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Carnival of Pecuniary Delights #26 - The Race to the World Series Edition

by Matt on October 8, 2009

Welcome to the 26th edition of the Carnival of Pecuniary Delights. I’m excited to share the wonderful articles written by my personal financing blogging peers that were submitted this week showcasing their frugal lifestyle. Welcome to any new readers! Be sure to sign up to StupidCents RSS feed.

It’s October and you can smell it in the air. The leaves are falling (for most of us) and the temperatures are slowly changing. But it’s not cool everywhere, it’s actually heating up for the start of Major League Baseball playoffs! Baseball is truly the great American pastime and a great escape for families (for the right price of course).

The great thing about baseball is, if you strike out or lose one game, it’s not over. You still have a chance to come back and win and be great! Same goes for personal finance. We all have to strike out once in a while to really know what needs to change in our spending, saving and investing habits. Having that experience goes a long way when it comes to our own finances and that same experience can help others in the ‘clubhouse’. We all strive for that World Series of a great retirement life. So cheer on your favorite team this year.

: Who will be the champion this year?

Editor’s Picks

Peter from Bible Money Matters presents First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit May Be Extended To All Homebuyers And Increased to $15,000 Through New Bill. This really hits home as my wife and I have been house hunting the past few months (unfortunately, all the extra time has taken away from my blog). We are getting towards crunch time because we have to close before the end of November to receive the credit. So the big question is, will it be extended?

Kyle from Suburban Dollar presents 25 Songs About Money. Doesn’t every artist have at least one song that involves money? A very unique post and I enjoyed it! Thanks, Kyle!

J. Money from Budgets Are Sexy presents 3 Things you should always keep in your wallet/purse/clip.. Can’t argue at all with J. Money on this. But what about your business cards?

Frugality & Saving Money

Miss Thrifty from Miss Thrifty presents Introducing… The Thriftymobile.

FMF from Free Money Finance presents 10 Ways to Save Money on Car Ownership. Ten useful tips for saving money on cars.

Investing & Economy

Mr. GoTo from Go To Retirement presents Inflation and Retirement Investing. Mr. GoTo discusses your options when it comes to investing for retirement. We all should be prepared for inflation.

The Financial blogger from The Financial Blogger presents Real Return Bonds and Gold: How to Hedge Yourself against Inflation. It seems pretty clear that sooner or later, inflation will surge.Here are the best ways to protect yourself from inflation.

Natalie MacLellan from Before You Invest presents Leveraged Exchange Traded Funds. Leveraged investments…watch out!

Bob from Christian Finance presents Should you get a Fixed term annuity or a variable annuity?. If you are comparing annuity features, these are a few things you should know about the different types of annuities.

Debt & Credit

Mr. ToughMoneyLove from ToughMoneyLove presents Responsible Credit Score Strategies for Young Adults. Young adults should break free from the crowd and focus attention on their credit scores.

April from Get Rich Slowly presents Pros and Cons: 30-Year Mortgage vs. 15-Year Mortgage . April from Get Rich Slowly breaks down the differences between 30 and 15 year mortgages. Which one is right for you? Make sure you have all the facts!

The Smarter Wallet from The Smarter Wallet presents How To Get A Credit Card That’s Right For You. The Smarter Wallet shows you how to shop for a credit card that fits your needs.

Gather Little By Little from Gather Little By Little presents Stuck in the Midst of Debt.

Silicon Valley Blogger from The Digerati Life presents Use Low Interest Rate Credit Cards To Lower Your Debt.

Jim from Bargaineering presents Writing a Debt Dispute Letter.

Life & Money

Hawk from TheDebtHawk.com presents 10 Ways To Prepare For A Layoff. Don’t remain unprepared for a layoff. It can happen at anytime in this waining economy. Take charge of your career by implementing these 10 strategies to prepare for a layoff.

Kelly Whalen from the centsible life presents kids and allowance. Can I have it? Puh-lease?! Kelly covers the questions you should ask about allowances and how her family approaches allowances.

Baker from Man Vs. Debt presents Could You List Every Single Item You Own?. Creating a list of everything you own and then pledging to sell half of it is one of my favorite pieces of personal finance advice. It’s time that we stepped up and walked-the-walk.

Craig Ford from Money Help For Christians presents A Discussion on Justice and Generosity: Did “The Little Red Hen” Do the Right Thing? . How do you balance between being just and being generous? Find out what a simple story taught Craig about life.

Lynnae from Being Frugal.net presents How to Make a Budget That Works. This post takes on budgets and what it takes to make them work for you.

Everything Else Money

Paul @ FiscalGeek from FiscalGeek presents Free Budget Software Review: Quicken Online. A nice run through, with screenshots, of the Quicken Online Budgeting software.

Charlie from Pay Less For Food presents Psychological Supermarket Tricks That Make Us Spend.

Kris from Family Balance Sheet presents Before an economic crisis hits you, are you willing to live on half?.

PT from PT Money presents Details About the $8,000 First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit.

Darwin from Darwin’s Finance presents How Stupidity on Wall Street Violated the Most Basic Laws of Physics. Did someone say stupid? A satirical look at how Wall Street’s stupidity violated the most basic laws of physics. You’ll love the nostalgic laws and theorems of yore!

Milestones

Madison from My Dollar Plan presents $50 Amazon Gift Card to Celebrate 1 Million Visitors. Congrats, Madison!

Thanks to everyone who submitted their articles this week, it my was my pleasure to read them all. Keep the good articles coming and don’t be afraid to stop by once in a while! I even came away with some new sites to add to my daily reading list. Go Brewers! Oh…wait…better luck next year!

Stupidly Yours,

Matt

Credit: MLB and their respective owners

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Your Homeowner’s or Renter’s Insurance Could Still Be Lower

by Matt on July 1, 2009

One thing is for sure, we are all looking for ways to cut back expenses any way we can. One way may be as simple as switching auto insurance providers to get the best rate while other ways may include forgoing your night out. Either way, you’ll able to save some money. While homeowner’s and renter’s insurance is the similar to auto insurance, there are some other easy and clever ways to lower your insurance premiums to save more money each month.

Here are eight ways on how you can save money on homeowner’s and renter’s insurance rates:

1. Raise Your Deductible

Deductibles are the amount of money that you have to pay out of your own pocket whenever you have to make a claim with your insurance company. The higher the deductible, the lower your premium will be. Most American households have a $500 deductible. Look into raising your deductible to $1,000 and you could easily save 25 percent. Also, be sure to look at disaster specific deductibles such as flooding, wind or hail damage coverage.

2. Improve Your Home Security

Remember all those questions about smoke detectors, burglar alarms and dead bolts? You may get discounts for each one installed in your home or apartment. Couple that with installing a home security system and you not only get peace of mind, you could save as much as 20 percent off your premium costs. Be sure to check with your insurance agent about the discount before you shell out all that cash for additional security. Either way, it’s a good idea, especially if you live in a high risk area.

3. Combine Your Insurance Policies With the Same Insurer

Most insurance companies will offer homeowners, rentals and auto insurance (as well as others). If you look at combining your policies, you could save 15 percent off your premiums if you have two or more policies. Shop around to make sure you will get the best deal, but often if you stick with the insurance company you’ve been with the longest, you may also be entitled to an additional reward.

4. Recent Lifestyle Changes

Are you recently retired or unemployed? Are you around the house more than usual? Often you will be able to get an additional discount if you are around the house more. It is more likely that damages could be preventable and theft is minimized. Be sure to find out if your insurance provider offers this type of discount.

5. Do a Household Inventory

Did you recently sell some expensive electronic equipment or jewelry? Perhaps you moved some of the items off of your property to a bank safe. Now you no longer need to have these items covered and if you don’t call and make those policy changes, you’ll continue to pay the premiums on those items. This is also true for items that no longer have the value they once did, especially when it comes to electronics. So be sure to find out what type of extra coverage you have and make the necessary changes, at least once a year.

6. Call Your Insurance Company

It doesn’t hurt to have your agent go through your policy with you, at least once each year, to see if you are eligible for new discounts. Usually, insurance agencies won’t come running to you if you are able to save money on your premiums. You have to be proactive. It doesn’t hurt to ask!

7. Keep a Good Credit Score.

Your credit score may have an effect on your insurance costs. Be sure you are checking your credit report often to make sure there are no items that could result in higher premiums. Don’t forget, checking your credit report is indeed free!

8. Pay Premiums Up Front

Insurance agencies will often give you payment plan options when it comes paying your premiums. If it fits in your budget, be sure to pay annually as you can easily save 10 percent.

If you just follow a few of these, you could easily save hundreds of dollars each year. We all like to save money, and most of us have some sort of homeowner’s or renter’s insurance plan, so why not take some steps to save some money? First step is to pick up the phone and call your insurance agent or start your shopping online as there are many insurance companies that offer quotes online.

Are you taking advantage of your insurance companies rewards and discounts?

Stupidly Yours,

Matt

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Odd Economic Indicators Revealed

by Matt on June 24, 2009

You’ve probably heard the term, ’sell in May and go away’ in reference to the best time to get out of the market before a summer pull back. Whether or not weather plays a part in it, it is quite intriguing that such a barometer is even researched. It doesn’t end there though, just this last week Kiplinger published an article regarding 10 Quirky Economic Indicators that could possible give insight on the way the economy is moving. I’d like to take a closer look into this list.

1. Theaters are having no troubles keeping full.

Would you guess that during the last seven recessions, box office sale increased in five of them? Whether or not this surge of sales has anything to do with the hot new movies, one thing is certain is in rough economic times, people like to get out of the house to catch a good flick. In ways, it could be somewhat shocking considering after popcorn and drinks, a family of four could end up spending over $50.

2. Everyone wants to become a gardener.

The National Gardening Association has found an increase of 19% in gardening since 2008. If the opportunity is there, many people are finding it cost effective to grow their own fruits and vegetables. I suppose that is one downside of an apartment, although I know you can rent plots of land. We do have some chives sitting out on the deck!

3. Dating services flourish.

Match.com had noticed a pattern in their site activity. The fourth quarter in 2008 was one of their busiest, similar to the surge after 9/11. Are the rough times causing family break ups or are people looking for someone else to lean on to forget their financial troubles. Hopefully it’s the latter.

4. Romance novels are ‘hot’.

Romance novel publisher Harlequin is continuing to see their sales increase. Again, books in general could be a cheap way to entertain yourself and relax in a good book. Who knows what drives the romance sales, but Candice Jones put it best:

So if these stories start piling up unwanted on the discount table at the bookstore, alongside all those mis-timed guides to real estate riches, better news is on the way.

5. I’m tired, too.

Americans are losing sleep, literally. In a poll by the National Sleep Foundation, one-third of Americans lost sleep because they were worried about their financial situation especially the thought of losing their jobs. Look around you, are you seeing more people with bags under their eyes?

6. Put away the scalpel, for now.

Americans spent $10.3 billion on cosmetic surgery in 2008 which was actually lower than 2007. Of course, plastic surgery is a luxury and with the downturn in the economy, no doubt there is a decline in demand for cosmetic procedures. Just make sure you don’t go into debt by getting plastic surgery.

7. That glimmer in your eye, or is that just glitter?

Makeup sales are on the rise, specifically eye makeup with an increase in sales of over 8.5% year over year. However, the lipstick indicator has shown that sales are actually down 11%. If you can explain this to me, go ahead, I got nothing!

8. See you later alligator.

Savoie’s Alligator Farm is one of the largest alligator farms in the United States, who sell skins to luxury retailers such as Louis Vuitton. Fortunately (or unfortunately), those 100,000 gators are sitting pretty as no skins have been sold since November. If you start to see a flourish of gator gear, then you know times are turning around and I don’t mean the Florida Gators.

9. Hanging the Dry Cleaners out to dry.

It seems that the economy has forced dry cleaners to hold clothes longer as customers are not visiting as often. Since they are not picking up their clothes, the dry cleaners aren’t getting paid. It seems that dry clean customers have a new budget plan, avoid picking up dry cleaned clothes for as long as possible.

10. People are all itchy.

Because of the abundance of foreclosed and abandoned homes, swimming pools have become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. These ‘green pools’ have nearly doubled to about 4,000 so far in 2009 according to Maricopa County Environment Services Department in Arizona. I’ve seen many shows where they actually have filled pools with fish to eradicate the problem. I really don’t consider Mosquitoes an economic indicator, just visit the Midwest in the summer.

So forget the consumer confidence index, jobless claims and existing homes sales, let’s talk romance novel sales, sleep deprivation index and alligator skin goods! OK, never mind the last one.

Do you notice any major changes in your behavior when the economy is booming or busting?

Stupidly Yours,

Matt

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The Dreaded Delivery Window Strikes Again

June 22, 2009

I’d like to preface this post by saying this isn’t really related to anything financial today. Still might be a good read (and maybe good laugh) and I’d like to know if anyone else has had this happen to them.

Do you have one of those days where you hope you can get something accomplished, but [...]

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Is Getting a Raise a Really Just Curse in Disguise?

June 17, 2009

If you’re one of the lucky ones this year, you’ll be in line for a raise. You’ve worked hard and shown your worth so it’s only right that you get a raise. First of all, be thankful that you are even in a position to get a raise with so many people losing their jobs [...]

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Festival of Frugality #182 - Revenge of the Fallen Edition

June 16, 2009

Welcome to the 182nd edition of the Festival of Frugality. I’m excited to share the wonderful articles written by my personal financing blogging peers that were submitted this week showcasing their frugal lifestyle. First of all, welcome to any new readers! Secondly, this is a historic day at StupidCents as this is my first time [...]

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10 Excuses That Keep You in Credit Card Debt

June 15, 2009

My wife and I have several credit cards, however, we never keep a balance and avoid any and all finance charges by paying our statements in full each month. We don’t necessary subscribe to the idea that you shouldn’t have any credit cards, but everyone needs to understand and use them responsibly in order to [...]

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← Previous Entries

Turning Wasted Cents into Common Sense

Carnival of Pecuniary Delights #26 - The Race to the World Series Edition

Editor’s Picks

Frugality & Saving Money

Investing & Economy

Debt & Credit

Life & Money

Everything Else Money

Milestones

Your Homeowner’s or Renter’s Insurance Could Still Be Lower