Freeze chocolate chips and other Chocolate candies

Being that I am in Florida, the heat can create havoc on all sorts of things, the least in my household being, chocolate chips. I was pulling out my chocolate chips out of the freezer to make some cookies, and I thought it is a great tip I picked up along the way. Someone had told me to freeze the chips and other chocolate candies in the freezer so the heat doesn’t turn them mushy, low and behold I have been doing it for years, and they are fresh as can be when they are put into cookies or whatever, they keep for super long as well. There was a package at the back of my freezer when I was cleaning the freezer out and I wasn’t sure they would taste okay, well they tasted just fine, I was pleasantly surprised.

Organizing email using the create a rule feature….amazing results!

We all could use tools to help us keep our email in boxes under control. You may already know about this and I am just behind the times but I have to share this with you since it has done wonders for me. Judd was saying he was using this software that was automatically putting his email in folders so his inbox was relatively empty and it really helped him stay more on top of things. I started thinking, I wonder if that is what the Create a Rule button is on my Outlook 2007, so I looked into it, and low and behold that is exactly what it can do, so not only can I block senders like spam, I can automatically send stuff to certain folders so it doesn’t clutter the inbox, when I am ready to deal with certain email I go to the appropriate folder and can go through it, ie. facebook, various newsletters I get. As I get stuff still coming to my inbox, I decide is that worth a rule or not consistant enough to need one. This has cut down tremendously on the volume in my inbox and makes me that more efficient. It has been a HUGE time saver.

Try this and let us know your results.

How to cut back on Milk Runs to the store

Funny, I went shopping for Judd’s Grandma who is 92, we go over and shop for her and take care of her lawn. Anway, I was at the store picking up groceries, and she always wants the farthest out date, one of the 1/2 gallons was frozen, I said to myself, that would be a great thing for Grandma since when we go shopping she may still have milk from the week before, I wonder if she could just pop it in the freezer to keep it from expiring sooner? Well I got my answer from Tip Hero, see link below. Yes you can freeze milk and just thaw it out over night before you run out. So instead of making extra milk runs during the week, just buy that extra gallon and put in the freezer until you need it, becuase you know you can’t walk out of the store with just milk, lucky if it is under $20.

http://www.tiphero.com/tips_1832_?utm_source=Money-Saving+Tips+Newsletter+DL&utm_campaign=44d17838f0-TH_NL_40b_09_03_2009&utm_medium=email#comment_15715

Sherbet Floats–Yummy and Fat Free

So we were celebrating my son’s birthday this weekend and he decided he wanted ice cream instead of birthday cake. We said that was fine, he could pick whatever he wanted on the ice cream aisle, oh there are lots to choose from….he picks Sherbet, Rainbow flavor. Well that isn’t too exciting. He also wanted to invite his neighborhood friends over. I had made some cupcakes earlier in the week, so I pulled those out, put some sprinkles on them, got the soda fountain glasses down. I put a couple of scoops of Sherbet in, then added diet lemon-lime soda, stuck a straw in and ice tea spoons, and they looked like a million bucks, and they tasted great as well. The diet soda broke some of the sugar down and everything was fat-free. This is a great treat for the summer!

Savings Rates on the rise–Interesting Fun Fact

Reading the Motley Fool, I found an article about the Chinese savings rate (see below for the link to the full article)….they save 25% of their take home pay. Oh my, that is impressive, and believe it or not, we Americans were also once there…..during WWII, at 26%. In the article it cited that since 1982 the American savings rate has been decreasing steadily, with the savings rate actually going negative in 2006….yikes! The good news with this economic environment, for the last quarter it has climbed to 5%.

Can you beat that 5% national average, probably? A good GOAL would be to calculate what is doable today, then every month raise it 1%, see how high you can go before you just can’t go higher. That is an excellent way to start that emergency fund, if you haven’t already got one, that we should all have during these tight times. You can easily do this through payroll deduction it going to a separate account or transfer funds as every paycheck comes in.

http://www.fool.com/personal-finance/saving/2009/09/02/can-we-save-as-much-as-the-chinese.aspx

Recipe-Taco Casserole

I haven’t made this in awhile. I had some leftover taco meat in the frig and sour cream, I remembered this recipe so I whipped it up last night for dinner and it was a winner for the family and it was something different.

2 cups cooked rice
1 cup cheese
1 cup salsa
1 can corn
1 can re-fried beans
Sour cream

You start with a casserole dish, I use the deeper round glass dish, and you start to layer the meat, beans, cheese, rice, corn, salsa, repeat until dish is full, then put in oven at 350 degrees until warm, won’t take long if you just cooked the rice and meat, if everything is cold, probably will take closer to 25 minutes. Right before it is done, drizzle more cheese on top and melt for the gooeyness. My husband loves Sour Cream so it can be added on top at service or put on the table. For left overs, we have used soft shell tacos and scooped all of it in and ate another meal of it.

Enjoy!

Interesting fun fact with the Cash for Clunkers program

So we have all heard the cash for clunkers program is ending as a smashing success, or at least that is what the media is portraying. I think this is interesting, the most traded in vehicle……the Ford Explorer, which maybe isn’t that big of a shock since it was a very popular vehicle and there was a spike in popularity a few years back, and now it is getting older and doesn’t get good gas mileage. What is the most popular car being bought as people are trading in those clunkers…..the Toyota Corolla. I actually was quite proud that people were watching out for uno number one, making a cheap, gas saving decision…..I say that because we made the same decision in June of 08. As you may know it isn’t the most “sexy” or powerful car out there, as my husband constantly reminds me, but it is a smart money decision, and it is only transportation and not an extension of your soul as many of the marketing pros would like for you to believe. But not only is it good for the individual but it is good for the environment…..maybe there was some good that came out of this program, I am looking forward for more info on the results, the verdict is still out for me. Was anyone able to utilize this program, if so what did you trade in and what did you get?

Where do you fall? Are you in the norm with your spending?

I have been working with clients to see if they are available for the HAMP program. Of course every bank/lender seems to ask different questions and require different things, besides the magic 31% number. I was talking with Bank of America, and they asked all the detailed questions regarding bills and spending on misc things, ie food and gas. Well something interesting they do is plug in your numbers but he said he needs to put $2300, the range between $2000-$2600, this is your bills/spending that isn’t installment/revolving credit, or insurance. I thought that was interesting, looks like I fall below that number but we are pretty simple people and I try to save in all different areas but I figured I would share with you what the banks are seeing as reasonable spending/common bills for a household these days.

Are you eligible for the a Home Modification Program?

I have been working with clients all week to see if they are eligible for the HAMP program. Every client I worked with had a different Mortgage company and every company had a different way of handling the Home Affordability Modification Program. Big theme throughout and a test to see if you could move forward with such a program. Look at the gross amount of income on your taxes for 2008, take that amount and times by 31%, then divide that by 12. If that number is lower than your current mortgage/taxes/insurance/hoa fees/second mortgage or equity line payment. You are most likely pre-approved. Now if your situation has changed in 2009, take your gross pay times by 52 (if weekly paycheck) or 26 (bi-weekly). Then do the above calculation. If you fall into this get on the phone with your Mortgage company and ask to speak to someone about the HAMP program. If you want help I can also get on the phone with you to walk it through. I have even become an authorized user for clients so I can move the paperwork through and call for status updates as people are at work.

Now the HARP-Home Affordable Re-Finance Program, I haven’t found this helpful at all yet with clients. The good news they have recently changed the level from 105% to 125%, but you also have to be a Fannie or Freddie loan. The couple cases I have tried, one client owes 158% of what their property owes, didn’t fall in perimeters. The other owes 120% but the orginial loan wasn’t a fannie or freddie loan.

As with the cash for clunkers program, it is a great program if you “fit”, but it can be also very frustrating if you don’t fit but should fit for one reason or another.

HealthCare Reform–Good or Bad? The Debate…WhiteHouse.gov/RealityCheck

I am an independant when it comes to politics, so this HealthCare Reform, I see from both sides. Since I am a Financial Organizer, I love a balanced budget, which to some, say cannot happen if we get health care reform. But than on the flip side I see clients struggling with the weight of the current health care system, isn’t there a happy medium? So I went to search and found this. Now this is one side, if someone wants to provide any comments/segments/websites contradicting what is being stated, I welcome it, I believe we as citizens need to get informed.

The Article:
Anyone that’s watched the news in the past few days knows that health insurance reform is a hot topic — and that rumors and scare tactics have only increased as more people engage with the issue. Given a lot of the outrageous claims floating around, it’s time to make sure everyone knows the facts about the security and stability you get with health insurance reform.

That’s why we’ve launched a new online resource — WhiteHouse.gov/RealityCheck — to help you separate fact from fiction and share the truth about health insurance reform. Here’s a few of the reality check videos you can find on the site:
• CEA Chair Christina Romer details how health insurance reform will impact small businesses.
• Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes tackles a nasty rumor about euthanasia and clearly describes how reform helps families.
• Matt Flavin, the White House’s Director of Veterans and Wounded Warrior Policy, clears the air about Veteran’s benefits.
• Kavita Patel, M.D., a doctor serving in the White House’s Office of Public Engagement, explains that health care rationing is happening right now and how reform gives control back to patients and doctors.
• Bob Kocher, M.D., a doctor serving on the National Economic Council, debunks the myth that health insurance reform will be financed by cutting Medicare benefits.

We knew going into this effort that accomplishing comprehensive health insurance reform wasn’t going to be easy. Achieving real change never is. The entrenched interests that benefit from the status quo always use their influence in Washington to try and keep things just as they are.

But don’t be misled. We know the status quo is unsustainable. If we do nothing, millions more Americans will be denied insurance because of pre-existing conditions, or see their coverage suddenly dropped if they become seriously ill. Out-of-pocket expenses will continue to soar, and more and more families and businesses will be forced to deal with health insurance costs they can’t afford.

That’s the reality.

Americans deserve better. You deserve a health care system that works as well for you as it does for the status quo; one you can depend on — that won’t deny you coverage when you need it most or charge you crippling out-of-pocket co-pays. Health insurance reform means guaranteeing the health care security and stability you deserve.

10 minutes and I saved potentially $20 per month and doubling my Speed

So I was going through my old mail that I had not opened, one envelope being my cable bill which is bundled for TV, phone and Internet, luckily I actually opened it up(it is auto-drafted), my “combo plus” increased $10, well that was surprising, with no notice given, so I called up, and got it resolved and got it pushed back down the old price to meet the competitor’s price but the point being is that they would have milked me for an extra $10 every month for nothing. Now I am going back and getting double the internet speed that they want to charge an additional $10 for per month, which makes the total $20. Keep aware of what the competition is offering and make sure you are getting as good of deal on your current plan, if not request a price match. For 10 minutes of my time I saved $20 AND my speed increased 100%, not bad use of my time.

Let us know if you come across these things, the more people bring to our attention the more we will be informed
.

Suze Orman’s three-step money pledge:

If you’re in debt, one way to see what it’s like to live with less is to take Suze Orman’s three-step money pledge:

Don’t spend any money for a day.
Don’t use your credit card for a week.
Don’t eat out in restaurants for a month.

I read this article that cited this, and figured I would pass it along for food for thought. This would be tough for me since we put everything on Credit Card, but we could do it with some planning.

Also, a month without restaurants, maybe it is easier to starting working on before you are absolutely forced to the situation. One way we have found to help the “craving” for eating out, is to figure out where we would go and what we would order and then put it on our shopping list and work it into our menu for the week. An example of this is, “Japanese Steakhouse” night, as my son calls it, I make fried rice, way easy, if I have squash/zucchini in fridge or on sale, and cut up sirloin/chicken in tiny cubes, I make a big deal of cooking it up and my kids found bamboo skewers in the pantry and use them as chop sticks.

So now if we go out and after eating out and getting the bill, I say, ugg, it wasn’t THAT good, was it? I probably could have made that. Now if we go out, we aim for it to be an “experience”, if it doesn’t fit in that category we probably can just make it at home and save some money.

makinghomeaffordable.gov website

Okay, so the stimulus plan is supposed to be helping the little guy. Go to this website and see if it can help you. Basically it will ask you a series of questions. Breaking it down for you, if you’re mortgage payment is more than 31% of your net paycheck, and/or your financial situation has changed since you did your Mortgage you will qualify for a modification.

Take the time, get informed, see if the program will work for you. It can save you literally 100’s of dollars per month, a recent client shaved off $593 off her Mortgage, this is real, let it work for you as well. If you need any help sifting through all this stuff, don’t hesitate to contact me, I will be more than happy to help facilitiate it for you with your mortgage company.

Cash For Clunker Rules that I came across…

Well I was looking into the Cash For Clunker program for a client of mine…..the program sounds great until you get into the details, then once you start reading, it narrows the field a lot, it is great IF you fit in the catagory. In my search I found an article that outlined the following details pertaining to the program, see link below for full article.

**The vehicle being traded in must be in drivable condition, be no more than 25 years old, and get no more than 18 miles per gallon (mpg).
**The same person must have owned and had the car insured for at least one year before trading it in.
**You must buy a new vehicle. Used vehicle purchases aren’t eligible for the program. Moreover, the vehicle can’t cost more than $45,000.
**If you buy a new passenger car, it must get at least 22 mpg. If it gets 4-9 mpg more than the car you traded in, then you’ll get a $3,500 rebate. If the new car is better by 10 mpg or more, then you get a $4,500 rebate.
**If you buy a new truck or SUV, the rules are different. “Category 1″ trucks, which include most SUVs, pickups, and vans, must get 18 mpg. Those that get 2-4 mpg more than the traded-in vehicle earn the $3,500 rebate, while a 5-mpg difference or greater earns $4,500. Category 2 trucks, which include larger trucks and vans, must get 15 mpg, and their breakpoints are 1 mpg and 2 mpg or greater.
**The program is scheduled to run from July 1 to Nov. 1. But once the program runs out of money, you’ll no longer be eligible for the credit, even if you would otherwise qualify.
**Traded-in vehicles must be destroyed and sold for scrap rather than resold by the car dealer. Therefore, you won’t receive full trade-in value for your vehicle; you’ll get the lower scrap value instead.

http://www.fool.com/retirement/general/2009/07/29/why-cash-for-clunkers-wont-save-the-economy.aspx

There is a third wave of foreclosures coming…..

In reading an article from the Money page of CNN on foreclosures and what cities are still getting hit, it was an interesting article that cited THREE waves of foreclosures, see the link below if you want to read the full article. The author stated that the first was the sub-prime mortgages, I agree, they said the second came from layoff’s/economic down turn and the third is still coming from the option-ARM of mortgages. This is a tough call, it semi-contradicts what has been previously cited or maybe they are just re-phrasing it to perhaps make it sound worse than it is. Prior to this I saw that there were to be 2 waves, the second wave being worse than the first, it being prime loans and it was due to ARM adjustments/job loss, it was to start in March 09 and last another 18 months if I remember correctly from my previous readings. Being that I landed in the second wave(my ARM adjusted in June), I definitely sat up and took notice and continue to watch forecasts related to my ARM to make sure I won’t become part of that statistic. Now the next question is how is the government HAMP (Home Affordability Modification Program) is going to help stop the bleeding of the foreclosure wave.

We know on a small level this is helping, I again helped a client with a Mortgage modification last week, she went from a 1558 payment to a 964 payment, which includes escrow, amazing terms and it just took a few phone calls to help facilitate it. I know they work, I know they can happen. This week I am helping another client do the same. If your economic situation has changed since you did your mortgage, we can most likely help get your loan modified….for the better and it doesn’t hurt your credit one bit and it is not a re-finance so it won’t cost you closing costs.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/30/real_estate/worst_hit_foreclosure_cities/index.htm

Finances-Spouses–and the depressing statistics….

I was reading an article on the Motley Fool regarding finances and spouses; the title caught my eye, so I figured I would read on. It cited a study Fidelity Investments did on how couples work together, some amazing stats on couples, where do you fall? Where do you want to fall? Talk it over, work towards what you want your relationship to be, yes it takes effort, but doesn’t everything worthwhile take a little work? And since Money is a big cause of divorce, doing this could be good not only for your money but your relationship as well. Here are the stats.

**15% of couples are confident in the ability of both partners to handle their finances
**Just 45% of couples jointly make decisions about their day-to-day finances (such as budgeting and paying bills).
**Only 38% discuss their retirement investment decisions.
**60% disagree on when they’ll retire
**44% have no consensus on working in retirement
**42% have different expected retirement lifestyles

These are great questions, I will be honest, even my husband and I haven’t discussed some of those questions. Looks like we have some work to do as well.

Source: http://www.fool.com/retirement/iras/2009/07/10/your-spouse-is-fumbling-your-finances.aspx

Some little things that you may not know about your credit cards…

So I follow Ramit, at I will teach you to be rich, and recently he was on some money program, check out the 2 minute clip on Credit cards, I did not know this stuff, you learn something new everyday…..like extended warranties, rental car insurance and trip insurance covered by your credit card, since I put everything on credit card this is good to know. My mom and dad spend a fortune on the trip insurance with their cruises, the kicker, they always put the cruises on their credit card so they get the points, they had no idea they were already covered when using the credit card. Check out the clip it is worth the 2 minutes. Copy and paste into your browser, the link won’t work.

http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/i-was-on-tv-this-week-watch-my-217-cnbc-video-on-credit-card-perks/

The fastest way to clean up a messy Kitchen

I have used this technique for a while now, almost daily because we know what happens when you have a family and you have a kitchen, very quickly, no matter how hard you try chaos is created in a blink of an eye. Here is my quick and easy list to get through the kitchen clutter in no time.

Pick up everything that needs to go in the recycling
Pick up everything that needs to go in the garbage
Get a box/wash basket and get everything that doesn’t belong in the kitchen (mail is usually a big culprit, as well as toys)
Put everything back in the pantry that needs to go in there
Put all the dishes in the sink/near sink.
Put other big items like coffee pot, toaster, can opener etc back in position

Now you can breath……

Then go back and clean the counters, stove and tackle the dishes.

Helpful hint…..keep your counters as clear as possible, meaning if possible find a spot in the pantry/cabinets for the small appliances not in use; IE toaster, blender, mixer, all those things give the sense of clutter which results in everything else getting dumped on the counters as well. It is easier to keep counters clean when they are clear of things.

Good luck and let us know if you have any other suggestions on how we can keep our kitchens clean.

20% Housing down payments…Can it stop the mess?

I was reading this article about one person’s solution to the housing melt-down, not to the over-all economy nightmare but purely the housing sector. Implement the 20% down rule, no exceptions. This in itself would put an even bigger crimp on the housing sector and all things considered, maybe a deflationary spiral worse than we are experiencing now. Let’s play the “what-if” game (not a practice I usually do with anything but let’s just see). Okay so “what-if” say 5 years ago they began to require at least 20% down on mortgages, well, first off I would not have gotten the mortgage I currently have, I did an 80/10, 80% first mortgage 10% on an equity line. That is a little hard to accept, but I guess if we knew the rules of the game, it would have taken a little longer but we would have eventually come up with the total 20%, maybe we wouldn’t have gotten the house that we are currently in, who knows (that is why I hate playing the what-if game it could go on forever and it is basically a futile exercise that usually tears you up with fear). And at this point,(knock on wood), we are doing just fine in our mortgage. Thinking over the craziness with sub-prime loans, I would assume a large number of those, many who couldn’t rub 2 nickels together, would still be renters and we wouldn’t be sitting in this recession as we are now. Be honest, we all got a little crazy with our “feeling of net worth/wealth”, didn’t we, feeling like nothing could stop us, well, welcome to the cement wall of reality. Of course our hindsight is 20/20. So now the next question is, would the 20% rule keep us in a recession for longer than we would like, but as we dig ourselves out we will be a stronger economy, or lax the 20% down rule and hope like he!! that these borrowers have learned the lessons of the past 2 years not to over-extend themselves. I don’t know, tough call, I can tell you it would make people look long and hard at their situation (I know most likely we wouldn’t be able to come up with 20% down at a drop of a dime, it would take us some time to do it. And if it would take us some planning and time to do this, my guess it would take 95% of the population some time as well, with probably 65% of those never coming up with the 20%. That may be good for the long haul but if this does happen, we may be in for a rough road back to a strong economy. Maybe there is a happy medium, stair step the requirements, minimum 5% down, than increase 5% more per year, letting people get used to the idea over a period of years. I know that most conventional lenders are already requiring 10% down, which has been a shock to the system, but you still have USDA and FHA offering 97%-100% financing. I am hearing rumblings that these programs are becoming the new sub-prime, scary thought, but on the other hand it could give much deserving candidates a leg up. Tough call. Your thoughts?

Should we share our finances with our kids?

Always a good question, what is too much information or not enough information to give them the financial education that they won’t get in school. I want my kids financially literate so they become responsible adults that won’t rely on me to bail them out. I believe if we build the strong financial education foundation they won’t need the “bail out” later down the road, or maybe not as much….

So I was reading this article about sharing/showing your household expenses to your tweens and it made me think about how I will do it when my kids are ready for it. I think it is reasonable to show them the electric bill, phone bill, cable bill, these are things they have input on as a household member, as well as most households have them. Since you are still educating your kids it might be easier to speak about paychecks and big ticket items like Mortgage or car in percentages, you don’t need the neighborhood kids or school friends talking about how much you make or how much your mortgage is. IE, for ease of reference I will use round numbers; if you make 4k per month and mort was 1K it would be 25%, after you outline the big ticket items (house and car) and then show the percentage remaining for household expenses and show how much money is spent on those things they take for granted, they may begin to see that it isn’t realistic for you to shell out $20 every few days for their entertainment needs. As you advance these conversations, add in insurance, the importance of that, as well as an emergency funds, investments, savings, charity/tithing. This isn’t a one day conversation, it is an evolution that will happen as they grow, perhaps show a phone or cable bill to them when it comes in the mail. Or maybe a better one to start with is the electric bill. My son who is five, we now “save the polar bears” (we recently saw Arctic Tale, and there was a public service announcement regarding saving energy which will help save the polar bears). By conserving electricity, very easy to do, if you notice a light left on or standing there with the frig/outside door open, let them know that increases you electric bill, get the connection early and you will create life long conservation habits.

If you need help with this, shoot me a note, I will be happy help you outline a plan for your individual situation or concern that you are dealing with in regards to money and your children.