Save a dollar.....

Low Income Energy Savings

2012-02-04T21:29:00.000-08:00

There are many people in the States that don't know the money they can save from services they are ready pay for. In southern California, the power company offers up to 35% off of the electric bill if you meet the income requirements.

The following link shows the brackets:

http://sdge.com/newsroom/press-releases/2011-06-01/more-low-income-sdge-customers-eligible-bill-assistance-programs

I thought I no longer qualified for the discount due to my raise. I look up the site and to my surprise I still qualify. Look up your energy company in your area to see if they offer a similar service.

Universal Lifeline and Link Up Low Income Phone Support

2012-01-18T21:58:00.000-08:00

We have a family cell plan with our in-laws which keeps our cell bill low. We also wanted to have a home phone in case of an emergency. I signed up for the lowest plan at At&t. The cost was below $10, but when fees, tax, fees, tax, and more fees are added the cost was $18 bucks. That is not that bad, yet I hate to pay for something we hardly use.

I heard a commercial on the radio about Universal Lifeline. I had used the service when I was in school. I make more money now and thought I didn't qualify. I found that in California qualification are determined in two ways. Either by income or by social program. I make to much money, but my family qualify for WIC and Healthy Families. With that we qualified.

My bill went from $18 to $5.

I don't know much about Link Up. On the FCC site I found the following link for information on Lifeline and Link Up:

http://www.universalservice.org/li/low-income/eligibility/default.aspx

The site reads the following:

"Lifeline is a federal program that helps qualified individuals pay for wireless or home telephone service. Most telephone companies lower the phone bill each month. Some companies provide free wireless minutes each month."

Online Shopping Tools and Tricks

2011-10-19T21:37:00.000-07:00

I don't shop online a lot (don't have much money to shop with). When I do, I like to use a tool called Invisible Hand to help me find the best price for the product I want. Invisible Hand is a Add-on (Firefox) or an Extention (Chrome) to your browser. Once attached or downloaded it automatically starts up when you are searching for products in Google or some other search engine. When activated, a small bar will pop up at the top of your screen with information on what websites hold the product and the current price.

When I was shopping for my current Vizio TV, Invisible Hand popped up with about 10 different sites (Target, Walmart, Best Buy, New Egg, Amazon, etc.) with current price. It saved me a load of time from having to search each site individually. I found that Amazon had the best price and I purchased it. It was great.

The other thing I have found useful is searching for coupon codes just before checking out. I open another tab and type in --coupon code (site name)-- and look for any coupons that might lower the price or give free shipping. Many sites with codes will come up in your search. I suggest looking at three or four sites. Not all coupon code sites are created equal. The second or third site may have a code where the first one didn't.

Happy Shopping.

Get Wall Street Journal Online Articles for Free

2011-10-18T15:00:00.000-07:00

No....this is not a sales pitch or something illegal. I discovered a way to read the Wall Street Journal locked articles online without paying for a subscription. This trick also works on Barron's. Here are the steps:

Find a locked article you want to read (obvious)
Highlight the title of the article and copy it (right click and copy or Ctrl-C)
Open another browser tab and go to Google
Paste the title and Google search it
The first link should be the article on Wall Street Journal or Barron's
Click it and you should be able to see the whole article

I am not sure why it works, but is does about 90% of the time. There were a few attempts where it was not successful. As a whole it is a good way to read articles on the cheap.

If you find this trick working on other sites, please leave a comment as to where. As long as the content is good. Family friendly is what I am looking for.

Being a Family with One Car (and a Scooter)

2011-10-17T20:51:00.000-07:00

In 2004 my wife and I had two cars. Gas was just above $2.00, I was going to school, my wife was working, and we were expecting our first child. We decided that she would stop working after our first was born and I would support the family and finish up school. In reality, we needed to cut back on expenses due to the loss of her good income. I would be working less hours at a lower rate.

The thought came to sell my car and purchase a scooter. I did some research and decided to get a 2004 Yamaha Vino 125. The engine is a 125cc and it averages 70 mpg. It can reach speeds in the mid 50s if driving on a flat surface. So.....I sold the car and purchased the scooter. Now several years later and 30K miles I still have the hog.

There are a lot of articles and books about families who live with one car. They often spout off how they have learned to get along with bikes and public transportation. I would have used a bike or rode the bus if I didn't live in a valley. The only way out is going up monster hills and the closest bus stop is two miles away.

So the odds were mounted against me for having one car. A scooter to me was the next best option. With the scooter I am free to travel at will and the cost is next to nothing compared to a car.

Case in point......cost of owning my car:

Insurance: $950 annual
Gas: 4000 miles a year (the distance I currently drive my scooter), $3.50 per gallon, 25 Avg MPG = $560 annual
Maintenance: roughly $600 (tires, oil, problems, etc.)

Scooter Cost:

Insurance: $230
Gas: Same stats except 70 Avg MPG = $200
Maintenance: roughly $100

Grand total savings of: $1580

Keep in mind that I paid $2900 for my scooter. Most new or used cars are much more.

In contrast, not every thing about a scooter is rosy. Here are some Cons:

Can't drive in the rain
Passangers are out of the question
Driving in the winter is freakin cold
Colliding with a swarm of bees is not fun

After all is said and done, being a family of five with one car and a scooter has worked out well. I enjoy riding my hog and plan to keep it as long as I can. I have a very hard time thinking I may someday need a vehicle that will get less than 70 mpg.

Amazon Free (Phone) App of the Day

2011-10-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

I have an Android phone and have enjoyed its versatility and flexibility. Last summer I was in San Fran visiting friends and they were showing me their Android phones. While telling me about a few apps they have the topic of the Amazon App store came up. I had not heard that Amazon had an app store for phones, so I was intrigued. To get the Amazon App store you go to the Android Market and download it there. Doing this opens up your phone to a whole different store with apps. Paid and free apps.

Personally I have never much cared for apps because the phone has all the stuff I want. But in this case it is different. Everyday the Amazon app store offers one free (paid) app. The apps seem to be picked at random and it could be a game or anything. Some of the apps I have downloaded cost up to $12.99 yet I got it for free. Because they are free I don't even look at what he app does. I just download it and try it out. I figure if I can get a paid app for free I might as well.

I went to Amazon and found that you can get reminders sent to you when an app is free. Basically, you will get a reminder everyday for the one available. See below:

http://www.amazon.com/mobile-apps/b?ie=UTF8&node=2350149011

Free Credit Report

2011-10-12T14:55:00.000-07:00

A few years back the Free Credit Report Act (FCRA) was passed. It required all three credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to provide free credit reports every 12 months. I found this info at the Federal Trade Commission's web site. See below:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre34.shtm

The FTC site will direct you to the following link:

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

You will not receive a credit score in the reports, but you can see things like payment history, credit inquiries, open and closed accounts, etc. I have used this service twice over the last five years.

Beware: There are other sites that claim to give free credit reports. If they ask you for a credit card do not use them. Go to the link provided on the FTC website.

Free Food on your Birthday

2011-10-05T19:10:00.000-07:00

Two years ago, a co-worker told me he was going to a restaurant for his free birthday lunch. I was intrigued by this....so I did some research to find as many restaurants as I could that give out free food. Here are the ones I found (keep in mind I love in SoCal so different areas will have different opportunities):

Noodle and Company ($7 of food)
Rubio's ($7 of food)
Benihana ($30 of food)
Jersey Mike's (on day of birthday only for a sandwich)
Denny's (on day of birthday only for a GrandSlam)
IHOP (Rooty Tooty)
Daphnes (Pita sandwich)
Baskin Robbins (free scoop)
Cold Stone (free scoop)
Red Robin (free burger)
I am sure there are more....

Then there are major chains that give you free dessert.

Separately there are places that let you do stuff for free:

K1 Speedway (free race on your b-day)
Golf Courses (some give out a free round)
Boomers (local mini golf with free round)

Lastly, below is a link to a site of restaurants where kids eat free

http://www.frugalliving.tv/free-stuff/kids-eat-free.html

Very important to keep in mind that you must sign up for the company's club or email list on their site to take advantage of these offers. It is good to have a junk email for this due to a butt load of things sent to your inbox.

I look forward to my Birthday because most of these meals can be used with in a two week window. That is correct...you do not need to use them all on the same day.

Please post restaurants or sites that give out more information if you have it.

How Netflix and Hulu replaced Cable....

2011-09-30T15:32:00.000-07:00

I have been married almost 10 years. When I first got married, my wife and I decided not to get cable or TV service of any kind. The cost was too high and we really didn't want to sit in front of it day in and out. Rented movies were good enough and we were happy. After about two years, our first child was born and my wife stayed home while I worked and went to school. Being home all day with a baby and only having the internet got old quick and we got basic cable just for a time killer.

A few years later we realized we could stream Netflix through our Wii and watch our weekly shows on Hulu.com. We cut our cable bill of about $20 a month and purchased Netflix for $7.99 a month. Since Hulu.com is free we cut our bill by more than 50%. We still got all the shows we wanted and a plethora of movies and older TV shows on DVD and streaming. Recently Netflix separated the DVD service from the streaming service, so we ditched the DVDs. More content we want at a lower price was alright with us.

As I mentioned, we began watching Netflix streaming over our Wii. Since then I purchased a Vizio LED LCD 37 inch Internet ready TV. The TV came with built in wifi and apps for streaming Netflix and many other services. Now all I need to do is turn on the TV and start watching whatever Netflix offers. I go to Redbox to get any recent movie I want to watch and rent it for a $1 and I am able to hook up my laptop to the TV and watch Hulu.com in full Technicolor. It takes a little work to hook up the laptop, but can be done in less than 5 minutes.

This setup does not work well if you are a sports fan or watch shows on premium channels (HBO, Showtime).

Links of interest -

http://www.hulu.com/

https://www.netflix.com/

http://www.redbox.com/

10/06/2011 Update:

Check out the below link to PCWorld for an article on Netflix alternatives

http://www.pcworld.com/article/241050/four_netflix_alternatives_tested.html

Buy Low, Sell High....

2011-09-23T15:35:00.000-07:00

First piece of advice for all investors......

The old adage is to buy low and sell high. I have heard that 90% of our decisions are made based on emotions (how we feel) and 10% on logic. When emotions are involved in investing, we will sell low and buy high. So let's put a little twist on the saying....

Buy: When you are SCARED out of your mind!
Sell: When you are euphoric.

Yesterday the market hit a low for the year and I purchased some First Eagle Global SGENX. This is a core holding in my (small) portfolio. It wasn't a lot, but I still did it even with the market down 10% for the year. I know it will payoff later.

Emotions and investing don't mix.