Advents Corner

I don’t know what is going on with everything these day, insurance, taxes, mortgages, gas prices (which are better now) the rising cost of food.,….it is all just becoming too much.  We have our home insurance and our property taxes escrowed into our mortgage payment so most of the time we do not pay attention to the rates until the beginning of the year when they adjust our mortgage payment to cover the raising cost of taxes and insurance so in turn your mortgage payment goes up.

This year our property taxes when down a couple of hundred dollars but our home owners went up 100 and our flood went up 200 so at this point we are exactly where we were last year.  Florida tried to help everyone by lower our property taxes but they let the insurance companies raise their rates so it really did not help.  We are now shopping for a new home insurance company because there are some out there that really do try and keep the rates down so be on the look out for the good ones.

Now that Matt is starting to branch out with services on the Internet our ability to have credit card processing has come to the forefront of our business also so the ability to accept credit cards without paying more for the service then we make is very important.  Finding a company that would fit our small business needs was crucial, luckily we found such a company to help us expand without digging into our profit.

I know that is the furthest thing from most of our minds but it is getting so easy to get an auto insurance online quote. You just punch in your information and before you know it you have a quote and most of the time you can sign up right there without talking to anyone if you chose not too. I like to find all of the information I need then confirm it with a live person but that is just me. I know a lot of people choose not to speak to anyone at all and that is fine too. So take a moment and find out if you can get insurance a little cheaper.

It is so hard to decide to find a new job. You find yourself not wanting to leave friends you have made and in some cases you feel a sense of loyalty to the company you are currently at. If you are currently at a job and do not need to find a job right away why not send your resume out to places you never thought you would be. For instance send out some Boston resumes or another state you are not currently living in and see what comes of it. If you are in a position to move…why not try it? You never know what you will find until you start looking. I was living in Alabama when I found my job in Florida and packed up to move down here.

You see this everywhere,land for sale Branson. With the economy turning the way it is you can pick up land really cheap right now. It is not that the land is bad it is that now people are tightening their belts for the recession so land prices are dropping. We have family moving in from Hawaii and now it the best time for them to buy a house in our area. The prices are on a continuing downward turn and the market they are leaving is still doing well enough for them to be able to sell their house. I am hoping they are going to get here soon. Matt is starting to travel a lot with his job and I am always welcome to tag along but we don’t have anyone for Lani to say with. Next month Matt is going to New York City and I would love to go with him but unfortuantely we do not have any one to help us with Lani, but that would be such a cool trip to go on.

At some point in our lives we all have to think about term life insurance and do we have enough. Do not wait until something bad happens to think about this. In times of sorrow is not the time to be worried about insurance and expenses. We are thinking about it now that we have a trip to Asia planned. We are also writing up a will for our family just to be prepared in case of the unthinkable.

If you think identity theft can not happen to you then you are wrong.  Last year when we went to Hawaii my identity being stolen was the least of my concerns.  We were in Hawaii for 2 weeks and when we returned I had several letters in the mail from a couple of different companies that I had made purchases with, one of which was Disney.  We had Lani in the book and video club that Disney has out.  According to the letter a person at the credit card processing company Disney uses stole information about people’s accounts.  As I continued to read the letter I discovered they got my birth date, credit card number, my 3 digit security code, mailing address, and phone number.  Before I knew it I was being flooded with phone calls from collection agents.  I did a search on the people that were calling me and they too had a scam going.  It was not until I called my bank to cancel the credit cards that they confirmed the phone scam and suggested I change my phone number as well.  There are several services out there such as life lock that can help you keep your information safe.

I was lucky in the fact that my identity stayed intact but it could have been so much worse.  Life lock will have your name removed for all of the “pre-approved” credit cards you get in the mail, cutting down your chances of fraud.  Also not to mention it cuts down on all of the stuff you get in your mailbox.  Another feature is called Wallet Lock.  If you lose your wallet just give them a call and they take care of helping you to get all of the credit card companies to cancel the cards and get you new ones. 

First Time Buyer Mortgage is looking really good right now with the interest rates so low.  I know the economy is taking a downward turn but if you ever thought about buying a house, now is the time to take the plunge.  House prices are falling really fast as people are getting closer to foreclosure.  I am starting to see a lot of places going for a short sale to get out of the payment as quick as possible and the banks they are financed with are helping them get the paperwork done because if they go into foreclosure the bank is stuck with the house and trust me when I say the bank does not want that house.  Take sometime to check this out, if you though you could never afford a house you might be able to afford one now.  Just remember do not buy bigger then you need or can afford.  That piece of advice will say you a lot of possible heartache down the road.  And watch out for those ARM’s.

We need to go to the bank this weekend and try and fix Michaela’s checking account. She had a little run in with NSF charges. It is her first account and you learn from mistakes. It was an innocent mistake but it still got her account closed. She deposited her check and went shopping but they put her hold on her paycheck and she did not realize it. So as she bought stuff they paid the charge but then charged her an NSF fee so her account went negative really fast.

Get fast payday loans with the help of payday loans. Christian Faith Financial matches you with a possible lender for the money you need. Fill out all of your information and it will be passed on to several loan companies whose criteria you meet. Before you know it you will have the money you need.

Work has been crazy with all of the foreclosures going on, especially in Florida. I am in the title business and at this time not too many people are buying houses so business is really at a snails pace. All of the higher ups had the budget meeting this week and we are already starting to hear rumors that they are going to be doing some business performance management. They let several people go last month and I heard through the grape vine that it was just the tip of the iceberg. I guess by reviewing the work flow they are hoping to find ways to cut cost even further.

I found this really cool scholarship Michaela is going to apply for.  It is a, Christmas cards scholarship contest how cool is that?  Your little genius creates a Christmas card and uploads it onto their site and they will award $10,000 to the winner.  You can submit artwork, photos or computer graphics, so if you child is going into the field of art this would be perfect for them.  The company produces Corporate Christmas Cards so if your card wins it could be seen by a potential employer.  Company Christmas cards are sent out by all kinds of businesses so your exposure is limitless.  If you won wouldn’t that be nice to have in your portfolio?

Thinking about starting a home business or you have a business already selling jewelry and looking for a good quality and inexpensive supplier?  Summer Jewelers offers you some thing other jewelry wholesalers do not.  With a low order fee and no minimum purchase that puts them in a different league among others.

With jewelry as low as $1.50 each the options are endless.  Become a member of their Elite Jewelry Club and you will save 10% and free shipping on all orders that you place with them.  Their site is also user friendly, with the jewelry broken down into several categories so you can easily find what you are looking for fast.

Nothing says your child is growing up then filling out college and financial aid applications. The most important one you will fill out is the fafsa application. This is were you start to be able to get all of the federally funded loans out there. Also you are able to obtain private loans as well. Filling out your FAFSA application online is so simple. First of all they give you a list of everything you are going to need to complete the application process. You can gather all of your paperwork before hand so once you start to process you are not running around trying to find things.

You also have access to helpful hints and secrets to obtaining the maximum amount in aid. You can sign up for the free news letter and daily financial aid pod cast. Be sure you read the FAQ’s for the Stafford loan and the Parent PLUS loan because you can find the answer to just about all of the questions that come to mind during this somewhat confusing time. Remember, take your time and answer all of the questions truthfully. If there is a question about the answers you gave in the form this will only delay the time it takes to find out how much financial aid your child will receive.

Getting a payday loan over the Internet has its advantages. First of all, the money is deposited straight into your account so not trips to the bank. You can also pick the best cash advance for you, from the company that you feel the most comfortable with. Check out all of their websites and find the one that is the easiest for you to use. There are seven different companies you can look at and compare.

Once you find the right one for you, you will be asked to answer a few questions with a qualified and courteous associate. Then it is just a matter of time before your advance is deposited directly into your account for you to do with as you wish. When the loan becomes do the company will electronically withdraw the funds from your account, so you still do not have to make a trip to the bank.

Have questions about all of those online pay day loan sites?  Oasis Payday Loans has some qualities about them that are different from the usual.  Oasis will not ask for your social security number on the online application.  They are as concerned about your private information as you are.  It costs you nothing to apply for a payday loan with Oasis and you are under obligation to accept the loan when you are approved.  You have complete control over the process.  And lastly, you can be approved instantly.  You do not have to wait a day or two to find out if you have been approved, you will know immediately.  Need cash fast?  Try Oasis.

I know we don’t like to think about these things when we are planning the trip of a life time, but what happens if something comes up and you are not able to go. We have to plan these things so far in advance that travel insurance is becoming more of a necessity than a luxury. With the political climate as it is in the world today you never know what is going to be going on. Now you can get trip insurance that covers war risk and terrorism. If you are not sure if you need this, make sure you check it out and get all of the information you can to educate yourself on the subject. You might be surprised and find out that it is something you are interested in.

The best travel deals are the ones where you can make it to a discount hotel on economical flight tickets without deteriorating your budget. Still finding cheap flights to amsterdam, particularly on aloha airlines can be quite difficult, not as difficult as finding cheap hotels in amsterdam though.

Tired of your bad credit but do not know how to get good credit again? It would be so nice to be able to get that car, boat or even house of your dreams with your good credit. It all starts with a click. BadCreditOffers.com gives you all of the tools to make your dreams come true. They find offers that are suitable for you and also offer credit counseling to make sure you keep that good rating you have worked so hard to obtain.