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Commingle Personal and Business Finances? Never!
Dear Mary: I am reading your book, "Debt-Proof Living," and have begun tracking my expenses. I have a home-based business. Should I include business expenses or just personal expenses in the tracking? — Lucy, Vermont
Dear Lucy: You …Read more.
In Recessionary Times, Thrift Stores Are Booming
I love to read about the ingenious ways people are dealing with the effects of this unrelenting recession. Reminds me of a news story I read recently about the rise in popularity of thrift stores. They're becoming so popular, in fact, new ones are …Read more.
How to Stop Paying for Standby Power
Take a stroll through all the rooms in your home tonight when it's dark. Notice all the little green or red lights staring at you from TVs, cable boxes, phone chargers, computer peripherals, sound systems, the coffee maker and the microwave. I did …Read more.
Debt: The Good, Bad and Really Ugly
All debt falls into one of three categories: reasonable, toxic and neutral.
Reasonable, or good, debt is the result of borrowing money to buy something that has a high likelihood of increasing in value, and in so doing will increase your net worth.
…Read more.
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Put the Brakes on Runaway Cell Phone BillsA few years ago, cell phones were luxuries for adults. Now they are must-haves for most people, including kids. Further, escalating costs are about to choke the typical family. A recent story in the New York Post reported that 11 federal, state and city levies add as much as 33 percent to the costs of New Yorkers' cell phones. If over-chatting and texting don't get you, rising taxes will. If cell phone bills are leaving you begging for mercy, you may have an out. Prepaid cell phone service is like a prepaid phone card. You buy the cell phone (some companies are giving people free phones to get started), activate it and pay to put minutes, or "units," on your account. As you use the phone, minutes come off your account. When you run low, you pay to add more minutes. The best things about prepaid cell phone plans are all the noes: —No contracts to sign. —No monthly bills. —No long-term commitments. —No credit checks. —No age limits. —No hidden fees. You should consider a few issues when going with prepaid cell phones: Prepaid wireless makes sense for seniors, teens, kids and others who are not heavy users or active talkers. However, if you fall into the active-talker category, prepaid can be an expensive way to go. Even though prepaid customers spend less on average per month than their friends on typical cell phone plans do, they pay more per minute. Pricing varies from one provider to the next and according to how many minutes you buy at a time, costing, on average, between 10 cents and 50 cents a minute.
TracFone Wireless, the largest mobile phone provider, doesn't actually own any cell phone towers. It leases coverage from the local cellular providers. That means its phones work anywhere that cell phone service is available. You can purchase pay-as-you-go phones from TracFone Wireless at Target, Sam's Club, Rite Aid, Amazon, Lowe's, Walgreens and other retailers. Go to http://www.TracFone.com for current offers and more detailed information. Virgin Mobile offers an interesting prepaid cell phone plan; its minutes do not expire. However, the service may be spotty in rural areas. Read the details of Virgin's prepaid plan at http://www.VirginMobileUSA.com. Stop into any 7-Eleven convenience market and you'll see spinner racks with prepaid phones from providers such as T-Mobile, AT&T and Virgin Mobile. Should you dump your current plan in favor of a pay-as-you-go model? That depends on your needs. If you have spotty credit, prepaid is something you may want to consider. If you are trying desperately to slash your current monthly bills, prepaid is a way to put yourself under strict discipline without giving up mobile calling altogether. All things considered, if you can keep to the terms of a contract without going over your allotted time and you do not rack up roaming charges, commitment still may be cheaper than pay as you go. Mary Hunt is the founder of www.DebtProofLiving.com and author of 18 books, including her latest, "Can I Pay My Credit Card Bill With a Credit Card?" You can e-mail her at mary@everydaycheapskate.com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, P.O. Box 2135, Paramount, CA 90723. To find out more about Mary Hunt and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.
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