Best Bank Rates and Deals

Flexible Spending Accounts are employer-sponsored benefits that can help employees cover the costs of medical and dependent care expenses. Employees can save quite a bit of money on these particular expenditures if they deposit part of their gross earnings into an FSA.

If you anticipate incurring a lot of medical expenses in the next year, or must care for a dependent, the benefits of a dependent care or health FSA far outweigh the costs. Even so, if you are eligible to hold a flexible spending account, be sure to consider both the advantages and disadvantages to determine whether an FSA is right for you.

Advantages

• The money you deduct from your paycheck and deposit into your FSA is never reported to the IRS, thus decreasing your taxable income and increasing what you can spend.
• A dependent care FSA allows you to keep working as much as you want because you can afford to pay someone else for child or elder care.
• If you use up all of your allotted expenses for the year in one day, you will be reimbursed right away but continue to pay your allocations throughout the year.

Full article…

It was another slow month for the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), but second lien modifications got underway, according to a Treasury report.

During February, 26,147 permanent loan modifications were started under HAMP, but cancellation volume increased to 76,678.

Since the program got underway, 633,754 permanent mods have been started and 557,076 remain active.

Meanwhile, 29,089 trial mods were started during the month, bringing the total number of trials started to 1,522,196.

Unfortunately, 746,203 have been cancelled since program inception, and only 142,239 are in active trials.

The pool of eligible borrowers seems to be getting smaller and smaller, and perhaps it’s true that only 700,000 foreclosures will be prevented under the program.

Second Mortgages Being Modified

At the same time, the Second Lien Modification Program (2MP) is getting some legs, with 16,951 second mortgage modifications started so far.

And because homeowners with first lien mortgage modifications under HAMP become automatically eligible when their second lien servicer participates in 2MP, this number is expected to increase.

FHA-HAMP permanent modifications now total 866, with 2,977 trials started.

Additionally, more than 10,000 homeowners have agreements with their loan servicers to “exit their home” under the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program, via short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.

HAFA provides up to $3,000 for relocation assistance after a borrower loses their home.

But despite these numbers picking up, many of these government mortgage assistance programs are on the chopping block in the House.

Thanks to the recession, do it yourself is making something of a comeback. Many people are interested in saving money by taking care of home repairs, lawn care, and other items that they might have paid someone else for prior to the recession. It’s all about cutting costs.

Sometimes, though, doing it yourself can actually cost more in the long run. This is because some jobs require a certain level of expertise. If you don’t know how to do something, and you mess it up, you could end up having to pay someone else to fix the damages and do it right. Your plan to save money could backfire horribly.

Deciding Whether to Do It Yourself

When our basement flooded, we discovered that there are some things that we could do ourselves. Turns out that it’s fairly easy to remove baseboards. Once we had someone show us how to remove a baseboard, and put it back on, it was no problem. There are a few other things that can be done on your own around the house.

However, there are some things that require a little more expertise. Layin

Full article…

A new report released by the American Automobile Association (AAA) has revealed the cost of operating a vehicle is 3.4 percent higher than a year ago. According to the Auto Club report, a variety of issues are to blame for the increase, including rising gas prices and even bad deals on vehicle resales.

Average Annual Cost to Own a Car $8,776

AAA’s 2011 “Your Driving Costs” revealed the average annual cost to own and operate a sedan (not including auto loan payments) in the U.S. rose to $8,776 this year. That number represents a 1.9 cents per-mile increase over last year to 58.5 cents per mile, based on 15,000 miles of driving per year.

The increase in car ownership costs were attributed to the following:

• Rising gas prices: Gas prices alone fueled an 8.6-percent increase to an average of 12.34 cents per mile to operate a sedan.
• Tire costs: Keeping good tires on a car is more expensive due to the increasing cost of raw materials, energy and transportation. The r

Full article…

Sun National Bank has an on going promotion that offers a checking account bonus of $100 when you open their best checking account and deposit a minimum of $25. This offer is given to new customers and existing customers without checking account with Sun National Bank.

Qualifications to avail of the promotions are as follows:

• Open a Sun Secure Checking account with a minimum deposit of $25
• Must apply for the account from March 15 to March 31, 2011
• Account holder must keep the checking account in good standing until payout of the bonus

For qualified depositor you will receive the $100 bonus on or before June 30, 2011. Take note other fees may be applied and a 1099 will be given for tax purposes. Promotion is subject to change without prior notice.

Upon openning of Sun Secure Checking account you will be provided free 50 checks for the first order. The bank is not requiring minimum balance nor monthly fees.

Full article…

We save quite a bit of money every month by using Netflix in place of other more expensive entertainment options.

Before we began our Debt Free Adventure back in January of 2009 we used to go out to eat 3-5 times each week and would go to the movie theater about 3 times per month.  If you do the math the numbers add up quickly.  Just the theater visits alone were costing us roughly $78/month!

What did we do?  We quit eating out and going to the theater.

Whenever you remove one thing you need to replace it with an alternative.  To replace eating out all the time we began cooking more.  I love cooking so its a natural fit and we eat much healthier now.  Would you believe I havent eaten fast food in about 2 1/2 years?  Its true!

When we were frequenting movie theaters Netflix wasnt worth it because we didnt watch many movies at home.  Now that we only visit the theater on special occasions Netflix delivers incredible value.  We are on the $14.99 plan which allows us 2 DVDs out at a time, along with unlimited streaming using our Xbox 360.  Because we stream most of our movies we may go down to the 1 DVD $9.99 plan.  There is also an unlimited streaming (no DVD) option for $7.99 available.

Want to save money?

Full article…

U.S. home prices in January fell for the sixth month in a row, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index released on Tuesday. The index, which covers 20 major markets, fell 3.1 percent year-over-year, edging it closer to the reality of a home-price double dip.

90 Percent of the Market Experienced Price Declines

According to the S&P index, 18 of the 20 markets covered by the survey experienced year-over-year price declines. Among the worst declines were:

• Phoenix: 9.1 percent
• Detroit: 8.1 percent
• Portland: 7.8 percent
• Minneapolis: 7.6 percent
• Chicago: 7.5 percent

The only two markets to experience increases over the same period were Washington, D.C. and San Diego, which saw year-over-year increases of 3.6 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.

Prices Nearing Market Bottom

With the index dropping significantly for the sixth straight month, experts are saying that prices are nearing the market’s bottom, which was set in April 2009. Pri

Full article…