does with your money
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House Hunting: How Much is Help and How Much is Sales?
We went to look at house today — it's the first house we've looked at, and we may or may not be ready to actually buy it.
It's a bank-owned house — most likely it was foreclosed upon — in kind of crummy condition. The carpeted floors are dirty, the walls need to be painted, and there's some junk around.
It's a decent price for the neighborhood, and has potential — but since it's owned by the bank, it's sold as-is. Meaning, even if we are getting a good price for it, there's still a lot of work to be done on it.
It was also our first experience working with a real estate agent, and with that brings a lot of questions.
The agent is technically working on behalf of the bank to sell the home, so we don't have to pay her anything, but I'm always skeptical of how much what she offers is actual help and what is sales.
For example, using the realtor's lender. I'm open to getting a quote, but would never not shop around.
When it's such a big life decision, it's difficult to work with someone you can't necessarily fully trust. You know what I mean?
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Save the Earth, Save Money
I recently watched Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth.
Wow, what a downer.
I've always been somewhat mindful about not being wasteful in terms of consumables, but I was never an "environmentalist." This movie really makes you rethink priorities, both personally and on a global level.
The conclusion is what you'd expect — if we don't change our ways now, Earth as we know it will no longer exist. Some might say that this movie presents only one side of the argument, and perhaps it is does exaggerate some risks (as a few scientists have pointed out), but I think the only ones who totally refute the idea of global warming are those who value big business over all else.
So, what does caring about the environment have to do with saving money? A lot!
Think of all the things you could do to cut down on waste and thus save money: use public transportation, instead of buying that book or magazine read it at the library, insulate the pipes in your house, switch to CFL bulbs, etc. Bankrate.com has a nice guide that goes into more detail, as does Green And Save.
I've already begun to change my ways, switching from conventional electricity to a mix of solar/wind/water power. It's a little more expensive, but spending an extra $5 per month is the least I can do.
Tom Valenti is a marketer and project manager who currently works for a financial institution in New Jersey. For more info, visit him at http://tomvalenti.com.
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Our Taxes Are Going to Be Confusing. Crap.
As I was hanging out in Best Buy last week while my car speakers were getting replaced, I wandered over to the software section to check out the tax programs.
For the past couple of years, I've used H&R Block TaxCut to file our taxes (how do you file yours?) with little problem.
This year, however, it's going to be a bit more confusing.
Since we moved in the middle of 2007 (well, November), we'll have to pay state taxes in both Massachusetts (where we moved from) and Maryland (where we now live).
Perusing the TaxCut software, I noticed that every version only comes with one state. So I'll only be able to use the software to file in either Maryland or Massachusetts.
Thankfully, Maryland lets individual taxpayers file online for free with their "iFile" system. Check out the demo online.
Chances are, I'll probably use TaxCut for federal and Massachusetts and iFile with Maryland.
Do you have a confusing tax situation? Let us know about it.
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Paycheck to Paycheck On Purpose: It Works
One of the most popular posts here covered why living on a paycheck to paycheck mentality works. (Despite the lack of comments, a number of readers flocked to it.)
Single Ma from Fabulous Financials has a post up over at Consumerism Commentary on how she lives paycheck to paycheck, but is saving money through automatic deductions and taking money off the top.
By the time I receive my “real” paycheck, it’s less than half of what I actually earned, which is ok with me. All of my financial priorities are accounted for, so I have fewer things to worry about. Automation also locks in the funds to make sure I achieve my financial goals (e.g. max out 401k, IRA, and tax deductible college savings).
Having all of your investments, savings and tax-favored spending accounts (FSA, etc.) filled before you get a chance to spend it on impulse purchases is the easiest way to save.
You don't always feel like you're saving because so little work is involved, but you're doing better than if you waited until the end of the month to scrounge up whatever is leftover to put away.
Unless your paycheck is way out of proportion with your spending (on the positive side), try living with a paycheck to paycheck mentality. It works.
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HSBC's Next-gen Online Savings Account Needs Your Help
HSBC is looking for help designing its next-generation online savings account.
At HSBC, we are continually looking for ways to improve your experience with our HSBC Direct Online Savings Account. To help us better meet your needs, we would greatly appreciate your response to an important survey. Depending on the sections you qualify for, this survey could take up to 15–20 minutes to complete.
Last year, they asked their customers for advice on improving their online savings account. My biggest pet peeve was (and still is) how long it takes for money to go in and out of the account. It shouldn't take as long as it does.
There's no freebie like a Starbucks gift card for taking this survey (which they say will take 15-20 minutes), but you might get an idea of what HSBC is looking to do in the future.
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The Problem with Financial Media
Here at the Online Savings Blog, I don't claim to be an expert — just someone who is extremely interested in finances and the way the Internet influences your wallet.
In my time learning and sharing personal finance information, I've learned the hard way that most financial media doesn't care about your bottom line. They might say that they do (and perhaps some individuals do), but if they really cared, they wouldn't be in business.
The problem the financial media faces is that there is NOT a lot to talk about. Personal finance and investing is relatively easy.
There are a few basics that everyone should know and practice. I won't go into the details here, but beyond the fundamentals — which you can set up and live with every day of your life — there's not much you need to learn.
So what's there to talk about? Exactly.
If financial media really cared about you, they wouldn't tell you to invest in individual stocks. They'd tell you to invest in index funds. But that's it. There are a lot less index funds to talk about than there are individual stocks.
We've talked about biased financial advice before. Financial media is biased toward keeping their product in business.
They need to make sure that you continue to buy into what they have to offer, and there's only so many ways they can tell you the same things.
Media needs something to talk about. If they've already talked about the important things … well, what are you buying into?
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