When do you "turn-on" your financial brain?

There are times when we just reach into our wallet or purse, pull out the cash and pay for the item(s) we want and then there are times when as we are getting ready to purchase, we stop and think and think and think before laying down the cash.

That "thinking" is what I call "turning-on my financial brain". At what dollar amount do I start having thoughts about buying or not buying?

Here's the process that I go through most of the time and to set this up, you need to know that In my biweekly budget, I get $20 of blow cash every two weeks. (Don't laugh at the amount.)

1. How much of my blow cash do I have left in my wallet right now?
2. Is there anything coming up that I know about between this purchase and my next blow cash installment?
3. Am I wanting to buy this item because I perceive this as a good deal or is it something I really want? A good example of this for me is the Power Bars at Big Lots. Most of the time I'm thinking to myself "This is a great deal. I better pick some up before they are all gone." I've got lots of Power Bars at home already.
4. What would I or could I do with the cash if I don't buy that item?

After going through that thought process, sometimes I buy and sometimes I don't. Sometimes I even feel guilty over my decision. (I wish I could get over that feeling. That's another blog post topic.)

Anyway, that's kind of my story. As your thinking about this, share your thoughts with me. When does your financial brain turn on?

I like this disposable email address

When you order something online one of the "required" fields is your email address. (It makes sense.) One big draw back in my mind is once this online retailer has my email address, it seems like I get at email after email from them about an upcoming sale.

I came across guerrillamail.com. This website provides you with disposable e-mail addresses which expire after 15 Minutes. You can read and reply to e-mails that are sent to the temporary e-mail address within the given time frame.

Guerrillamail's web site say's its used by 8,000 people a day and has created more than 538,000 temporary email addresses.

Leave me a comment on what use you could see for a temporary email address.

Sound Mind Investing

I'm a big fan of the investment strategy used by the guys over at Sound Mind Investing. They do a great job and provide peace of mind. That's why I've got my Roth IRA with them.

They recently made available for free an article from their newsletter that I've read before and really love. It talks about why you shouldn't let current market behavior drive your decisions.

It's a very timely read. Check out the article by clicking here. It will be well worth your time.

Fraud Alert!

Since my post on my debit card being compromised, I've received two direct emails from people who have had the same exact thing happen to them. A charge from NetFlix and the Collagen Store hit their account. Click here to see my initial post and followup posts.

Today, I took the next step and put a fraud alert on my credit report. If you file a fraud alert on one credit report, the agency your filed the alert with is required to notify the other two reporting agencies.

Tonight, I filed the alert with equifax via their fraud alert web site. www.fraudalerts.equifax.com



Here's what I received in my email inbox this a.m.

Dear TODD,

This email serves as confirmation that your request to add an initial 90 day fraud alert or active duty alert to your Equifax credit file has been completed successfully!

To request your free credit file disclosure copy online please visit http://www.equifax.com/fcra.

You may also request your free disclosure by calling (800) 685-1111.

Equifax will forward your initial 90 day fraud alert or active duty alert information to the other national credit reporting agencies, eliminating the need for you to contact them directly. They should also add an alert to their files. If you do not receive notification from Experian or TransUnion that they have added an alert for you on their credit files, please contact them directly using the following contact information:

TransUnion, PO Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92634: (800) 680-7289
Experian, PO Box 9530, Allen, TX 75013: (800) 379-3742.

It's time you stop preapproved offers

You come home from work, open your mailbox and find the majority of the mail is prepaid credit card and insurance offers. Day after day, week after week.

Did you know that you can opt out and stop those annoying preapproved offers? Yep, all you have to do is either

1. Call 888-567-8688 or
2. log on to optoutprescreen.com

Note, in doing so, you'll have to provide your Social Security Number. It's safe and well worth it.

Must be my lucky day. $750,000 is waiting for me

I just checked my email and to my great surprise, I was offered $750,000 in grant money. Here's the email.

The Fidelity UK Foundation,
Oakhill House, 130 Tonbridge Road,
Hildenborough, Kent, TN11 9DZ

April 15th 2009

Good Day,
This is to notify you that You are have been approved for a grant of $750,000.00
in the on going Fidelity Foundation 21st year Aniversary Special Easter Grant.
Do not have doubt over Your participation in this Promotion,as all Participants were
selected Through an electronic computer ballot system for all email users drawn From
over 2,500,000 email addresses of individuals and companies from America,Asia,
Australia,Europe, Middle East, Oceania,North American,and South American.

To file in for your claims,Contact the verification officer with the
following information:

1.Name:
2.Phone(Mobile):
3.Age:
4.Address:
5.Country:

Wow, it's amazing that they can find me via my email address but they need me to confirm my name, phone # . . .

I wonder if people really fall for this stuff? I'm 1/2 tempted to call the phone number they provided in this email just to see what happens when I call. What would you do? Would you call and play along?

Searching for a good CD rate. . .

I just had a CD come due. It was a 6 month CD paying 3.25%. It was good while it lasted. Now a 6 month CD at that same bank is paying a whopping 0.25%. I said thanks but no thanks.

So, wheres a good place to find CD rates? BankRate.com. I've talked about this web site many time in the past and it's worth you visiting the site from time to time.

In doing my CD search, BankRate is giving me 7 banks paying from 2% up to 2.25%. This is a much higher rate than the 0.25% I'm currently being offered.

So it looks like I'm going to open up an CD online at GMAC Bank paying 2.25% APY.

What's your highest interest earning rate right now and what bank is it with?

This idea to save some money is all wet. . . .

I've been in the market for some time for a rain barrel. They are beneficial in a number of ways.

1. It's rain water and garden plants and house plans do much better with rain water than with treated tap water.
   
2. Rain water is free. No money being poured down the drain. (Literally)
3. I like to think it's another way for me to live a litter greener.

Anyway, in doing some checking around online and locally, the average cost of a rain barrel is over $100. Ouch. I could never bring myself to send that kind of money on a barrel. We'll as luck / ingenuity would have it, I spend a total of $7.95 on my rain barrel.

I got the barrel for free and the parts from Lowe's. So far so good. It's raining tonight and my barrel is almost full. I'm keeping an eye on it to make sure my overflow tube works.

I'm excited about the money I saved and all the rain water I'll have for my house plants, garden, and landscaping this summer.

Do you have any experience with a rain barrel?

5 things to do when you're credit / debit card has been compromized.

Last week, I blogged about my debit card being compromised. Somehow, someone got my number and used it for two purchases. (see my post from April 10th.)

Here are the steps I took to rectify the problem.

1. Stay calm and take a few deep breaths. Believe it or not, this will help.
2. Pray. Ask God for favor as you talk with your bank and others involved in clearing this up.
   
3. Call the 800 number on the back of my debit card to report the unauthorized transactions.
   
4. Authorized the my bank to close / cancel my debit card and issue me a new one with a new number.
5. Did a Google search for the vendor, called their customer service number and informed them of the unauthorized charges. One of the vendors was able to remove the charge before it posted to my bank account.
   

By doing these 5 things, I had my new debit card and the charges reversed from my bank account in a matter of 2 days. I'm still not thrilled about this ordeal but thankful that I was fast to act.

How about you? Have you ever had your credit / debit card compromised / stolen? Leave me a comment and share your experience.

Create Bank Activity Alerts. It could save your @$$

Yesterday I received a text message on my phone at and an email about 2pm. It said my debit card transaction exceeded my alert limit of $30. I was thinking to myself this was strange as I've been at work all day and didn't use my debit card today.

I immediately logged into my online bank account and saw pending charges in the amount of $87.98 for The Collagen Store & $15.97 for NetFlix. I immediately though, Oh no, somehow my debit card number has been compromised.

What did I do next?

1. Didn't panic and called my bank to let them know I had unauthorized debit card transactions on my account. They closed my debit card and issued me another one. (It came in two days.)

2. I called NetFlix and they were very understanding and closed the newly opened account. (The one I didn't open.)From how the customer rep handled my call, I'm guessing this wasn't the first time they have seen something like this.

3. I did a Google search for "The Collagen Store" with no results. My bank did refund the money back to me and sent me an affidavit to sign.

The moral of the story. With text and email bank notification alerts on my checking account, I know within seconds where there is activity on my debit card.

Not having setup this notification system, I wouldn't have seen these charges until I reconciled my monthly bank statement. In the mean time, there would have been a total of $103.95 not in my checking account that I though was there. Can you say bounced checks? (Not good)

Financial Planning for the rest of us

Financial planning has always been important. In today's economy, it's more important than ever.

Now I know what you are already thinking. Your thinking 1 of three things.

1. Todd, I agree with you but a financial planner is so expensive.
2. Todd, I've tried those financial planners and all they want to do is sell me the products they represent.
3. Todd, I've got a some savings and retirement but what can a financial planner really do for me? Don't you have to have lots of money before I need something like this?

I'm happy to say, I've finally come across a financial planning solution that's worth checking out. It's called eFinPLAN. I've logged in, answered a list of detailed questions and was amazed by the 60+ financial plan that I received.

eFinPLAN the Only Web-Based Consumer Oriented Financial Planning Software makes financial planning easy, affordable, and understandable.

What exactly is PMI?

Over the weekend, I received a lot of question regarding PMI insurance. What exactly is PMI and why do people have to pay it?

When you purchase a home, if your down payment on a home is less than 20 percent of the appraised value or sale price, you must obtain private mortgage insurance, known as PMI, with your lender.

The amount of your PMI is about one-half of 1 percent of the loan, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. Mortgage insurance premiums are not tax deductible. PMI is added to your monthly mortgage payment.

So, now that you know the "why" and the "amount", what is it? It's foreclosure insurance that your lender makes you, the borrower pay. (ouch) You just purchase a new home and the lender is making you pay insurance so they recover there loan if you can't pay.

Here's a tip that will save you some money. Keep track of your payments on the principal of the mortgage. When you reach the point where the loan-to-value ratio hits 80 percent, notify the lender that it is time to discontinue the PMI premiums. The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998, which took effect in 1999, requires lenders to tell the buyer at closing how many years and months it will take for them to reach that 80 percent level and cancel PMI. Lenders must automatically cancel PMI when the balance hits 78 percent.

Is it time to refinance?

All over this mornings headlines in the news is that mortgage rates drop to a record low. The current national average for a 30 year fixed rate is now down to 5.13%. This rate was 6.12% one year ago. The 15 year fixed is down to 4.73% This according to Bankrate.com.

So the question is, should you refinance your mortgage? Must be as refinancing activity is up 3.7%

Here's some food for thought.

1. If you can lower your rate by 1% or more and you plan on staying in your home for more than 5 years, then refinance.
2. If you can go from your 30 year mortgage and refinance down to a 15 year mortgage and your monthly payments say about the same, then refinance.
3. I wouldn't refinance to take equity / cash out of your home. Bad idea.

If you are considering refinancing, first talk with your current mortgage company. Doing so could save some closing costs. Second, talk with your local small town bank. It's a big plus having your mortgage local.

If your interested in my bike ride, read on

I really enjoy bicycling for so many reasons. I was asked what one of my rides looks like. Here's tonight's ride. For what it's worth. This is from my Garmin Edge & Google Earth. Each box is a reading @ 6 second intervals.


The green line is elevation and the read is my heart rate.

Max elevation was 1,243 feet. Max heart rate was 167 beats per minute. Total calories burned 1,354