Archive for March, 2009

A Checklist For Moving

March 16th, 2009 Biz Man

MOVING! The very thought of it can send chills down our spine and can cause us to break out into a cold sweat. Experts say that any kind of “change” creates “stress”. Moving, (and especially if we are relocating to a new city or state), represents a huge change and naturally brings a great amount of stress along with it. This can be a double whammy, because stress can lead to a lack of energy and motivation. Many of us tend to procrastinate during stressful periods of our lives. This is one time, though, when we must rise above that. When preparing for a move we need to put the pedal to the metal and get a lot of things done. This checklist contains many suggestions that may seem like “no-brainers”. However, the very act of printing out these simple suggestions and reminders can become a significant security blanket as the dreaded time approaches. Moving and relocating calls for being proactive, grabbing the bull by the horns and actually completing certain chores well in advance of their deadlines. Hopefully this little paper will help you to accomplish that. In this particular article we are leaving out the “big things” such as finding the best moving company, researching your new neighborhood’s transportation, parking, employment, etc. Those are for other articles on another day. Today we are concentrating on the basics of planning and preparation.

Get rid of what you don’t need.

Many of us are “pack rats”. One thing that we can accomplish immediately is going through all of our “stuff” and getting rid of what we don’t need anymore. Moving unwanted clothing and bric-a-bracs from one place of residence to another is a great waste of time and effort. It is surprising how much more in control we feel once we start narrowing down our “inventory” to what we actually need to keep. Getting rid of the unwanted items can be done by having a garage sale long before moving time and then donating the leftovers to the Salvation Army or other charitable groups.

Get all important papers and documents together and secure them.

Since moving is hectic, to say the least, we need to be aware of the exact location of all of our important items. Things that we absolutely must not lose or misplace should certainly be hand carried, not put in a box for the movers:

Address Books, Birth Certificates, Bank Statements, Checks, Credit Cards and Statements, Home Movies, Irreplaceable Memorabilia, Insurance Policies, Marriage Records, Medical and Dental Records, Military Records, Passports, Photos and Photo Albums, Resumes, School Records, Stock Certificates, Tax Returns, Telephone Numbers, Valuables, Vehicle Documents, Wills.

Prepare well in advance for living at your new location.

There are many things that we can do at our new location well in advance of our move that will help smooth out the bumps and grinds of our relocation process when the actual event occurs: Open up new bank accounts. Open up a new Safe Deposit Box. Contact the new area utility companies and arrange for your new services. These can include Cable TV, gas, electric, oil, telephone, water and Internet access. Arrange for new medical providers. If you are moving to a new state, contact the DMV and get forms necessary to re-register your vehicles. Contact your insurance companies and find out if your car insurance, homeowner’s insurance, etc. can be transferred. If not, find an Insurance Broker in your new area and discuss your needs and requirements for new policies. Go to the post office and get a moving kit. Prepare change of address forms for all of your correspondents; credit card companies, other credit accounts, banks, insurance companies, current utility companies for final statements, magazines and other subscriptions, family, friends, and any other persons or businesses that you correspond with on a regular basis.

As the time approaches, get a nice new legal pad.

As moving day approaches and when the moving process actually begins, you don’t want to be hunting for phone numbers in wallets, purses, or address books. Have a nice new legal pad ready with all important phone numbers written clearly and legibly for both your old and new contacts: Banks, Doctors, Emergency contacts, Family members, Friends, Landlords or Real Estate Brokers, Movers, Pharmacies Schools, Storage Facilities, Utilities.

With proper planning and preparation the moving process, though never fun, can at least be sane. With proper planning and preparation the utilities at your present address can be disconnected the day after you move and the utilities at your new address can be connected the day prior to your arrival. With proper planning and preparation you will not be frantically searching for a new doctor or pharmacy, if that unfortunate need arises. With proper planning and preparation you will have all of your important documents at the tip of your fingers at all times. With proper planning and preparation your mail will start arriving the day after you move in to your new abode and your life will endure a minimum of chaos and clutter.

Good luck with your move and good luck in your new home or apartment.

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The Simple $10 Debt Elimination Solution

March 15th, 2009 Biz Man

Ask a friend what resolutions they made for the new year and your bound to hear them reply “Pay off my credit cards.” Ask them how they planned on reaching that goal and many of them will not have a clear cut answer.

The obvious first step to paying off credit card debt or paying down credit debt load is to cut back or eliminate the use of your credit cards. For some people this first step can often be the most difficult. If you’re used to spending freely with plastic and worrying about the consequences later, it’s difficult to break free from this “buy now, pay later” attitude.

To gain control of their careless credit card spending habits, some people cut up their credit cards therefore making it impossible to use them. Others lock up their credit cards or hide them in a safe place and vow to use them only in an emergency.

The second step to paying down credit debt is to pay more than the minimum balance due. Most credit card companies require a minimum monthly payment of 2.5% of the outstanding balance. For example, if you have an outstanding balance of $1100.00 on a credit card charging an Annual Percentage Rate (APR) of 18.9% your minimum monthly payment would be $27.50. It will take you 66 months or 5.5 years to pay off your balance of $1100.00 making the minimum payments. The credit card company will make $676.94 in interest from your use of their credit card.

Monthly payments are purposely kept low by the credit card companies so that they can earn as much as possible from the interest rate charged to you the consumer. Paying just the minimum payment will keep you tangled in credit’s web for years and years to come.

If you’ve been paying only the minimum due month after month, ask yourself this question, “Do I have an extra $10.00 I could apply to this month’s payment?” I’m sure that most of us could find some way to come up with an extra $10.00 for the month. Try cutting out a few cups of coffee or lunches at your nearby fast food outlets and in no time flat you’ll have saved up the extra money that you need.

Now, it’s time to unveil “The Simple $10.00 Debt Elimination Solution.” Take that extra $10.00 and add it to the minimum monthly payment above, therefore making a payment of $37.50. By adding just that $10.00 a month to your minimum payment, you’ll trim 23 months or nearly two years off of that credit debt! On top of that you’ll save $277.00 in interest alone! That’s money you can put toward savings or paying off other debts. Imagine how much you’d be able to save if you applied this same simple strategy to each of your other credit card debts!

Paying down credit debt doesn’t always mean having to make huge monthly payments or sacrifices. It just takes some basic planning and a simple effective strategy to make it work.

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How to Save Money on Your Energy Bill

March 10th, 2009 Biz Man

Is it just me, or have energy prices just been going up and up lately? Unfortunately, this results in significant increases in our home energy bills.

Fortunately, there are a lot of relatively inexpensive (sometimes free) changes you can make around the home that will save you money. I’ve put together a list of twelve tips that cover heating and cooling, lighting, appliances, and home electronics. These areas all tend to be notorious energy hogs. Let’s get started.

Heating and Cooling Tips:

1. If you haven’t already, switch to a natural gas water heater (electric water heaters use twice as much energy).

2. Whenever possible, cool your home naturally. For example, you can plant shade trees around your house (especially on the east and west sides). Their protection keeps the sun from beating on your roof and siding during the summer, which can naturally keep your home 4 degrees cooler. (Trees also help insulate your house against cold winds in the winter.)

3. Seal your house to protect against heat loss in cold weather. Seal the ductwork, close the fireplace damper when it’s not in use, and install a timer on the bathroom exhaust fan.

Money-saving Lighting Tips:

1. Use dimmers on all your bulbs, and only keep lights as bright as needed for your work. Instead of turning on big watt-sucking overhead lights, use task lighting when appropriate.

2. Use timers and motion- or heat-sensing lights outdoors.

3. Make the most of the natural light from outside. Consider skylights and well-placed mirrors, which can reflect more light into a room, thus reducing energy costs.

Home Electronics Energy-saving Tips:

1. Unless you really need ten clocks glowing greenly at you day and night, unplug TVs, DVD players, stereos, etc. when not in use (you can plug them into a power strip with an on/off switch to make this easy). 60-80% of the electricity used by these devices is sucked down when they’re idle.

2. Unplug chargers when you aren’t actively charging your cell phone, iPod, battery charger, etc. Why? Because as long as the plugs are inserted into an outlet, they’re drawing electricity.

3. Unplug or turn off your computer when it’s not in use. And in case you forget, set the system to lapse into sleep mode after a certain amount of idle time (sleep mode draws 60-80% less energy than full-power mode).

Tips for Saving Energy with Appliances

1. If your refrigerator was made before 1993, replace it. It could be sucking down $140 a year in electricity as opposed to newer models, which require significantly less. Today’s Energy Star-rated refrigerators only use about $20 of energy a year.

2. Do all your laundry on the same day, and dry the loads back-to-back. This makes use of residual dryer heat.

3. If you have a top-loading washing machine, replace it with a front-loading model. These generally use 50% less energy and 1/3 less water.

That’s all the advice for this article. Apply these simple energy-saving tips, and you’ll soon be looking at smaller bills.

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