I call what I’m going to explain to you the “credit card shuffle.”  It’s a money making strategy I personally use to make money off of the credit card companies and never have to pay a cent of debt!

At the core of this strategy is what is called a “sign-up bonus.”  This is usually a large cash value bonus that a credit card company offers someone to entice the person to open the card.  Your average credit card company is banking on the fact that you will open the card, get the bonus, and then rack up an obscene amount of debt.  The numbers are definitely on the credit card company’s side however there is a small percentage of people that belong to the group that these companies consider “sunk costs.”

I’m someone who uses a credit card but never pays a cent of credit card debt.  How can this be?  It’s rather simple.  I’m always on the look-out for a new credit card bonus and open new credit cards to receive these bonuses.  While I typically use my Chase Freedom credit card for everyday purchases, I’m always cycling through new credit cards to cash in on big rewards bonuses.

It amazes me how many people have no idea they can do this.  I truly believe people assume that there is some “catch” that these credit card companies are trying to pull.  Well guess what, there is no catch!  This is truly free money and it requires ZERO work!

My yearly plan

I’m going to let you in on my secret recipe for credit card bonuses.  I like to open around four credit cards a year so this comes to around a new credit card each quarter.  This may seem like a little much but when you make $500 in bonus rewards, you will start smiling.

It’s important to point out that I don’t always meet my personal quota of four credit cards a year.  Sometimes the bonuses for top credit card companies are just not worth my time so I just wait.

Another thing to bring up is that some credit cards I open are not cash bonuses.  For example, I just opened the Chase Marriott card and received 7 free nights for opening the card.  For me, this is just as good as cash because I love staying at hotels once in a while!  If you crunch the numbers, the average Marriott is going to cost you $100 a night.  At seven nights, the bonus reward for this card is $700.  Not bad for simply opening a card!

After completely using up the bonus money from the opening of a credit card, I usually close it.  Many people say that you should never close credit cards, but I typically do.  I don’t like to have accounts open and have the chance of identity theft.  Yes, it may ding my credit score temporarily but credit scores fluctuate all the time and I’ve never had my credit score not recover.

Any drawbacks to playing the credit card shuffle?

As I’ve just mentioned about credit score dings, at the end of the day this is something you really shouldn’t worry about unless you’re about to apply for a mortgage.  In that case, you’d want the highest possible credit score.  Like all things in life you should consider all the variables in life and ask yourself if it’s worth it to open or close a credit card and have a possible credit ding.

Real bonuses that I currently recommend

Here are a couple credit card bonus promotions I can recommend to you because I’ve personally received them.  Not only are the following companies extremely reputable but they also offer awesome customer service.  I know because I’ve called them and asked them random questions on purpose to see how they react.  They all get an A+ from me so far!

40,000 bonus points with Chase Sapphire (my travel card that I use for international travel)

$100 Bonus with Chase Freedom (my every day purchase credit card)

Free flight with Southwest Rewards Visa (opened this one for the free flights)

50,000 bonus points with Marriott Rewards (scored 7 free nights with this card)

100,000 bonus points with British Airways (this will be my next card as I plan on doing some traveling overseas this next year)

What card will you be opening?

Now that you know how I make thousands of extra dollars each year, will you be joining in on the fun?  While credit cards can be dangerous, you need to realize that you can take advantage of credit card companies and make some easy cash!  It’s super easy and can really benefit you especially in this tough economy.

photo by PT

There are different ways you can do this, making it easier to find a way that will work in your particular situation. Find one of the five below that will be most comfortable for you.

For each example we’ll assume you have a 30 year mortgage for $200,000 at 4%, with a monthly payment of $955. Use this mortgage calculator to see how this will work for your particular situation.

Make your payment based on a 15 year loan

Some people are hesitant to take a 15 year mortgage due to the higher payment, and opt for a 30 year term instead. The difference in payment is substantial so its understandable why you’d want the longer term. But what if you take a 30 year loan but still want to pay it off in 15 years?

You still can.

You don’t have to have a 15 year loan to pay your mortgage off in 15 years—you can simply pay your 30 year loan based on a 15 year payoff.

Using the loan numbers above, by increasing your payment from $955 a month to $1,479—the monthly payment for a 15 year mortgage—you’ll not only pay your loan off in 15 years, but you’ll also save over $77,000 in interest.

Increase your monthly payments—a little

If you can’t afford to make your payment based on a 15 year loan term you can still payoff your mortgage early by making smaller additional payments. You can increase your monthly payment by a flat amount that’s comfortable for you and that will still allow you to shorten the loan term.

Let’s say that you decide that you can afford to add $100 to your payment each month, increasing it from $955 to $1,055. By doing this, you can shorten your loan term by 3 years and 9 nine months, effectively reducing your loan from 30 years to 26 years and three months.

Make one extra payment each year

By making one extra payment on your mortgage each year—an extra $955 based on our example—you can reduce your loan term from 30 years to less than 23. You’re not increasing your monthly payment, you’re just making one extra payment each year.

Make periodic lump sum payments

Maybe you don’t like being locked into a higher monthly payment—that’s fine, you can still shorten the loan term.

If instead of going the higher payment route you decide to save up your money and make a lump sum additional payment once a year—or any frequency you choose—you will still pay your mortgage off faster.

By making a single lump sum additional payment of $2,000 each year, you can shorten your mortgage from 30 years to less than 23 years. Seeing what lump sum payments can do to shorten your loan term can be a real incentive to pay as much as you can and pay off the mortgage even sooner.

Apply windfalls to your mortgage

Let’s say you aren’t much of a saver and you can’t afford to make higher monthly payments–there’s still a way pay your loan off early.

When ever you get a windfall, apply it toward your mortgage.

Let’s say you get a $5,000 income tax refund, and you decide to put it toward your mortgage—how much would it shorten your loan term with just a single, one-time payment? One year and four months—just for making a single payment in year one of the mortgage term.

What if you did the same each year—let’s say the tax refund is only $3,000, but each year you faithfully used it to prepay your mortgage. You’d reduce your mortgage term by nine years and seven months.

Just by applying your tax refund to your mortgage each year—not a bad deal!  Instead of letting your money sit in a savings account, apply your money to your mortgage!

Is paying off your mortgage early worth the extra effort?

Imagine your life without a mortgage; you’d have more money to spend, more money to save, more money to invest—more money for everything! The sooner you can make it happen the sooner you can do all those things.

Once you start thinking that way you have real incentive to make it happen. You can even combine one or more of the strategies above to make it happen even faster.

Is giving up some money now worth having extra money later?

photo by wwworks

Other Big Debts are only getting bigger

A house is an expensive proposition these days; so is a college education. Most people today are using debt to pay for the majority of these purchases, and that’s forcing overall debt levels to get steadily higher.

As the bigger debts get even bigger, one of the best ways to manage debt overall is to be debt free on everything else. That means no credit card debt, no secured debt (furniture loans, etc) and no car loans!

We may not be able to completely eliminate mortgages and student loans from our lives, but that makes getting rid of the rest even more important.

Cash flow drain

All loans are not created equal, not when it comes to monthly payments. A typical monthly credit card payment will be about two percent of the outstanding loan balance. A student loan payment will be in the ballpark of one percent of the loan balance. Monthly mortgage payments (on a 30 year loan) will be substantially less than one percent of the balance.

Car loans are a different story entirely. The monthly payment on a $15,000 car loan at five percent interest for a four year term will be $345 a month, or more than two percent of the loan balance. That’s not bad, but it gets worse as time goes on.

When you’’ve paid your loan balance down to $10,000, your payment will still be $345 a month, or nearly 3.5% of the remaining balance. At $5,000 your payment will be equal to nearly seven percent of the balance.

That’s good for paying the loan off quickly, but it’s an outsized payment for a small loan balance, and a big cash flow drain on a relatively small debt. And it figures significantly in the next issue……

You can lose your car for a very small loan balance

Let’s stay with that $345 monthly payment for a bit. You’’ve paid the balance down to $5,000–which is good–—but you just lost your job and now you have no income. Even though you’’ve paid the loan down by two-thirds, the monthly payment isn’’t doable any more and the lender won’’t give you any credit for your good work to date if you can’’t make the payments going forward.

You know what happens when you can’’t make a car payment–—the lender takes back the car. A car repossession doesn’’t take nearly as long as losing a house in foreclosure. You can lose a car in a matter of weeks and there aren’’t many legal defenses for non-payment.

If the car is worth, say $12,000 at the time of repossession, you will have lost 100% of that value for inability to pay a $5,000 debt that you were well on your way to paying off while you were working. It’s a lot to lose for a small loan balance.

Pay it off, and you don’t have to worry about any of that.

A car is too important to risk with a loan

Staying with the repossession idea, this is complicated by the fact that it’s very difficult for most people to earn a living without a car. Some areas are well served by public transportation, but let’s face it, most aren’’t. In the areas where most people live, no car equals no job.

For that reason you want to keep your car free of debt risk. You already have the break down/repair risk that’s inherent in cars to begin with so you don’’t need to increase that risk with a loan.

Keep the car free and clear so that come what may, you’’ll always be able to earn a living.

More people are working from home than ever

Few things in life are as absurd as the concept of making payments on a car that seldom leaves your driveway. If you work from home, this could be your situation.

Whether by telecommuting or running some sort of online business, more people are working from home now than ever and more are joining the ranks all the time. You may still need a car for other purposes, but if you don’’t have to worry about commuting to work you almost certainly don’’t need too much of a car, and certainly not one that’s expensive enough to rate having a loan on.

Take advantage of your work status by getting rid of that expense.

Considering all of the above, if you’’re planning to buy a new car, try to buy one that doesn’’t require a loan. That might mean buying a less expensive vehicle, or delaying the purchase until you can save up enough to pay cash for it.

If the car you own now has a loan on it, do what ever it takes to pay it off as soon as possible. The sooner you do, the faster you’’ll eliminate a big monthly payment, and guarantee that, come what may, you’’ll always have a car to get to work in.

photo by tworubies

But should you invest in a Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, 401k, 529 plans or maybe become a day trader? Good question, but one thing all of these have in common is they work off the principal of compounding interest. So before you learn about those investment options you must first learn and understand how compounding interest works. And by learning this you will want to seize the day and be on your way towards financial freedom.

Consider this:

If you started today, putting aside $100 every month and it compounded annually at a 7% rate of return (this is conservative), after 30 years you’d have $121,287. Or you could lock that up in a box under your floors and in the same amount of time it’ll total up to a whopping amount of only $36000. See the difference? (If you want to put in your own values, Google compounding interest calculator and try it out.)

Still not sure how compounding interest works? Don’t worry, I didn’t get it the first time I heard about it.

This example helped me wrap my brain around it.

First year: $1200 ($100 month) x 7% = $84 in interest

Second year: $1284 (1^st yr) + $1200 (2^nd yr) x 7% = $173.88

At the end of the second year you’ll have $2657.88 total when you only put in $2400. Follow this for 30 years and you’ll have $121,287…..don’t save early and in 30 years compounding interest will no longer be an option. This is a simplified example. In reality there are other options like monthly, quarterly, bi-annually compounding that you’ll need to consider. But the goal is to understand compounding interest and make it work for you.

Want to know how long it’ll take for your investment to double? It’s called the rule of 72. All you have to do is divide the rate of return (aka interest rate) into 72. The result is an estimate of how long it’ll take to double your value. For example 72 divided by 8% (interest rate) equals 9 years to double whatever amount you started with.

So what’s the deal? Why does it sound so simple yet all I hear is how everyone at retirement age hasn’t saved enough for retirement. Is the problem compounding interest or that people aren’t saving enough? Well, it’s a bit of both. The biggest catch to compounding interest is that the younger you start the more years your interest compounds and the more you have saved in the end. So you really do want to start now.

According to standardandpoors.com, from January 1970 to December 2009 (30 years), the average annual compounded rate of return for the S&P 500, including reinvestment of dividends, was approximately 10.1%. The S&P 500 is a good example because it is an INDEX fund that’s comprised of the top 500 leading companies in leading industries of the US Economy.

Here’s a little fun fact:

Warren Buffett, the founder of Berkshire Hathaway, started with only $9800 in 1955 and today is worth $44 billion.

In the April issue of ForbesLife magazine he said, “The thing is, when I got out of college, I had $9,800, but by the end of 1955, I was up to $127,000. I thought, I’ll go back to Omaha, take some college classes, and read a lot–I was going to retire! I figured we could live on $12,000 a year, and off my $127,000 asset base, I could easily make that. I told my wife, “Compound interest guarantees I’m going to get rich.”

(This post has been contributed by John over at Fearless Men)

photo by artbystevejohnson

A Top Discount Broker

Zecco is considered to be a discount broker because of the cheap rice is that they offer on commissions. With many brokers, you have to pay a fee that is based on a percentage of how much you are trading. With Zecco, you pay one flat fee regardless of how big the order is or your account size. When you buy regular stocks with Zecco, you’re only going to have to pay a flat fee of $4.95 for each trade. This is definitely on the low-end of the market and is quite a bit cheaper than some brokers.

While you pay $4.95 for regular stock trades, you will have to pay a little bit more than that if you want to get involved with penny stocks. For penny stocks, the commission is $6.95 per trade. This is because penny stocks offer a little bit less liquidity and are somewhat harder to come about in the market. In addition to offering stocks, they also offer access to options for a flat fee of $.65.

If you are the type of investor who likes to trade frequently, Zecco is definitely one of the best options in the industry for you to consider. If you were to choose one of the more expensive brokers, the extra commission that you would pay could cut into the amount of money that you have available to trade. This means, you’ll end up buying fewer shares and spending more on brokerage fees. With the power of compound interest, you need to get as much capital invested early on as you can. By using Zecco, you give yourself the best chance to succeed over the long-term.

What You Can Buy With ZECCO

Obviously Zecco gives you access to the stocks that are traded on the major stock exchanges and those that are considered to be penny stocks. However, you can also put your investment capital into other things like ETF’s, mutual funds, bonds, commodities, CD’s, precious metals and even Forex. This gives you a lot of flexibility in what you can invest in and helps you diversify your portfolio. A lot of other brokerages only give you a few limited options like stocks and bonds.

If you don’t have quite enough cash to buy a security, you can keep the leftover in a money market sweep account. This makes it possible to earn a decent return on the money that you have just sitting in your account. It’s a little bit better than what you could earn from a regular savings account.

Doing Your Homework

If you are going to invest with Zecco, or any other brokerage for that matter, you’re going to need to do some research on investments. You can’t simply pick an investment at random from a list and hope to have a realistic shot to make a decent return. Luckily, Zecco offers a number of tools that you can use for your investment research needs. For example, you can use their investment screener to narrow down your options based on specific criteria that you list. They also provide you with access to an options calculator so that you can quickly compute the value of an options contract to you.

Educational Resources

In addition to the research tools, they also offer a number of educational resources that you can turn to when you don’t understand something about the markets. They have detailed tutorials that help you learn the basics of investing so that you can make more informed decisions in the future.

Technology

One of the cool things about Zecco is that they have invested some money in technological advancements so that you can trade easier. One example of this is the Zap Trade feature that they offer. Zap Trade is a plugin that you can download for your Firefox Internet browser. Once you are signed into Zap Trade, it makes it possible for you to place a trade directly from your browser without even navigating to the Zecco site. The plugin even scans the page that you’re on for stock symbols. If there is a pertinent stock symbol, it can look it up in the Zap Trade interface so that you can place a trade easier. This can come in handy if you happen to be reading a piece of financial news and you’re interested in investing in a company or getting a stock quote.

Another example of the technology that they provide is their Zecco iPhone app. With the Zecco iPhone app, you can do research, get quotes, place trades, look at charts and do many other things that you could do on your computer. If you are on the go quite a bit, this can be an invaluable tool to have at your disposal.

Considerations

Zecco puts an emphasis on customer service and making sure that your funds are safe. They are a member of FINRA and they also offer a feature known as a “trade key.” When you login to your Zecco account, you have to enter this trade key before you can place a trade. This makes it possible to prevent anybody who does not need access to your account from placing trades.

If you are looking for a broker and you don’t want to spend a lot of money on trades, Zecco is one of the best in the industry. You can save money on the costs of your investing and help yourself gain access to all of the investment options that you may need access to.

OPEN AN ACCOUNT NOW!

1. Digital Instant Read Thermometer

Don’t you just love it when technology makes life easier?  If your Mom is a cook, this gift is for her.  With a digital instant read thermometer, you can check the temperature of your food with the push of a button.  No more waiting around, know the temperature instantly!  With large numbers, this thermometer is a breeze to read.  Also, you can change it from reading in Fahrenheit to Celsius if you so choose.

2. Personalized “Mom” Mug

Nothing shows your appreciate like a custom “Mom” mug.  With endless varieties online, you’re sure to find something that your Mom will truly enjoy.  The benefit of this gift is that it’s something that will stay with her for years to come.  She can always look at the mug and remember how much you appreciate her.  This one is a winner in my book.

3. Starbuck’s Gift Card

I don’t know a single Mom that does not like Starbucks.  I swear, Starbucks must have mind control, because their coffee is good but not that good!  Either way, people and especially Moms love Starbucks coffee.  Grab a $25 gift card for your Mom and tell her how much you appreciate her and what she did for your life.

4. Personalized Hand in hand Family Frame

These are the epitome of cute.  A mom who values her family will most likely cry when she opens this present.  While it’s a thoughtful present, your Mom will enjoy and use this gift for many many years to come.  Heck, she may even placed it on the kitchen sill.

5. I-Pad Case for the Tech Mom

For the tech moms out there who use I-Pads, grab her an I-Pad case for Mother’s Day. As long as you know her tastes in terms of colors and design, you won’t have a hard time finding a case that your Mom will use and not throw away!

6. Assorted Candle Set

What Mom doesn’t like candles?  Grab her a colorful candle set with a range of scents and watch as your Mom bursts with excitement.  I’m a guy so I have no idea why Moms love candles so much.  All I know if that you can’t go wrong with this gift!

7. Flowering Tea Set

Wanna be unique this year and avoid the cliche flowers purchase?  Then get you Mother a flowering tea set.  All you do is place one of the selected beautiful flowers into your tea set and wham, you have yourself a great tasting tea that also looks good!  The flowers are hand-picked and quality is guaranteed. This takes home the gold for most creative gift for Mother’s Day this year.

8. Neem and Coconut Treatment Oil

This is another unique gift idea.  As you know, summer is upon us and that means damaged hair for the Moms!  Get her some neem and coconut oil and she will be super happy.  This oil is renown for repairing damaged hair from the sun and stimulating additional follicle growth.

9. Face Peel

For the beauty conscious Moms, a face peel set can be a wonderful gift.  Let’s be honest, Moms are too busy to hit the spa.  Instead, give her the spa treatment at home with a face peel.  Face peels are great for sensitive skin and diminishing wrinkles.

10. Babycakes Waffle Maker

This gift is one that will keep on giving.  This waffle maker was designed especially for kids.  Now your children will be able to give your Mom the special breakfast treatment in bed.  The surface is non-stick and super easy to use.  This gift is one for a Mom that likes to be spoiled.

photo by rberteig

As funny as that name sounds, it’s not funny when you see it take a toll on your wallet.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the SoCal lifestyle but it does take a bit more in terms of regular income.

This “sun tax” as I call it, breaks down into five major areas.  These are areas that I have personally felt since moving to San Diego from Seattle.

Higher Rent

I felt this the moment I moved down to San Diego.  Across the board, you will pay a hefty price for monthly rent in San Diego.  For a two bedroom condo near downtown will run you close to $2,000 per month while this price will go down to around $1,500 in the suburbs.  Compared to my buddies in other states, it seems like San Diego is somewhere between the cheaper rental states and Los Angeles.  Notice I didn’t compare it to San Francisco.  This is because the rental prices in the bay area are easily double what San Diego prices are.  So it’s hard to compare since I’m writing this from a San Diego perspective.

Expensive car insurance

California is a pure driving state.  If you don’t have a car, you’re just never going to get around.  The mega highways in San Diego still blow me away.  Be prepared to drive and easily go through a tank of expensive gas in a week or less!  Things in California are spread out for the most part so car insurance companies know this fact.  Since you will be driving more compared to other states, you’re more likely to get into an accident.  This causes your car insurance premium to go up substantially.  The key to saving on car insurance is to shop around!

Higher gas prices

Gas prices are a notch higher than the U.S. average and seem to always stay that way.  We are also the ones to get hit with the first wave of gas price increases.  It’s not pretty but you definitely need to look around your city in California for the cheapest gas prices.  I personally use Gas Buddy to help me save some hard earned dollars.  I hate spending extra money on gas!

State income tax

As if federal income tax was not painful enough, California has a high state income tax.  Don’t you just love taxes?  That was sarcasm…  I’ve seen this state income tax take a nice chunk out of my weekly paychecks for a while now and I cry every time I see it.  There is no escaping higher tax in California.  Who’s going to pay for their exploding deficit? Me and the other Californians!

“More things to do” factor

Compared to the rest of the United States, there are an insanely crazy number of things to do in California!  Due to this fact, it makes it super easy to give in to friends wanting to go boating or paintballing.  I always catch myself giving into doing something when I know I should be really saving my money.

California loves to take my money

To conclude, I hope I’ve done a great job at explaining why people complain about the cost of living in California.  When you have a friend complain, sympathize with them because it really is more expensive to live here!

But here’s the thing: even though I hate the sun tax, California will always be my favorite state in this amazing union!  Cali for life, who’s with me?!

photo by jackatothemon

What is a reverse mortgage?

When you purchased your home, you made an agreement with your lender concerning your mortgage rate. You also agreed to make monthly payments toward the value of that home, plus interest. A reverse mortgage is just the opposite; your lender will give you money each month, borrowing from the equity that you have put into that home. Repayment of the loan isn’t due until you pass away or are no longer living in the home.

Who qualifies for a reverse mortgage?

If you are a U.S. citizen of 62 years of age and own your own home, you qualify. Your eligibility for a reverse mortgage (and how much equity you can use from that mortgage) is usually determined by the value of your home, how much of that value you have paid thus far, and the ages of all people who own the home, including your spouse and/or children if you have any. I’ve also learned that to find the best mortgage rates for your reverse mortgage, you should compare lenders, just like you did to find your traditional mortgage.

Who shouldn’t get a reverse mortgage?

If you don’t plan to live in your home for much longer, then the reverse mortgage is not for you. This is because the repayment of the loan is due once you no longer use the home as your primary residence and because getting a reverse mortgage does entail paying an origination fee (and possibly other charges). Also, a reverse mortgage is not designed to use to cover a one-time expense, such as traveling or other recreational activities; rather, it should a part of a well-conceived financial plan.

Are there fees?

Yes, reverse mortgages do include fees, primarily the origination fee. You may also be charged a mortgage insurance premium. Your loan accrues interest over time, which means that each month you will be charged interest on not just the principle but also any interest that you incurred on the principle amount previously. Lastly, you are still responsible for the property taxes for your home.

How are payments distributed?

You can choose how you receive payments from your reverse mortgage. If you are using it to pay monthly bills, you can get regular payments each month much like the payments you made on your original mortgage. These payments can be made for a fixed amount of time or until you no longer occupy the home. However, if you would just like the financial security of knowing that you can tap into your home equity, you can opt to use your reverse mortgage like a line of credit, only withdrawing from it when you need to. You can also choose a combination of these two payment methods, which would enable you to receive a monthly payment and also have the ability to tap into your line of credit.

photo by nikcname

Finding nearby self-storage facilities may be the answer you are searching for, especially when having a yard sale just isn’t an option. Besides, do you really want to part ways with that expensive piece of furniture just because it’s somewhat in the way? Instead, you could place it in an affordable storage until the kids grow up and leave home.

Although renting a cheap storage unit is an additional monthly expense, many people find that it actually saves them time and money in their everyday lives. Listed below are some of the top reasons why you should rent a self-storage unit.

• Keep your most valuable possessions safe. Cheap self-storage doesn’t just provide extra space; it also offers top notch security for your most prized possessions. Family heirlooms and other valuables are kept under lock and key at well-lit facilities with extensive security systems.
• Make room for the items you use. Are your closets and cupboards overflowing with items you only use occasionally? Moving seasonal items into cheap storage units gives you easier access to the everyday items you actually get use out of.
• Downsize to a smaller home. Living in a smaller home will almost always save you money, and many people say that it also saves them time in maintenance and general upkeep. Self-storage companies let people live in smaller spaces while still being able to store their larger possessions.

Using storage is a great way to instantly provide yourself with more space when you need it. And storage prices are low enough that you can hang onto expensive furnishings and family heirlooms indefinitely, and not have to face the difficult decision about selling them to make room.

Storage costs do however vary by location, size, and amenities provided by that facility. To decide what storage prices you are comfortable with, it is important to make a list of what you want from the extra storage space. All the factors help define what you need and what you are willing and able to pay. Below are some tips to how you can make this an easier, less expensive decision.

• Rent a smaller unit. This sounds obvious, but the less space you rent the less you’ll spend. Before renting a unit, take a look at what items can be sold or given away if you don’t really need them. You might also save space by packing smaller items into stackable containers and disassembling larger items. Rates for mini storage units are often very affordable because the facility can offer more units for the amount of space they have versus a facility that only has larger units.

• Scout a new area. Storage costs in downtown business centers or near urban college campuses may be more expensive than what you’ll find a few miles outside of city limits due to high demand. A longer drive could save you a few bucks every month.
• Compare storage prices online. The Internet makes comparing self-storage prices fast and easy. Use a service like Sparefoot or SelfStorage.com to select the specific sizes and features you need.
• Consider the location of your unit. Ground floor storage units typically have premium storage rates while those located on the top floor may be cheaper because you have to haul your belongings up the elevator or stairs. If you can handle that then you should definitely consider renting one of those.

• Ask about discounts. Another way to get more for your money is to think about how long you are willing to invest in the extra storage space. For instance, signing a lease for at least a year can help negotiate a lower price. Long term storage will usually cost less per month than a short term storage unit of the same size. Many storage facilities also offer discounts to new customers and you may be entitled to discounts if you’re a student or member of the military.

Storage rates are also based on amenities. If you want air conditioning, climate or humidity control, or a higher level of security, such as a PIN keypad for your unit versus a combo lock, storage rates may be more expensive than others that do not offer these amenities. Clearly, these are all things you will need to consider in terms of balancing your wish list with your budget.

If you’re looking to simplify your daily life, cheap storage units can provide an inexpensive solution for the overflow that you don’t use every day but aren’t quite ready to get rid of.

(This article was written by Matt Schexnayder who is on the SpareFoot marketing team. SpareFoot is the largest online marketplace for self-storage. With more than 5,000 self-storage facilities listed nationwide, SpareFoot offers consumers the most complete comparison shopping experience in the storage industry.)

photo by zapthedingbat

Very few people know this but the government offers a special savings account called as 529 college savings plan.  They are typically offered through your state and vary when it comes to investing options and benefit.

The 529 plan is modeled after a Roth-IRA account in the sense that the money you invest into a 529 plan is post-tax money and grow tax free for the remainder of its life.  This means that all the money you place into a 529 plan can grow with the market and you will never pay taxes on those gains.  How cool is that?

The only real difference is that a 529 plan has to be used strictly for college related expenses.  So, you can’t pull the money out ten years from now and buy yourself a brand new BMW.  The government already allows that with a Roth-IRA account, they’re not about to offer a second account!

Benefits of a 529 plan

-Your investments grow tax free and never see Uncle Sam ever again!

-A wide array of investment choices offered through your state.

-Typically, 529 plans offer low management fees.

-Anyone can contribute money to a 529 account.

-Funds can be used at any college across the United States and abroad.

-Easy access through your state’s 529 website.

-High maximum contribution limits (this varies by state).

A benefit for your kids

Now, this article is not promoting for paying for your child’s tuition!  In fact, I encourage all parents to have their kids still pay their way through school. My parents made me do it and I’m grateful they did, I learned a ton and gained valuable money management skills.  I even graduated college with zero debt!

What I AM saying is that as a parent, you have the ability to use tax free growth to use for future college expenses.  You can still have your kids pay you for college tuition; it will just be replacing the 529 funds.  You can even lock in tuition rates with pre-paid tuition plans so if your kids do pay you back for tuition, they are paying the price you locked in years in advance.

Opening a 529 plan is truly a win-win decision.  You can’t go wrong with investing your money in this type of tax free growth account.

I plan on opening a 529 plan for all of my future children and ensuring they pay the least amount possible for tuition!  Although they will be paying their way through school, I can do my due diligence and get them the lowest tuition rates possible while watching my money grow tax free until I pull it out.

So, are you sold?  Comment below if you have questions or have a 529 plan and enjoy seeing the money grow tax free!

photo by inalaf