Forever Stamp

Today starts the Forever Stamp and the new 41 Cents Per stamp rate hike. Also, there are new rules about how THICK an envelope may be... must be under 1/4"... failure to do so will result in a fee for not being flat machineable. (80 cents instead of 41 on a First Class Stamp)

So, go on out there and pickup your new stamps. Wahoo! $20 says there will be some type of "emergency" rate hike before the year ends due to gas prices... stay tuned.

BTW, UPS raised their "Fuel Surcharge" on May 7th from 3.5% to 4%.

Financial Peace University - Dave Ramsey

I am going to be a table leader at the upcoming Financial Peace University at Westside Family Church in Lenexa, KS. The class I will be at is on Tuesday nights starting in June. (See information below) I am sure that you might have heard our Dave Ramsey story before, so I'll tell you a new one.

This week, my Jeep's starter went out. In the past, my life would have been devistated with the repair costs. I would have put off the repair until I had the money. I would have had trouble sleeping because I knew that I was going to bounce checks. I would have put the repair on my credit card.

Today though, I live a different life. Even though I still have not completed all the steps from Financial Peace University, I plan on doing so soon. Thanks to these steps, my wife and I have $1000 in an emergency fund plus another $500 in a car emergency fund. It was no big worry when the car didnt start. This time I procrastinated getting it repaird because I wasn't concerned, not because I didn't have the money. It's an wierd feeling to no longer worry about car issues... I like being weird!

Financial Peace University
91 Days To Beat Debt & Build Wealth!
FPU is a video driven 13-week life-changing program that empowers and teaches you how to make the right money decisions. To achieve your financial goals and expirence a total money makeover. It will be offered on site at Westside Family Church. Material cost is $96.25 (couples share) and should be ordered through the church since the materials are more expensive direct from Dave Ramsey. See a Video

Lenexa Campus - 8500 Woodsonia Drive
1. Sundays beginning June 3 from 6:30 to 8:30PM (Orientation on May 20 at 6:30 PM)
2. Tuesdays beginning June 5 from 7:00 to 9:00PM (Orientation on May 22 at 7:00PM)

Overland Park Campus - WFC Offices at 9154 W 135th St
Sundays beginning June 3 from 7:00 to 9:00PM (Orientation on May 20 at 7:00PM)

For More information visit Dave Ramsey's Website or Westside Family's registration page if you are ready to register. Also, you may contact Niki Ezzell at nezzell@westsidefamilychurch.com or 913-890-4243.

When was the last time you READ your Bills?

The Wall Street Journal had a blog post yesterday by Nathan Koppel about a Sanford Professor that did a study about billing abuse by attorneys. He pulled 5000 attorneys and found that many of them pad the bills and preform "unnecessary" tasks to bump up the rate.

Ross polled 5,000 attorneys from various walks of life throughout the country, and 251 responded. He worked with Reed Business Information to generate a random sampling of lawyers who work at law firms. Two-thirds said they had “specific knowledge” of bill padding ─ a finding virtually identical to one reached by Ross in a 1995 billing survey. Also, 54.6% of the respondents (as compared with 40.3% in 1995) admitted that they had sometimes performed unnecessary tasks just to bump up their billable output.

Now this post is about Attorneys, but really... how often do you read your bills in detail? Do you know what your credit card rates are, would you know if they changed one month? Do you know what your banking fees are and if you were charged $2 extra for "POS Debit Fee" would you have any idea if you were supposed to?

Having worked in the phone industry, doing contract negotiation, I know that many of the "regulatory fees" are actually phone company charges that stay right in the phone companies pocket.

Chances are you are being ripped of by someone! You should read your bills in detail every month, often, if you pay the bill then you agreed to it's contents and getting credits for longstanding "mistakes" is very difficult.

My recommendation, start negotiating more of your bills. When you call and discuss your utility bills and what you can do to get it reduced you will learn a lot about what you're actually getting billed. Take this negotiation as an opportunity to learn about the business, the better educated you are the better you will understand how to protect your budget. And... think of it as a game, what's the worst that could happen?

Ask questions that have nothing to do with why you are calling... get out of your comfort zone... ask the phone rep if he is paid by the sale or just hourly. Ask if they get in trouble for discounting your bill. Ask if they have a record of how many credits they have already given you, even better, if they have a limit. (annual, monthly, daily, percent) All of these little tid-bits of information will drive you to better negotiate and better understand your bill so you won't get ripped off anymore.

I'll give you one more tip... read these... I know the bill you are negotiating might not be your cell phone bill but read these posts they will give you a real understanding about how customer service reps are paid and think.

• 18 Confessions Of 2 Former T-Mobile Reps
• 10 Things We've Learned From 'Confessions of A Wireless Sales Rep'
• 8 Confessions Of A Former Verizon Sales Rep
• 7 Confessions of a Cingular Sales Rep
• 6 Confessions Of A Former Sprint Sales Rep
• 11 Confessions of a T-Mobile Sales Rep
• 8 Confessions of an Alltel Sales Rep

Are You Debt Free?

You'll find out quickly that I am a fan of Dave Ramsey. While he may not use the best mathematics to determine what your best option, he knows people, he helps you pick the best option for YOUR life. If you haven't had a chance to listen to him on the radio, pick up one of his books, attend one of his classes, or see him live you really should do so.

My wife and I took the class as a recommendation from our Financial Advisor. I was talking to him one day and explaining my money problems and housing arrangement. I told him that my wife and I were wanting to purchase a house but our money was dictating what we could afford. (A very real statement.)

He said, "have you ever heard of Dave Ramsey?" He explained that he is actually one of Ramsey's "Endorsed Local Providers" and that people come to him for financial advise by referral from Ramsey, a radio money guru. He suggested I pick up his book or CDs and give him a try.

Shortly after that my wife and I took a trip to Iowa and listened to the first 4 CDs during the trip. We were amazed at how real Ramsey is and how much we were doing wrong. We decided then that starting September 1 our life was going to be on purpose. Today, we are not out of debt, but we have a fire in us to do so. Since that date we attend the Financial Peace University class at a local church and we have really come to love sharing the program.

Try listening to him free online, listen to him on the radio, read a book (you haven't done that in a while), attend a class, or go see him LIVE... it's a life changing experience.

If you have taken the class you might enjoy this link, a summary of his investing class.

PS. While it seems like I'm trying to sell you something here, you should know that I do not have advertisers and I am only posting this with your best interest in mind. In the interest of full disclosure, I do receive a gift card when you purchase books from Amazon.com through this site. I plan to use those gift cards to buy more books to evaluate for future posts. Thanks for your support.

Do Stores "Trick" You Into Spending?

I've worked in the Sales, inside/outside and retail, for over 10 years. There is no doubt that there are tricks into making customers purchase things they wouldn't have otherwise. The upsale is the biggest trick, getting you to spend additional dollars for a better product or an accessory.

MSN money did this article, "15 ways stores trick you into spending" where they describe the many ways you are "tricked". Very interresting as many do not realize how easy it is to manipulate the human mind.

Studies show that most customer's desire to turn right as they enter the store. So most stores will make you enter on the right side so you are forced to turn left causing you to be out of sync before you even get started.

2. Desirable departments are far away from the entrance. Most of the items I go to a department store to buy, such as light bulbs and laundry detergent, are located many, many aisles from the entrance. This means I spend my time walking by a lot of consumer goods on my way to find the item I want. Because these consumer goods are effectively marketed to me, there's a good likelihood that I'll spy something that I don't necessarily need and toss it in the cart.

6. Items that aren't on sale are sometimes placed as though they are on sale, without using the word "sale." I noticed this over and over with diapers; the department store would display a rack of them with a huge sign above them displaying the price, but it would be the same price I paid for them a week ago. Unsurprisingly, the diapers displayed like that were always the most expensive kind.

Just remember, it's their goal to get you to go past items many, many times because the more you pass them the more likely you are to "remember" it was something you "needed."

MSN Money - "15 ways stores trick you into spending"

Dealerships Rip You Off With The "Four-Square," Here's How To Beat It

This is one of the most informative articles I have ever read about high pressure sales and the specialized techniques car dealerships use. This is a MUST READ for anyone who owns or will ever own a car... new or used.

Read the whole article, it's long, it's important, and it will save you thousands... for example.

Sometimes, if the manager feels especially nasty (or has gone a few rounds with you via the worksheet), they'll come out of the tower and say "Folks, I'm (Douchey Douchebag), the sales manager here. Congratulations! You've just bought a car! We were able to get the payments to $310 - I know you wanted $300, but that was the best we could do. That's close enough, right?" They'll nod their head (another psychological trick to get you to agree), and almost every time the person says "Yea, that's fine!" The problem is, they didn't realize that a $10 payment bump over a 5-year loan nets an extra $1k in profit for the dealership. It's called "the $10 (or $15, or $20) close", and I only saw it fail when a person was really, really exasperated with us. The deal ends, and you wake up in a year realizing that, somehow, you're $6,000 upside down on your car, while the dealership is laughing all the way to the bank.

The Consumerist - Dealerships Rip You Off With The "Four-Square," Here's How To Beat It