Advents Corner » Financial

Rising cost of just trying to get by

Advent — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:06:25 +0000

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.

Buying things online

Advent — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 19:01:19 +0000

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.

Who has time to think about insurance?

Advent — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:38:45 +0000

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.

Finding a new job

Advent — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:25:33 +0000

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.

Trip to New York City

Advent — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 20:29:43 +0000

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.

Thinking of the future

Advent — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 16:00:40 +0000

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.

Identity Theft, it can happen to you

Advent — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 12:48:53 +0000

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.

Housing prices are continuing to drop

Advent — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 13:10:58 +0000

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.

Checking account mess up

Advent — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 23:35:45 +0000

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.

Loans through Christian Faith Financial

Advent — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 00:32:50 +0000

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.