I’ve mentioned that I’ve been a bit busier than normal and here’s one of the reasons.  I was invited to speak at a Clark Howard event that took place this past weekend.
I have been a Clark Howard fan for quite a while, so I was very excited about this opportunity.  Unfortunately, the radio stations here do not air his shows each day, so I am not able to post his tips as frequently as I would like.  

Yep, that’s Clark and me.     Two others and I spoke about saving money with couponing, meal planning, and stockpiling.  The other two speakers of …read more

I recently heard Clark Howard say that you can save up to 30% at the grocery store simply by buying store brands. Hum … That makes a lot of sense. The stores also tend to put their store brand on sale before they put the name brands on sale. Something else that you might not think about is where you look. The store will put the most expensive brands and items at either your eye level or your kids’ level. So look lower or higher to find the best deals.
Remember, it’s all about prospective and how they can get your …read more

I just love reading about how the price of new cars are going down.  I can’t find that when I went out to find a used mini van.  But there is a new car in India for about $2500.  If you go to Clark Howard and check out his video minutes, there is a great little quip on the car.  Hopefully, there will be a series of new cars for less than $10,000.  It does, however, mean that there will be more cars on the road.  Oh well.

Phone companies have thought up yet another way to get money out of you.  Verizon is starting to play AT&T’s dirty tricks by charging customers a fee for long distance even if you don’t use it.
What? 
I remember years ago when I had a land line, the companies were trying to charge me an $8 a month long distance fee for their service, even though I wasn’t making any long distance calls through them.  (I was using a 10-10 number through a separate company.)
Then AT&T got really sneaky and switched me over to them as my long distance carrier WITHOUT my …read more

I was listening to Clark Howard the other day and he said he would shoot up a list of free software that you could download.  I found it and wanted to share it with you.  It is a great little list that you will enjoy perusing.  There is everything from Anti-spam (we can always use it) to audio software.  Take a look and tell me what your favorites are.

My social security number . . . now that’s a very sensitive moderately paranoid subject for me. 
I’m just curious to know, how well do you protect your social security number?  Do you have it posted on your checks?  Is it on your driver’s license?  Do you give it freely when stores ask for identification?
I’m just warning you.  This is a very touchy subject with me.  I am really holding back on the things I have to say.  So, here’s the nicest way I can say it:
I DO NOT GIVE OUT MY SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER!!!!!!
If I were to date back to a …read more

Last year, 17,000 new products were introduced into the market and about 4,000 of them claim to be “organic” or “all natural.” Just because a product says it’s organic doesn’t mean it is.  And, just because it’s organic doesn’t mean it’s good for you.  
Lay’s has some new organic potato chips.  They have sea salt and oil, are higher in price, but they have the same amount of fat and calories.  According to Lake Mirabel Organics, “Neither Campbell’s Organic Tomato Juice nor any of Frito-Lay’s organic chips claim to be healthier than the companies’ non-organic equivalents.  They market themselves as catering to …read more

The IRS free tax filing program is now available.  There are income restrictions though.  It would be beneficial to figure out your adjusted gross income before you start.  Your adjusted gross income must be less than $52,000 a year to use the free program.  The free program has changed each year, so be sure to read the fine print before you begin.
Source:  Clark Howard

I got a bill in the mail this weekend. At first I told my husband to shred it.  It looked like one of those fake bills from some company that is just trying to sucker you out of some money.  So, the bill was in the shred pile and I got to thinking maybe I should take a better look at it.  What I found was a bill for $64 for a U.S. Cellular account we used to have.
Oh, I am so ticked!!!  The bill I got was from a collection agency.  We haven’t had that account in years . …read more

This past year my husband received a letter from the federal government informing us that veteran information was stolen.  Later we received a letter telling us that although the information was stolen, it was recovered and nothing was compromised. I’m not so sure how much of that I believe. 
There have been 788 incidents of lost information by the federal government.  Nineteen agencies have lost information on the general public and on federal employees.   The Commerce Department has lost more than 1,000 laptops used by the U.S. Census Bureau.
So, how safe do you think your information is??????  I’m not so sure myself.  Pretty scary when you …read more