US Finance World

Old security system vs. New security system

Ive never had a security system until now, other than our dogs which are all bark and no bite. I suppose the main reason for that is that I didnt own enough property to be worth protecting. Burglars could take everything and it would perhaps fetch $600 total on Craigslist, which is less than what a year of ADT monitoring fees might cost.

Combine the baby nesting instinct with a rash of recent break-ins in our quiet neighborhood, and my mindset has changed. I wanted a home security system, but I didnt want to pay $60 or even $30 a month for monitoring. The monthly bill is where companies make most of their profit. $60 a month = $720 a year = $7,200 over a decade.

After some research, we settled on a company called . Heres a list of reasons why we chose it:

• Wireless. Simplisafe uses GSM cellular technology, which means you dont need a landline (which can also easily be cut by a criminal).

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Its been awhile since I did a debt update, so lets take a look at where Im at vs when I started debtkid.com back in 2007.

2011 was definitely not my best year for earning, especially compared to 2010 and even 2009. I let my work slack off with moving to Portland 2010 and getting married and other major life stuff.

So I was not able to save as much this year as I would have liked. I also started investing back into my current business more and so the last few months Ive been going negative on my savings! Yikes. Hopefully only a few more months of that and I can start saving again.

Total Debt Jan 2012

(change from 2010 in parenthesis)

Student Loans: $7512.01 (-$841.99)
Mom Debt: $67,000 (-$20,000)
Total: $74,512.01 (-20,841.99)

Whats in store for 2012

Im hoping that 2012 will be a breakout year for my business to really start earning well again.

Other than that life has been pretty darn good.

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Walgreens Pharmacy has a where you get a $25 gift card if you transfer a prescription over to them. Looks like you can do it online and have it shipped to you for free if you dont want to pick it up. I remember when it seemed like every pharmacy was doing this and you could hop from one to the next for months. Some probably still do Target, Wal-mart, CVS, Walgreens, Rite-Aid, Kroger, and so on. Fine print quoted below.

Purchase of transferred prescription is required and coupon must be presented at prescription payment. Limit one card per Transaction. Offer is not available on shipped prescriptions. Prescriptions cannot be transferred from another Walgreens or Duane Reade. Some card restrictions apply. Transfer offer expires 4/30/12.

The Walgreens card is redeemable only for retail merchandise at Walgreens Drugstores in the U.S. or Puerto Rico. It may not be used to purchase mandatory prescription co-pays, prescriptions, membership fees, transportation passes, charitable contributions, stamps, phone or gift cards, or dairy, tobacco or liquor products.

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Im fed up with my local bank. They close at 6pm, I usually work til 6pm.

So Im looking for an online checking account that I could use as my wife and Is primary checking account. Id prefer to have something with no fees and some sort of mobile deposit option. Heres the options Ive researched so far

Online Checking Account Options

*List of online checking accounts and their fees, advantages and disadvantages. Assumes a $1,500 daily balance, no direct deposit.

My Thoughts

• Ally No ATM fees is awesome. Rate is decent. No overdraft fee with a linked savings account, nice.
• BankSimple Looks really sweet, already signed up for waiting list
• Citibank Pass
• E*Trade Pass
• Everbank No ATMs where I live. $8.95 fee unless
• ING Direct Electric Checking Lots of ATMs but no refunds on non-partner ATMs is a bummer
• Nationwide Bank 3K to avoid $10 fee. No thanks.
• PerkStreet Way too many restrictions for me. Doesnt seem worth the hassle.
• USAA Great customer service, nice mobile options for iPhone/Android
• Schwabb Billpay restrictions no cool.

Any recommendations?

Make your spare room make you money: get a lodger!

Taking in a lodger may seem pretty radical, but there are obvious advantages for both landlord and tenant. For the landlord, renting out a spare room can help you earn some extra money, while the lodger has a better chance of being offered good quality accommodation because the landlord is living there too.

Demand from tenants is strong as would-be first-time buyers are being forced into delaying property purchases. These days, lodgers are often professionals who want a decent place to live, but simply can’t afford to buy themselves.

And foreign language students often prefer to lodge with a family rather than rent – they get the benefit of family life when far from home, and the family can benefit from a housemate from a different culture. A Read more…

I recently received my Chase Freedom $200 bonus check for charging $500 ($508 to be exact) in 3 months, and deposited it right into my checking account.

If you have or will get the Freedom card, a new quarter of the year starts in April, and that means new rotation of Chase Freedom 5% bonus categories.

For April 1 June 30, you will get 5% cash back on grocery store and movie theater purchases, up to $1,500 in purchases.

Movie theaters are a pretty wear rewards category, in my opinion, but groceries? We all buy them and we typically use some form of credit/debit to pay for them. If you dont already have the American Express Blue Preferred card, the unchallenged best grocery rewards card at 6% cash back, then you wont be able to find better grocery cash back rewards.

Assuming you spend $500 per month on grocery store purchases from April through June, that equates to a cash back reward of $75 for those three months.

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You may have seen the recent studies that indicate that people who are friends with overweight people tend to be overweight themselves. This is often because you do what your friends do. If your friends eat a lot of fast food and do nothing but sedentary activities, chances are that is what you will do, too. The same is true in personal finance. If you are friends with spendy people, you will be more likely to spend a lot of money just to fit in. If they go to movies, restaurants, and clubs all the time, chances are you will, too. If they hang out at the mall and buy expensive clothes, chances are that you and your money will follow.

It’s worse than that, though. While you might be able to get around the entertainment choices of your friends by suggesting more frugal alternatives, there’s no getting around their houses and cars. Unl

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Figures show card and online banking fraud falling, but less sophisticated phone and cheque scams are on the rise.

The level of fraud in the banking and card payment industries has fallen to a ten-year low, according to the latest figures from the Payments Council.

Credit and debit card fraud fell 7% to £341 million in 2011, meaning it has fallen by 45% over the past three years. Initiatives to combat this type of fraud include chip cards, online protection systems such as Verified by Visa and MasterCard Secure Code and, significantly, our increased awareness of this type of fraud and how to combat it.

Meanwhile, online banking fraud fell by 24% to £35.4 million. This is mainly thanks to better protection of computers with anti-virus software, banks providing customers with increased protection via additional software and log-in devices such as hand-held readers, and banks improving their fraud detection systems.

However, telephone banking fraud losses rose by 32% to £16.7 million. Mu

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