Comments on: Review: The 1-2-3 Money Plan

By: Joan

Joan — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:34:47 +0000

You mentioned the savings in giving up the telephone landline and changing the 5 most used light bulbs with CFLs. As a health and disability researcher, I say those are short-term savings versus long-term health affects. If you give up your landline and don’t change your telephone talking habits and continue long conversations on a cell phone, there are a wide variety of health affects for which there is an extensive body of science despite what that industry would have you believe. And the CFLs – check the EPA website about how to clean-up if you break one, and that site doesn’t even mention the electromagnetic fields you are exposed to if the lights are close to you for reading, etc.

Short-term savings versus long term health affects. These are especially crucial for children who are developing and growing quickly as these can affect cell development, which if damaged from the exposure, will replicate as damaged cells.

By: livingmylifedebtfree

livingmylifedebtfree — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:14:46 +0000

I agree with you disagreeing with Karp about avoiding big-ticket energy efficiency upgrades. When it comes to the environment it is not always about just saving money. Making those changes will benefit in the long run. Plus these upgrades are going to be more affordable in the near future.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:06:47 +0000

I would think long and hard before changing life insurance policies. Not all policies are automatically renewable, and if you become uninsurable after switching you will be out of luck when it expires.

Also, if you have a non-term policy you will be starting over, and will lose the equity you build up in it (Not quite the right way to put it, but close.) These are fixed premiums, and if you get it in your early 20s you will probably come out ahead over your life.

By: Leann

Leann — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:39:54 +0000

As a manager in a 9-1-1 PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point), I have experienced first hand the devastating consequences of people cancelling their land-line phone service. When you call 9-1-1 from a landline, the operator has an ALI (Automatic Location Indicator) that pinpoints your address, and depending on the technology of the center, shows it on a map. Either way, from a landline, if you call 9-1-1 and can’t speak, or say your 4 year old or your babysitter calls and doesn’t know the address, or any other myriad of circumstances where you or someone calling in your behalf, can’t tell the operator where you are, THEY WILL ALREADY KNOW.

If you call from a cell phone, all of that is NOT automatic. Depending on the cell provider, the location of towers, the technology in your phone, and then technology of the 9-1-1 call center, they may have the following locations for you:
1)NO IDEA
2)some idea based on the cell tower your call’s signal bounced off of, but no idea of how far from the tower or from what direction
3)some idea of the tower, distance and/or direction from the tower
4)some idea of the actual location of the caller, based on either GPS or triangulation.

Of course, #4 is the best, but even in the best, it’s usually not within feet but rather hundreds of yards. All of these possibilities are dependent upon your state and local government’s rules for 9-1-1 wireless, the technology of your phone, your wireless company, the infrastructure of the towers, how far away you are, the weather, etc.

Bottom line, if you want emergency services to know where you are if whomever is calling can’t tell the operator, you NEED a landline phone!! I have taken calls that sound like someone fighting for their life, and I couldn’t locate them to send help.

DOn’t even get me started on Voice Over IP phones (Vonage, etc)…. they have their own unique challenges.

Pay the 15 bucks a month knowing that help can find you when you need it.

By: AB

AB — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:09:16 +0000

We have a large family, and we do not give allowances. Our children have chores that they are required to do just because they are part of our family. If they want privileges, they have to show responsibility, so if their chores are not done, they do not get their privileges. But we also have extra various jobs around the house occasionally that we are willing to pay to have done. This is how they make some extra money. In my opinion, giving allowances does not prepare children for responsibility in life. Whey they grow up, no one is going to show up at the end of every week and hand them some money when they haven’t done anything to earn it.

By: Anna

Anna — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:05:44 +0000

Re: getting credit card companies to lower their rates by threatening to move your credit account elsewhere, or actually doing it. This advice has been around for a long time, and under the old conditions it usually worked.

My question: Now the credit card companies are all raising their rates so they can make their bucks before the new regulations become effective. Is the traditional advice still valid? Does anyone have hard information about this new situation?

By: dream

dream — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:01:10 +0000

Kristine makes a valid point about automatic payments. That is also good advice for people like me whose income fluctuates wildly from week to week.
A good website for getting a REAL free credit report is http://www.creditkarma.com . I also find it handy for calculating possible scenarios (Via tools on their site) for loan repayment schedules for the home I hope to buy this year. Using CreditKarma I check my credit score monthly, since I’ve been doing some crazy things with my money & credit. My credit score actually dropped 12 points one month!!

By: kristine

kristine — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 07:50:55 +0000

Re: the break-even date of green initiatives. Increased resale value is only real if you plan to sell, or borrow against your house. If you plan to stay put, then resale value does not matter.

Also- Right now, I would not encourage anyone to set up automatic payments. In the last week alone, I have heard 5 nightmares from friends whose checks have bounced, and automatic payments bounced, due to bank mergers and takeovers. The account number changes, and you have to painstakingly let every Tom Dick and Harry know about it. Even then, a lot of mistakes are made. Then you waste hours on the phone trying to get reimbursed for bounce fees, and explaining to vendors, and crossing your fingers it does not effect your credit. I’m waiting till the banking industry’s musical chair game settles down.

By: logical1

logical1 — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 05:00:07 +0000

For number 5…. A “green” or expensive upgrade does not always mean a higher sales price for your home. There are very few home improvements, or upgrades that will increase the value of your home equal to, or even withing 90% of, the cost of the investment.

Such an improvement may help you sell your home faster, but not always for more money. You have to consider market conditions and competition. If you put a $15,000 improvement on your home and put it up for sale the same time your neighbor has his house up for sale and you price your home even $10,000 higher, if everything else is equal… your neighbor will be moving first.

By: Margaret Mary Myers

Margaret Mary Myers — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:47:18 +0000

We always tied our kids’ allowances to a chore…but we also had chores that they did just to contribute to the family, as everyone in the family does. We found this to be a good balance.

Thank you again for all your great ideas and insight each day!

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:12:24 +0000

Is it possible for you share the reasoning behind not tying children’s allowances to chores?