BudgetCents Has A New Home

I finally decided to leave Blogger and host BudgetCents Blog on my own.

The new site can be found here: www.budgetcents.net

Please update your bookmarks accordingly as this will be my last post here.

My RSS feed (feeds.feedburner.com/BudgetCents) will remain the same.

See you there!

Free Domain Name from Register.com / 1 Cent Web Hosting at HostGator

Register.com is offering a registration of a free domain name.
Now is your chance to get that name you always wanted (If it isn't taken already). This offer is only for the first year. The details of the offer can be located here

Ok, so now you have your new domain, what are you going to do with it? There are many cheap webhosting sites out there. This blog is hosted on HostGator and have been happy with them so far. I am on the $7.95 /month package and it is suiting me well.

HostGator is offering webhosting for a penny for your first month. Sign up Here and enter offer code jury. You need to select the "Baby" package which is $7.95 / month.

If you are looking to start your own blog, I have free detailed instructions on how to set up a Word Press blog on HostGator. If you are interested, leave a comment on this post and I will email them out to you.

Are there still deals out there?

Now that BlackFriday has come and gone, you are probably asking yourself "Are there still good shopping deals out there?"

The answer is yes! You just need to know where to look. My suggestion is to start with the ever popular deal sites. These sites aggregate deals from all over into one place. Here are a few that I visit often:

• TechBargains.com
  
• Ben's Bargains
  
• Fatwallet HotDeals

Ok, so you found what you are going to buy. Now why not check to see if there is a coupon out there. Many sites offer free shipping with coupons. There are many coupon sites out there, the main ones I use are:

• DealCoupon.com
  
• Coupon Cabin

So you have the place where you are going to buy the item and a coupon, now check to see if you can get a rebate back from the store you will be shopping at. Here are the rebate sites I use:

• Mr. Rebates
  
• EBates

There are many ways on the internet to shop and save much more than you would if going to an actual brick and mortar store. I know Christmas is the season of giving, but why not save a little as well!

Looking for a new job?

Are you looking for a new job? Well now is a good time to start looking. I have always heard that companies tend to hire more in Q4 as they are trying to fill the positions that have been approved for the next year since many companys are on a calendar fiscal year.

Another reason is that people tend to travel less for business during the holidays so it is probably easier to get that interview lined up since the hiring manager will likely be around.

Now all this is not to say that you can slack on the resume. Your resume should look professional and be clear and concise. Don't try to dazzle people with a 5 page resume as most will just skip past it. In my hiring experience it is amazing how easy it is just to skip a resume just because you don't like the layout of it. I tend to look for a summary on the first page that describes the skills. Then below that a quick look into your most recent employers.

Many people say that cover letters are important. Personally, I tend to just skip them over. In my experience most cover letters tend to just be 'BS'. I don't care if you think you can do the job, I want to review what you have done and I will make that decision. If you have described your previous jobs well, then I will want more from you which means an interview.

Make sure you have salary expectations in mind. My goal is to get the best qualified candidate for the least amount of money, so tell me what you are worth. Of course I will make the final decision, but it is easier when there is a dollar amount to start at.

Those are just some basic things I look for in a candidate. If you are in the job hunting process don't be afraid to be confident and demand what you want. In my experience the people that tend to move up in the world are the ones that pave their own way.

Earn Airline Miles with Google Checkout

Google Checkout is having a promotion through December 31, where they will give you 2 miles for every dollar spent using Google Checkout.

You can redeem the miles on the following airlines:
Alaska Air, Continental, Delta, Midwest Airlines, Northwest, US Airways and United

For anyone that doesn't know what Google Checkout is, it is an optional way to make a an online payment for goods and services, similiar to that of Paypal. Since this is a Google product, you can expect many stores to accept Google Checkout as a payment method. The list of stores can be found Here.

Sign up for Google Checkout Here!

If you tend to do a lot of online shopping then why not make some miles on the side? Also, if you already have a miles reward credit card, you can essentially double dip and earn miles from the card issueuer as well as getting miles from Google Checkout. Ah don't you love the holidays?

Full Promo Details

Loanio.com - New Person 2 Person Lending Site

I just stumbled across Loanio.com. They appear to be a pre-launch person to person lending site similair to that of Prosper.com.

There isn't a whole lot of info out there on Loanio, but you can sign up for Loanio's mailing list and they will send out an email to you as their launch approaches.
It will be nice to have some competition here. I am hoping that Loanio builds on some of Prosper's weaknesses. I have had my issues with Prosper early on, but things seem to be looking better lately. Just 2 bankrupicies to deal with at the moment.

Georgia man tries to deposit fake $1M bill

Just when I think that America as a society tends to get smarter over the years, I read this article and I start to lose hope.

Yahoo! News:Georgia man tries to deposit fake $1M bill

AIKEN, S.C. - A bank teller in Clearwater had a million reasons not to open an account for an Augusta, Ga., man Monday, authorities said. Alexander D. Smith, 31, was charged with disorderly conduct and two counts of forgery after he walked into the bank and tried to open an account by depositing a fake $1 million bill, said Aiken County Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Michael Frank.

The employee refused to open the account and called police while the man started to curse at bank workers, Frank said.

The second forgery charge came after investigators learned Smith bought several cartons of cigarettes from a nearby grocery store with a stolen check, Frank said.

The federal government has never printed a million-dollar bill, Frank said

If you ask me they should just let this guy go. He is too dumb to actually be a criminal apparently. Hey buddy, next time start with five dollar bills!!!!

Fidelity mySmart Cash High Yield Checking Account

Fidelity has been offering their mySmart Cash High Yield Checking account for a while now, but it still doesn't appear to be listed on their accounts page. It is possible they are still wanting to keep a small amount of customers on it while they iron out issues.

Well that won't stop me from telling you about it!

Account Details:
3.50% APY (FDIC insured up to $100,000 per depositor)
ALL ATM fees refunded (this includes ATM fees charged by the ATM owner)
No minimum balance
Free checkwriting (Free checks as well)
Free Bill Pay
Free Self-funded overdraft protection

I have had this account for 3 months now and love it. The ATM rebates alone make this the greatest account. I travel quite a bit for work and am not always near a local ATM, with this account, I can use an ATM anywhere and not have to pay any fees at all.

Throw in a better than average interest rate and Fidelity's great customer service and this account is a slam dunk.

I did leave my local checking account open so that I can deposit checks there and then use Fidelity's ACH system to move the money into my mySmart Cash account. You can also mail in your deposits to Fidelity if you feel comfortable with that.

One other important feature is the free overdraft. You can have your mySmart Cash account overdraft from a Fidelity Brokerage account anytime your balance dips below zero. Now you no longer need to worry about bouncing a check or overdraft fees.

This account completes my portfolio at Fidelity and allows me to keep all my money in one place. I am very happy with this account this far and have made it my primary checking account.

Sign Up Here

mySmart Cash Checking Account FAQ

Free Digital Camcorder with TCF Bank Accounts

TCF is having a promotion where they are giving away a Free Digital Camcorder when you open a checking and savings account.

TCF has 449 banking offices in Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Colorado, Wisconsin, Indiana and Arizona. Check locations here. This offer requires a visit to a branch to open the accounts.

What you need to do: Open a TCF Checking Account and Savings account at a local branch. Then setup an automatic transfer of $25 from your checking to your savings account
Obligation: None
Initial Reward (if any): Free Digital Camcorder
Money to get started: The checking account has no minimum balance requirement, but you will need to deposit at least $25 so you can set up the automatic transfer
Things to Note: The automatic transfer only needs to be setup for 30 days after that you can stop it. Accounts must be opened by 12/31 and remain open for 30 days.
Deal Small Print:

A new TCF Free Checking and Savings account must be opened between November 1 - December 31, 2007. Available to individuals and small businesses without a TCF Checking account in the past 90 days. New savings account must establish an automatic transfer from a new TCF Checking account of $25 or more to qualify. The savings account and automatic transfer must be opened and established the same day as the new checking account and must remain active for 30 days. Business customers have 30 days to establish online transfer. TCF reserves the right to cancel or modify this promotion at any time. Customer is responsible for all applicable taxes. See a TCF Representative for additional requirements. Please allow 5 - 8 weeks for processing and delivery of award.

Make $500,000 on a $20,000 Salary

Here is an intersting article from Kiplinger.com. It is about a guy who makes $20,000 per year as a parking attendent but has built a $500,000 stock portfolio over 44 years.

I think this article is the epitimy of long term investing. In today's world everyone wants to get in on the get rich quick scheme when in reality the proven way to make it rich is to save over time.

This guy saved his pennies for forty-four years by budgeting and has done well for himself. He defnielty has more discipline than me, but I also beleive he is someone I can learn from. I guess the real question is: Live life now and pay later or pay now and live life later. It is a personal choice, but I beleive most of us would pay later!!!

Amazon MP3 Music Store Review

Since the URGE Music Store has been purchased by Rhapsody I have been looking for a new outlet to buy my music. URGE was alright, but it required a software install into Windows Media Player. URGE also used DRM (Digital Rights Management), so I could not play the songs anywhere other than my PC I downloaded them on. There might have been a way to do this by copying the licenses but I could never figure it out.

Fast forward to today. I decided that in my next music store, I wasn't going to go with a site that had DRM or that required me to install software. I have 3 pc's and a WindowsMobile Smart phone, I want to play the same song on all 4 devices easily.

After some research I decided to check out the Amazon MP3 Music Store

Bingo! I think I found what I was looking for:

• No DRM!
  
• No software to install (there is an application you can install if you want easier music management, but it is not required. You essentially just download the raw .mp3 file)
  
• Most all songs are .89 or .99
  
• Large selection of artists (They are not focused on just Pop or Rap)

I have been using the Amazon MP3 Music Store for a few weeks and am very satisfied. Also, since I buy from Amazon regularly I am not concerned with site security and know they have a good customer service team in place to help me with any issues.

This is not really a "Saving Money" post, but I have been able to save time by not having to burn a DRM song to a CD then RIP it back off just to get the song to play on other machines. Hey, didn't someone say TIME=MONEY?

Free Trades at Fidelity with Rollover

Until December 31st, Fidelity is offering free trades when you rollover an IRA or 401k with at least $25,000 in value.

Here are the details:

Value of Rollover		# of Trades		Trades Expire
$25,000 - $99,999		60 free trades		6 months from day assets received
$100,000 or more		100 free trades		12 months from day assets received

Sign up and check out further details on Fidelity's Offer Page

This is a great deal if you have any money sitting in an old employer's 401k or another IRA. Especially since there are no maintenance fees on Fidelity Rollover IRA's. Plus once the free trades run out, buying and selling Fidelity's branded mutual funds are always free!

I come from the school of thinking where I like all my money in one place. It is easier to manage and act accordingly if you need to make changes.

I definitely recommend Fidelity as I have a 401k with my employer, ROTH IRA, Rollover IRA, Brokerage Account and Checking account with them. Customer service has always been professional and I like the availability of purchasing many different types of securities, including CD's for free, from them as well.

I do have a brokerage account with Sharebuilder, but I only use that for fractional share investing. All my real money goes into Fidelity as I have had nothing but great service from them thus far.