Free Money Finance

Money Math: What am I Giving Up?

Money magazine has five short money math tips in its January issue and I'll be sharing/commenting on them over the next few days. Here's one for today:

What am I giving up in retirement savings when I spend money today?

The math: Add a zero to the price tag. That's what you'd have in 30 years if you invested the money and earned 8% a year. So a $40,000 car trims your nest egg by $400,000.

Puts a new spin on "luxury" automobile, doesn't it? ;-)

Looked at another way, $10k not spent (saved) this year will yield $100k in 30 years. Do this for 10 years, and you'll get to $1 million.

Save Money by Repairing Your Old Speakers

I know NOTHING about music speakers, but one of the guys from work swears by this method, so I'll pass it along to you as best I know how.

Apparently, one of the things that often goes wrong with good audio speakers is the "foam" inside the speaker goes bad. So usually the owner then needs to take the speakers in for repair (replacement of the foam) at the cost of $100 per speaker. It is (and sounds) quite expensive.

This was the situation my buddy faced recently. Being a tighter tightwad than I am (which is saying a lot), he looked for alternatives and found the NEWFOAM company. He ordered one of their kits and fixed two of his speakers. He said it was very easy to do. His total cost: $30 (versus what would have been a $200 repair.)

Hopefully, this tip makes sense to someone. I haven't ever repaired a speaker and currently do most of my music listening out of an iPod, car CD player, or my computer.

Anyone else have some thoughts or a more informed opinion on this?

How to Handle Six Money Dilemmas, Lease a Car OR Buy a Car

Money magazine lists six money dilemmas and what to do about them. Over the next few days, I'll list each dilemma, what Money suggests as the best option, my take on the issue, and additional FMF posts on the topic. Here goes:

Dilemma #3: Lease a car OR buy a car

Money's suggestion: Over the long term, buying costs you less.

My take: We always buy new and then keep our cars forever. For me, "forever" means about 6-7 years -- until about the time when major repairs start to hit. For my wife, who drives about 5,000 miles a year, "forever" really does seem to mean forever. She's only owned three cars in her lifetime (she's got 20+ years of driving time) and the third car in that group (her newest car) only has 15k miles on it -- so she'll have it for a good, long time.

Anyway, I would NEVER lease.

FMF posts related to this topic: Save on Buying a Car: Four Steps to a Bargain on Wheels, Buying a Car Using the Web

How People Save on Health Care

Money magazine has a list of how people save on health care costs in its January issue. Their list:

• 78% have switched to generic drugs where available
• 66% talk to their doctors about cost and options
• 64% go to the doctor only for serious symptoms
• 28% have skipped doses or have not filled prescriptions

Money also says that the best bet for saving on health care is asking your doctor whether he'll lower his bill. (6 out of 10 patients who have tried negotiating a lower fee have been successful.)

Now that my health care is more of my responsibility, I'll be considering these options as well (all except the skipping prescriptions idea -- yikes!). We have always used generic drugs where available and only go to the doctor when we think we need to (who WANTS to go to the doctor?), but we haven't really questioned our doctor about cost options or his bill. I need to add that to our list of money saving tips.

Any other health care-related savings tips out there?

Use Your Curtains to Save on Heating Costs

I've talked before about how to use your curtains to save on cooling costs, so I figure it's appropriate that we talk about how to use them to save on heating costs as well. Here's how you can do so:

Open your curtains on sunny days to let the sun/heat in your house and close them on overcast days to keep heat inside the home.

I was thinking of this the other day when we had a sunny, winter day in Michigan (which is rare.) I opened the blinds on the south side of the house and it really warmed up our bedroom and living room (which face that side) in the early afternoon. But as the sun went back behind the clouds, it cooled off dramatically. At that point, I closed the blinds to help keep the heat inside.

As I noted on the post above about cooling your house, my wife and I have an on-going battle with the curtains/blinds. She prefers light to saving money, so she'll have the curtains/blinds open even on cloudy days in the winter and on hot, steaming days in the summer. Drives me crazy -- especially since she forgets to close them and the blinds remain open well into darkness (I usually end up closing them all in the evening.) But then again, she saves money in almost every other way, so I guess I can cut her some slack on this one. ;-)

Save a Bundle of Money, Get in Shape, and Help the Environment in One Step

Here's a tip I found in the January/February issue of Bicycling magazine: think about commuting to work on your bicycle next year (when it gets warmer, of course.) I mentioned this tip before in Save Big Money by Biking to Work, but the magazine makes such a compelling case for commuting to work (and all the associated benefits) that I had to post what they wrote. Their comments:

The average American drives 29 miles per day. If you use a bike instead of a car just one day per week, in one year you could save more than $1,000 in gas and car costs, burn 15 pounds' worth of calories and prevent 74 pounds of carbon monoxide from entering the atmosphere.

Of course, if you live in Michigan like I do, riding once a week isn't really an option -- unless you relish freezing to death in the January-March and November-December months. But I could ride twice a week from April thru October and my round trip would be about 30 miles. I thought about doing this last year but just didn't get around to it. Maybe I'll get more inspired this year. After all, I love saving money, could use an extra 15 pounds of cushion in my eating (more Moose Tracks ice cream to enjoy!) and am all in favor of helping the environment.

For related posts, see these links:

• The Most Cost Effective Ways to Stay in Shape

• How to Save on Medical Expenses

• Want to Get Rich? Get in Shape

Good Food for a Low Price

Anyone been to Arby's lately?

I'm not a fast food sort of guy (I LOVE the taste, but nutritionally it usually offers nothing, so I skip it), but last night after a basketball game we needed a quick bite to eat. Logan's was full and we wanted to make it quick, so we picked Arby's since (in our opinion) they offered the best nutritional option of the McD's, BK, etc. crowd.

Man, were we right. My wife got a Martha Vineyard's salad (which she loved) and my daughter got a fruit cup with her sandwich. When was the last time you saw a fast food place offer a fruit cup?

My son, on the other hand, went all "bad." Chicken tenders and fries. Though he did have a 100% juice drink, so I guess that makes it ok. ;-)

But I made the score of the night. Arby's has a "5 for $6.95" deal going. You get to pick any five of a number of items for $6.95. I was going to get a sandwich combo (for $6.99), but then I saw the $6.95 deal and thought, "Wait, this is a TON more food for the same price of what I'm considering. And it's stuff I like! Why not go that way?" And that's what I did. Two roast beef sandwiches, two ham sandwiches, and a fry. I ate the fry and two of the sandwiches and have two sandwiches left over for lunch today. Not a bad deal at all!

One Way to Look at Christmas Spending

Here's an interesting question: How many days will you have to work in order to pay for your Christmas generosity?

A few more details:

For example, if you earn $12 an hour and your family spends $800 for Christmas, you'll need to work 15.5 days to get that $800 back. That's more than three weeks! 

The piece also includes a chart that helps you determine how many hours you worked for what you spent this holiday season. Check it out -- you may just find that you are working a long time simply to spend a boatload on Christmas.

The combination of a decent job and keeping our Christmas spending low means that I end up working 15-20 hours for what we spend at Christmas. Not bad -- I'm willing to live with this.

The piece also includes some ways you can give inexpensive, meaningful gifts so you don't have to work so long to afford to bless those people your love this holiday season. Their ideas include:

• Consider giving a gift of service.
• Make a gift for someone.
• Give the gift of time together.

I know a couple who don't have much money but give tons of "gifts of service." In particular, they offer to watch another couple's kids while the second couple goes out and enjoys an evening together. Those of us who have kids know that babysitting fees can really add up, so this is a GREAT gift -- plus one that doesn't really cost the first couple anything.

How about you? Have you ever given "simple" gifts that made a big difference to someone? Or maybe you've received some.

Save Money by Insulating the Foundation Walls on Your Home

The December/January issue of Family Handyman magazine suggests we all consider insulating the foundation walls (on the outside of the house) to save big on heating costs. here's what they say (sorry, I couldn't find a link -- I have the hard copy of the article):

An uninsulated foundation accounts for up to 22 percent of the energy loss in a home. So insulation panels will improve your home's energy efficiency -- and its looks.

They refer their readers to Styro, a company that makes insulation panels. The panels actually look nice (see pictures of them on the Styro homepage after all the "energy loss" pictures are shown) so they not only save energy, but add to the beauty of your house (imagine replacing those concrete foundation walls with something that actually looked good.) They also have some stuff that you can paint on as well.

I've never heard about insulating your foundation walls from the outside. Anyone done this? Good or bad experiences with it? 

More Ideas to Save Money

Here's a great comment full of money saving ideas left on my post titled The 10 Most-Hated Money Saving Tips:

1: Be sure to analyze the cost per unit of anything you buy. Sometimes bulk purchases will save you a lot. Sometimes not. Sometimes they cost, if you buy that 3 gallon vat of pickles only to throw them out months later ;)

2: Dollar Stores now often stock name-brand items such as cleaning supplies. For items that are disposable (and I don't mean convenience disposable, just something that naturally gets used up like a scrub sponge) often times cheap is just fine.

3: High-quality seconds stores. Not to plug, but TJM*xx usually has top-notch items with a defect...a little more money than Wal*Crap but much better quality that will last.

4: Cut the cell phone. I was on a $60 (cheap - it's $70 now) 2-phone plan from V***zon, that's $720 per year just to talk. Now, I wouldn't pay $720 to hear what I have to say, and I'm saying it. But, safety is an issue (w/wife and baby) so we do still need phones to call AAA, etc. But T-M**ile has a GREAT pre-pay plan: $100 for 1000 minutes that last a year. I paid $50 for my phone and $30 for the wifes (hey I still gotta have the cooler phone!)

So, $80 worth of phones (we lost/broke both phones this summer, and would have had to pay $100 to replace even if we signed the 2 year contracts), and let's assume she uses 3000 minutes and I use 1000, so $400 worth of minutes = $340 savings this year (due to phone purchases). If we talk less (<2000 min) we could save up to $520/year. Not bad. Plus, we can ask for minute cards as holiday gifts! Get that cost down to $0!

5: INSULATE!!! I had a $650 heating bill (Pgh PA) one month and went ballistic...I did have to put in ~$850 in insulation, but my budget bill has gone down over $100/month...the investment keeps on paying (and will pay more as energy prices go up). Oh, also, keep an eye out for compact fluorescent sales...don't pay $4-6 per bulb...HD had a sale at ~$2 per bulb.

6: VHS over DVD: Am*zon has many VHS movies for $.01 + $3.50 to ship. I got a bunch of great kiddie-brainy videos that his grubby little hands can't scratch.

Oh, and while we're on the subject, when you do buy premium kiddie DVD's, copy them right away and don't let the kids use the archive copy (my Bro-in-law was griping that his kids were trashing several $20 DVD's per month).

7: Rain Water Barrel: Haven't done this yet (and the barrels do cost ~$150) but I'd like to after we got some high water bills this summer ($40-50 over norm)...with the droughts going on this may get smarter still.

Other notes: Craigslist and Freecycle: Lots of cheap and free stuff on these forums (freecycle is a Yahoo list)...also a great way to unclutter those functional yet unwanted items you keep vacuuming around.

I do my own auto work, and that saves much $$$, admittedly at the cost of much time. Not for everyone, but unless handicapped or making 100K per year you should be able to change oil and stuff and maybe even do brake jobs (they have made this very easy...it takes longer to get the parts, jack up the wife's saturn, and take the tire off than it does to actually change the brake pads).

I've also learned to grow my own veggies, and while it is a satisfying hobby, it is not yet cost effective (high water bill + opp costs of time sunk) However, if costs keep growing it will be soon. Quality is second to none though...tomatoes that actually have flavor and all that.

Some good tips to consider -- if you like saving money. ;-)

If You Work the System, You Can Save a Good Amount of Money

Here's a great illustration of how with a little planning, ingenuity, and work you can save a good amount of money. It was left as a comment on my post titled How Many Gift Cards Will You Use This Holiday Season?:

We occasionally give gift cards, and often receive them as gifts (quite happily), but mostly we buy them for ourselves.

One of the largest grocery store chains here in NE Ohio is Giant Eagle. They sell gift cards for all sorts of restaurants, appliance stores, bookstores, etc. They also have a "fuel perks" program where, if you use their customer loyalty card, for every $50 you spend in the store they give you $0.20 off per gallon of gas at their gas stations in the parking lot.

The perks accumulate, so buy $200 worth of groceries and you get $0.80 cents off per gallon...UP TO 30 GALLONS! The best part? Buying gift cards count as normal store purchases.

So here's what my wife and I did. We needed to put new windows in the house. So we:

1. Went to Giant Eagle and bought $2,000, yes, 2-thousand dollars, worth of gift cards to Home Depot.

2. We used our Citi Bank Cash Rewards Credit Card to buy the gift cards (discount = 5% off of grocery store purchases). That saved us $100 right off the bat.

3. $2000 spent at Giant Eagle gave us a total of $8.00 off per gallon of gas. Amounts can be rolled over so any amount you have over the price of a gallon of gas is retained for up to 60 days.

4. I then took one of the gift cards to home depot and bought three 5-gallon gas cans.

5. I took the remaining gift cards and bought my new windows, which I installed myself, and which btw have now drastically reduced my heating bills.

6. Then for the next month whenever I needed gas I would take the gas cans to the Giant Eagle gas station and fill my car (15-gallons) and fill the cans with another 15 gallons - FOR FREE. I would take my gas cans home and fill my wife's van in the garage, btw.

With gas at $3 a gallon, that means I filled up my 30-gallons twice for FREE and then paid just $1 per gallon for the next 30-gallons. A total gas savings of $240.

All in all, this method of using my rebate credit card, plus gift cards and fuel-perks, saved me $340 on the cost of putting in windows. That equates to a 17% discount.

Thank you Giant Eagle! Thank you Home Depot! Thank you gift cards!

Wow! What a story! It just shows that if you put your mind to it, you can save a good amount of money by "working the system."

For other money making ideas, check out these posts:

• How You Can Earn Over 2.6% Cash Back by Using a Combination of the American Express Blue Cash and Chase Freedom Cash Visa Credit Cards

• I Told You There Was Big Money in Being a College Advisor!

• Use the Skills from Your Job to Make an Extra Income

Can't Afford Retirement? Move to Mexico

As I wrote in The 10 Most-Hated Money Saving Tips, people don't like to be told to move to a foreign country to save money (see tip #9.) No, they'd rather put up this objection and that objection on why it's a bad idea. Maybe it is a bad idea, but if you haven't saved much for retirement (a situation many Americans will face), it's better than eating dog food and living under someone's porch.

Of all the foreign options, Mexico is particularly a decent place to consider moving to because:

1. It can save you a TON of money (more on that later.)

2. It's not far from the U.S. You can drive there.

3. Nice climate.

4. It's easier to learn Spanish than Chinese. ;-)

So how much can you save by moving to Mexico? Here's what MSN Money came up with:

Suppose you can find a place where the cost of living is about 75% of the cost in the United States -- some beach town north of Puerto Vallarta or south of Manzanillo. What happens to your standard of living when you move to Mexico? It rises to the equivalent of about $42,400 in the U.S.

So let's say you have a $60,000 a year lifestyle but only have enough retirement income (via Social Security and your own savings) to fund $30,000 a year. Move to Mexico, make a few lifestyle changes, and you're not far from your pre-retirement standard of living in the U.S. Not bad at all!

Consumer Reports Weighs in on Nitrogen in Tires

We had a spirited conversation on my post titled Air or Nitrogen in Your Tires? with people weighing in on both sides to give their thoughts. Some thought it was a sham while others said it could be worth the extra money. Well, an "expert" has now weighed in on the topic. In its January issue, Consumer Reports says the following on the issue:

The claim (nitrogen keeps tires fuller longer) isn't totally hot air. All of the tires lost pressure, but nitrogen-filled tires lost less; an average of 2.2 psi, vs. 3.5 psi for air-filled tires. But with either filling, you need to check inflation monthly, which means that paying for nitrogen doesn't make much sense.

I personally don't think it's worth it either. I get my nitrogen free at Costco when my tires are rotated and in between visits, I fill up with air (the Costco service man said this was ok to do.)  Otherwise, I wouldn't have nitrogen in my tires.

What about you? Do you think nitrogen in your tires is worth the added expense?

Is Regifting ok?

I've written a bit on the topic of regifting including How to Regift, Over Half of Americans Re-Gift, Do You?, and 12 Rules for Re-gifting. And personally, I'm ok with regifting -- both as a giver and a recipient. I do regift at times and I'm fine with getting a gift that people are regifting (I've even had someone tell me it was a regift when she gave it to me and I loved the present.)

In my recent piece titled Test Your Gift-Giving Etiquette, I noticed that regifting is a polarizing topic. Most people came down adamantly on one side of the regifting issue or the other -- either they said "of course it's fine" or "it's never ok to regift." Since everyone seemed to be bringing up the issue anyway and we're in the prime gift-giving season, I thought I'd ask the question outright: do you think regifting ok?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

101 Ways to Save Money

Here's a piece I found on Yahoo that lists 101 ways to save money. Here are a few of their tips that I especially want to highlight:

4. Try a vacation at home. See and do the things you've always meant to do and save on hotel costs. The holidays are a perfect time to enjoy local festivities.

18. Save all your change and use it to buy gifts next year.

39. Don't renew subscriptions to publications you don't have time to read.

41. Make IRA contributions early in the year to take advantage of additional months of tax deferral.

97. Buy an I-PASS and save on highway tolls (in Illinois).

My thoughts on these:

4. We do this almost every Christmas. We stay at home, visit the local botanical gardens (we're members there) where they have "Christmas trees from around the world," and simply relax. My parents come for a few days and it's a good time of family, food, and fun. Besides, we got the go-go trip for the year out of the way when we went to Disney. ;-)

18. Great point. I think I read somewhere that the average home has quite a bit (maybe a couple hundred) dollars in spare change laying around. It won't buy all your gifts for the year, but it's a good start.

39. I just did this as part of an effort to simply my life. I had something like 12 magazine subscriptions and was killing myself to try and keep up with them. I eliminated them to five or six I really like and let the others expire, and in the process I saved both money and time.

41. At the beginning of each year I make contributions to both IRAs (non-deductible), Coverdell IRAs, and 529s to get the money in and working as soon as possible.

97. We live in Michigan. My parents live in Iowa. In between is Illinois and the traffic mess they call Chicago. We used to have to wait in line, sometimes for up to an hour on weekends, to pay our toll and move on. Then we got an I-PASS and now we sail through at full speed. I LOVE it!!!!!

Save and Make Money All in One Step

My post titled The 10 Most-Hated Money Saving Tips certainly got a lot of great comments. But there's one that stood out to me that I feel needed to be shared with everyone. It addresses my most-hated money saving idea -- moving to a lower cost-of-living city. The comment:

I can understand #1 being the most-hated. We met with a lot of skepticism when we did just that.

But, we researched and found a town (in the same country) that met our criteria and had a very low cost of living but most importantly, had ridiculously cheap real estate. For us, it was the low cost of entry into the real estate market that sold us on our location. I mean, less than the price of a decked out minivan low.

We purchased one house three years before we were ready to actually move out there and rented it out. A couple of years later, a second one. After we moved out here (5 months ago) we've bought 3 more and are currently closing on #6 and #7. The rental income from these places alone is enough to live modestly, so very soon, we'll have no need for a job. So much for the "not being able to find work in a small town" objection, eh?

Finding a place with inexpensive houses allows us to easily diversify, and our 7 houses combined still costs less (maybe even 1/2) of a home in Toronto. The risk to our portfolio is considerably lower than putting all our eggs in one house. We describe our thinking and our process in our blog WeLiveHereNow.net

Strategy #1 has worked very well for us, and everyone we talk to says they think it's great, but they could never do it. I guess that's just more houses for us, then! :)

So they not only saved a bundle of money, but now they're making money to boot -- enough so they don't have to have "regular" jobs in the near future. I'd say that's a pretty good combination!

Yes, You Can Save Money by Asking a Hotel for a Discount

Well, we finally have an expert weighing in on our discussion regarding asking for a discount at a hotel. Here's a comment left at my post titled A Practical Way to Save Money on a Hotel Room.

As a hotel desk clerk myself this is probably a good idea. We do not normally charge no shows, unless the entire hotel is booked, and especially if you come in late at night just try asking for a discount. I would rather sell you a room for a discount then have you walk out the door.

An empty hotel room is lost revenue for the business that can never be recouped. So, their thinking goes, why not offer a room at a discount? It's better to have a room rented out at a reasonable discount than to have it go unused for an evening.

Knowing this, you can use it to your advantage and simply ask for a discount. What's the worst that could happen -- they could say "no"?

Save Money by Having a Live Christmas Tree

In their December print edition, This Old House magazine gives a great, "green" money saving idea:

Use a live tree as your Christmas tree.

They tell how to find, transport, care for, and ultimately plant a live evergreen. Basically, you find a tree you want in your yard (eventually), take it inside for a few days and use it as a Christmas tree (the roots are bound in a bag and placed in a container), and when you're done with it, you take it outside and plant it. If you were going to buy a Christmas tree anyway and wanted an outside tree too, buying one tree and using it for both purposes certainly saves you a bit of money.

They don't have the article itself online, but the do offer some thoughts on how to select a live Christmas tree for your region.

It really is a great idea -- something I've heard of but never done. The downside: you can only have the tree indoors for 10 days or so. Otherwise it starts to bud and then transporting it back outside can harm the tree.

Anyone out there ever had a live Christmas tree?

Save Money with LED Holiday Lights?

Here's a little holiday-related money saving tip I found in my local paper recently:

Want to cut your holiday lighting bill by about 70 percent? Invest in the new wave of LED fixtures and light strings. These "light emitting diodes" are more expensive than traditional holiday lights; a strand of 30 decorative LED lights is about $15, compared to $8 for a string of 100 miniature lights.

According to the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), the LEDs burn cool and reduce energy consumption. LIPA says it costs about 56 cents to burn 600 LED lights five hours daily for 30 days. Over the same time, it would cost about $23 to burn incandescent bulbs.

At first, this seems like a really good deal. But, let's look at the payout.

Say you're thinking of buying 600 LED lights versus 600 regular lights. It would cost you $300 to purchase the LEDs and $48 for the regular lights. If you used them for five hours per day for 30 days, it would take you over 11 months to pay for the LEDs. Given that you only use the lights for 30 days each year, you're looking at breaking even sometime about 12 years from now.

And if you already have the regular lights, it would take over 13 years to pay off the LEDs.

Nope, no money saving tip here.

Save Money by Buying a New Air Conditioner Now

Here's a piece from Money magazine that says consumers can save a bundle of money on air conditioning purchases if they buy now. The details:

But if your house doesn't have central air, or if the system you have is about 15 years old (and therefore probably nearing the end of its life span), you should get the job done this winter. Not only will it automatically raise the value of your property, but you'll snag an iceberg-size seasonal discount.

Like many contractors around the country, Wilkos typically knocks 10 percent and sometimes as much as 20 percent off his wintertime bids. That's a savings of up to $3,000 on the $6,000 to $15,000 central AC costs.

This is the old "buy during the off season to get a discount" trick. I guess it really works here -- 20% off is a chunk of change on an AC unit.

For more money saving tips, see these posts:

• Money Saving Tip: Check Your Medical Bills

• Save Money by Asking for a Discount and Paying in Cash

• Save a Bundle on Your Energy Bills, Part 1: Upgrade Your Equipment

• A Practical Way to Save Money on a Hotel Room

The Inside Scoop on Getting Your Property Taxes Reduced

Here's a great comment left on my post titled One Positive of the Housing Decline that I thought you all would want to see:

My wife is a property tax assessor for our county, as well as a licensed appraiser at the state level. In our state, residences are reassessed every 3 years. The process is known as a "mass appraisal" because it has to be done at the neighborhood level (note that several "subdivisions" can make up a neighborhood. Quality of construction, square footage, land, and additions are some of the factors taken into account.

I don't recall the exact numbers, but in these mass appraisals, the goal (and state law) is that something like 90% of the homes should be within 10% of their "market value", that is, the price that the market would support if the property were sold in an arms-length transaction. In a year where market values are down over a three year span, the valuations of those homes being reassessed will be down. In a year where the market values are up over a three year span, the assessments will go up.

Also, due to the "average" nature of the mass appraisal, the chances of a property being undervalued are about the same as a property being overvalued. Of course, you don't hear of many people appealing their undervaluation. ;-)

While beastlike is correct about the budget being arrived at before tax rates are set, the assumption that the dollar amount of your taxes remains the same only applies if everyone in the county appealed their valuation when home values in the area drop.

The law is a bit tricky on this point -- Any property owner is required to file a "return" (think income tax return) each year during a certain window. This return simply allows you to state what you believe the property to be worth. The county can either accept your value or reject it. If they reject it, you have the right to appeal. If you do not file a return, the county's previous assessment becomes your automatic return. In essence, by failing to file a return, you are saying that you agree with the previously assessed value.

However, those homes that are up for their three year reassessment will be assigned a new value, and the property owners notified of the new assessment. These owners (one-third of the county each year) have the right to appeal their reassessment.

If you (a) did not file a return or (b) were not reassessed, then you have NO rights to appeal. This is the important part, at least in our state, and I would assume many others. If you believe the value of your home has dropped since your last assessment (or you believe a previous assessment was overvalued), FILE A RETURN. Otherwise you are stuck.

Mistakes made in square footage, additions, land, etc. are pretty much always corrected IF the process above is followed. If you come to an assessor after the windows have passed, their hands are pretty much tied. The values have been passed on to the county board at that point, and the budget will be set based on those values. The assessors cannot modify them after that point unless you filed a return (with a different value) or were reassessed in that year.

If you filed a return or were reassessed, and believe that you could not sell your property for the amount that you are assessed for, then you need to support that with reasonable comparisons of nearby, equivalent, arms-length transactions for the time period being appealed. For every appeal, my wife will research nearby transactions and see if they support the property owner's numbers. If they do, then she will go ahead and modify the assessment accordingly. It's understood that some percentage of the properties will be overvalued due to the nature of mass appraisals, and it's her responsibility to change these when they are brought to her attention.

Do NOT bring comparisons that are unrelated to your property--A father selling to a son, a foreclosed home, homes too far away from yours, vastly different square footages, vastly different acreages, etc. You are looking for comparisons that are "similar" to yours.

You can always sit down with the assessor and ask them for their comparisons. If you disagree with their comparisons, then you can appeal to the next step, in our state the Board of Equalization for the county. I would guess that your chances here depend on the quality of the assessor. If they know what they are doing, it's going to be hard for you to come up with better comparisons that convince the board that your valuation is better. For instance, my wife's valuations have been accepted over the property owner every single time in the last two years of appeals (about 40-50). Of course, she's also one of the few county assessors who is also a licensed appraiser.

If you lose before the Board of Equalization, you still have another option--you can appeal to the Superior Court. At this point there is a filing fee ($80?). My understanding is that the county attorneys do tend to settle a lot rather than go to court.

All said, it's going to take a lot of time and effort to argue an assessment that's close to the real value. If there are obvious mistakes, then you should absolutely appeal to have them corrected (make sure you file a return in order to do so). If you believe there is no way that you could sell the property for what the county's assessed value, then take that case to the assessor -- Chances are good that they will make the modifications if your numbers are reasonable. This is going to be the most likely course of action in this "down" market that we are currently seeing in most areas.

Regardless of what state you are in, now is probably the time to educate yourself on the process you need to follow next year to make sure your value is correct.

How Often Do You Check Your Bank Balance Online?

Here's a comment recently left on my post titled Money Saving Tip: Balance Your Check Book:

Here's another idea. Check your online banking account and balance WEEKLY.. if not every few days... It's an easy habit and you catch things sooner and can plan better.

I check my bank balance online every other week on average as I'm usually transferring money here or there for some reason, but if I wasn't doing that, I don't know if I would be checking my bank account online regularly.

Couple questions for you:

1. Do you think checking your bank account online is a good practice or something that's not needed?

2. How often do you check your bank balance online?

The 10 Most-Hated Money Saving Tips

If you'd like daily tips, thoughts, and suggestions on how to grow your net worth, subscribe to Free Money Finance for free by clicking this link.

I know a bit about saving money. In 2005-2006, I wrote 519 money saving posts (which I summarized in 301 Saving Money Posts -- Hundreds of Ideas on How to Save Money) and this year I've added almost 200 more. So at over 700 tips now, I know a few things about saving money.

After all of those thoughts, suggestions, and ideas, one thing I can tell you about saving money is that despite the fact that they can save you a boatload of money, some tips are hated. And I don't mean disliked a little. I mean people HATE them. They hate the thought of them, the suggestion of them, and the fact that I would have the nerve to even list them. How do I know this? I read the comments. I get the emails. I see the blog posts rebutting the suggestions. Believe me, there are just some money saving ideas that tick people off.

It's too bad because many of these ideas can save people a bundle of money. We're not talking a dollar here and a dollar there, but thousands of dollars in savings (and some even offer tens of thousands of dollars in savings.) And yet, people don't want to hear them.

But since I'm a glutton for punishment, I thought I'd highlight what I see as the 10 most-hated money saving tips. I'll list them all in countdown fashion according to how much they are hated. I'll give a brief summary of each of them as well as some links to related posts in case you'd like more information.

With that said, here we go:

10. Be healthy -- Let's face it, people don't like being told they are fat and lazy. I think that's at the core of the disdain for a healthy lifestyle. But despite the pans this suggestion gets, there's no debating that being healthy can easily save you thousands of dollars on items like medical expenses and life insurance. Even something simple like losing some weight can add up to big savings. Or you can sit on the couch watching TV every night eating bon bons. You decide what's best for you.

9. Move to a foreign country (or even visit for health care) -- How dare I even suggest this idea? It's unpatriotic, would require extensive travel to see family, and, after all, the United States is the "best" in everything, so why move? Let's take these objections in reverse order.

First, here's a news flash: the United States is NOT the best in everything (such as health care, lifestyle, culture, weather, etc.) I know, some of this is subjective, but come on, does anyone really believe the U.S. is the best in everything? Second, living in Central America may actually require LESS travel to see family than if you lived somewhere else in the U.S. Example: You live in New York and your family lives in LA. You move to Mexico. Are you closer to them now? Besides, once you have to get on a plane, any trip is not that much longer away even if you live farther. Finally, I'm not suggesting you renounce your citizenship. What I'm saying is that you can still love the U.S. (as I do) and live somewhere else. Sheesh! Lighten up.

The fact is that the cost of living is significantly lower in other parts of the world and you can save a ton of money by moving overseas. Of course this brings up the "what do I do for a living" question, so this idea works best for retirees. Some money saving countries to explore: Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama.

As far as health care goes, you can easily save thousands having a major medical procedure done in a foreign country. Concerned that the care isn't as good as in the U.S.? It isn't. In many cases it's better.

8. Quit smoking -- Ok, I expected the smoking addicts to hate this one. They, of course, decry the fact that I'm trying to steal all the fun from their lives. But I didn't expect the outcry from another group: those who invest in companies who make cigarettes. Ha!

I think everyone will agree that smoking is bad for your health. And, as we know by now, having poor health is bad for your wallet (re-read item #10 in case you've forgotten this already.) In addition, you can save somewhere around $6,000 a year by quitting smoking (maybe less, maybe more.) Heck, by just not buying cigarettes it's easy to save a bundle.

For you smokers, find a cheaper, better way to enjoy life. And for those of you buying cigarette stocks, do something better (and easier) and go with index funds.

See? Now everyone is happy! ;-)

7. Buying used -- Let's list the things people hate about buying used: 1) it's not new; 2) someone else has used it; 3) did I mention it's not new?

Really, is owning something brand new really worth that much more? I think most of us have generally accepted that a good-condition used car is less expensive than a new car, but we haven't made the transition to other areas of products. But if we do, buying used can save a bundle. And yet, people don't really like this idea -- especially when it comes to buying used clothing.

6. Buy a house you can afford -- This one used to get a lot more heat than it does now. Then the subprime mortgage mess hit and detractors have been silent lately. Funny how good advice seems to always win out in the long run, huh?

Anyway, buying a house you can easily afford is a key part of my formula for buying a house. Avoid this suggestion and it can cost you big time as many people are unfortunately finding out now.

5. Cutting your cable -- It's a known fact that the U.S. Declaration of Independence states that all men are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness through watching endless re-runs of "dog police" and "the world's wackiest whatever" sorts of shows. Who cares that it's rotting your brain and costing you a fortune?

You can save thousands by cutting cable TV -- maybe even $1 million.  And if you can't cut it completely, at least take steps to save as much as you can on cable costs.

4. Taking your lunch to work -- Who knew there were so many advantages of blowing $10 a day on lunch out? You get out of the office (which gets you exercise and allows your mind to freshen), you get to socialize with others (which can enhance your career), and you get to have fun!

I've got an idea, why don't you bring your lunch to work, saving a bundle of money, then get a group of people from the office to run at noon. Then you get exercise, socialization, a fresh mind, and fun. Or, if you simply want to walk with friends you could do that too. Not to mention, you wouldn't have to find a place to shower afterwards. And you can save a few thousand dollars a year. Not bad.

3. Limiting small spending -- Personal finance guru David Bach came up with the "latte factor," the idea that you could save a bundle of money if you limited the small, worthless purchases you make every day -- like $5 lattes for example. But no one likes this idea. It takes all the fun out of life and besides, we all need to focus on the big amounts we spend, that's where you can save the really big money.

Yes, while it's true that we all need to watch our big money expenditures, it's also true that before you have millions, you need thousands. And before you get to thousands, you need hundreds. And before you need hundreds, you need tens. And so on. Ok, enough with the philosophical junk, what I'm really trying to say is that pennies can add up to millions. Live with it for Pete's sake!

And finally, while it may be fun to pour $5 down your throat for 15 minutes a day, I prefer to have more fun checking my ever-growing net worth. ;-)

2. Not buying a pet -- If cable TV is the #2 right of every American, having a pet has to be #1. And shame on me for suggesting that pets actually cost money. What am I, some sort of neo-fascist?

Ok, I didn't help my cause out any when I claimed a pet costs $48,000. I was doing that to get your attention. I've since done a bunch of posts on what pets really do cost and it seems to me that $1,000 per year is a fair, rough cost for a pet. And just for the record, I'm not the only one suggesting pets are expensive -- Money Central says getting a pet can be a stupid money move.

That said, I'm also open minded enough to consider the alternatives -- that pets might actually SAVE you money, make you happy (who said money couldn't buy happiness?), help you become healthier, extend your life and even allow you to buy love. Ok, maybe the dog people are wearing me down.

Still, I'm still horrified by the possibility of having a problem dog that needs to wear diapers.

1. Moving to a lower cost-of-living city -- This one really puzzles me. Not only is it that people don't like this idea, but they REALLY don't like it. As in "you're the stupidest financial blogger ever" sort of don't like it. But what do I care? I still have my day job. ;-)

It must be the fact that, in general, people love where they live. They like the area of the country, their job, and the fact that they have family nearby.

However, if you move from a high cost-of-living city to a lower cost-of-living city, you can literally save MILLIONS over the course of your lifetime. And yes, that accounts for the fact that you'll probably make less money in the new city. But your living expenses will drop so much more that you'll be way better off financially. I know -- you don't want to hear that. I'll shut up now.

Let me end by saying that I'm not against spending money. I'm not about saving every single penny, eliminating any fun in life, just to accumulate more. But what I am saying is that there are a number of good savings ideas that will allow us to save money -- so we can invest a bit more and spend the rest on things we enjoy. And even with ideas we may hate, there are some really good ways to save money if we simply take time to consider them a bit.

That, and I like to aggravate you all with my stupid, money saving ideas. ;-)

Two Examples of How Using Cash Can Save You Money

Here's a great comment left on my post titled Save Money by Asking for a Discount and Paying in Cash:

My wife and I have had fun shopping with cash recently while shopping for furniture. We were buying antiques at consignment shops, we bought 2 items and saved $400 easily. The first one was $1500 "marked down" to $895 we got it for $750. I say "marked down" because it was antiques, and I buy what I like, not what they tell me it's worth.

The other piece was $650, we offered 350, they said no way, we then said $400, they said there's no way they could do that even with cash. I said well thank you very much, and my wife and I left. As we left, I thought, "I should give that guy my number in case they change their mind". So I went back and gave him my number. We shopped at a place next door, and in 20 minutes or so, he called and took my offer. It was great!

Cash does work, try it.

Great stories!

That's a great tip that's hidden in the comment -- if they say "no", leave a way they can get in touch with you. Who knows, they may change their minds. I'm thinking of applying this principle to house hunting. If we find a place we like and make a lowball bid, it's likely the owners will say "no" the first time. But if we leave the door open with something like "well, if you change your mind, you can contact us to see if we're still interested." Who knows, a few months later they may start to get desperate and decide our offer was pretty good after all! ;-)

Another Way to Save on Moving

A reader left the following comment on my post titled Save Money on Moving:

Good friends of mine, moving from West to East, purchased a covered trailer to carry all of their belongings behind them. Arriving at their destination, they were able to unload all of their stuff at their leisure, thereafter selling the nearly-new trailer for more than they paid for it! Even with any additional, short-term insurance costs, they came out pretty well at the end of their moving adventure.

Sounds like a good, creative, money saving idea!

10 Things Better than Shopping Today

While most of you are out there shopping today, I'm at work manning the phones to our small company. It's really no trouble at all (who's going to call anyway?) and the day is pretty relaxing with everyone gone. Besides, I've taken the day after Thanksgiving off for several years now -- so it's my turn to be here today.

I used to work for a retailer (in the corporate offices) and we were forced to work one day in the stores between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I always picked the day after Thanksgiving (I know, I'm a glutton for punishment) and rather enjoyed the mass of people entering the store. They were happy (for the most part) and the store was very busy, so the time went quickly. It wasn't nearly as bad as I expected (being there at 6 am was the worst part of the gig.)

But there are better things to do today if you're on the shopping end. I used to take the three days before Thanksgiving off and do all my Christmas shopping then. Now I do the majority of it online and it's even easier.

Anyway, I found this piece from Kiplinger's that lists Ten Ways to Fatten Your Wallet on Black Friday (for those of you who don't know, Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving -- it's said that this is the day retailers go from operating in the red to operating in the black.) Their list:

1. Shop online.
2. Prepare your holiday budget and gift list.
3. Set up a gift that keeps on giving.
4. Winterize your home.
5. Shop for the best credit card.
6. Clean out your closet, basement or garage.
7. Assemble your financial emergency kit.
8. Make smart year-end money moves.
9. Protect your PC.
10. Relax!

Here's where I stand on each of these:

1. As I said, I do shop online.

2. My budget was prepared last January and my list has been done for a few weeks now.

3. My kids already have 529s.

4. Wow, these guys really know how to have fun, don't they? ;-) FYI, here's a whole series on making your home more energy efficient.

5. Better yet, make a plan to maximize your cash back rewards in 2008.

6. Our basement and closets are good, but I do need to get to the garage.

7. Need to do this.

8. All done or on their way.

9. This is standard procedure for me.

10. I am relaxing. Did I mention that no one's here and the phones aren't ringing? ;-)

18 Homemade Gifts Under $10

Looking for some inexpensive but meaningful gifts this holiday season? Why not make your own? This list of 18 homemade gifts under $10 has some great ideas that will allow you to give wonderful gifts to those on your list without breaking the bank.

One of their ideas is to create a "Grandparent’s Calendar." I LOVE the thought behind this idea, but there's a simpler (and almost as cheap) way of doing this. How? Use Costco's online system and your photos to create your own calendar. It's very easy to do, you get multiple pictures per page, the end product looks very professional and it's cheap -- $9.99 last year plus shipping. People LOVE them. We're giving them to all of our relatives this year as they continually are our most requested gifts.

Save a Bundle on Your Energy Bills, Part 5: Replace Old Appliances

In October, Money magazine had a special energy insert that featured five ways to save on your energy bills. They not only highlighted the ideas, but the annual savings and up-front costs you'd expect from each of them. They also listed a "quick fix" -- a step you could take in case you didn't want to take the "full-on" advice. Today we'll look at their #5 suggestion, replace old appliances. Their thoughts:

Idea: Most major appliances (such as refrigerators and dishwashers) that are more than 15 years old are major energy wasters - and likely worth ditching in favor of this year's models.

Annual savings: $50 to $150 on electric bills per machine.

Up-front cost: About $500 to $1,500 per machine.

Quick Fix: Compact fluorescent bulbs (costing about $5 each) could save you about $5 each annually.

My take:

We have a "new" washer and dryer (a few years old) and a new dishwasher (a couple years old), but have a very old refrigerator (probably 15 years old now.) My wife has kept it in good shape by regularly cleaning the coils, but it's due for a replacement. We were just talking the other nigh and agreed that if/when we move, we'll get a new refrigerator. If we don't move in the next year, we'll probably get a new one anyway.

As far as compact fluorescent bulbs go, we have them in part of our house but haven't made the full switch. I still can't get over the "flickering" when they are turned on. Do they all do this or did we just buy cheap ones?

Click here to read part 1 of this series.

How to Get a Free Cruise

Want to save money on a cruise? Even better -- want to get one for FREE? (Talk about your money saving tips -- your vacation budget could save a bundle here.) All you need is some sort of expertise in a popular topic as well as the ability to speak to a crowd. The highlights from Kiplinger's:

Want to go on a free luxury-ship cruise? If you have some area of expertise, you could follow the course take by John Hall, 72, of Shreveport, La., who is a retired Louisiana State University professor of anthropology and geology. He provides passengers with lectures on the characteristics of the destination. In return, he gets a vacation at no cost.

So basically, the "experts" agree to do talks/give presentations and in return the get a free cruise (for two.) Not a bad payment for a few speeches, huh? Anyone want to hear about finances on these ships? I'm set to go. ;-)

And if you don't have any particular expertise, there still may be a way you can get a free cruise:

Many cruise lines recruit "gentleman hosts," single men between the ages of 40 to 70, who conduct dancing classes and serve as dance partners for single, divorced and widowed women passengers.

I'm not touching that one with a comment. ;-)

I've read about this idea before but it sounds too good to be true to me. Anyone out there ever done something like this or know someone who did? If so, please share the details with the rest of us.

Save a Bundle on Your Energy Bills, Part 4: Add Insulation

In October, Money magazine had a special energy insert that featured five ways to save on your energy bills. They not only highlighted the ideas, but the annual savings and up-front costs you'd expect from each of them. They also listed a "quick fix" -- a step you could take in case you didn't want to take the "full-on" advice. Today we'll look at their #4 suggestion, add insulation. Their thoughts:

Idea: Insulation wasn't standard for newly built houses until the mid-70s oil crisis. So if your home is older than that, check out your attic floor - it's the place you'd be most likely to find the stuff. None? Consider adding it to the attic and the basement. Even if there's some insulation there already, you may benefit from adding more.

Annual savings: About 5% on your fuel bills (if you have some insulation already) to 25% (if you have none).

Up-front cost: About $1,000 to insulate the attic and foundation yourself; about $2,000 to $4,000 for a handyman to do it.

The credit: 10% of the cost of materials (credit cannot exceed $500).

Quick Fix: A Smart Power Strip (costing about $30) could save you $30 per strip a year. Most electrical devices gobble energy even when they're shut off and unplugging them is a hassle.

My take:

We probably should have added some more insulation a few years ago. We have some in both the attic and basement, but I'm sure it's not enough and not as good as today's materials our house is about 20 years old. But since we're moving soon (hopefully), it's probably not worth it to add any extra insulation at this point.

Not sure how the power strip relates to the insulation idea, but I use one for my home computer. We should probably get one for the TV/DVD player/video game part of the house too as that's the other area where we have a concentration of electronic appliances.

Click here to read part 5 of this series.

Click here to read part 1 of this series.

Save a Bundle on Your Energy Bills, Part 3: Seal Your House

In October, Money magazine had a special energy insert that featured five ways to save on your energy bills. They not only highlighted the ideas, but the annual savings and up-front costs you'd expect from each of them. They also listed a "quick fix" -- a step you could take in case you didn't want to take the "full-on" advice. Today we'll look at their #3 suggestion, seal your house. Their thoughts:

Idea: Small cracks and gaps in your house's shell can allow about a third of the heat and air conditioning in a 10-year-old house to escape.

Annual savings: Up to 10% on your fuel bills

Up-front cost: About $100 if you do it yourself; $500 or more if you hire out the job.

Tax credit: 10% of the cost of storm windows (credit cannot exceed $200).

Quick Fix: A water heater blanket (about $20) could save you $34 a year for a gas heater; $54 for an electric one. Water heaters made 10 years ago aren't well insulated. If yours dates to 1997 or before, it can lose about 3 degrees Fahrenheit of heat an hour.

My take:

I'm missing it big-time on this one. I seal cracks around windows and doors (though I do have one door that I constantly struggle with), but I'm totally missing the attic. And I don't have a water heater blanket either -- so between all of these ideas, I could be losing a few hundred dollars a year. Sheesh!

Click here to read part 4 of this series.

Click here to read part 1 of this series.

How to Save on Medical Expenses

Here's a suggestion for how to save on medical expenses:

Get into shape.

And I'm not talking about world-class-athlete shape here either. Just get into the "normal" range for your body type. You know, eat well, lose some weight, exercise a bit. Doing this could save you some big bucks in the future.

Business Week is reporting a trend that many companies are allowing workers in better health to get "enhanced" medical insurance coverage -- having lower deductibles and co-pays. Workers who don't pass a physical screening, then either have to work with a health coach to get into shape or have to pay a higher cost for their coverage.

It's only a blip on the insurance radar right now, but I think this system is going to be a growing trend. Companies want to lower costs and we all know how health care costs are increasing rapidly. And while it's tough for companies to put the cost burden on all employees (otherwise, there could be a revolt), it's much easier to charge people more if they cost more to insure. After all, that's fair isn't it?

Personally, I LOVE this idea. If someone refuses to quit smoking, wants to be 50 pounds overweight, and hasn't exercised in decades, that's ok with me -- just don't expect me to help pay their higher-than-average health care costs. It's a way of putting some personal accountability into the health care system, something that's far too lacking in our society in general IMO.

What do you think -- great idea or cost-cutting madness?

Thoughts from My Car Dealership

Last Wednesday I took my car in for its 60,000-mile tune-up. I had several finance-related thoughts about the experience during the time I waited for the car and wanted to share them all with you. Here goes:

• I don't usually have my car worked on at the dealership since they are way over-priced. But for major work/tune-ups, I'd rather pay a bit more and have guys work on the car who really know the ins and outs of it (after all, they work on these cars all day, every day.) I also have a few other reasons I go to the dealership that I noted last year, most of which are still valid.

• Since my last visit, the dealership has upgraded. Instead of a lounge where you can hook up your own computer and get dial-up access, they now have the dealership's computer with high-speed internet access. Cool! I could do several blogging-related tasks while I waited. Yeah, they still had the option for me to dial-up my own computer, but why bother?

• During the tune-up, the manager came and told me my brakes were almost worn completely (95% or so) and asked if I wanted new ones (for both front and back) or wanted to get them elsewhere. If I got them here, it would be $425. Within 20-seconds, here's what went through my mind:

1. I do trust these guys -- I don't think they would tell me something like this if it weren't true.
2. I KNOW I can find a better deal on brakes somewhere else. I could probably save $100 or so versus their price.
3. How long will it take me to find a place to do my brakes? And to price shop? And to take my car in again? Maybe two hours at best. Probably more like four hours.
4. My car is here NOW. It can be done NOW for only maybe an extra hour's worth of waiting time. Even if I value my time at only $50 per hour (which I value it at more than that), I'll probably "save" $100 to $150 by having the work done here and right now.
5. If I get the brakes done now, I have a coupon that will give me $25 extra off the price.
6. I told him to do the work now.

• When I paid, my bill was $800. But I knocked it down a bit as follows:

• I had a coupon that gave me savings off different levels of spending at the dealership (I'm on their mailing list and they sent it to me.) The tune-up alone was going to get me $25 in savings, but adding the brake work bumped me up to the next savings level, so I got to save $50 off the work.

• I redeemed my last $100 rewards certificate from my Subaru Platinum MasterCard from Chase (for details on how/why I had this card, see What My Second Credit Card Does for Me.) I'm getting rid of this card in favor of the Chase Freedom Cash Visa Card since next year I'm looking to dramatically increase my cash back rewards. But I did use my one, last rewards certificate to knock $100 off the bill. And I timed it so it will leave me with no rewards accumulated on it.

• My final bill was $650 and I paid with my Blue Cash from American Express card, earning me cash back of $9.75. Not bad.

That's it. Who ever thought I'd pick up such a long blog post at my dealership? ;-)