Here are two ways to cut rising food costs.
1. Never shop on an empty stomach. When you’re hungry, you are bound to grab some extra, and most likely, unneccessary items. Always eat before you go shopping.
2. Leave the kids at home. Tired and cranky kids generally make shopping take longer and inevitably make you grab a couple things you normally wouldn’t have, just to keep them quiet.
It has become glaringly obvious to me over the past few months that many veterans are not aware of the benefits available to them for serving our fine country. I have taken this time to compose a general list of eligibility requirements and some of the major benefits that many veterans have access to, but may not be taking advantage of currently. Additional information can be found on these topics at www.va.gov. Read the rest of this entry »
Here are two ways to save some money on your electric bill during this winter season.
1. Heat on the rooms of the house that you are using. By using space heaters and ceiling fans instead of your whole-house, forced air system, you can dramatically reduce your ongoing heating bill.
2. Insulate well. Use weather stripping around doors and windows and put plastic sheeting over the windows. Don’t forget, you can get a tax credit for making some energy saving home modifications. Check out http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=tax_credits.tx_index for more details.
We live in such a complex world today. Each day brings more legislation to add to the complexity. How does the average person cope? Having counseled multitudes of people over the years, I find it fascinating that so much money is wasted by even the brightest people. We live under the belief that an accountant, a financial planner, a business executive, a banker, an insurance advisor, a lawyer, a physician, a mortgage broker, and a financial aid officer will provide our needed knowledge. I have counseled all of these types of advisors and found significant money they had thrown away because of their lack of knowledge. Are we all bright enough or have we as a people entered into such a specialized world that no one is taking time to address the bigger picture? There is money to be saved for everyone.
Proverbs 19:2 says, “It is not good to have zeal before knowledge.” We live in a society that has zeal and limited knowledge so we miss out on the hidden manna that is available to everyone. Read the rest of this entry »
With Christmas and New Year’s approaching, travel plans will begin to pick up. Here are a few ways to reduce your gas costs this holiday season.Tax Strategies to Consider Before 2010
If the recession has touched your life financially, you might want to do some tax planning to either postpone or accelerate your tax deductions and/or income. For those anticipating more income this year than next, it may be prudent to accelerate deductions and postpone income. For those anticipating less income this year than next, consider postponing deductions and accelerating income. Here are some ways to do that.
One example might be to do a conversion of a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. This will result in more income in the year completed, but will reduce taxes in future years, particularly after the Roth has been in place five years. It will be necessary to look at how the additional income will affect your taxes this year before you do complete the process. Read the rest of this entry »
Here are a few ways to lower your grocery bill.
1. Check out your local supermarket’s website. Supermarket home pages often have coupons and daily specials listed and they all have the weekly ad posted so you can compare prices.
2. Look high and low. Popular brands pay a premium to have their products placed at eye level. Less expensive brands usually are placed on the upper and lower shelves. Check to make sure you aren’t missing out on something just because it’s hard to see.
3. Always get a raincheck. If the store runs out of a sale item on your list, ask for a raincheck and pick it up next time you are in the store.
The chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.
-Warren Buffett
This is the time of the year when employers ask their employees to select the benefits they wish to establish for next year. The proper selection of benefits can result in great values or high costs depending on the employees’ understanding of alternative solutions and the real value benefits being offered. Unfortunately, it varies with each person.
If you are healthy and have no chronic diseases, life insurance offered through your employer will likely be more expensive than what is offered through non-group coverage. Proper selection of the coverage for reduced rates and adequate coverage is necessary and we can assist in that process. Group insurance may be the best alternative for someone with chronic diseases. It should be noted that a loss of employment will also mean a loss of group coverage. Read the rest of this entry »
Here are a few ideas to prepare your house for winter and possibly save a few dollars in the process.
1. If it has been a few years since you last had your fireplace chimney cleaned, have it done by a professional chimney sweep.
2. Turn off the water to your outside faucets and drain any remaining water from the pipes. The outside pipes and faucets are the most prone to freezing, which can eventually cause cracks and leaks.
3. Install weatherstripping around any doors or windows that may be letting in cold air.
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