Recently there has been a spate of minor burglaries in my apartment complex, which prompted my wife and I to consider getting an alarm system for our apartment. We looked into this via various on-line sites and calls to security companies in our local area and found that the costs would be about $500 to install/wire the system, and then $60 dollars per month to have back to base monitoring. Total cost for the year would be around $1220. Ouch. Given the break-ins were relatively minor and as we had home insurance I got around to thinking that there must be cheaper (frugal) ways to protect ones home. Here is a list I came up with, and am already using some of these precautions. Best of all, the cost is significantly less than a full fledged alarm system. Feel free to suggest any more ideas or thoughts on this topic by leaving a comment.

- Buy Patio door bars. These simple security devices are available as a rod or bar lock. Very effective from both a cost (less than $20) and security perspective. I use a security bar lock for my patio door.

- Get Deadbolt locks for your front door - these are better than normal locks as they have a double locking system making them harder to pick than a regular lock. We already had this installed and it is almost impossible to break without heavy duty tools. (Cost = $50 - $100)

- Turn down the ringer on your phone when you are out. It is a clear sign that someone is away when the phone rings loudly multiple times and no one picks up. (Cost = $0)

- Beam 'em. Get a motion sensor light for your back or front yard so that anyone approaching gets "beamed". This will make your home a less likely target for nighttime break-ins. (Cost = $75 - $100)

- Join the neighborhood watch (or start one). This is absolutely free, and sometimes a neighborhood watch sign can be enough to convince a thief to go elsewhere. (Cost = $20 for the cookies and coffee at the meeting)

- Get a Timer Switch for a couple of lamps in your house, which allows you to set a specific time for lights to come on when you are away. This will give the impression that someone is home. Change the setting by an hour here and there every month to avoid predictability. This security tips is especially useful if you are away for an extended amount of time. (Cost = $20 - $50)

- Put away ladders or tools. Don't leave ladders or tools in your yard or porch. This just helps burglars, by giving them the means and incentive to get into your house. I used to leave my ladder on my patio, but now lock it up. (Cost = $0)

- Tip your local groundskeeper or janitor $10 or so a month and ask him to keep a special eye on your place while doing his normal duties and to call you if anything suspicious is going on. This would only work if you have someone you can trust and live in an apartment or condo complex. (Cost = $10 per month)

- Replace old locks. Get locks for your windows and if you are in a rented place that has a history of break-ins replace any older locks as everyone who's lived in your house previously had an opportunity to make copies of the keys. If you are renting, you should ask the landlord to pay for replacing all the locks before you move in. (Cost = $100 - $200 for locks and services)

- Home for Lunch. Every other week, go home for lunch or just stop buy during the day once in a while. Normally burglars scope out a house for a week or so before breaking in and look for regular patterns. So by breaking up your normal pattern you may put-off would be intruders. (Cost = $0)

- Holidays. If you are going on a extended holiday, make sure you lock everything up, put your mail and newspaper delivery on hold. Also have your neighbors check-in on your place on a weekly basis. (Cost = $0)

- Close those windows. As summer is here, people tend to forget when they leave windows or patio doors open which provides easy access to would be intruders. So have a little sign on the back of your front door saying something like "Don't forget to check the windows and doors are closed", which will be a good reminder when you are rushing out of your apartment. (Cost = $0)

- Lastly, update your home and/or property insurance, especially if you have purchased a number of new things and have valuables at home. If something does happen, you want to make sure you get the money you deserve to replace everything. You should also keep a home inventory, with pictures, of your belongings to help prove what you had to your insurer in the advent of theft. There is software available to assist with this.

At the end of the day your family's security should be paramount. If you feel that the above or other frugal security measures are not sufficient by all means get a full fledged alarm system. A good nights sleep and less anxiety about your family or properties safety does has a high intangible value.

Photo courtesy quinn.anya

Read More...

With global oil prices rising every other day and most projections forecasting the average national price of gas to rise to $4 (a gallon) by summer and to $5 the next year, it is time to accept the fact that high gas prices are here to stay. So stop complaining and start revising your budgeting to mitigate the impact from these higher prices down the road. Based on national averages, the average number of times a car is refuelled in a month is 1.86, which equates to twice a month for most people. The current average price of gas is $3.40 (regular) and a normal family car has a 15 gallon capacity. So if gas prices rise to $5 a gallon within the next year, the impact to your budget will be ($5-$3.40)x15 gallons x 2 times a month x12 months = $576 a year after tax. If you have a longer commute and deal with more traffic like most people in larger cities, you will probably need to refill more often and this number could approach $1200 on an annual basis - not small change for most of us. Will your budget be in a position to handle this $50 p/month or $100 p/month increase?

The numbers will most likely vary by location, car type and driving needs. But you get the point. The higher prices are significant and you need to start budgeting like you are paying those costs now, to avoid feeling the sting of higher gas prices to your future outgoings. Any savings from your gas/driving budget to actual spend should be added to your emergency fund or invested. You may want to adopt a similar approach to your grocery budget which will most likely be 10-20% higher in a years time given commodity related inflationary pressures. Given the aim is to avoid excessive debt and unforeseen financial surprises, it is better to over budget and under spend than the other way around.

Read More...

I came across an article recently about how to save money and shop on-line more effectively by taking advantage of freely available merchant discount codes. These codes can be entered at the checkout page of most on-line retailer web sites and can result in some real savings ($29 on average) with minimal effort. Well, I put this to the test over the weekend when I bought a digital camera. It was a regular single click Sony model which I bought for around $200 from an on-line retailer I found through Amazon.com. Using a 15% merchant discount code I was able to get $30 off the price - not bad for a few minutes of effort.

So how I did I find the relevant merchant discount code? There are various sites like, Currentcodes.com, RetailMeNot.com and CoolSavings.com but all I did was a Google search for "Sony Cameras on-line discount merchant codes 2008" and I got a whole list of codes. I picked the one that gave me the best deal and used it successfully when paying for the camera. Obviously you would substitute "Sony Camera" with whatever product you are looking for and the more specific you are (e.g. include a model number if you know it) the more accurate your search results. Adding the date will ensure more recent and unexpired coupon codes. Instead of the word "code" you could also use the word "coupon" as these are basically the same thing.

If you don't find anything you only wasted a few minutes, but the potential savings make the time to do this search well worth the effort. What's good about this simple saving strategy is that you can probably find a code/coupon for virtually any product or merchant that sells online. The sites that aggregate all these discount codes don't charge users because they can support themselves in a variety of ways, ranging from selling ads to sharing revenue with companies whose codes appear on the site. So if you see one trying to charge you money, move on.

Here are four points from the "experts" worth remembering when you next shop on-line:

•Never go to on-line checkout without first visiting a coupon-code website — or several — to see if there's a deal to be had.
•Do price comparisons of the product you're buying even if the deal already sounds good. Without a discount, it might not be the best price out there. Shopzilla and Froogle are among the best price-comparison sites.
•Factor in whether free shipping or a discount is more valuable before choosing one promotion over another if you're allowed only one such discount.
•Try to "stack coupons" — that is, bundle several codes together for more savings. Many online stores allow this, so it's always worth trying.

All the points are valid and useful, but I found that "stack coupons" rarely worked. Most only accepted a single coupon code and so pick the one that gets you the best saving. For example a $20 off coupon is only better than a 20% off coupon, if the price is less than $201.

The full article from USA today can be found here.

Photo courtesy PPDIGITAL

Read More...

Awhile ago I came across a poignant article in the Wall Street Journal - You're Not Super Rich? You Lucked Out, by Jonathan Clements which got me thinking about this concept. Here are some excerpts from it that I think ring especially true.

On the face of it....

We all swoon over nice and expensive things - a big house, flashy car dinner or private jets. We see others with these things and wish we could have them - a completely natural instinct But the fact is, while it is comforting to be financially secure, money is no measure of self-worth, no guarantee of happiness -- and no reason to be impressed.

We all tend to sit up and take notice when we come across people with fancy titles, hefty incomes and immense riches. Yet these aren't signs of genius or virtue. Want proof? All it takes is two words: Paris Hilton. Wealth may be inherited, which means the beneficiaries' struggle for riches didn't extend beyond the delivery room. Legendary investor Warren Buffett, the billionaire chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, has described "the idea that you win the lottery the moment you're born" as "outrageous."

Displays of wealth can also be misleading. Folks can appear wealthy -- but the mansion may be fully mortgaged, the cars might be leased and the landscaper may still be awaiting payment. Even if you come across somebody who can easily afford the trappings of wealth, the trappings themselves are not a sign of wealth, but of wealth that has been spent. The money lavished on the cars, homes and jewelry is now gone. True, these purchases could always be sold. But there's no guarantee they will fetch the price that was paid -- and, in the meantime, they may require hefty maintenance costs.

Don't get me wrong: There is nothing wrong with spending. The whole reason for saving and investing now is so we can have money to spend later. That said, I can't imagine why I should find this spending impressive -- and I am not sure it is making the spenders happy.

As the old adage goes, money doesn't buy happiness. Yes, those with high incomes and more wealth often say they are happier. This may, however, be a so-called focusing illusion. When the well-heeled are asked how satisfied they are with their lives, they contemplate their position in society -- and they realize they're pretty fortunate. But research has found that, when high-income earners are asked about their emotions on a periodic basis throughout the workday, they don't report being any happier -- but they are more likely to say they are anxious or angry.

No Satisfaction....

All this might have you scratching your head. It seems obvious that your life would be better if you had a gardener to maintain the yard, a chef to prepare your meals and a private jet to whisk you off to exotic locations. And if you were suddenly handed all these things, life would indeed be grand -- until you got used to them. Unfortunately, after a while, you would become accustomed to the great food and the no-hassle travel, and you would be hankering for something even better. This is the old adage of is enough ever enough?

Finding Purpose....

Having enough money is important, but having heaps of it doesn't guarantee happiness. Instead, what matters is doing something that you enjoy and that gives you a sense of purpose -- Most times if you find something you believe in and are passionate about, the financial rewards will follow. It is the journey, who you share it with and how you get to that goal will bring real happiness.

Read More...

Many personal-finance sites and authors talk about the need to cut your day-to-day expenses so that you can boost your savings. Good simple advice, but some who propose concepts like the obligatory measure of eliminating your daily cup (or two or three) of coffee and investing what you would have spent on it - are going too far. Yes, if you save $3 a day, for $720 a year, you will have some number like $10,000 in 20 years saved. A lot of money no doubt. However, in life you got to live a bit, for which you need to spend a bit. In my view, life's daily little pleasures like my morning cup of coffee have an intangible value to me which far exceed the $3 or so I spend on it. Maybe it's the caffeine or the simple experience of taking the time out to get the coffee and the 5-10 minutes to catch up with fellow workers, but I have found the returns of that daily cup of coffee to far exceed what I spend on it....

Saving where you can is great, but remember to ensure you don't deprive your life of the simple little pleasures along the way. I rather be happy and well-off, as opposed to a miserable millionaire!

Read More...

CNN.com recently had a very succinct article on the best credit cards out in the market place for different consumer spending needs. I tend to use my credit cards for most purchases, in order to get the reward points or cash back offers. My logic is that I might as well get something back for "free" for all the money I am spending anyway. The key thing is to make sure you pay the balance off in full every month.

I have three main credits cards - one for online shopping, one for everyday purchases & one as a back-up. I was glad to see that the credit card I used for my every day purchases - American Express Blue Cash - was the recommended as the best credit card in its category. Kiplinger's Personal Finance has also ranked this as No 1. for its category.

If you do most of your purchases on it, then it will probably work out well for you as well. I normally spend $2000 p/month on average on this credit card and I get back about $50 per month (you get get 5% back on grocery, drugstore and gas purchases and 1.5% on everything else vs. 1% for the average cash-back card). So, I can definitely recommend this card to folks with similar spending habits as mine. Click here to apply for the Blue Cash from American Express

******************************************************************
Liked this article? Then consider subscribing by clicking here to receive regular updates
******************************************************************

Read More...

I get my cable, internet and phone service through a bundled package via Cox communications, and one thing that has really bugged me is the high level of fees & taxes in each bill. I have scanned in one of my recent bills so that you can see what I mean. My total bill was $125.38; Figure 1, has a total of the bills fees and charges summary which comes to $8.20 (6.5% of the total). I can live with that. Then, I see these other taxes, which are NOT in the fees and charges summary section. Figure 2, shows these as FCC Access charge and VA Telephone right of way fee. These add up to $6.89.

Figure 1- Fees and Taxes Summary

Figure 2 - Phone Tax/Charges

So combining all the actual charges, the total fees and taxes I pay on the bill is 15.09, or 12% of the total bill. The sales tax in my state (VA) is 5%, so this is almost 7% more than than that. You can look up each of the taxes via a Google search and I hope that all these tax dollars are being effectively spent by the government. Though I highly doubt it, but as this is not a political blog, I won't go into it further.

If I wanted to save money and reduce taxes, one thing I could do is to get rid of my land line - which seems to have the highest taxes levied against it. I can see why a number of people are doing this, but unfortunately due my condos intercom system, I need to have a land line available. Further the communications company in my area has a virtual monopoly so not many lower priced options out there. For now, I guess I'll have to live with it.

Are your cable/phone taxes and charges as high in the state you live in?

Get what you are entitled to

One more item related to your cable or phone service, based on my experience, is to make sure you get the services you are paying for. I had signed up for a High Definition (HD) cable service when I bought my HD TV (Christmas gift splurge!), but it was only 2 months later I realized that Cox was providing its HD TV customers with free HD Channels! I only found out about this when a friend told me about this special offer. When I called the COX customer representative, they said their customer accounts service department had "forgotten" to turn on this service. Off course, since it was free, I could get no credit! Got the channels now and you can definitely see the picture quality difference in high definition channels. Make sure you don't miss out on this if you have a HD TV. Also recheck what services you are paying for and that you getting what you are entitled to.

******************************************************************
Liked this article? Then consider subscribing by clicking here to receive regular updates
******************************************************************

Read More...

Compounding interest is one of the fundamental concepts of investing and building wealth over the long term. Apart from the tax savings, it is also the key driver behind Retirement and 401K accounts and why all the experts tell you it is the best investment vehicle for most of us. I have been actively contributing to my companies 401K plan (about 10%) and do believe over the longer term, this will provide my retirement safety cushion. Read on to see the power of compounding and why investing over the long term is so beneficial.

When you're young, you have an asset money can't buy: TIME. Start saving now and turn pocket change into riches. Compound interest has been called the eighth wonder of the world. And with good reason. It magically turns a little bit of money, invested wisely, into a whole lot of cash. Even Albert Einstein is said to have called it one of the greatest mathematical concepts of our time.

But you don't need to be a genius to harness the power of compound interest. Even the most average of Joes can use it to make money. Trust me. This is so much easier than the theory of relativity.

Here's the gist: When you save or invest, your money earns interest, or appreciates. The next year, you earn interest on your original money and the interest from the first year. In the third year, you earn interest on your original money and the interest from the first two years. And so on. It's like a snowball -- roll it down a snowy hill and it'll build on itself to get bigger and bigger. Before you know it ... avalanche!

Harness the power

Here are three steps to help you make the power of compound interest work for you. And when I say "work FOR you," I mean it. Once you set up an account, you don't have to do much else. Just sit back and wait for the money to roll in.

1. Start young. When you're in your twenties and thirties, your best friend is TIME. Start rolling your snowball at the top of the hill and you'll have a much bigger mass at the bottom than someone who started halfway down.

Consider this example: Amy, a 22-year-old university graduate, saves $300 per month into an account earning 10% per year for six years. (That's the average annual return of the stock market over time.) Then at age 28, she starts a family and decides to stay home with the children full time. By then, Amy had kicked in $21,600 of her own money. But even if she doesn't contribute another cent ever, her money would grow to a million bucks by the time she turned 65.

Compare that to Jason, who put off saving until he was 31. He's still young enough that becoming a millionaire is within reach, but it will be tougher. Jason would have to contribute the same $300 a month for the next 34 years to earn $1 million by age 65. Although Amy invested less money out-of-pocket -- $21,600 over six years vs. Jason's $126,000 over 34 years -- her money had more time to grow, or compound. (Find out what it'll take for you to make $1 million.)

Bottom line: Getting rich is easier and more painless the earlier you start.

2. Remember that a little goes a long way. Don't think you have enough money to start investing? You can get into a good managed fund for as little as $50 a month.

Let's say a 20-year-old stashes $50 a month into a fund earning 10% annually. He'd have $528,000 by age 65. Not bad for practically starting with pocket change! A little bit can make a difference elsewhere in compounding, too. For example, if our 20-year-old earned 9% annually instead of 10%, he would amass only $373,000 in the same period of time. That seemingly small 1% difference in performance resulted in 29% less money over the long haul.

That's why, when you're young, you need to invest fairly aggressively. You should invest nearly all your money in stocks or stock mutual funds (as opposed to bonds and other conservative investments) in hopes of netting a bigger return. You'll certainly have ups and downs, but over the long-term, TIME (again, your best friend) will smooth them out for your benefit. Crunch your own numbers with our savings calculator.

3. Leave it alone. The prospect of making a lot of money without doing anything sounds good on paper. But, admittedly, in practice, it can be maddening. Every time you receive your account statement, you watch your balance s-l-o-w-l-y inch up -- or even drop. How on earth are you ever going to get rich at this pace?

Investing is a game of patience: Good things come to those who wait. You must be patient for compound interest to work its awesome power. Remember that as your money earns more interest, it'll earn even more interest. You certainly won't get rich overnight this way. But you will get rich if you start young, invest wisely and leave it alone.

Parts of this article were drawn from http://www.kiplinger.com

Read More...

If one of your New Year's resolutions was to save money, you probably prepared yourself for a long year of penny pinching and bargain hunting. But saving more doesn't have to be such hard work. Here's five easy ways to put more money in the bank no matter how much you make. 1. Set up automatic deposits into a high interest savings account. Direct deposit or payroll deduction is the ultimate method of painless saving because you don't have to do anything -- money just automatically moves into your savings account. Don't skip this step if you can't save much -- even $10 a week can add up quickly. And to make sure this money stays in savings, stash your savings in an account at a bank that's not convenient to reach. Forgo the ATM card to make it even more difficult to withdraw funds. 2. Give yourself a goal. Working toward a goal can keep you motivated. So figure out how much money you could realistically save each month and use that as your goal. Keep track of your progress throughout the year, and even challenge yourself by increasing your savings goals if you find that you're hitting the mark without too much trouble. 3. Save the loose change. Try making a game out of saving. Team up with your partner or a friend to see who can save more in pocket change in a month. You will be amazed how much those coins add up to every year. 4. Save reimbursements. If you get reimbursed for travel or other work related expenses, consider saving those reimbursements when you receive them rather than treating them like a windfall. (Unless, of course, you charged the expenses on a credit card, in which case you should use the reimbursement to pay off your credit card.) 5. Save your raise or any other windfall. If you get a raise this year, make sure that at least half of it goes right into your Super or another savings account. You're already used to living on your current salary, so it shouldn't be too difficult. Do the same with a tax refund or cash gift.

******************************************************************

Liked this article? Then consider subscribing by clicking here to receive regular updates

******************************************************************

Read More...