Buy Any Diamond Jewelry between 1/1/94 and 3/31/2006?

If so, you may be entitled to claims from a Diamond Class Action Settlement! It was recently brought to my attention that a class action settlement is now underway for any purchases of diamond jewelry between January 1, 1994 and March 31, 2006. Below is an excerpt from the class action website at: http://www.diamondsclassaction.com You only have until MAY 31st to register a claim, so if you purchased any diamond jewelry during the above period, you should definitely file a claim! In looking at initial numbers I may be getting a nice chunk of money back when the settlement is finalized. Since I didn't know I was being price gouged, a check would be a nice little "econonic stimulus" of my own!

Summary of the Settlement (from diamondsclassaction.com)

De Beers is the largest supplier of rough diamonds in the world. Beginning in 2001, Plaintiffs in several states filed lawsuits against De Beers in state and federal courts alleging that De Beers unlawfully monopolized the supply of diamonds, conspired to fix, raise, and control diamond prices, and issued false and misleading advertising. De Beers denies it violated the law or did anything wrong.

The Settlement Agreement provides that $22.5 Million be distributed to the Direct Purchaser Class, and that $272.5 Million will be distributed to the Indirect Purchaser Class. De Beers also agrees to refrain from engaging in certain conduct that violates federal and state antitrust laws and submit to the jurisdiction of the Court to enforce the Settlement.

For more information go to: http://www.diamondsclassaction.com

Saving Money On Insurance

We all see the commercials. Company A claims their rates are lower than Company B, Company C, etc. And it does pay to shop around and compare rates between insurance companies. One company, Progressive, even allows you to compare rates on their own website. But just how accurate are the quotes they give? Surprisingly, they were pretty close.

I decided to do some rate shopping on the internet using a couple of sites such as insweb.com and netquote.com and compared the quotes given there directly to some of the insurance company websites such as aigdirect, progressive, esurance, and obtained some verbal quotes from agents at bigger companies like Allstate, Farmers, State Farm, Geico, and American Family. The calls to the companies with agents resulted in more accurate, and sometimes cheaper quotes because they were able to offer special discounts for being new policy holders, multiple policies, etc. that the online quote systems didn't take into consideration.

Because I'm a telecommuter, my vehicle typically only gets driven in the evenings and on weekends, and because it is not used as a daily commuter vehicle, I was able to change the status to a "pleasure vehicle", meaning I typicaly put less than 6,000 miles per year on the odometer, thereby lowering my monthly insurance premium! (of course I had to provide documented proof that I worked from home to my insurance company) I spoke to our agent to ensure we got the best possible deals and discounts.

In addition, we're insuring a second vehicle and our house so we get both a multi-car and multi-policy discount. I provided proof of both fire and burglar alarm monitoring via a letter from NextAlarm and obtained an additional discount on my homeowners policy! And because we were new customers, we also received a one-time new policy-holder discount too!

So before you switch companies based on an online quote, call and speak to someone in person to see if you might qualify for additional discounts on your monthly premiums, and take advantage of anything and everything you are entitled to. Your wallet will thank you.

The Best Things In Life Are Freecycled

In Honor of Earth Day yesterday, I wanted to revisit a favorite site/organization called Freecycle. Do you have a bunch of stuff laying around the house that you want to get rid of, but you're too busy to have a Garage Sale? Don't think it will sell on ebay or craigslist? Don't want to throw it out because it still has a useful life? Need it to disappear by the end of the day or week? Consider putting it up for grabs on your local FreeCycle site! Looking for something that you hope someone is giving away? Need a used lawnmower or weedwacker? How about a used digital camera or mp3 player that nobody wants anymore? Check out the posts on your local FreeCycle site.

The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,342 groups with 4,921,000 members across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Join the fun at www.freecycle.org

I've "freecycled" many items that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill. It's a great way to clean out an office, your garage or anywhere you have clutter that you want to get rid of but don't want to just throw it away. Believe it or not, someone out there might actually want your old 70's disco records, or dusty old Atari 2600 you found in the back of the closet. I've given away old printer, computers, monitors, large houseplants, beds... things that I would have had to pay to have them hauled away. Instead of ending up in a landfill, they found a new home and people were able to put them all to good use! I was even able to pick up an old used soccer ball for our dog to play with! So if you're looking for specific items that you hope nobody wants, or if you want to get rid of some things, put them up for grabs. You'll have done your part in the conservation movement and feel better about yourself.

Bundling Vs. Ala Carte Services

I recently had an offer from Qwest to "Bundle" my DirecTV, Phone, Internet and Cellular services for one "low monthly rate". Sure it might save me money, but the quality and level of services for some of them would, in my own opinion, be substandard from what I'm currently utilizing. I currently use Qwest for my home and home office business phone service, and DirecTV for my Satelite Television Provider. So I did allow Qwest to bundle those two services onto a single bill, saving me a whopping five dollars per month. (which is still $60/year)

However I did not want to bundle the other services and here's why. I have Comcast High Speed Internet simply because it's much faster than anything that Qwest offers. My friends and relatives that DO have DSL service have had more service interruptions during the year than I have and I'm very happy with my broadband speeds. My bandwidth throughput with Comcast is four to five times faster than the DSL offering from Qwest, and since I use a VPN connection to my office, its really nice having the extra speed available when I need it most. My celluar service is still AT&T because I get a service and equipment discount through my employer which saves me more than the bundle offering, and the frankly, the cellular service and coverage areas provided by Qwest was simply not acceptable for our needs.

So while bundling may "save you money" on your communications services, keep in mind that you will often "get what you pay for" if you happen to decide to bundle their offerings. Personally I think the competition between providers is healthy and using multiple providers keeps them all honest.

Quandry: Get a cheap lease to lower payments, or hold out until existing car is paid off?

I'm currently in a quandry trying to decide if it would be smart to trade in my current vehicle and lease a new one to save monthly cash outlay... Three years ago when gas prices started creeping upwards, I traded in my beloved SUV for a more econimical car. Not only did this move lower my monthly car payments by $100/mo, but the gas savings was also considerable. Then a year ago, I became eligible to become a full-time telecommuter at work, meaning that I would no longer have a daily commute. I changed the usage status on my car insurance for my vehicle from a commuter to pleasure vehicle, as it was now only being driven in the evenings and on weekends.

Unfortunately, I'm still making car payments on a vehicle that is only being driven a few times per week. It seems rather wasteful to be paying that much every month since the vehicle is depreciating at the same rate whether I drive it or not. I started doing some rough calculations, and at $397 per month, the vehicle is costing me about $13/day plus fuel/insurance costs. Based on data from edmunds.com, the vehicle is depreciating at about $1100/year or roughly $92/month.

Enter the Tempting Lease Deal

A local Subaru dealer is offering a 24 month lease on a Subaru Legacy for $149 down and $149/month with zero deposit for qualified leasees. So even with the negative equity on my current car which would add approx $50/mo to the $149 payment bringing the total payment to just over $200/mo with sales tax added in. That would save me approx $200/mo in payments, some of which would go towards an increased insurance premium. The lease offer expires on 4/20/2008 and there are only two eligible vehicles left in the dealer's inventory.

In addition, we are looking at starting a small business, and the new vehicle could be used for business purposes meaning that part of the lease payment / mileage may be tax deductible. I'll need to research this further and consult with a tax expert before I make a final decision about writing anything off - and it may be better to lease the vehicle under the business name. With the price of gas continually increasing, we're also considering a hybrid vehicle as an alternative, since the Subaru would provide no fuel savings advantage over my current car, only a savings in monthly car payments for the next 24 months. (the duration of the lease) The drawback is that when the lease is up, I'll be forced to search for another lease deal or assume a lease through leasetrader.com or swapalease.com. Another option I've considered is trying to sell my vehicle and then assume someone else's lease.

Financially it would probably make more sense to bite the bullet and continue making the higher car payments for the next 36 months and then the vehicle would be owned outright free and clear. Because I purchased a lifetime oil change plan when I bought the car, the ongoing maintenance costs would be very low. In about 3 more years, it would be like getting a $400/mo raise that could then be applied to any remaining/existing credit card debt and/or placed into a high yield IRA! In order to make that happen, perhaps I'll consider paying off the car faster instead of looking for a lower monthly payment...

Log Those Miles, Save your Receipts and Documents for Next Tax Season

Whew! Now that April 15th has come and gone, most of us can breathe a sigh of relief until the taxman cometh next year. If you haven't already done so, now would be a great time to make preparations for next tax season. Forget stuffing all of your receipts into an old shoe box and dealing with the nightmare of sorting through everything when it's time to do your taxes! It's time to get organized, and consider investing in some very useful tools to make doing your taxes much easier.

Log your mileage automatically, and claim a mileage deduction on your taxes!
Do you regularly drive as part of your work duties or do you own a business? If you work in a job that requires you to log lots of (TAX DEDUCTIBLE miles), then boy do I have a cool tool for you! Now that gas is upwards of $3/gal )and we may see the price get closer to $5/gal in the future) nobody can afford to ignore the 50.5 cent per mile deduction that the IRS allows for 2008! We're talking about some serious cash people, and you're a fool if you don't deduct your allowable mileage! Enter the Mileage Logger from Vulocity. This cool device tracks and stores your movement automatically via GPS technology. Periodically it will upload the data to company servers via it's built in celluar modem. (there's a nominal monthly fee for the cellular data service, and you even have the option to add emergency notification and vehicle tracking services if you wish) Once the data is uploaded, You logon to their secure web site and then select which trips are business related, which are personal, etc. Their system converts the GPS data into addresses and automatically calculates the miles driven between stops. The resulting data and mileage logs can then be exported into your finance or tax software and presented as IRS Compliant Mileage logs when it's time to do your taxes, allowing you to maximize your mileage deductions with no extra effort. How cool is that?

If you drive for business, this device log your miles automatically making obtaining a mileage reimbursement a piece of cake! Just plug in Vulocity Mileage Logger in your car and drive!



Save $15 on Mileage Logger - a business owner's most indispensable tool. Use code COUPON052008 at checkout. Offer ends 5/31/08

Save and scan those receipts!
NeatReceipts has come out with a great receipt scanner that allows you to organize your receipts into various categories using their software which is approved by the Internal Revenue Service. You can scan and organize your statements and expenses and export to Excel, TurboTax, Quicken and QuickBooks making keeping track of things a snap.



Use Personal Finance Software
Consider using personal finance software to keep track of your finances and expenses. Programs such as Quicken make easy work of balancing your checkbook, tracking your expenses (especially for tax purposes) and allow you to know how much you have and where at a glance.

Accurately Calculate and Document Your Charitable Item Contributions
Using software such as Intuit's It's Deductible, you can easily place a value on any items that you donate to charity. Rather than guessing what items are worth and possibly shortchanging yourself, use the software to determine the IRS allowable deduction for every item you donate! You'll be amazed at how quickly those deductions can add up.

Live Long and Prosper

We all try to earn the highest return we can on our hard-earned money, right? If you have some cash on hand that you know you will not have an immediate need for, but still wish to earn a decent rate of return, consider checking out prosper.com to become a lender and earn a higher rate of return on your money. Currently I'm earning just over 17% on my money that I lent out through the site. Show me an account that does that.

Prosper.com provides a way for lenders and borrowers to connect with one another. Folks who lend money basically become note holders and typically earn a much higher rate of return for their money than what a bank would offer on a long term savings account. People who borrow money might find better interest rates than what a bank would normally give them. In some instances, prosper lenders might provide funding when conventional financial institutions would not lend money to borrowers at all. What I like is that you can pick and choose who you lend money to, (based on credit information that is provided)and your rate of return depends on the negotiated interest rates which are bid upon by other lenders.

Keep in mind that you should only lend out money that you will not need in the short term. Typical loans run from 36months or longer depending on the amounts involved, so don't expect instant access to your money. You are repaid on a monthly basis based your "share" of the loans that you and others collectively fund. Potential Lenders are hereby advised to read all terms and conditions carefully on the website before signing up or lending any money.

Check out the site at: prosper.com to learn more.

$ave $ome Ca$h When You Travel by Shopping for Deals

We just got back from a 4 day/ 3 night trip to "Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada". By shopping prices online I was able to book a great deal on an air/hotel package through Expedia and earned a bunch of credit card in the process. Not only did I earn "Thank You" rewards points by using my Citi credit card, Expedia also awarded bonus thank you points for the trip. On top of that, the deal included a free room upgrade!

I knew we were getting a nice room at the Flamingo, but was blown away when we opened the door. The upgraded room included a 50" plasma tv with surround sound and a dvd player along with a walk-in shower with a TV built into the bathroom mirror! Everything was done in Flamingo Pink because we were of course staying at the Flamingo Hotel. It was a little over the top, but it was a welcome change from the standard hotel rooms we'd become accustomed to.

We took advantage of our AAA membership at one local mall which gave us a coupon booklet good for many 2for1/BoGo offers for food in the mall. Rather than eat at the pricey hotel buffets ($30 for dinner!) you're better off walking down the street and hitting some of the chain restaurants or the food courts in the hotel shopping malls. There's something to be said about consistency in food quality. One of the buffets we tried in the past was sorely disappointing, and we vowed never again. We were fortunate enough to win $100 on the slots our first day which pretty much covered our food costs for the next few days. (McDonald's/Burger King for breakfast, the food court for lunch and a decent dinner for under $20 at nearby restaurants)

While visiting the mall in the Venetian, the kind folks at Marriott were trying to get folks interested in their time-share properties in the Vegas area at the new Marriott Grand Chateux. So they were offering a 4 day three night stay at one of their properties for $149 (lodging only) but upon arrival and completion of a 2hr sales presentation they would give you a $75 visa gift card which brings the cost of the three nights down to $75, or just $25/night. If all I have to do is listen to a sales pitch for a couple of hours to save that much on a nice room, where do I sign? So we took the bait and look forward to our next trip. The offer is good for 18 months, and we planned to return in less than a year's time anyhow! Now all I have to do is find a killer deal on plane tickets and we're all set!

But wait! There's more! Pat, the lady from Marriot that we were talking to was super nice, and she hooked us up with free show tickets while we were there! We were given a pair of VIP tickets to see TOXIC AUDIO at the V Theater at the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood. If you've never seen or heard of them, look them up on google, visit their website www.toxicaudio.com and check out some of the videos on You-Tube. It was one of the best live entertainment shows I've ever seen and I was truly impressed with their vocal talents.

All in all it was a great trip... Not only did we save a bunch of cash on our Air/Hotel, we received a free upgraded hotel room, our food was almost free thanks to our slot win, and we got (almost) free tickets to a Las Vegas show and an ultra cheap hotel stay at a nice property on our next visit! So the next time you're booking a trip, do your homework...

Shop Around For a Better Credit Card

Like most people, you probably don't like paying interest to credit card companies, and who can blame you? With certain credit card companies and banks (and you know who are are!) taking unfair advantage of consumers by arbitrarily just raising cardholder interest rates without justification or warning, it truly pays to shop your credit companies just as you would shop around for home and car insurance rates.

In recent months card issuers have been very sneaky about raising interest rates on consumers without warning or justification, only to lower them slightly in pace with the adjustments that were recently made by the Fed. I watched the interest rate on my Chase credit card go up from 15.9% up to 18.9% (And I was never late and made every payment on time!) then saw it drop back down to 16.9% when the Fed lowered the prime lending rate again.

Rather than play their game, I just gave my primary business to Citibank and American Express who have both remained consistent with my interest rates. I won't be using my Chase Card until they clean up their act. Bank of America arbitrarily just raised their rates to the point where they have lost our business. We'll keep the line of credit open, but the card will remain dormant. When we called BoA to find out what was going on, they did not have an acceptable explanation, so we took our business elsewhere. The entire balance was transferred to another bank and BoA was subtly told where they could go.

So ladies and gents, do your homework and shop your credit cards like you would shop and compare everything else. You can save hundreds of dollars in interest savings and you'll be able to pay down your debt faster.

The best places to comparision shop for credit cards are: www.creditcards.com and www.cardoffers.com

Taking Advantage of Balance Transfer Offers

A few days ago I mentioned taking advantage of credit card balance transfer offers. I recently received an offer for zero percent interest for nine months with no balance tranfer fee on my Citi Professional Card. Because I already had an active balance on the card, I first needed to pay off the balance or I would continue to pay interest on the existing balance, because any payments made would be applied to the zero percent transfer amount then applied to the next lowest interest rate offer until they were paid in full.

I had to first tranfer my remaining balance on the card to another card temporarily so that I had a clean slate before I could take advantage of the balance transfer offer. Once my account showed a zero balance, I moved the "temporary" card balance back to the card with the zero percent offer, along with any remaining balances on my other cards. I made a reminder in my calendar to either pay off the balance in full (or transfer it to another card) in November before the zero percent offer will expire. Consolidating existing balances onto a single card with nine months of no interest will save me several hundred dollars and chances are I'll be able to use another balance transfer offer when this one expires to continue the interest savings cycle until everything is paid off in full!

From now on, any future purchases will be paid with a points/rebate related card and that card will be paid in full every month rather than carrying a balance.

Stop watering your lawn when it's raining!

April showers bring... a lot of wasted water! You see it all the time... someone's sprinkler's are running when it's clearly raining outside, and they're wasting water. If you have a sprinkler system installed in your yard or business and don't already have one, break down, spend the $20 and install a sprinkler system rain sensor / rain shutoff.

Once the amount of rainfall has reached a specified level, your sprinkler system will be deactivated and it won't be allowed to start until a certain amount of water has evaporated. This prevents you from unnecessarily wasting water and can save quite a bit on your water bill. Especially in instances where your sprinkler system is set to run at night while you are asleep, (as most folks do) and if you experience night-time rain showers. You should also consider setting your sprinkler timers to run every other day or less frequently depending on where you live.

Visit our Amazon store to purchase a rain sensor/rain shutoff online.

Wonder where your money goes? Cut back on senseless expenses.

Payday is still a week away and you wonder where all your money has gone? Same here. So I started keeping track of where I was spending it. Before I became a full-time telecommuter, I was shocked to find that I was spending $1-2 on vending machine items (snacks/sodas) per day ($5-10 per week/$20-40 per month) and was spending anywhere from $5-10 per day eating breakfast and/or lunch in the cafeteria! ($25-50 per week/$100-200 per month) So combined, I found that I was spending somewhere between $120-240 every month just on convenience foods that I didn't need! I didn't spend that much on my groceries in a month!

Once I realized how much I was spending just by raiding the vending machines and eating in the cafeteria, I began to take my lunch and snacks instead. I would take left-overs, sandwiches, or pick up frozen microwave dinners when they were on sale for 10 for $10 at the grocery store. My wallet grew fatter as my weight and cholesterol levels got lower. Eating all the overpriced high-fat foods was replaced by eating healthier and consuming smaller portions. Not only did I feel better, I became healther and so did my bank account. I still would go out to lunch on occasion, but the savings have really made a difference all around.

Now that I don't have to commute to work, I'm not filling up the tank every week, so my fuel costs have gone from about $150/mo to $50 or less. Because I'm no longer a commuter, I was able to change the status on my car insurance to a pleasure vehicle, which has lowered my insurance premiums.

In fact, because I drive so little during the week I'm now considering selling my car to save on the monthly car payment and picking up a less expensive used car to get around in. In my case, it would actually be cheaper to just lease a vehicle and as soon as I can legally come up with a way to deduct the expense, I may do that instead.

My life's been locked down with LifeLock

I know you've seen the commercial with LifeLock CEO Todd Davis giving out his real Social Security Number as proof that his company can help stop identity theft before it occurs. In the past year I've been placed at risk by breaches at former employers, two credit card companies and my financial institution. They were results of computer tapes being stolen or misplaced, and two laptops that got stolen that contained personal information on them. As a result the responsible companies signed me up for credit protection programs, and in addition I placed a fraud alert on the accounts at risk and requested new account numbers just to be safe.

Now that the credit protection programs which I had been enrolled in are about to expire, I thought it might be a good idea to sign up with LifeLock. I figure that they're new enough that they are likely to perform better than a company who may have become complacent about providing customer service. Plus with their $1 Million Dollar Guarantee, it was hard to find a competitive offer. The program isn't very expensive and it gives peace of mind that if any of my information does get into the wrong hands, they'll be stopped dead in their tracks if someone tries to use it.

LifeLock does what they say they will. Within a week of signing up, I received notification from the credit bureaus that a credit alert had been placed on my accounts and that a copy of my credit reports had been ordered. They also stated a request was made to remove me from mass marketing campaigns, so it will be interesting to see if there truly is a reduction in my junk mail. (Too bad they can't reduce the amount of email spam I receive too!)

Click here to Join or learn more about LifeLock.

Don't forget to keep tabs on your credit too!

Since you are using all of this wonderful information to save money on your purchases, lower your energy costs, and pocket more of your money, you should also keep tabs on your credit. Not only does it give you a good picture of your financial well-being, it's a necessity these days to help prevent identity theft! If you haven't done so in the last year, stop what you're doing right now and request your credit report from all three agencies. You can look through them and ensure all of the information is accurate. If you find errors or discrepencies, contact the responsible reporting agency immediately. Instructions for correcting errors in your credit report are included with the documents you receive. You have the option of printing the report directly online, or having one sent to you. (additoinal fees may apply) Depending upon where you live, the online reports are absolutely FREE. Do it now! Don't put it off -- go to: www.annualcreditreport.com