2008 Increase in Postage

The price of snail mail is scheduled to increase May 12, 2008. The current price is 41 cents to mail anything in the United States, but as of May it will increase to 42 cents. It does not seem like much, but we recently just had a 2 cent increase.

One way to avoid this increase is to purchase the “Forever” stamp. It is the stamp with the picture of the bell on it. If you have this stamp will be considered good forever, no matter what the increase is in the future. So you can purchase this stamp now for 41 cents. Remember to ask for it when you buy your next batch of stamps.

Another way to save money on stamps is to pay your bills online. All credit card, mortgage, utilities, cell phone companies accept online payments. This eliminates the cost of stamps as well as your letters getting lost in the mail.

Getting what you paid for

As an advertiser, you should know the less you pay, the less of quality work of an advertised blog you will receive. I see a lot of advertisers low-ball bloggers to accept their opps at a lower price. They try to negotiate them down from their asking price. They should also realize when they do something like this, the blogger won’t put a full hard effort into writing their post.

It is just common sense, “you get what you paid for”. Say if you are buying furniture, the expesive $2000 sofa is going to be a lot better quality wise as the cheap $200 sofa. The same goes true in blogging. The more they pay out, the higher quality in posts.

I hear a lot of whining in forums about advertisers unhappy with bloggers. Well if they are paying a couple of bucks for a long post, what do they expect?

Laptops for under $500

For those who are pondering about getting a Laptop. Office Depot has 2 laptops they are advertising this week for less that $500. Long are the days you have to spend over $1000 or have to wait patiently for a deal to pop up online for a laptop. Both of these are high quality laptops. Both are dual core processors, with 1GB memory and 120GB harddrives. One is a Toshiba and the other a Compaq. I would choose the Toshiba based on past experience and reputation.

Check out their Sunday 3/23/08 flyer to see this deal. The sale ends Saturday the 29th. Just a note, both of these do require rebates, so you will need to spend over $500 initially, but you will be getting the money back.

Economic Stimulus Act of 2008

For those not aware of it, George W. Bush passed the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. In order to stimulate to economy and push consumer spending, the act gives individuals $600 (and $1200 if filing a joint return), plus $300 for each qualifying child.

For you to receive this money all you have to do is file a 2007 tax return or have $3000 in earned income, SSN benefits, and/or veterans’ payments. All you have to do is file a 2007 tax return to get the money, you do not need to fill up an additional forms.

They had one of these back years ago too. I honestly do not think it really stimulates to economy to really make a difference. People like me will just put the money to savings. Others will just use the money to pay bills and other needed expense items. They $600 payments will start on May 2, 2008, so look for your check in the mail.

Paying your taxes

The IRS gives you several different options on paying your taxes if you owe them money. If you have the money, then you can just send them a check. They also have a credit card option. Which sounds good because many of us collect credit card points, put they charge you a percentage of your payment. 2.49% to be exact. Most credit cards offer at most 1% back with an IRS payment, so if you do the math, you have a 1.49% difference that you can’t make up.

A majority of us to not even owe that much money, so it is a last option to use a credit card to pay the IRS unless you really do not have money at all. But remember to also take into consideration the interest you will have to pay on your credit card balance too. Most credit card companies charge from 15%-20% APR for the cards. If you already can’t afford the payment this credit card interest is just going to make things even worse.

You can play around with the zero percent transfers for opening a new credit card. Some companies offer zero percent for the first year. That should give you some time to make the payment.

My best advise is to increase your tax withholdings next year, so you won’t have this problem again in the future.

Using CVS Extra Bucks?

I like finding bargains when I go out shopping, and at CVS drugstore you can always find bargains there. The first thing you need to do is sign up for an Extra Care card. It is free and easy. With this you can earn extra discounts as well as getting Extra Bucks back. What are CVS Extra Bucks? They are additional discounts for items in stores. Say for example you buy a bottle of shampoo there for $5, and they advertise an additional $2 Extra Bucks discount. When you pay for this item you will get a voucher on your receipt for $2 off your next purchase at CVS. You have one month to use it before it expires.

Another way to save is looking at Slickdeals.net for their $4 off $20 purchase coupons. There are plenty out there, and you can also get one online at CVS’s website. Plus don’t forget to use any manufacture coupons you have too.

Also look in the Sunday paper for a coupon for a free $25 gift card if you transfer or open up a new drug prescription with them. This is the best deal of all because most drug prescriptions are only $5, and you get a free $25 gift card when you do so. With this gift card, you can start buying Extra Bucks items. 

Here is my last receipt at CVS:
+$6.00 - for 2 12-packs of Coke Zero
+$1.20 - CRV for the soda
+$17.98 - for 2 Complete Saline Solution
-$4.00 - $4 off $20 CVS Coupon
-$2.00 - manufacture coupon for the solution
-$2.00 - manufacture coupon for the solution
-$15.00 - less prior Extra Bucks earned
$2.18 - subtotal
+$0.51 - sales tax
$2.69 - TOTAL PAID
Plus I also got $1 Extra Buck for the soda, and $6 Extra Bucks for the solution.

Blog turn-offs

I was blog hopping on some of the investment money blogs out there, and I came across some that post about how much they made and some had a ticker on the amount of money they have made blogging. I honestly think this is a big turn off to many readers (along with the advertisement widgets and banners I had previously blogged about).

It takes a lot of amount of confidence to be posting the amount of money you have made. You have to be quite brash to do it. I have learned from other better investment money blogs that it is not wise to post information like this. Just keep it to yourself, you will lose more reader than attract them by publishing this type of information. It is just a big turn off to your readers, and most likely you will not get any loyal followings if you do so.

So think about what you are posting on your site, put yourself in reader’s shoes. They do not want to see stuff like this on a blog. I know blogs with a lot of advertisements and information like this, I tend to avoid a second visit to.

Best price for gas in the South Bay

With the rise in gas prices, it is important that you save money when buying your gas. There are gas stations that sell gas for cheaper. And this post hopefully can help you out. These are the best prices for gas in the South Bay area, which includes Torrance, Gardena, etc. I pump gas at Union 76, so I will give you the best prices for this company.

1. Union 76 Torrance (Hawthorne and Torrance Blvd), far the cheapest 76 station in the South Bay. Usually cheaper by 5-10 cents per gallon. They have plenty of pumps, but still there is a long wait sometimes. Plus it is a very busy intersection.

2. Union 76 Torrance (Sepulveday and Crenshaw Blvd), another cheap 76 station, costs are even cheaper if you get one of the hand car washes too. Not as busy as the Hawthorne and Torrance location, which I like. Not many pumps, but I never had to wait to get gas there.

3. Union 76 Gardena (Western and 182nd) Owned by the same owners as the Hawthorne and Torrance location, but not as cheap. But this location is still very busy. Costs are cheaper if you get one of their machine car washes, which is very popular. Closest location to my house, and it does get very busy especially in the evening times.

Please share your secret locations too. Thank you.