Welcome Readers from Stretcher.com!
By Molly's Brother | February 19, 2008
I’d like to welcome all the readers from Stretcher.com. If you are not familiar with The Dollar Stretcher, then I suggest that you head on over to Stretcher.com and sign up for the weekly newsletter today. It’s filled with great money-saving tips, covering topics from grocery shopping to taxes! It continues to be an excellent resource for those of us who are frugal or interested in getting our finances under control.
Topics: Personal Finance | No Comments »
Saying YES to Money!
By Molly's Brother | February 18, 2008
This year, I have decided to say “yes” to money. A co-worker offering to pay me to help his family move this weekend? YES! An opportunity to proctor and SAT exam at the local high school on Saturday and get paid for it? SURE. A phone call from a focus group wanting me to give them my opinion about the newest Salty Banana Fish Ice Cream and offering $75 in compensation?…gulp…YES! YES! YES!
Here are some excellent ways to figure out how to say “yes” to money in your life:
1. Proctor SAT Exams — Call your local high schools in the area and ask if they need volunteers to proctor SAT exams. If the local high school does not administer the exam, figure out which school
does and contact them.
2. Remember the value of honest work…and do it! – Offer your services in your neighborhood. Never underestimate the power of babysitting! I often blog about a friend of mine who is in her 30s and lives in a good sized metropolitan area. The going rate that she receives for a Saturday night of sitting? Over $200.
3. Fit a second job into your schedule – Find a part-time job that works for you. Remember, in terms of eliminating the remaining balance on your bills, you need to throw all you can at it. Work for four hours on a Saturday morning or three hours on a Monday night. Find a part-time job that works for you.
4. Sign-up for Focus Groups — Head over the Craigslist’s “Etc” section and see if there are any focus groups that you can join. Often times, these groups pay a little money for a little bit of your time.
5. Sell Your Crap — Tried and true. If you don’t need it, get rid of it and sell it. I just bought a book online the other day for $0.11 (yes, eleven cents). But I paid $3.99 for shipping. Then it dawned on me that this book doesn’t cost $4.00 to ship. Sell your books online and make your own $2.00 profit! I counted 379 book that I could get rid of this way (379 X $2.00 = $758 for very little work).
No matter what you do, though, remember one important thing: Put the plastic AWAY! You are now in the business of eliminating your credit card debt ENTIRELY!
Topics: Personal Finance | No Comments »
Payday & Quick Cash Loans: Why They Are Bad for You
By Molly's Brother | February 13, 2008
When you’re unemployed, these cash call overnight loans look like the only option. When money is tough the quick loans and cash advance commercials are incredibly attractive. Images of smiling men and women of all races and ages describe to you in upbeat voices how great it was that a $10,000 loan is only a phone call away.
Here’s what’s not mentioned:
- These loans are targeted specifically at individuals with lower-incomes.
- The APR on these loans easily surpasses the interest rates on credit cards. (However, because of a poor credit rating, these people who end up at getting an easy loan at cash advance stores are denied credit cards.)
- The APR ranges from 35% to 59% to 96%–if everything works out.
- There are hidden fees that aren’t made clear. So often, you are paying much more money than you expect.
Knowing how damaging these lenders are, my curiosity kicked in and I decided to call a company today to see how “good’ these deals really are. Read on to see what I found out.
If I borrowed $2,600 to be paid over three and a half years, here’s what it would look like:
- Monthly payments: $216.55
- Annual interest rate: 96%
- Loan Period: 3.5 years (40 months)
- Total Interest: $6,493.82
- Total Repayment: $9,095.10
If I borrowed $5,075 to repay over ten years, here are the details:
- Monthly payments: $250.31
- Annual interest rate: 59%
- Loan Period: 10 years (120 months)
- Total Interest: $24,932.19
- Total Repayment: $30,000
These repayment plans were sent to me from an agent who works for the specific company I called. I am stunned, speechless, astonished, and dumbfounded. People who aren’t financially educated are being preyed on by those who are too financially astute. I know it’s not criminal, but it’s ridiculously immoral.
Topics: Debt | No Comments »
Other Budget Busters
By Molly's Brother | February 11, 2008
Last week, I wrote about My Top 5 Budget Busters. This past week, I had been thinking about other budget busters that exist in other people’s budgets.
1. Cigarettes — I don’t smoke, but I often hear about people being a pack-a-day smokers. Assuming that a pack of cigarettes cost $5/pack. ($35.00/week; $140/month) Not computed is the future health care costs associated with smoking OR the increase in health/life insurance premiums smokers have to pay. These additional costs probably reach the tens of thousands over a lifetime.
2. Vending Machines — I have to admit, every time I do my laundry, I treat myself to a soda from the vending machine. I was talking about the vending machine at the laundromat and a friend of mine says he uses the vending machine at work twice a day, costing him $1.50. ($7.50/week; $30.00/month)
3. Credit Card Interest – Using Bankrate.com, I made up what a $10,000 credit card debt costs an individual. Over the course of a month, they spend about $150/month on interest only. ($150/month; $1704.21/year)
Each of these are unnecessary expenses and only end up killing your budget–and your savings–in the long run.
Topics: Your Budget | No Comments »
Zombie Debts & Debt Collectors
By Molly's Brother | February 6, 2008
This post originally ran in MollysBrother.com in 2006.
In the news recently, I’ve come across a lot of information regarding debt collection agencies and their practice of collecting money from years-old debt. For those in the know, this debt is often referred to as “zombie debt” since, quite accurately, it seems to have come back from the dead.
A friend of mine who knows that I blog about personal finance recently received a call from a collection agency regarding a debt from over a decade ago (and on top of that, he knows for a fact that this bill was paid). He took down the information and gave me a call. I told him that [tag]debt collectors[/tag] cheaply buy old debts from companies. And, as per usual, they’re agressive and unceasing in his actions in trying to make you pay for old debt. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Debt | No Comments »
My Top 5 Budget Busters
By Molly's Brother | February 4, 2008
I have been tracking my spending again recently and I was surprised to see what my Top 5 Budget Busters were. Over the past two years, I had done a great job cutting back my daily expenses, but then I switched jobs and all the conveniences I was used to at my previous job disappeared (i.e. no break room with a coffee maker or refrigerator). A look at my recent spending shows what my budget busters are. I am estimating the amounts that I spend–and the amounts that I will save–over the course of the year.
1. Coffee – I do enjoy my coffee. I fill two travel cups of home-brewed coffee before I leave the house in the morning and I finish both of them on my drive to work. When I get to work, I buy one more coffee. It costs $2.67. I make this purchase five times a week. ($13.35/week; $53.40/month)
2. Lunches — I do enjoy my lunches, too! I don’t wake up early enough to pack a lunch. If I did, it would cost me about $1.07/day. The lunch I buy at work costs me $5.69. ($28.45/week - $5.35 = $23.10/week; $92.40/month)
3. Unused Memberships –I talk about this often, but sometimes I don’t heed my own advice. I looked at my monthly credit card and noticed a recurring monthly membership for $19.99. I decided to cancel this promptly. ($19.99/month)
4. Weekend Entertainment – I looked back on the nights spent out with friends. In Los Angeles, non-happy hour adult beverages clock in at $14.00/drink. If I buy 2 a night and go out 2 nights a week. (With tips, $60.00/weekly; $240/month.)
5. Water — I buy the box of 1L waters that Trader Joe’s sells. Unfortunately, since we don’t have a water cooler at work, I can’t cut this out of my budget. But I noticed that this is a persistent budget buster. Thank God, though, that TJ’s sells their water cheap. (I won’t calculate this because I am not cutting this out of my budget.)
All told, I can save this much in a week: $101.80
All told, I can save this much in a month: $405.79
By cutting out these budget busters, I can save this much in a year: $4,869.48
Sigh. We’ll see how much of that I can save in a year. Baby-step by baby-step, it will be interesting to see how much of these budget busters I can cut out of my life and save in a year.
Topics: Saving, Your Budget | 1 Comment »
Debt Elimination: Important Key Concepts
By Molly's Brother | January 30, 2008
If you are wondering how to eliminate debt, then this blog is a great place to start. There are many, many creative ways to go about eliminating your debt. But there are some important and key concepts that lie beneath each of the strategies for debt reduction. It doesn’t matter if you are following David Bach’s plan or Dave Ramsey’s plan. What does matter are these following concepts.
1. You need to spend less than you make. While an easy concept for some to grasp, this might be impossible for others. Debt is created by the simple action of spending more than you earn. You can only get out of debt if you bring your spending habits under control.
2. Stop using the credit cards. You will never be able to get out from under your mountain of credit card debt if you continue to use your cards. It is already bad enough that the balance you are carrying is being charged an insane interest rate each day! Even if you do stop spending, your debt still grows! In order to stem the hemorrhaging, you need to stop feeding the debt. Leave the plastic at home.
3. Find ways to make extra money. An incredibly helpful concept: make more money and use this “new” money to reduce (and eliminate) your debt. Many of us aren’t able to benefit from astronomical wage increases at a current jobs. Therefore, we need to find part-time jobs that will help increase our income so we can decrease our debts.
4. Stay focused. I say this time and time again: You did not get into debt overnight. You can not get out of debt overnight. Debt elimination takes focus and perseverance. It will put an emotional strain on your relationships, it will be hard work, but it will be worth it. Imagine being able to sleep through the night without worrying about debt!
Topics: Debt | No Comments »