Have you ever wished for someone to make you a schedule of what to make for dinner each night? Maybe even take it a step further and create the shopping list that has every item you need to make each dinner? What about dinners that are so easy and only take you less than 30 minutes to prepare? If this sounds like exactly what you need, you need to try E-Mealz because it does all of that.
Choose a Food Plan Right for Your Family
When you sign up for E-Mealz, you will be able to choose a food plan. You can choose low-fat, point meals (excellent for weight watchers) or regular meals. You can then choose whether you are feeding two people or four. Finally, you can choose to have the list be items from Wal-Mart or another store, which saves you time because not all grocery stores have the same items.
Every Thursday, a new menu is live on the site for you to print out, complete with your shopping list. If you don’t want to make one of the meals on the menu, simply cross of the food items on the shopping list by corresponding the meal number with the numbers on the shopping list. SO EASY!
Membership as Low as $1.25 a Week
To use the website, you do need to pay for a membership but it’s only $15 for three months (remember, you get a new menu every week). You can find a coupon code online that will give you a discount, so you only pay $12.50. I just signed up for three more months and used the coupon code Dave to get my discount.
How E-Mealz Saves You Money
Using E-Mealz will help you save money because you won’t buy random items and then come home and still not be able to put a meal together. When looking after your personal finances, it’s best to have a plan like the meal plan with E-Mealz.
If you find yourself struggling with paying your mortgage, loan modification may be able to help you. Loan modification not only decreases your monthly payment but also can help you decrease your debt and prevent foreclosure by:
Lowering your interest rate
Give you extensions on payments
Decrease your loan balance
Eliminate some accrued interest
Obama’s Loan Modification Stimulus Program
This is the one of the best times to take advantage of loan modification. President Obama is currently working with lenders by creating a $50 billion loan modification program.
Qualifying for Loan Modification
You do need to qualify for a loan modification. You must prove to your lender that you have a financial hardship. This financial hardship can be due to one of the following:
Debt ratio of at least 31%
Divorce
Marital separation
Unemployment
Military
Death of co-borrower
Natural disaster
Illness
Improving Your Chances for a Loan Modification
Lenders aren’t just passing these loan modifications out. They are being picky about who really deserves them. This is why it’s important that you research exactly what you need to qualify for one. Pick up the phone and call your lender to inquire about their procedure for loan modification. Ask what needs to be submitted and what someone’s financial situation has to look like to be accepted for one. With this information, you can start to build your case for one. While it may take some work to get your loan modified, it will save you a lot of money.
You would think that younger Americans would have more debt than older ones, but the truth is that the elderly have been racking up debt on credit cards, according to an article on the ABCNews website.
The article pinpoints that older Americans have higher debt because of rising medical costs. These individuals aren’t spending frivolously but out of necessity. If their retirement doesn’t cover their household bills, medications, etc. it’s easy to just put it on the credit card. Then if they can’t pay off the credit card, they are paying as much as 20% interest and late fees if the minimum payment isn’t paid. This just puts them further into debt the older they get.
Getting Financial Help
If you are an older American - what are you to do? You need to take medication and have a roof over your head. Here are some suggestions if you are elderly and struggling:
Contact social services to ask about any financial assistance for heating and cooling. Some states have subsidies for the elderly.
Contact pharmaceutical companies to ask if there are any discounts or ways to get their medications at a reduced cost.
Ask your doctor about samples. Many doctors get these free samples from pharmaceutical companies and don’t have a problem giving them away to people in need.
If you are using your credit card for groceries, contact churches in your area to ask about food banks. You can receive a bag or two of food that will get you through the week.
What to Do About Your Debt
To start working on your credit card debt, call the credit card companies to explain your situation. You may be able to reduce your interest rate and work out a payment plan that fits your financial situation.
Take One Thing at a Time
Don’t worry about the debt, pay as much as you can and utilize resources. Over time, you will get your debt down and eventually eliminated.
If you are looking for a new way to budget your personal finances online, you might want to check out Mint.com. It’s a personal finances budgeting tool that will help you cut down on debt, see where your spending lies and help you make cut backs so you can start saving money!
Mint.com is free to use. Once you register, you can create accounts for your banks, credit cards, mortgage and investments. You may be thinking, “WHOA..I am not giving away my personal finance information”. Don’t worry. There have bank level security which means that they have the same encryption as online banking websites have. They also never ask for your name or any other identifiable information.
Here’s a video about the site’s security:
Once you provide the account information, the system pulls your balance information and stores it in your secure account with Mint.com. Now you can see all of your personal finance information in one place. Now your set up is complete and you can start to reap the benefits of the online budgeting tool.
The website will give you graphs and pie charts of how much you spend on what. It will also show you how you can cut down on fees and save money. You can diligently track what is going on with your accounts because the site constantly updates. Forget balancing your checkbook!
To start using this great free online budgeting tool, head over to Mint.com now. In a matter of minutes, you can finally start to get a handle on your personal finances.
Many people think that buying in bulk instantly means they are saving money. The reality is that if you don’t buy in bulk wisely, it could end up costing you much more than you really need to be spending. When visiting your favorite bulk superstore such as Costco or Sam’s Club, or just stocking up on sales items, there are a few things you should keep in mind:
Only buy non-perishable items.
You don’t want to stock up on things that you will never use and have to end up throwing away. Things like can goods, toothpaste, and toothbrushes are used regularly and need replenishing, so they are great bulk items to purchase.
Check the per unit price at bulk superstores.
Not every bulk item at Costco and Sam’s Club is a great deal. If you’ve never checked out the fine print of the price sign, do so to find out how much each one of the items costs inside of the bundle. You may be surprised to find that you can buy each unit for much less at your regular grocery store.
Stick to your list.
Don’t start buying everything you like or think you may need in the future. Just buy what you are out of in your house and leave everything else for another day when you actually are in desperate need of it.
Just stay in control of your bulk purchases and mindful of what you are really buying. There’s a lot to be saved with bulk buying, just as long as you are smart about it!
You probably never thought you could actually talk down your doctor costs, but apparently you can! In an article on ABC News, How to Cut Down Doctor’s Bills,specific examples are given on how others have been able to save hundreds of dollars on procedures and doctor’s visits just by asking for it. This is after health insurance pays for their share, since many insurance policies won’t pay enough of the bill to keep you out of financial hardship.
In this economy, you can talk people into giving you deals almost anywhere you go including medical care. The medical profession doesn’t want to see you go without healthcare but they still want to be paid. This is why they will meet you, in most circumstances, half way. So if you know you are in need of care, call ahead to your doctor and discuss your situation. Ask if your doctor would be able to give you a reduced rate, you’ll be surprised to hear that he/she most likely will!
When I worked as a case manager, many of my clients had limited incomes and many of them didn’t have any insurance. If one of them needed to go to the hospital for an emergency, in most cases, he/she weren’t able to pay for it. Usually, we would ask the hospital to treat it as a charity case. They would review the patient’s financial information and verify that he/she doesn’t have insurance and then waive the cost. However, what were they really going to do? The patient would never be able to pay…so in the end, they wouldn’t get the money anyway.
Have you ever looked at your receipt and thought, “Gosh, look at how much tax I had to pay!” Well, this weekend, if you live in New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, Missouri and Tennessee, you won’t have to think that if you buy some of the items that are tax free eligible. In honor of back to school, many stores in many states are offering back to school type items tax free. Some of the items offered are clothes, computers, school supplies and small appliances. You don’t have to be going back to school to cash in on these items either!
Besides not having to pay tax on these items, many stores are having big sales! You’ll have to check your local paper for details on this.
How to Save Big This Weekend
If you are in the market for a new computer, this is the weekend to save on one. Tax can cost you a lot when you purchase a new computer, especially an expensive one. Just make sure to call around and check on any additional sales you can find on the computer you want. Many places like Best Buy will match competitor’s prices, so look into that as well.
Additional Savings
Georgia is offering energy and water efficient products tax free. West Virginia is offering some Energy Star products for tax-free as well.
To find out about all the tax-free items and sales available this weekend, check the DealNews.com.
If you’re an avid coffee drinker, especially gourmet coffees, you know that buying one or two cups a day can put a huge dent in your budget. If you don’t know, pull out your calculator and add up how many cups you buy a day and the number of days you buy it in a month. Surprised? Well, there is something you can do about this, make your own coffee at home.
I know what you are thinking, “Making coffee at home just isn’t the same as buying it from Starbucks or the little coffee shop down the street.” It can be though!
Recently, I bought the Keurig machine. It’s ready to make coffee whenever I am ready for it because it has a reservoir of water that is already at the right temperature. All I do is pop in one of my gourmet coffee k-cups and press, ‘brew’. It’s fresh because the coffee grounds are sealed in the k-cup. Not only that, you don’t have to measure anything out or put in a filter. You have the perfect cup of coffee every time.
You might be wondering how much k-cups cost and if it would really save you money. The k-cups are around 50 cents each depending on where you buy them. Coffee isn’t the only thing you can buy, you can buy hot chocolate and tea too.
If you are still stuck on wanting Starbucks, you can buy a filter for the Keurig machine and use Starbucks coffee grounds from the grocery store. It will still end up cheaper than actually going to Starbucks.
If this still doesn’t sound ideal to you, when it comes to your personal finances and saving money, you have to do what you have to do.
This is the best time to turn green and help out your personal finances by doing it. The federal government is providing a tax credit under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. How much can you save? You can save up to $1500! This means you can make some improvements on your home, trade in your old gas-guzzling car, buy a new home, and receive a nice deduction.
If this has sparked your interest, here are some of the things you can do to your home that would qualify for the 30 percent tax credit or up to $1500 return.
Buy a new water heater because older ones may not run as efficiently and use up more energy.
Buy a new furnace for the same reason as why you would buy a new water heater.
Old windows can cost you hundreds of dollars a year in heating and cooling costs. Replace your windows with energy efficient ones.
Another way to cut down on heating and cooling costs and get you the nice tax credit is to install a steel roof.
The same goes for old doors. Buy some new storm doors!
The other ways you can cash in is buying a new home as a first time homebuyer, trade in a car that gets less than 18 MPG for one that is 22 MPG, or a hybrid electric car.
Taking care of your personal finances just got easier with mobile banking!
Today while at the checkout counter, I wondered if I was paid last night. I usually get paid the last day of the month, but sometimes it comes through a day earlier. To resolve my curiosity, I took out my trusty Blackberry and typed in my bank’s website. By using mobile banking, I was able to see that I was paid and that I was then free to buy that extra item I had been contemplating.
If you haven’t used mobile banking yet or don’t know what it is, you should consider using it next time you need to quickly take care of a banking need. With mobile banking, you can:
See your pending transactions
See your cleared transactions
View balance amounts
Transfer funds
Instead of calling your bank’s toll free number for customer service to go through the automated system to find out your balance, you can simply look it up on your phone. If you want to buy something while you are out, you can easily transfer funds from your savings account to your checking account. Another benefit is that if you suspect that someone is making unauthorized purchases with your debit card, you can quickly look at your transactions to see if anything is suspicious, and if there is, so you can call and put your card on alert as soon as possible.
Are you interested in mobile banking? Not all banks have it yet, but if you go to your bank’s website, you may be able to find information about it. You can also just call your bank and ask!
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