I love the fact that everyday people are finally getting over their camera shyness and taking the time to film what they know about what they’re experts in.

One such individual is the One Pot Chef who has a video series of budget cooking shows on Youtube.  He also included a top 10 money saving tips for saving money at home.  He includes such tips as:

1.)  How to get your bread for less

2.)  How to recycle packaging

3.) How to save on electricity

4.) How to save with a list (not what you’re thinking)

These are just some of the ideas and I though you might enjoy picking up some worthwhile ideas for saving extra money.

Technorati Tags: Top Ten Money Saving Ideas groceries for less sale item

The Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights has now been passed by the Senate.  Here’s a rundown of how these changes will affect the terms of service for cardholders.

1.)  Existing balances - Card Issuers will not be able to change the rate on your existing balances unless you are 60 days delinquent in your account.

2.) Payments - If you make more than the minimum payment on your credit card, the payment applies first to the balance that holds the highest interest rate on your card.  (For example if you took a cash advance at a higher rate than the rest of your purchases were set at, your higher than minimum payment would apply to the higher interest rate charge on your outstanding balance not only towards the lower rate that credit card companies get away with currently)

3.)  Teaser Rates - Credit Card Issuers cannot raise rates for the first year after you opened your account.  All promotional rates must last for at least 6 months.

4.)  Bills - Credit Card companies must give you your credit card bill 21 days before the due date.

5.)  Over Limit Fees - Credit Card companies cannot charge you over the limit fees on your cards unless you have actually signed up to allow such type of transactions.

6.)  Minors - If you are under 21 years of age, a credit card company must also obtain the signature of a parent or responsible adult who agrees to take responsibility for the debt unless the credit card company is given proof that the under 21 recipient can actually repay the credit charges.

7.)  Change of Terms - If a Credit Card company changes the terms of their cardholder terms they must give you a 45 day advance notice.

8.) Payment Option Fees - Credit Card companies cannot charge you fees to make your payment by mail, phone, bank transfer, or online payment except if it is an expediated service.

9.) Gift Cards - Any gift cards that are purchased must be available for use for a minimum of 5 years from the time of purchase of said card.

Likely the Credit Card companies will respond by charging higher merchant fees and take away levels of rewards in the case of reward cards that offer frequent flyer mileage and other rewards.  Banks love to make money and it is sure to take the changes out on the consumer and merchants.

Now more than ever is a time to review which companies truly have the best credit programs available.  It will also encourage a new round of consumers looking for the right credit card to use.  One way to make money off of this new trend is by setting up a Credit Card Broker business.  Click on the banner below and learn more.

Technorati Tags: credit card changes bill of rights consumer protection

With more and more people losing their jobs, with money getting tighter and expenses at every turn, is going back to college the answer?  Americans are one of the few developed nations that leave those wanting to go to college to foot their own bill.

It never ceases to amaze me in my world travels how even poorer nations, oftentimes have government programs that assist their citizens with the financial cost of going to college. 

With our economy upside down and things looking like they won’t turn around soon, how sound is the idea that going to college is going to provide you with a more financially secure life?

I admit after graduating High School, I chose not to go to college.  Instead I purchased a business and began running it.  I later made the jump into Office Management with nothing more than the computer and accounting skills I learned in High School. 

From there I migrated to Real Estate.  One thing that has always been ironic is learning that I have made more money than most of my fellow High School graduates who went on to college.

I’ve found that real work experience has provided me with more door openings than a college degree would have.  Evidently I’m not the only one who thinks it might have been the best choice.  20/20 recently did an in depth study on whether or not it makes sense to go to College. (see video below)

To sum up its recommendation, if you are a top honor student, you may want to consider a full blown college degree.  If not, you may very well be wasting your money and have been better off to start in an entry level job in the field your interested in or take some specific training via a trade school or community college that will give you the skills you need to get your foot into the door of the field you are interested in.

College is a huge expense by anyone’s standards and since we live in a time where America is rethinking what is truly important…the whole college thing might be something to reconsider as well.

One last things I’ll throw out there, it never ceases to amaze me how many college graduates end up in a career that had nothing to do with what they majored in, in college.  What do you think?

Technorati Tags: College, College Expense, Degree, Is College worth it?, University

I guess Microsoft realizes that they can’t beat Google in the search engine game the traditional route.   Live.com has already partnered with Ebay to help people save up to 20% on their Ebay purchase in the hopes that people will use the Live.com search engine more regularly.  Now they’ve put together a rather ingenious way to win fans and entertain the masses. If you love Crossword puzzles and other Word games then you’ll love the FREE games that you can play with Club Live.com.  The twist is that you win tickets when you finish the games you play, just like when you’re at a carnival.  After you’ve collected enough tickets, you can trade the tickets for prizes.  Prizes range from pencils and t-shirts to frequent flyer miles or a free Xbox 360 or Zune. The games are set up so that you can utilize live.com to look up information pertaining to what you might be looking for within the game.  It’s rather an ingenious strategy but the best part is, you’re rewarded for playing free games.  How often does that happen?

Technorati Tags: bonus games, Free Online Games, Free Xbox 360, Free Zune, freebies, perks.Live.com

Here’s a great way to help save a dog while saving you money.  Pedigree has a wonderful program for kind hearted people who save a dog from a dog shelter.  They will give you a month of free dog food for your new best friend when you send them your info.  Here’s the link

Technorati Tags: Dog Rescue, Free Dog Food

Movies are getting more and more expensive!  Whether it is movie rentals or theater tickets, we’ve felt the pinch the economy has put on us.  Here is some codes for the next four Sunday’s that will give you a free movie at any Walmart Redbox vending machine.  Here’s the codes:

Week 2 – 11moms4uA (good Sunday 12/14 only)

Week 3 – 11moms4uN (good Sunday 12/21 only)
Week 4 – 11moms4uT (good Sunday 12/28 only)
Week 5 – 11moms4uA (good Sunday 1/4 only)

Technorati Tags: Free Movie Rental, Free Redbox Rentals, save money

Microsoft wants your web searches and they are willing to pay you handsomely for it in certain situations.  Case in point, ‘Ebay.’  Microsoft will allow you a total of 12 qualifying purchases on Ebay (they must be done separately in 12 separate sessions) and will discount your purchase price up to several hundred dollars depending on the total purchase price!   This requires setting up a Microsoft Rewards account and some tweaking of your Ebay account.  Visit Ebay’s instructions page for more details.

Qualifying Ebay products must be searched out through www.live.com.  Once you’ve typed in your product name in LIVE.com you’ll notice the Ebay banner ad that shows up in the search results at the top of the LIVE.com webpage for your searched item.  For search items to qualify, they must be ‘Buy It Now’ and must show the discount logo.

This works very well for those expensive items you might be buying through Ebay.  If only I had known about this when I bought my ADOBE CS3 Bundle!  I’m glad to be able to share this tip with you though and save you some serious money.

Technorati Tags: LIVE Ebay Discount, Microsoft Ebay Discount Program, save money

Here’s a tip that will save you hundreds of dollars plus give you something really cool.  It’s no secret that we live in a Microsoft Office world.  The problem is, purchasing Microsoft Office costs hundreds of dollars and not everyone has the budget for that, especially nowadays. 

If you’ve never heard of Open Office, then you’re going to love me for this post.  Open Office is a free package software that gives you a word processor, (like Word) a spreadsheet (like Excel) presentation software (like Power Point) plus database management and graphic design software.

The first thing you might be wondering is how is this all free?  The simple answer is that it is ‘Open Source’ software.  This means that no one individual owns the license to the products.  The products were designed by volunteers who use an online community forum to write, improve and grow the software under development. 

There are those in this world who believe no one company should control and profit from software.  As a result lots of computer geeks formed relationships and began creating and sometimes even improving on trademarked software such as Microsoft Office.  In fact, Microsoft has been known to borrow some of the ideas that this online group of Bohemians have created, and utilize the features into Microsofts own products.

Here’s the link to Open Office which is completely free to download and use.  It has versions for Windows, MAC and Linux.  You can’t beat free and if you know how to run Microsoft Office, then Open Office will have a pretty easy learning curve.  The video below gives you a brief run down of Open Office’s features.

Technorati Tags: free microsoft office alternative, free office, free software, microsoft office alternative

OK…think of the number of times you’ve been out and about and need to call your favorite Chinese restaurant for take-out, or call a business to get directions (while you’re driving round the block trying to find it), or call the dry cleaners to see if you’re clothes are ready to pick up. 

The only problem is you don’t have the number of the business. Inevitably, you dial 411 and pay $0.50 or more to get the number.  Here’s a SAVE MONEY tip.  Google launched a business 411 directory that costs you $0.00.  That’s right, absolutely nothing!  Keep in mind, its a service for looking up businesses only, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before it includes residential listings as well.  You can also text message Google the name of the business and it will text you back the contact info  Here’s a nifty video that show’s you how to take advantage of it.  I figure that saves you at least $15 to $30 a year.

Technorati Tags: Free 411 calls