Money back for buying Shape-ups
The details are sketchy, but for those of you who bought Shape-Up shoes by Skechers may be getting some money back. The government says that simply wearing a pair of Skechers' fitness shoes in not going to get you in shape. Skechers USA Inc., will pay $40 million to settle charges by the Federal Trade Commission that the company made unfounded claims that Shape-ups shoes would help people lose weight and strengthen their butt, leg and stomach muscles. Consumers who bought the shoes will be eligible for refunds, though it's not clear how much money they'll get. Buyers can go to the FTC website to file a claim.
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Change the password!
There is an excercise that will take you about one hour to do and could save you lots of money and frustration. Banks are getting better with online security measures by adding extra steps to the online login process and requesting that customers change their passwords frequently. However, not all banks and credit card companies have identity-theft and cybercrime prevention plans in place. Make a list of all the accounts that you log into online and then go through and change all of those passwords. Make certain you don't use the same password, either.
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You're really not that special
Chances are good you've received some kind of credit card offer in the last month. If you are a college graduate or just got a new job, you are probably seeing even more mail offers. The envelopes will entice you with language such as, "You've been selected!" Card issuers will do their best to make you feel special and wanted. The problem is they send the same envelope to millions of other potential clients. Don't apply for a new card unless you actually need it. Remember, junk mail is called junk mail for a reason.
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Share with the neighbor
It’s probably not practical to share a car with your neighbor, but what about his ladder, or your lawn mower? If you and your neighbor get along pretty well, talk to him or her about going ni 50/50 on things line lawn equipment and tools. In addition to reducing the cost of common household items by 50 percent or more, you also reduce clutter.
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Sell before you buy
Before you buy anything you want, why not sell something first? Your garage and closets are full of stuff you no longer use. So before you go to the store, stop. Put off the purchase – first, take some clothes to the consignment shop, or take a picture of something you’re no longer using and put it on Craigslist. It only takes a minute. As soon as it sells, apply the money to the purchase you were going to make. Now you’ve saved on something you wanted, and gotten rid of something you didn’t.
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Bottled water adds up
Lots of us are dealing with little league and soccer this time of year. You have to make sure your little athlete is well hydrated, but how much are you spending on bottled waters and sports drinks? You don't need to buy bottled water. ABC's 20/20 asked scientists to analyze five different brands of bottled water. The result: There was no difference between the bottled stuff and the tap water in New York. Right here in Manchester, tap water has received awards for it's high quality. If you think you can taste a difference, buy a filter and fill up your own bottles for a fraction of the cost.
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Lower the temperature
It may not seem like it today, but the warmer weather is within reach. Considering you may pay more for energy because you'll run the air conditioner, there are ways to help cut costs. You may crank up the water heater during those frigid winter months, but cooler showers in the summertime will let you turn down the temperature setting for a few months, which reduces energy costs. It's estimated that dropping the temperature on a 50-gallon tank15 degrees can save more than $50 a year.
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Buy grocery gift cards for yourself
Times are tough for a lot of households. If you find yourself falling behind at the end of the month and scrouging to pay for the gallon of milk and loaf of bread, here's an idea. As soon as you get your paycheck, buy yourself a couple of grocery store gift cards and put them in your wallet. At the end of the month when the bank account is low, you will have those $25 gift cards to get you through. A friend of mine does this just before the holidays. She buys herself gift cards to her favorite grocery store and puts them aside. That way, when the wallet is empty, she still has a way to grab the staples without worry.
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Identity thieves take tax rebates
Some people hate tax day, others will learn it's after filing that can be the worst.
Tax-related identity theft is an exploding problem. The Internal Revenue Service paid out $1.4 billion in fraudulent tax refunds last year to identity thieves who filed false returns, six times more than in 2010.
Experts say the fraud is attractive to scam artists because people are unaware they have been scammed until their tax return is rejected.
In order to minimize the likelihood of becoming a victim of identity theft the IRS has these recommendations
1. Don’t carry your Social Security card or any document with your Social Security number on it.
2. Don’t give a business your Social Security number just because they ask for it. Only give it when it is required.
3. Check your credit report every 12 months.
4. Secure personal information in your home and on your computer.
5. Don’t give personal information over the phone or the Internet unless you initiated the contact or are sure you know who you are dealing with.
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Consider a Re-FI
Have you refinanced your mortgage, yet? If you still haven't refinanced your 6% 30-year fixed-rate loan, you owe it to yourself to get this done. Work out the numbers, go on line or call your banks and find out what today's mortgage rate is. In some cases, you can get under 4%. We recently refinanced our mortgage and cut more than $200 from our monthly house payment. It's worth the effort.
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Earth Day Deals
Sunday is Earth Day and that of course means lots of people are doing their part to try and better the way we treat our planet. You can also get some great deals in honor of the day.
Target is giving away one reusable Target bag per shopper on April 22.
If you can't make it to Target on April 22, you can get a couple from Kelloggs. Visit www.earthday.kelloggs.com to learn more.
The National Park Service is offering free admission to all 397 national parks to celebrate Earth Day and National Park Week, April 21-29.
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Landlines get cheaper
Like cable and Internet providers, landline phone service packages keep getting cheaper as more competition comes on the market. If you do stay with your traditional telephone company, be sure you are getting the cheapest long distance service and not paying for services you don't need.
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Buy your cord of wood now
Spring and warmer weather is on our minds, but if you burn wood to heat your home in the winter, now is a good time to go shopping for your cords. It's always best to shop for firewood before you need it. Sometimes you can find great deals in the spring and summer, before people are thinking about cool weather and warming their home.
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Trade in the CDs
Consumers may now have a new home for all those CDs currently collecting dust or serving as drink coasters – Amazon. The online retailer announced Wednesday that it has added CDs to the list of items it allows shoppers to trade. Sellers get a free shipping label to mail in their items, and receive store credit based on quality of the discs. It's not confirmed, but it's estimated, you'll get between $2 and $3 per CD in good condition.
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Use the microwave while cooking Easter dinner
It's a busy weekend for most Christians around the country celebrating Easter. If you are having family and friends over to your house for the traditional Easter dinner, here's a money saving tip for you. Use your microwave. There's a couple of reasons for you to at least consider this. Your microwave takes up half the energy than your typical range. Sure, cook the ham in the oven, but there's no reason why you can't microwave the side dishes. Not only will this save you money on your energy bill, it will give you a little more time to spend in the living room rather than the kitchen.
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Momma's crazy coupons
I found a good deal on a local woman's web site for Land O Lakes spreadable butter. You can get it for just .50 cents and the deal is good through May. I found the deal at Momma's crazy coupons. com. I learned about this web site from a listener who emailed me to tell me about the creator of the site and the blogger who is from New Hampshire. So kudos to you Momma's crazy coupon lady, you've got good coupons and ideas! www.mommascrazycoupons.com
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Some credit card holders dealing with a data breach
Up to 1.5 million cards may be impacted by a data breach at one of MasterCard and Visa’s third-party processors. For individuals, data breaches are often far less scary than they sound — at least for credit cards.
Consumers are actually well-protected against fraudulent credit card charges. However, when a data breach involves debit cards, consumers could be at a much greater risk.
For now, you should contact your credit and debit card issuers to confirm your cards haven’t been compromised. You should also review your checking account regularly online to make sure fraudulent withdrawals aren’t occurring.
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weddinggiftrefund.com
You're invited to a wedding. You go to the wedding, but you honestly have your doubts on this relationship lasting. You spend $100 on the gift and WHAM, a year later you find out the marriage is over. Which leaves you wondering...What about all those wedding gifts? Did you know you can get a refund? There's a website called wedding gift refund.com. You enter the price of the gift, you pay 8% of the cost and the company will provide you with a certificicate good for a 100% refund of the cost of the gift if the marriage ends in the first three years.
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Don't lose your phone, get an ap
Have you ever lost your cell phone? I bet you know a few people that have. Did you know that lost phones cost American's 30 Billion dollars a year? There are apps to help you locate your lost phone via GPS, and which allow data to be erased remotely. That could keep you from dealing with identity theft and someone breaking in to your bank account because of the information they find on the cell phone you couldn't find. Among the apps you should consider downloading are LookOut, Find My iPhone, and iHound. It's worth the trouble to avoid all the costs involved in losing your cell phone.
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The extras can break your wedding budget
Lots of us are planning Weddings. It's amazing how quickly you can go over budget and often times it's because of the little things you never thought about. For instance, if you are planning on mailing out some really unique invitations, don't forget about the postage. Overisized, awkwardly shaped and bulky invitations will most often run you as much as $2 each to mail. And, when it comes to your gown, make sure you ask about alteration prices. You may want to call around to local seamstress to see what they charge. You don't have to have your hems done at the boutique.
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Unemploed must claim income
People who are dealing with job loss are being cautioned by the IRS about reporting their unemployment income. The Internal Revenue Service say income from unemployment payments must be reported on your tax return form. Unemployed people who are receiving benefits should be on the lookout for what's called Form 1099-G. There's more information about taxes and unemployment compensation at www.irs.gov.
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Watch out for the officel lottery pool
Lots of people joining office pools for Friday’s Mega Millions jackpot. It's at a half a billion dollars now and may grow even more. It's nice to dream of winning all that money, but be very careful who you join the pool with. A few years ago, five construction workers sued a co-worker because they didn't get their fare share. The ticket holder claimed they had bought the ticket for themself, and it wasn't part of the employee pool. He ended up paying four million dollars to each co-worker. Here's the advice, if you join an office pool, make sure you get a copy of the ticket or at the very least have the ticket buyer write down every participants name and the numbers picked on each ticket. And as always, your chances of winning, so if you plan on purchasing tickets, don't spend more than you can afford.
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Two more energy savers
Shorten your dryer-vent hose. First, disconnect it and vacuum it out. Then trim the hose length so that it's just long enough for you to pull the dryer a few feet out from the wall. A short and unobstructed line makes your dryer run more efficiently. Your clothes will dry much faster.
Close your closet doors. This will lower the square footage in the room, which means it won't take as much energy to keep the room warm or cool. And, if your closet is on an exterior wall, by closing the doors, it helps insulate the house.
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Free paint
If you plan on doing some painting this weekend, how about some free paint? At heyitsfree.net, they say you can get a free quart of Clark and Kensington Paint. It's the new paint brand by Ace Hardware. All you have to do is go to the Ace Hardware Facebook page and print out the coupon. Each participating Ace Hardware store has around 40 free quarts and you will need the coupon in order to get the paint. This promotion is good for tomorrow only, so if you planned on doing some painting, why not get some of that paint for free?
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A new web site that tracks good deals
I found a web site that is really good at tracking good deals. It's called slickdeals.net. The site has everything from sneakers to electronics and the items are from very well known stores including Best Buy, Kohls, Sears, Toys R Us and the Microsoft Store. Each day, a new list of great deals comes out and most appear to have free shipping. Today's deals include a Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 for $8 and Dance Central 2 Kinect Game for the Xbox for $30. Check it out at slickdeals.net...
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Unplug the printer and scanner
Saving energy around the home can start with making good habits that can immediately help save money. Most people are good about shutting off the lights when they leave a room, but what about all the other electricity being used? Get in the habit of shutting down the computer if it is not going to be used in the next hour. And while you're at it, how often do you use the computer printer or scanner at home? Unplug them. They use phantom electricity, so if you're not using it, pull the plug.
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Drive slower and save
Gas prices are inching toward record highs, but experts say how you drive can increase the number of times you have to fill-up. By the U.S. Department of Energy's estimates, each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph adds $0.30 per gallon to the gas bill. And,
There's good reason to clean out the junk piled in the trunk. Every 100 pounds of added weight in a car reduces its fuel economy by up to 2%.
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Throwing out spoiled food adds up
If you want to save money, a good way to start is by not buying food you won't eat. It sounds like a no-brainer, but in the U.S., the average family of four spends between $500 and $2,000 per year on food that gets thrown away. The Wall Street Journal reports vegetables are the worst culprit, making up 25% of avoidable waste. In all, 33 million tons of food ended up in a U.S. landfill in 2010, the biggest solid waste component, once paper and cardboard are removed and recycled.
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Keep the air conditioner
Use your air conditioner only when it is really needed. If you open up your home, the cross ventilation will keep it cool enough. Turn off the air conditioner when you are going to be out all day. When the nights are cool you can do without the air conditioner, just open a few windows. And, if you are going to use the AC, make sure the filters of your air conditioners are clean or you will end up paying an even bigger electricity bill. You may not even think about it, but dirty filters increase your cooling costs.
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