Beat And Battered

Saving money on gas can be as simple as using gas rewards credit cards and as complicated as moving to a new town.  The price of gas was heavy on my mind yesterday as I filled up the tank after a weekend trip.  I started thinking about the wide range of money saving techniques people use to save on gas, here are some tips I’ve seen in action.

Gas Rebates
Saving on gas with gas rebates is something I’ve talked about before but I have to keep mentioning it. As the price of gas goes up, so do the gas rebates that they’re offering.  Our grocery store was running a special today, take your grocery receipt to the store owned gas station and save 25 cents off each gallon of gas.

These are unadvertised specials but they always seem to happen on Sundays. The gas clerk confirmed this pattern and said this was one of the best deals they’ve ever offered on gas.  So keep an eye on your local grocery chain if any of them have attached gas stations, especially on the weekends.

There was one guy at the gas station who had 6 gas cans in the back of his truck that he filled up before topping off his tank.  At 25 cents discount per gallon he saved a good chunk of change by “pre-buying” his gas.  I struck up a conversation with him in line that leads to the next way to save money on gas.

Gas Credit Cards
The guy with 6 gas cans was actually going to use two different credit cards to pay for the gas he had purchased.  The last time he had tried this approach he’d bought so much gas that he triggered the maximum gas purchase on his credit card.  He came prepared this time with both a Chase Freedom card and an American Express Blue Cash card.

Hey if you’re going to buy that much gas, why not earn some cash back on it? Those are both cards I mentioned in my review of the best gas credit cards to save you money at the pump.  The complexity level of this one is pretty low, simply pay with the gas rewards card and earn cash back.

Fuel Efficient Transportation
While the first two tips were about saving money on the gas you purchase, the next few cover reducing the amount of gas you use.  Several people at my office have started riding the bus to work and that’s cut way back on the gas they use each week.

Another of my co-workers bought a Toyota Prius Hybrid several years back when they first came out.  Most people couldn’t believe he waited 6 months and then paid a premium price for the hybrid car at the time but now they eye the gas mileage enviously.  In fact, his talk of savings talked another guy on his team into buying a Prius Hybrid. Plus the new Prius owner is saving even more money because he started carpooling in addition to having a fuel efficient car.

Working from Home
The next tip is more complex and could involve changing jobs. While it’s not a four day work week a former co-worker of mine took another job that lets him work from home on Wednesdays.  It wasn’t the sole deciding factor in his move but it certainly played a role.  In an even bigger step, one of his buddies is actually switching jobs so that he can tele-commute full time. 

The amount of money they’re saving by cutting out one or all of the commute days each week is substantial. Of course your company may not have these policies in place so you might have to work with your boss to save money on gas.

Moving Closer
The most involved tip I’ve seen in action so far is the strategy of moving closer to your regular driving destination.  My parent’s neighbors were both commuting between two different cities every day.  When gas prices were low it wasn’t a problem but their fuel bill was getting so high they decided to pack up and move. 

One of the people on my team at work drives over a hundred miles round trip to work and back each day.  He spends over $600 a month in gas, which is one of the reasons he’s considering moving out of the boonies and closer into town.

Gas Saving Summary
As I mentioned, each of these approaches requires different levels of changes in your life.  Using gas credit cards  and getting gas rebates is pretty easy while moving everything you own is a much bigger deal.  The nice thing is, it’s a free country so the choice of whether we want to follow some of the gas saving techniques or none of them is up to us.  I’d recommend at least starting small & easy and working your way up to bigger gas saving changes.

Copyright © 2008 admin. Visit the original article at http://lexchoice.com/?p=97.
Tired of the monthly budget? Want to something a little out of the ordinary when it comes to saving money or reducing your debt? I just went for a three hour drive today on my way to a business trip and came up with this idea. What if there was some type of incentive every month for you to save money, wouldn’t it make it much more fun? So what’s fun and different about this idea you ask?

First, you’ll need to do a little research into your budget. If you’ve kept a good budget then this shouldn’t be too difficult. Break down your budget into three categories:

1. Completely Mandatory - This category contains all the necessary bills such as home, auto loans, electric, water, credit cards, etc. This does not include cable, phone or internet.
2. Somewhat Mandatory - This category will include bills such as cable, phone, and internet services. It will also include grocery money, clothing money, etc. Things that you need but you could probably reduct the cost somewhat.
3. Not Necessary - Finally the not necessary category includes entertainment money, and blow money. Money that if you didn’t have for a month you could live without. You really don’t need to go to the movies or spend $60 on dinner!

Now here is where the contest comes in and your reward. Total up the amounts from each category based on your last months bills. For example:

1. Necessary: Electric $150, Water $35, Home $1000, Auto $400 total of $1585.
2. Somewhat: Cable $40, Phone $35, Internet $40, Grocery : $400, Clothing $250, total of $765.
3. Not: Entertainment $400, Blow $100, total of $500.

Now our goal is to reduce each category by a small amount each month paying down debt and rewarding ourselves in the process. Reducing all three categories may leave a good deal of leftover money. Use half of this money on paying down debt and the other half to spend on some type of reward. Something fun you normally wouldn’t buy yourself.

First, those necessary bills you can reduce your electric and water bills by simply being aware of the resources you are using. Turning off lights when you leave rooms, take showers instead of a baths, take shorter showers than usual, use lamps instead of overhead lights, don’t leave the water on while brushing your teeth or shaving, etc. As for that auto payment you may want to do something extreme like sell the car and buy something with cash you have on hand or finance something for half of your current payment. You can find decent cars for $5,000 or even less!

Second, those somewhat necessary bills can save us some major cash! Drop any premium channels from your cable service. You may be able to reduce your internet service by switching from cable to DSL or from DLS to cable. Drop that lan line phone service if everybody has a cell phone with enough minutes. Clothing is necessary, but name brand clothing is not necessary. Watch for sales and check out consignment shops for cheaper clothes. Groceries can also be a good money saver. Use those coupons you always toss out with the trash. Buy generic foods when possible. I’ve read multiple articles on saving hundreds of dollars per month on your grocery bill! It’s possible to save some good money in this category.

Finally, the enertainment/blow category can be your biggest savings area. Eating out is just not necessary and although enertainment is necessary it doesn’t always have to cost money. Limit eating out to a minimum. If you must eat out order water or get takeout and bring it home. Go to the park instead of the movies. Go on picnics and hikes instead of amusement parks. There are hundreds of ways to save money on enertainment.

Here is a revised sample budget and what can be done with the extra money.

1. Necessary: Electric $145 (old $150), Water $31(old $35), Home $1000 (old $1000), Auto $175 (old $400) total of $1351 (old $1585). SAVINGS OF $234.
2. Somewhat: Cable $40 (old $40), Phone $0 (old $35), Internet $35 DSL (old $40), Grocery : $360 (old $400), Clothing $225 (old $250), total of $660 (old $765), SAVINGS OF $105.
3. Not: Entertainment $350 (old $400), Blow $80 (old $100), total of $430, SAVINGS OF $70. 

In our sample budget we saved a total of $409!!! We didn’t make huge sacrafices just small sacrafices in each category. Now take the $409 and pay $200 toward one of your high interest rate debts and take the other $209 and spend it on something nice for yourself. You may even want to save the $209 for next month and pick up something much nicer. Reward yourself for saving money and it will be much more fun!

Copyright © 2008 admin. Visit the original article at http://lexchoice.com/?p=120.
Tracking your monthly spending is a very important part of planning a personal household budget. How many times have you asked yourself or your spouse, “I just don’t know where all the money went this month?” Knowing where you are spending every penny of your income is very important and only takes a few minutes of your time each day. You will probably realize just how much money you waste each month.

When it comes to tracking your monthly spending there are a few different options avaliable from pen and paper to highlty sofisticated computer software programs. Of course there are many other options in between, some free and some every expensive.

There are no excuses for not tracking your spending. Anyone can use a couple of sheets of wide ruled notebook paper and a pen. Simply write down the date of each transaction, how much you spent and where you spent the money. There are spreadsheet solutions that allow you to record the same information but automatically do the math. There are also complex software solutions to download or purchase that will basically do the same thing.

Record your spending for one month and you will quickly realize the categories where you are overspending. This will help you create a detailed budget showing you which categories you need to cut back your spending. Having this information will put you on the path to bulding a successful budget and leasding you down the road to financial success and freedom!

Point of order:

A] Almost 600$ in sales Thursday – me likes.

B] Got a call from a former woman (would link her blog but that would be foul-lol), she don’t call unless she wants something. Aint talked to her in a while. She asked me to pay for her tuition (gumption) – I said no. Couldn’t figure out why she would ask me instead of the one she is talking to and desires. Guess prior post was prophetic – go figure.

C] Not sleepy, so made a rib eye and fried 3 eggs at 145am. – Yummy. And don’t forget 5 pieces of bread.

D] Babz blessed the shop, and started taking pictures like the blogger she is LMBAO. She partook in vino.

Was gonna have another thought amnesty today since a many folk say i’m deep or that I think to much, or that I just plane ole hate when I go on my thought crime spree’s. I was either gonna put up the speaking Memphisian #2 or Riddle me this #3. But I decided against such. As you read under point of order A, I have a penchant for paying myself. Now that said, I am reminded of how I have been taught what money was, how to use it and more importantly How to save it. Now I have not nor did I have a desire to watch the talking heads CNN producers aggregated for rating purpose, talk out the side of their necks about what I suspect many already know and experience. Not to mention the folks likely didn’t represent me nor my beliefs and that if it is on TV, it will eventually, like in math, be reduced to the least common dominator of Entertainment.

Now of all folk, I know it’s hard for the average person in America. I know that the value of the dollar aint like it used to be. I know that many of us struggle just to keep a roof over our heads – I know I do. But what I don’t understand is how and why folks say it is hard and even difficult to save.

I mean it seems we have loot for what we want, but not what we need. Sure like I said it is hard, but not that hard. I figure that if a person goes out to a club or bar (which is cool) they will spend somewhere between 20 to $30 on the low end. That’s reasonable. But if we do it twice a week or four times a month, that’s about $2080 to $3120 a year in the first example and $960 tom $1440 a year in the second. Believe it or not that is a lot of loot if such habits persist for 3, 5, 7 years – for which many of us do.

Sure you are or may say it is easy for me to talk, I got a PhD. True I do, but even before then I saved my money. Yea I invest, which think a lot more folk should do, and I see the volatility in the stock market, but I did so since high school and my family didn’t teach me that. I aint never need a flashy car or nothing and I have never had a desire to go to a club and covet the VIP section nor make it rain on a stripper. If I did have the urge to make it rain, it would likily be on a homeless person or in homeless shelter.

Then we add to the problem, for we don’t even recognize how our loot is degraded in meaning. We can go to a club and be made to pay valet parking, and pay $20 to get in when on the regular or for lack of a better descriptor – on white night, one can park they car and walk in free. We don’t even complain, we just stand in line and pay. And don’t let it be a party where some rapper or professional athlete gone be claimed to attend, then we just plum loose our fucking minds

I guess what I am saying is that its cool to enjoy life and make money, but it is not as hard as you think to save it. For although my folk aint invest or teach me how to, they did teach me how to save and that money was to make money and not to spend. Are we the only ones in capitalistic America that cant grasp this concept?

After reading my introduction to exchange-traded funds, I know you are dying with anticipation to find out the best exchange traded funds on the market. There are many quality exchange-traded funds, but first you must know the different types of funds. An ETF wears many different hats just like mutual funds. Here are the four major categories of exchange traded funds.

Index ETF

The index ETF is similar to a traditional index mutual fund. It buys company stocks or bonds that mirror a particular stock index such as the S&P 500 or the Russell 2000. According to Wikipedia, as of February of 2008, there were 415 domestic equity index ETF’s, 160 global/international equity ETF’s, and 53 bond ETF’s. This is one of the biggest categories for an ETF, and they typically carry the lowest expenses, just like index mutual funds.

Commodities ETF

This ETF invests in commodities such as precious metals, and natural resources such as oil, coal, and food. One of the first of these funds was the gold exchange-traded fund. Commodity exchange-traded funds are typically index funds that track a commodities index. Make sure you do your research on these funds, because they are not regulated by the SEC like traditional investment companies.

Actively-Managed ETF

These are the newest type of exchange-traded funds. They became available to the public in March of 2008. They have higher expenses, because there are broker fees that you will pay. The response has been minimal so far, because many investors are looking to see which funds will post the best returns. I am interested to see which of these funds emerge as the front-runner. They have the chance of boasting higher short-term returns than the index ETFs.

Now that you are familiar with the different types of exchange-traded funds, let’s take a look at the best funds on the market. There are hundreds of great ETFs on the market, but here are ten funds that shine above the rest.

Top 10 Exchange-Traded Funds ( no particular order )

1. iShares MSCI Japan Index fund: Japan’s economy is growing exponentially. This is a no-brainer.
2. Powershares FTSE RAFI Fund: The fund tracks the 1000 largest domestic companies based on the size of the firm, book value, sales and dividends, and cash flow. It’s emphasis on cash flow will help it pick winners.
3. Vanguard Total Market ETF: An anchor for your portfolio.
4. iShares Lehman Aggregate ETF: A broad fund with potential for strong, steady returns.
5. Vanguard European Stock ETF: Diversify your portfolio and take advantage of Britain’s strong currency.
6. Vanguard Growth ETF: extremely low fees and Vanguard’s stellar reputation for growth funds make this a winner for the long-term.
7. iShares Dow Jones U.S. : It tracks the Dow Jones, and the Dow has boasted 10% returns over the past 80 years.
8. Powershares Dynamic Mid-Cap Growth: This stock will give you great long-term returns once the market picks back up.
9. iShares MSCI Brazil Index: Brazil’s economy continues to grow, has a strong currency, and record-low inflation. Not to mention they have an abundance of natural resources.
   
10. Powershares WilderHill Clean Energy: I threw this one in as a wild card. Alternative energy is the most important issue of our time, so this fund could make you a millionaire if the proper technological advances are made over the next 10 years.

I picked these ETF’s based on their potential for long-term growth. Don’t take this list as gospel. it is merely my opinion, so don’t come track me down if they end up tanking. There are a ton of trendy exchange-traded funds. Energy ETFs are hot right now, but I don’t think it will last. Make sure you don’t get caught up in trendy investing, unless you have a great deal of time to invest. Now is your chance to rip me apart based on my picks. Comment below with your thoughts and questions.

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Mutual funds are the investment vehicle of choice for retirement accounts of many Americans, but there is a new kid on the block. The Exchange Traded Fund or “ETF”, isn’t exactly new, but it has grown in popularity over the past five years with many amateur investors. So, what is it? Is it the right investment for you? Is it better than a mutual fund? I’ll be writing a three-part series covering many of the questions you might have about the exchange traded fund.

What Is An Exchange Traded Fund?

it’s just like a mutual fund, but it trades like a single stock on an exchange. Most exchange traded funds tracks an index such as the S&P 500, but they are traded in real time on an exchange throughout the day. An ETF packages a large amount of investments, and it allows you to trade it like a single company stock. ETF’s package together stocks, bonds, commodities, or a combination of all three.

The Difference Between Mutual Funds and the ETF

When you purchase a mutual fund, you are purchasing it at the net asset value of that fund at the end of the day. When you purchase an ETF, you are purchasing it at the current market price for that given moment in time. This allows you to set up limit and short orders with your broker. Philosophically, mutual funds and exchange traded funds differ in their approach. A mutual fund is born with a pile of cash and a team of analysts who pick a mix of stocks to mirror a given investment strategy. An exchange traded fund starts with an idea, to track an index, and are born from stocks instead of money. At the beginning of the year, exchange traded funds were granted the ability to be actively managed by a fund investor, but there are still very few of these funds.

The Minimum Investment

How many of you decided to buy an index fund? Did you cringe when you saw the minimum investment of $50,000? The minimum investment is usually much lower when you purchase the mutual fund in a retirement account, but it still brings some barrier to entry for those using a dollar-cost averaging method of investment. The ETF has no minimums. You can buy 1,000 shares at a time or just 1 share at a time. Just make sure that your broker doesn’t destroy you with fees.

Taxes and the ETF

They have tax advantages, but it’s complicated to explain. An ETF still incurs capital gains that you need to pay taxes on, unless you bought it in a retirement account. Mutual funds incur capital gains even without buying or selling a single share, and exchange traded funds have a similar thing happen but with a better tax advantage. I have hard time putting the concept into my own words, so here are some notes about why an ETF might pay less tax than a mutual fund from the Motley Fool:

• In general, the structure of ETFs tends to avoid the kind of outright selling that would trigger undistributed capital gains and other IRS nightmares. To understand why, think back to the ETF structure. For every ETF seller, there’s a buyer.
• On the other hand, if a flood of investors decide to dump a mutual fund, the fund may need to sell the underlying holdings in order to raise the cash to pay out, and that would bring Uncle Sam with hat in hand. ETFs may also have to drop a few schillings into the taxman’s cap, for instance, when the underlying index is changed.

Is the ETF right you?

Hopefully, I will help you figure this out over the next two parts of the series. The bottom line is that an ETF is more attractive to those who actively manage their own investments and retirement account. If you like to buy funds and let them sit and grow for the next 30 years, then a traditional no-load index fund is best for you. But, if you like the idea of shifting your investments to match the trends of the economy, then the ETF is a nice addition to your overall investment portfolio. Stay tuned for the ten best exchange traded funds and strategies for investing.

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