I have been a TradeKing customer for more than two years. My experience is that it’s a decent broker despite that the commission it charges for stock trading isn’t the cheapest among online discount brokers. I talk about TradeKing quite often because it’s one of brokers I use quite often. If you are interested in getting the bonus, you can open an account before November 30 with a minimum $2,500 initial deposit and keep the month in the account for at least six months, plus a trade must be made within 180 days.

Besides, there are also other bonus offers from banks and brokers for opening a new account. Maybe you can find something you need

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

To follow up on her story about dealing with loan modification companies, we bring you this post by Stacey Doyle.

After paying our mortgage on time for eight years, we found ourselves three months behind. To try to save our home and finances, we are considering a home loan modification. Unfortunately for us, we are past due on other bills, so our credit rating has plummeted. We’ve therefore contemplated on doing a mortgage loan modification, but we worry about what the effect of such a move will be on our credit.

Can A Home Loan Modification Ruin Your Credit?

Homeowners who find themselves unable to catch up on their mortgage payments have several options to get rid of the obligations. But many debt management solutions available today may actually have a negative effect on a borrower’s credit score — and in particular, their FICO score. In those cases when homeowners decide to walk away from their problems, there may be grave financial consequences.

What do the FICO score people have to say about it? According to FICO PR Director, Craig Watts:

“The single worst thing any person can do to his or her FICO credit score is to have serious delinquency such as foreclosure or bankruptcy appear on their credit bureau report. The impact that serious delinquencies have on FICO scores can vary from person to person, based on what other information is on the person’s credit bureau report.”

So how is my credit going to be affected now that I’ve fallen behind on my mortgage payments? Clearly, it will fall by some points, and it will take time to repair my credit regardless of which solution works out best. In the worst case scenario, credit scores are typically lowered by up to 300 points after a foreclosure. Anyone who opts for a foreclosure will see it on their credit report for seven years, and it may take a minimum of two years before they notice any improvements to their credit score.

What Are My Options?

While it is clear that my credit will be negatively impacted by my past due mortgage payments, I still have options. Some possibilities to resolve the problem include a refinance, loan modification, foreclosure, deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, short sale or bankruptcy. Here was how I analyzed and reviewed each of these options:

• With my current poor credit, a refinance is not a viable option. It would raise my interest rate and monthly payment, which I cannot afford.
• Foreclosure might leave me with a hefty bill since currently my house is worth about what I owe.
• A short sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure would pay off my current mortgage and leave me free and clear but will make a big dent on my credit score and force me to move to a new home.
• If I were to file for bankruptcy, I may be able to keep my home, but my credit would get shot. My credit history would be seriously impacted for seven years.

After reviewing my options, I knew that I definitely wanted to avoid foreclosure: this led me to what I thought may work best for my situation, which is to negotiate a loan modification.

Dealing With Mortgage Lenders

And here’s where I am today: I’ve been negotiating with my mortgage lender since last November to no avail. My original lender was bought out by another, who claimed to have lost all my paperwork. I had the local bank branch manager handle my most recent submission, which they finally received and processed. Now I was not hopeful about this because the bank manager herself admitted that she was unsuccessful with negotiating a loan modification with her own employer. And as expected, I was turned down for the modification four weeks ago and became despondent.

After some thought and additional research, I eventually decided to enlist the help of the state Housing Authority. After two meetings, they agreed to represent my interests to try to get a loan modification and also directed me to a wealth of local resources including possible free legal services.

These days, I feel more hopeful that I am headed in the right direction after reading statements from Edward A. Mermelstein, a New York real estate attorney:

“Banks are not in the foreclosure business, so they may be more willing to renegotiate or modify their rates to help get the loans off their books and keep you in your home. Also, research the foreclosure laws and time frames in your state [every state is different] by contacting the State Government Housing Office.”

Can Troubled Homeowners Get Help For Free?

The short answer? YES.

Prior to contacting the Housing Authority for help (the assistance they offer is free!), I had spoken with some debt counselors (e.g. Home Foreclosure Fighter) whom I connected with through online searches and ads. But these folks all wanted a fee, something I can’t afford to pay right now. It didn’t make sense for me to pay for any more services when I could no longer afford my own mortgage.

According to Brian Mikelbank, a Cleveland State University professor, homeowners should try not to pay for assistance. He states: “There are other resources that are financing the (housing authority) counselors, enabling them to offer free services.” He suggests looking for help through HUD (Housing and Urban Development) counselors and community leaders: “If foreclosure can’t be avoided, these are the folks that can help you get out… with the least amount of damage to the rest of your financial situation.”

The Bottom Line

No matter which way my situation goes, I realize I am not completely doomed. Linda Ferrari, author of “The Big Score”, states:

“If the Fair Credit Reporting Act doesn’t require lenders to report negative information at all or in a specific manner, then this leaves the door wide open for negotiating deletions or non-reporting of these items.”

While a loan modification will lower my credit rating, it won’t make as much of an impact as foreclosure or bankruptcy. If the terms are negotiated well, I might even be able to have negative credit notes removed. On the other hand, if we are unable to reach a settlement, a short sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure might be the only remaining path for me to take. I will keep everyone posted about my progress and findings.

Can A Home Loan Modification Ruin Your Credit?

YNAB Pro Giveaway Code: fibonacci

The Amazon Friday Sale was a little weak this week. I usually find a few products, but with many repeats of previous products, I found only three noteworthy products. (I wish they'd get rid of the whole footware category. I know women like their shoes, but I'm not about to write about it.)

The coolest piece of gadgetry is the Urban Trend Tulip Corkscrew. It looks like a tulip, but performs the duties of a corkscrew. I'm really Lazy so my favorite corkscrew solution is still the Oster Electric Wine Bottle Opener. It'll set you back another 95 cents, so start scrounging those couch cushions.

The best product by far in my opinion is the La Crosse Technology Power Battery Charger. I read the reviews about how it brought back rechargeables that were long dead. I didn't think it was possible. However, I put it on my birthday list one year and found that it lives up to the hype. It was north of $40 back then, so to get it for less than $25 is notable.

Honorable mention for the best product is the LeatherCraft Roller Tote Tool Bag. A tool bag is great because you can just reach in and get what you want. This one ups the ante in two ways. It's got wheels and it's on sale for 67% off. That's decent value.

As always, the deal is just for Friday, so snatch it up quick or lose.

Related posts:

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Before things were cleared, I was very nervous as I also had a few other transfers scheduled around that time. Had the withdrawal gone through, I would have paid a lot of fees due to insufficient fund in my account. I also feel quite lucky that I checked my account that morning and did what had to be done. Fortunately, nothing really happened at the end because the stop order I placed on the withdrawal at BofA eventually worked and it stopped the transfer.

When the whole incident was over, I realized that I need a better way to notify myself for situations like this when the account balance drops to dangerous level. Because I never had any such incident before, I didn’t have such alert in place. Instead, I had relied entirely on my manual check of the account for years and that’s not really very reliable. What I did back in July was to set up several automatic alerts in my account that will send me an email when certain events happen, such as

• Available balance
• Account has insufficient funds
• Low balance threshold

The first alert emails me the account balance every morning so I know how much I have in the account without even logging in. The last two occur only when the account doesn’t have enough money. The second alert goes off when the balance is below zero. However, I don’t want to be informed only when there’s no money in the account. If that indeed happens, it is probably already too late. So I created the third alert with a balance threshold at $1,500, a level that requires me to replenish the account immediately.

While that was the first time that I set up bank alerts, I have been using credit card alerts for a long time. Alerts that help me manage my credit card bills include:

• Statement available
• Transaction exceeds a threshold
• Account balance exceeds a threshold
• Payment scheduled
• Payment reminder
• Payment not received
• Payment posted

Because I no longer receive any paper statement from credit card issuers, I rely on email alert to let me know when the monthly statement is available online for me to review. The second and third alerts are for situations when either a large purchase is posted in the account or the total account balance exceeds a threshold. Once receiving these alerts, I usually check the account right away to see if there’s anything unusual. The last four alerts are all related to credit card payment. To make managing my credit accounts easier, I have arranged to have all payment deadlines at about the same time, in the first week of the money, so I can schedule payments on the same day for all cards. Some card issuers, such as Chase, alerts me when a payment is scheduled, others like AmEX remind me when no payment is received xyz days before the due date. In addition to using these alerts, I also check my bank account to make sure that payments are indeed taken from the account when they are supposed to.

With these alerts, I have never missed a single credit card payment and never paid a late fee.

photo credit: apple 94

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

Real estate short sales have become more common in the tough housing market of the last few years.  A short sale is an attempt to sell a home instead of the bank taking it back by foreclosure. This sale can partially salvage the homeowner’s credit rating and lift the stress of large mortgage payments. If you’ve been house hunting over the last year, chances are you’ve run across at least one piece of real estate classified as a short sale.

The entire process of the short sale is based on the premise that the bank will take an immediate loss, approve the sale, and eliminate the high expenses of foreclosing, clearing, and reselling a home. This is a big chance that the prospective home buyers are taking. There are some things that they can do to in order to lessen the chance for disappointment of unapproved short sales:

The price is set by the agent & seller, not the bank:

The agent and seller often set a low asking price in order to attract buyers. The bank generally has no knowledge of the asking price. The bank has to approve what an acceptable offer would be. The lack of awareness in regards to price by the bank often leads to a longer process than anticipated. The bottom line is that the buyer needs to remain patient and understanding throughout the entire process.

One bank loan is better than two:

Having to deal with and get approval from two different banks is obviously a lot more difficult to get short sale clearance. Neither the agent nor the buyer can control this It simply depends on the bank or banks involved.

Make low ball offers at your own risk:

Remember the bank is typically unaware of the seller-set price during a short sale. When low ball offers arrive at the bank, they are often rejected, with little or no feedback for the prospective buyers. It may also take a considerably long time to hear back even on good offers due to the sheer volume of transactions lenders are overwhelmed with these days.

Knowledge of recent home sales:

The selling agent must be aware of recent home sales in the area to give prospective buyers a clearer picture of the properties that are selling. This will help the agent and seller when they seek approval of the asking price by the bank. Checking recent home sales will also give the buyer a better understanding of what the sales price of homes in the neighborhood are.

Don’t put your eggs in one basket:

In many cases, short sales are not “short.” It can be a very long process. A buyer must keep their options open and continue to actively look at other properties. Buyers must keep positive. The right property will come along. As long as the proper contingencies are in place, most areas allow an individual to have multiple offers out at any given time.

Sellers with multiple properties or healthy financials may not qualify:

If a seller owns more than a handful of properties or has a high net worth, they will most likely not be eligible for a short sale. In certain scenarios, the seller will be asked to pay the difference of the sale.

“Approved” prices are quickest:

An “approved short sale” has a price that has already been approved by the bank. Short sales are not always timely; however, making an offer on an “approved short sale” can be a much faster process.   These types of short sales are some of the most highly desirable.

Each bank is different:

In short sales, the bank has all the power, and each one has a different idea of what the most appealing buyer is.  One bank may prefer buyers with large down payments while another just wants the highest price. Most buyers want to know if the bank will give a lower price for an all cash offer. This is difficult to predict; they will not know until they make an offer.

Renovations are not happening , but credit is:

Any improvements that are necessary on a home, even if they are required for a loan, will most often not be done. Generally credit is issued and the buyer must take on the responsibility for any of the repairs.

The window is awfully small:

A short sale has little or no leniency in regards to the closing date compared to a traditional sale. Exceptions are rarely made and the buyer must close on time. It is imperative that all loan paperwork get completed immediately after opening escrow. If an issue is uncovered that could cause a delay, a request for an extension should be made immediately. If the request is made early enough, many banks will grant an extension. Don’t just assume it will happen.

Short sales can be a great opportunity to find your new home at a competitive price. They can also be a major headache that lasts for months. It is important to have a good understanding of the many factors that lead to a successful deal; or hire someone who does.

I searched through all the sites that I listed yesterday as my favorite Black Friday Shopping Resources to compile the list. It’s separated by free, free after rebate, and free with purchase. Be sure to check the ad scans for accuracy, and verify what time the price ends in your area. You can see last year’s list of Black Friday 2008 Free Stuff.

Free

Half Price Books

• Free Tote Bag & $5 Gift Card to First 100 Customers  

Ikea

• Free Breakfast & Coffee Until 10:30 am

JCPenney

• Free Disney Snowglobe While Supplies Last

Sports Authority

• Free Bonus Bucks Card for First 80 People in Line

Target

• Free Marcel Wanders Shopping Bag for First 500 People

Free After Rebate

Ace Hardware

• Ratcheting Screwdriver 38-Piece Set
• Stanley Staple Gun

CVS

• Magnavox Universal Remote
• Philips Earbuds
• Hershey’s/Reese’s Singles
• Mars King Size Bars
• Degree Ultra Clear for Women
• DynaPop Energy Shots
• Just For Men Touch Of Grey
• Right Guard Sport 3D
• Vasoline Sheer Infusion Lotion

Menards

• 6-in-1 Screwdriver or 16′ Tape Meausre

Office Depot

• Interior Design Software
• Photo Explosion Software
• Print Master Software
• Scrapbook Factory Software
• $1000 in Software with Microsoft Office or Windows 7 Purchase
• HP Printer with Any Computer Purchase

Staples

• Duracell Batteries 20-Pack
• GE 4-Device Universal Remote Control
• Sharp Handheld Solar Calculator
• Peachtree Pro Accounting Software
• Canon Printer with Purchase of Any Digital Camera
• HP Printer with Any Desktop or Laptop

Walgreens

• Aquafresh Cavity Protection Toothpaste
• Dove Ultimate Visibly Smooth Deodorant
• Infusium 23 Hair Care
• Johnson’s Softwash
• Nivea for Men Shave Gel
• Right Guard Sport Deodorant

Free With Purchase

Babies R Us

• Summer Infant Audio Monitor with Purchase of Handheld Color Video Monitor

Best Buy

• LG Chocolate Touch with 2 Year Verizon Contract
• $10 Gift Card with $40 Ink Purchase
• $5 Napster Card with any CD Purchase $5 and up

Build a Bear

• Mini Moose Pair with Any $30 Purchase  

Gander Mtn.

• $20 Gander Cash with Each $100 Purchase (Thursday 3 – 9 pm)

Half Price Books

• $5 Coupon with $25 Gift Card Purchase
• Half Price Books Calendar with Any $25 Purchase

K-Mart

• Handy Manny Talking Tool Box with Repair Shop Purchase
• Xbox 360 Halo 3 ODST with Xbox 360 Elite Bundle Purchase

Kohls

• $10 Kohl’s Cash for Every $50 Spent
• Tote with $25 Fragrance or Cosmetic Purchase

Lowes

• 6-Piece or 3 Piece Wood Handle Tool Set with Tool Chest Purchase

Meijer

• Neoprene Sleeve and Microsoft Wireless 3000 Mouse with HP Mini 1020 or 1030 Netbook Purchase
• 2 Buy-ray Movies and 2 Video Games with PS3 120GB Slim Console Purchase
• Grand Theft Auto IV and Halo 3 with Xbox 360 Game System or Bundle Purchase

Old Navy

• Lego Rock Band Game with $20 Purchase
• Rock Band Guitar with Rock Band 2 Software Purchase

Sears

• $70 Gift Card with Purchase of 4 Select Tires
• Jewelry Box with $35 Fragrance or Cosmetics Purchase
• Craftsman 100 watt Work Light with Purchase of 1000 Watt Tripod Worklight
• Craftsman Air Tool Kit with Craftsman 33 gal Air Compressor purchase
• Craftsman Air Tool Kit with Craftsman 33 gal Air Compressor purchase
• Nintendo Wii Nerf Racing Wheel with Wii System Purchase
• Sony PS3 Blu-Ray Remote with Playstation 120GB System
• Whirlpool Micowave with purchase of Gas or Electric Range
• Xbox 360 Live 12 Month Gold Card with Xbox Elite Bundle purchase

Sports Authority

• $25 Gift Card with Purchase of a Golf Buddy GPS

Tanger Outlets: Dress Barn

• Cosmetic Bag with $50 Purchase 

Target

• $10 Gift Card with $100 Purchase
• $10 Gift Card with Purchase of Selected Video Games

Toys R Us

• $50 Gift Card With Any Apple iPod 8GB Touch
• EVA Sleeve Kit With Any DSi Holiday Bundle
• Bendaroos 100 Piece Set With Any 500 Piece Set Purchase
• Easel Starter Kit With Any Imaginarium Deluxe Wooden Art Easel Purchase
• Imaginarium Big Train Set With Any Arch Train Table Purchase

If you find more, please post them in the comments.

Click here to leave a comment on this article.
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Those of us doing any kind of work on our personal computers know how crazy things can get when the “infrastructure” goes down. Perhaps you want to start an online business or more likely, you care a lot about what you’ve got stored in your machines. If so, then you should get into the habit of backing up your data. Once, I actually had to shell out $1,450 for data recovery when my computer crashed without a back up system in place. Ouch! On this note, I thought to share this guest post by Millie Kay G., about a couple of software options one can look into for managing online back ups.

For a lot of us, losing our important computer files means losing money. I keep many of my documents and pictures backed up in a portable hard drive, but using a computer backup service like Carbonite or Mozy is something I’ve been considering lately. I took a closer look at these well-known services to see if they are worth trying out.

Carbonite Backup Service Overview

Carbonite is a popular choice in the data backup arena. Their service will back up your documents, emails, pictures, and even data from programs like Quicken. Once you pay for the service, you can elect to have it back up your music, videos, program files, and other types of data as well.

You won’t run into limits on the amount of data you can back up. However, if you try to upload more than around 20 gigabytes of data, you might find the process slow going. As far as security is concerned, your data is protected by encryption. So if someone doesn’t have your account password, you won’t have to worry about them snooping through your stuff.

What if you need to restore data? Let’s say you lose a file or a whole folder. In that case, you could go to your desktop to seek out your file or folder from your Carbonite Backup Drive and recover it by using the Restore option. Alternatively, if you don’t have access to your computer, you can always visit the Carbonite website to get a hold of your data backup. It won’t take more than a few minutes to recover small files or folders, but if you need to restore a large amount of your computer data, then you should plan on it taking a day or two, depending on how much data is involved.

Windows XP, Vista, and Mac users can all use Carbonite. Their website offers handy tutorials to show you the basics.

Mozy Backup Service Overview

Another computer backup service that has earned kudos is Mozy. For users who want to use the service for personal use, there’s MozyHome, which comes free with limited 2 GB of space. For unlimited storage, it’s $4.95 a month. With it, you download the backup software, then choose which files you want backed up. Your files are encrypted while they’re backed up, and they’re encrypted a second way for storage.

You can schedule when your backups happen. The first backup you make will generally take the longest, if you’ve got a lot of data to archive. After that, the backups should be incremental. As mentioned, if you’re using MozyHome for personal use, you can get 2 GB of storage for free. You can have two computers on one MozyHome Free account.

You can restore your data in a variety of ways. You can right-click on any folder that needs recovery; you can go to the Mozy website to download your files from there; or you can order a DVD of your backup. It may actually be faster to order a DVD than wait for your backup to download on your home internet connection (think of the famous saying from the annals of computer networking: never underestimate the bandwidth of a truck full of magnetic tapes hurtling down the highway).

For business users, there’s MozyPro. It provides an Administrative Console to manage backups from multiple computers, and you’ll benefit from encryption, alerts, bandwidth throttling, and more. For each server and each computer you want to back up, you’ll need to buy a license.

Now with regards to pricing: for desktop computers, it’s $3.95 as well as $.50 per gigabyte each month; while for each server, it’s $6.95 plus $.50 per gigabyte each month.
 

Before you decide on a computer backup service, keep in mind that this works best for users with high-speed internet connections due to the large amount of data involved. A free trial or account can give you a good idea if the service is a good match for your backup needs.

Why Outsource Computer Back Ups?

Why go with a computer backup service if you can do these tasks yourself? Well it’s about making the time and effort to actually do what’s needed, and frankly, for less than $5 a month, it’s something I’d rather outsource. In my opinion, the convenience and peace of mind these services provide are worth way more than several dollars a month.

Also, if you did your own backups yourself, then you’d need a portable hard drive to make it work. It could make more sense to get some “data redundancy” by opting to store data elsewhere via a backup service. Data that’s stored offsite can be easier to recover than say, a hard drive that’s been burned, drowned, or dropped during an emergency.

Clearly, the consequences of missing out on regular backups are not pretty: if you forget to back up something yourself, then you might lose your precious data to a hard drive crash, a wayward virus, or theft if your computer’s ever stolen. Rather than risk your livelihood, family pictures, novel-in-progress, or your music collection, you could rely on a computer backup service as your data storage solution.

For those who use (or have used) Carbonite or Mozy — do you have any thoughts on your service of choice?

Carbonite vs Mozy: Online Backup Services

YNAB Pro Giveaway Code: fibonacci

[Caution, I'm going to get on my soapbox for this post. If you are not interested in soapboxes, I suggest you avert your eyes]

Yesterday, I touched on the Legality of IPodMeister's digitizer service. Bringing up the First-Sale doctrine opened up a can of worms in my mind.

I love digital media, but I won't pay for it (or steal it obviously). I have never purchased a song from the iTunes Store. For too many years, all the songs were looked up so that they'd only play on certain Apple products. There were workarounds, but they were less than convenient for this Lazy Man. The iTunes Store is heading in the right direction making it so their songs do play everywhere (or so I've read). You could burn a CD of the songs you bought on iTunes and then rip that to MP3. There was some software that was a little more direct, but it just seemed to be a gamble. If I could spent money and get something without restrictions, why spend money and get restrictions? It's no problem to sell a CD to someone, but have you ever tried to sell a song you purchased on iTunes? Good luck with that.

I like the idea of the Amazon Kindle. I was very close to saying that I love it. After all it's a nice way to carry pile of books with you while traveling. However, when I looked at the Kindle in depth, I saw too many drawbacks. People aren't likely to steal a book at the beach if you go for a swim. If I like a book, I can't lend it to a friend. And like the iTunes Store, you can't sell the books you bought to others.

Amazon gets around this by stating in their End User Licensing Agreement (EULA), that you aren't really buying the book, but the rights to read it. You can read more here. Okay, I can play ball with that restriction, but you need to give me something else in return... like a much cheaper price. Of course as CNET's Rick Broda points out you often don't save much money on eBooks. You would expect a lot of savings considering that eBooks eliminate the need for: Paper, ink, shipping (gasoline, trucks, and drivers), warehouse storage, shelf space, sales staff, etc. but that's not the case. When you give up the rights to sell the book it's looking like a worse deal.

I don't want to pretend that there are no advantages to eBooks. There are features like search and digital annotation in addition to the aforementioned portability that are quite nice. In the end though, I think it comes up to be a wash or regular paper books having the advantage. This disappoints me, because I think we should be making moving forward with innovation and eBooks could be a large part of that - except that arbitrary restrictions hold them back.

It's that right of first sale that I don't understand. It would be technically easy for Amazon (and others) to implement one of two things

• Credit an Owner's Account a Percentage for Deletion of the eBook - In this scenario, you are essentially selling the book back to Amazon. Why would Amazon buy the book back? Simply because they know you A) are more likely to buy a book in the first place knowing that you can sell it back and B) will use the credit to buy more books hence making them more sales.
• Allow People to Sell their eBooks - It's easy to transfer the "Amazon license" from one account to another. In fact, Barnes and Noble's new Kindle competitor, the Nook allows you to lend eBooks to others, as long as you only do it once per book for a maximum of 14 days. It is a baby step in the right direction.

Some say that publishers don't want this digital media transferable because it's simply too easy and would cut into sales. People might just buy the first hundred thousand copies while the cheap guys (like myself) wait for them to finish and then buy them for the lowest price. I don't know why publishers fear this so much because that already happens. You can buy used books on Amazon. You can use PaperBackSwap.com to get books for free. And then there is that library system.

The Best Digital Media Solution

The RIAA should maintain some kind of huge database that notes the digital rights that everyone has. As long as you paid for the rights, you can get the music in any form you wish for a nominal free (downloading for free, a mix CD for a buck or two, etc.). Sure it's a privacy nightmare. However, I think consumers would buy into it. There are a lot of consumers out there who are fed up after buying Aerosmith's Toys in the Attic in 5 times (vinyl, 8-track, cassette, CD, iTunes). The RIAA says that a lot of the cost is paying the people producing the album, but if you paid those people with your vinyl purchase, why do you have to pay them again for the cassette version? If my CD gets scratched, it should be replaceable for the cost of the CD as all the parties are already properly compensated. If Toys in the Attic gets remastered or if we are talking movies with DVD extras, it's fair to charge the consumer a bit more to upgrade their license. However, the consumer should get the choice to keep the license for the previous work which they've paid for.

This solution would work for all digital media. If I bought a book on a Kindle and later decide that the Nook is a better device, whatever organization that binds book publishers should transfer over that license for easy downloading.

It's inevitable that we get there, it's just going to take time for media publishers and owners to realize that this is the fair way to make sure that everyone gets compensated fairly.

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Recently, I’ve noticed many stores pointing consumers toward the use of online coupons. At first I thought the stores had lost their minds, I mean — showing me how to save money on your products? I know you are reimbursed by the manufacturer and all, but still … it seemed too good to be true.

The more I started to examine this trend the more I realized that it was, in fact, too good to be true because many online coupons aren’t worth more than the paper they are printed on.

How much does it cost to print that coupon?

The coupon sites that I tried used an entire piece of paper to print each little coupon. With printer ink costing up to .10 per printed page and paper coming in around a penny per page, you’ve already spent a good chunk of some of those coupons by the time you are done printing them. If you simply must have the coupon, make sure you set your printer for the lowest quality print and don’t be afraid to print the coupons on the back of junk mail, scrap paper — anything you don’t mind ending up in the cashier’s till.

How much does it cost to go to that store?

Before you print that coupon, ask yourself if the item you printed the coupon for sold at your local grocery store. If it isn’t, you will have to make a special trip to another store in order to buy it. If you have to make an out-of-your-way trip then you need to consider the cost of gas as an expense that detracts from the saving’s offered by the coupon. It might only add an extra couple of pennies but when you add that to the cost of printing the coupon, you are well on your way to saving nothing.

Hello, would you like a virus, spy or pop-up with your coupon?

Many of the coupon websites out there require that you install their proprietary, super-special, secret coupon making programs into your computer. With every mysterious program you install from the wide open plains of the internet, you risk getting a virus. And even if it is downloaded from a company or website you trust you may still be installing their spy program that facilitates customer-targeted pop-up ads on your machine. Not only is this extremely intrusive and annoying but, if you don’t know how to get rid of that junk on your own computer, it could cost you quite a bit of money to hire your neighborhood geek to take it off for you.

Will you use the items you buy?

You know those people who have pantries filled with things that they will never use but that they bought because they were on sale? Well, you could be one of those people — spending money you don’t need to spend on stuff you don’t even want — if you buy things simply because you have a good coupon for them. Only print coupons for those items you want to buy and know you will use within the next month.

Does the coupon make it cheaper than the store brand?

A dollar off coupon on a box of name brand cereal will not make it as affordable as the store brand. If you really want to be frugal, store brand items are almost always a better choice than a name brand item with a coupon. Many of these coupons are used to lure you into making a bad decision for your budget. Remember, if the coupon doesn’t reduce your overall average spending, then it’s not saving you anything — it’s costing you.

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

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The holiday shopping season is almost here!  With Black Friday just around the corner, you can use these tips to help you stay out of debt while buying gifts for all your friends and family this year.

Set a budget: Obviously if you have credit card debt now, you don’t want to elevate those numbers. Remember, your credit score depends more now than ever on how high your balances are. Start by setting a holiday spending number you will not exceed and make cash your first priority in paying for those gifts and other goods.

If you haven’t started shopping yet, do some Christmas budgeting and determine how much money you can realistically set aside and stay as close to that number as you can. Commit to avoiding ANY unplanned purchase above a certain threshold, such as $25.

Revamp your gift policy: Does everyone on your gift list over the age of 21 really need a present? The answer is as individual as your family and friends. But, if you think it might be welcome, make a suggestion for a gift drawing, a budget limit, or a moratorium on gifts for adults or some other alternative where you trade off gifts for quality time.

For instance, you might agree to take each other out to dinner during the New Year or find some other fun way to spend time together. You could help a friend or family member with a household project that could save them money. And in the end, children seem to enjoy their holiday gifts the most, so focus on buying presents for them.

Go debit: Debit cards with a bankcard logo are typically welcome at most stores where credit cards are accepted. This way, you pay cash without carrying cash. If you don’t have such a card, you can probably get one from your bank to replace your traditional ATM card, but remember to tell them to limit your buying power to the cash balance in your account. Also, review your bank’s debit card theft policies in case your card is lost or stolen.

Browse online, and then compare at local stores: Whether you plan to shop online is a separate issue, but browsing online can be a very good idea. “Shop-bot” price comparison websites can help you determine general price ranges for gifts you need that are sold online.

Once you have those ranges, get on the phone and determine whether you can buy the same items more affordably at retailers close to home – save gas whenever possible.

Don’t forget the coupons: Coupons aren’t just in newspapers or direct mail anymore. If you know particular stores where you’ll shop, get on their e-mail lists – you’ll start getting coupons and news of specials on a regular basis. Also, sign up at manufacturers’ websites for coupons or discount codes for shopping online.

Don’t forget taxes & shipping when shopping online: Online prices might look like a great deal until you realize you may be spending another 20 percent of the gift’s price to send it to your house or the recipient.  Here are some tips on how you can save money on shipping.

Also, read product descriptions very carefully to make sure what you’re buying contains all the features of the item that you could buy at the store. At the same time, if there is a legal opportunity to avoid paying sales tax, watch for that.

Allocate spending for charity: You can either make charity a separate item in your annual budget or part of your holiday budget, but if there are specific charities you want to support by yearend, it’s a good idea to decide on those amounts before the holiday shopping season gets underway.

This way, you’ll support the organizations you wish to without going outside your budget. Also, don’t forget to check with your employer to see if they’ll match your contribution and consider gifts of appreciated stocks rather than cash if it fits your charitable goals and tax situation.

Give yourself the gift of financial analysis: If you’re trying to get your finances in order, you could buy yourself an hour of time with a financial advisor. This meeting could extend beyond your holiday spending goals to setting targets for saving, investing, extinguishing debt, and setting financial goals for the future.

These holiday shopping tips were produced in association with the Financial Planning Association (FPA), the leadership and advocacy organization connecting those who provide, support and benefit from professional financial planning.