EPISODE 66~ EASY MONEY PODCAST
EPISODE 66~ TOP TIP: Here’s What You Should Do if You Have Multiple Credit Cards
Last week I told you how applying for lots of credit cards at once can hurt your score. This week, what to do if you already HAVE lots of credit card accounts. The answer? Leave them be. ESPECIALLY if you are about to apply for a loan, particularly a mortgage. Reason being, one factor in your credit score is the ratio of credit you have been approved for versus the credit you have used. You want to have as much credit as possible and use as little as possible. It’s especially bad to close longstanding accounts, since “length of credit history” makes up 15 percent of your score, the third biggest chunk. Of course, if you are paying annual fees to keep cards open that you don’t use, you will want to close them at some point. What to do? Wait until a time when you are not about to apply for a loan, so that when your score goes down a few points, it will not hurt you.
EPISODE 66~ SAVE MORE: Whether and When It’s a Good Idea to Sell Your House Yourself!
Selling your house yourself is not easy, but it’s not that hard. I helped my husband sell his house without an agent, and I bought and sold my condo without one. FSBOs work best if you have a cool head and a hot housing market.
The real key to selling your house yourself is to price it right. This is where most For Sale By Owners fail. People are attached to their houses and price them too high. There are ac couple of ways to set your price: Pay a real estate agent an hourly fee to work up a price for you or pay for an appraisal. One strategy is to price your house slightly low. After all, you are saving the 6 percent real estate commission, so you have lots of wiggle room. Ideally, your low price will spark a feeding frenzy of interest, you’ll get multiple bids, and sell it for MORE than you wanted.
Many people worry that they won’t know what to do once they have offers. For that, you can hire a real estate attorney. Yes, lawyers are expensive, but even at their hourly rates, they won’t come close to that 6 percent commission you’re trying to avoid.
You can also welcome buyers’ real estate agents to work with you, but offer them either less than their typical 3 percent or offer them a flat fee.
Here’s the thing about selling your house yourself: If you fail, so what? Then you can hire an agent! I’m not saying you should sell EVERY house you ever own yourself. If you can do this just once, you will get ahead financially. According to the National Association of Realtors, most people own six homes in their lifetime, so you have half a dozen chances. I’m simply suggesting that you look for the opportunity.
EPISODE 66~ FIND YOURS: When a Loved One Dies There Can Be a Silver Lining: Unclaimed Money That You Can Use to Sort Out Finances.
For many months I’d been urging my friend Tamara to do a search. Finally, when she heard me talking about unclaimed money on Easy Money she decided to take my suggestions to heart. Her long time beau John, was a musician; brilliant, creative and successful— but not so organized with his money. And there were bills to pay after his untimely death. Today Tamara joins me for our featured “Find Yours” segment to share what she found. Welcome Tamara and thanks for doing this.
This is not your typical unclaimed money story. John was a prolific musician. He produced Grammy award winning records for both famous musicians and emerging artists. He was also nominated for Grammys for his own work as a singer songwriter. He was a multi instrumentalist who performed with some of the great musicians of our time. He recorded his own albums. He even sang jingles. Did that make the treasure hunt for unclaimed money interesting?
You are right, it did. He had had so many different careers in music and and traveled far and wide performing and producing. It was a little hard to know where to start.
So where did you begin your search? John lived in Potomac when he died, but had also lived in Washington DC, Virginia, Tennessee and maybe other states too.
Tennessee and Nashville in particular was the first place I started because the focus of his career for many years was Nashville.
I can’t remember. Did you find some unclaimed money accounts for John with a simple online search? I know I suggested you look at missingmoney.com and unclaimed.org.
I followed your instructions to the letter, going to missing money.com and unclaimed.org. Some accounts popped right up!
As I recall, you ended up speaking to somebody in a state treasurer’s office and they told you there were even more accounts for John than you saw listed online. Am I right?
The woman whom I spoke with was very helpful and I think she did direct me to some other accounts. I spoke with her quite a few times as there was a lot of paper work to do. She was also so kind and sympathetic. Some of the accounts I found were not his. But she found some that I had missed.
Explain how musicians get paid because I think that’s part of how some of his money came to be lost. Am I right?
Its so confusing!!! and during the almost 20 years we were together, the ways musicians are compensated changed dramatically and became even more confusing. Musicians can be paid for performing, producing, publishing (writing) and licensing or a combination of all of those. At John’s level they are paid when they produce recordings and sometimes also accept payment at the ‘back end’ meaning that as the recording sells they are paid a percentage. When films, commercials and TV shows use their work, they’re paid royalties or a lump sum or both depending on what they agree to.
Can you tell if all of John’s unclaimed money was from his music career? Or were there also more mundane listings like the rest of us might have?
There was one sizable check from one of his record labels and some were just refunds from this or that. I don’t know how he ended up missing out on this money. He could have really used it when he was ill.
Was it hard to claim John’s money? I know you’re the executor of his estate, so that gave you standing to do it.
It wasn’t hard but it was a little tedious. I had to document past addresses, work places, then was required to send all the legal documents regarding his estate. I got to know the local Notary Republic very well!
OK, Tamara, the big question: You received a check for John’s unclaimed money. How much was it for?
$5,249!
Wow, that’s real money. Did you use it for anything special?
The money went towards the estate tax bill so nothing exciting. But it was so helpful. And it was fun to celebrate with you and Kris afterwards and drink a toast to John!
And, finally, what advice do you have for others who have lost a loved one, as far as going ahead and doing a search for unclaimed money?
I wasn’t able to do this search until more than a year had passed but it was rewarding and ultimately felt like John was giving me a gift and making my life a little easier. I would tell folks to let their emotions and their heart be their guide. I couldn’t have done this search soon after John died. It took a long time for me to have energy or interest in doing the search. You helped me so much Eli. I would never have done this search had it not been for you!!!
Tamara, thank you so much for sharing your story and your inspiration!
And, a program note, next week I will begin a series of “find yours” segments where I tell you websites where you can search for unclaimed royalties specifically for musicians, actors and other performers.
Search for your unclaimed money: missingmoney.com
Find your unclaimed property: www.unclaimed.org
EPISODE 65~ EASY MONEY PODCAST
EPISODE 65~ TOP TIP: Want to Maintain a Healthy Credit Score? Don’t Apply for Multiple Credit Cards
Bankers grow suspicious if you suddenly apply for multiple credit cards. They think, Hmmm, does this guy have a gambling problem? Is this woman trying to finance an independent film? The FICO scoring model takes this into account and dings your score several points if you apply for a slew of cards at once. AND, by the way, applying for lots of credit cards at one time I can almost guarantee you that you won’t be approved for ANY of them. Why? See banker’s fears above. This happened to me once years ago in my 20s when I was afraid nobody would approve me, so I applied to everybody. Instead, use online tools to research what sort of credit record different cards require and then apply for just one you are likely to qualify for. By the way, next week, in a related top tip, I’l tell you whether closing existing credit card accounts helps or hurts your score.
EPISODE 65 ~ MAKE MORE: How to Make More Money From Your Existing Business with Minimal Effort!
Many thanks to Jared Goetz, who first put these ideas up on the “Influencive” website. By the way, Jared is worth listening to, if you consider that he built up a Shopify E-Commerce website that now brings in more than $10 million in sales per year. So, onto his advice.
The idea is to create passive income streams using the same expertise you already have because of the business you are in. For example, a woman I know is an expert, high-level accountant. But rather than just working as an accountant, she developed an online training course for other accountants. Once the course was up and running, she no longer had to do any work to maintain it. It just brings in money when new people sign up.
This is an example of Jared’s advice to use your existing knowledge to help others. In his own case, he created really simple videos that walk other people through the process of selling things online, which is what he is a pro at. The training product you offer does NOT have to be fancy. I know of another woman who became an expert at getting people to contribute to Go-FUnd-Me campaigns. So she created a series of Word and Excel documents people could use to set up their campaigns and she made great side money with these simple forms.
OK, more of Jared’s advice: Approach companies related to your own about doing affiliate links. The example he gave is of a successful real estate agent. Often agents post a list of trusted home improvement contractors on their websites. But, instead, why not approach those contractors and ask if they will pay a modest referral fee any time people click through that link and end up hiring the contractor? Win-win.
Finally, Jared asks: have you created software for your business that others could use? He created a simple program that helps web-businesses find products that are trending and then jump in and sell them on their sites. He now sells this software. Similarily, when my dad’s large architectural firm developed computer aided design software for its own use, it also sold that software to other design firms. Architecture was still, by far, the main business, but they made a nice little side income from the software.
The key to any of these ideas is to make sure your additional revenue stream is fairly quick and easy to set up, so it doesn’t take away from the main event.
Links:
Tips on how to make more money with your current business:
www.influencive.com/how-to-make-more-passive-income-from-your-existing-business/
EPISODE 65~ SAVE MORE: It is Possible to Save Money on Your Amazon Purchases!
Kyle, I pored over your blog posts about Amazon hacks and I’m going to share some of my favorites and then have you explain them. So, your first tip: DON’T ALWAYS TRUST AMAZON search results. What do you mean?
The brain-trust at Amazon realize they probably have a “sure-fire” buyer if you’re doing such a specific search, and will often steer your search results towards the item that’ll pad their profits the most, i.e., the most expensive.
When doing specific searches, one of the most secretive ways to save on Amazon is to always dig a little deeper and don’t buy the first item that appears. Always browse through the “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought” carousel as well as the “Sponsored Products Related To This Item” carousel located on the individual product page. Many times you’ll find a cheaper version of the same exact model, either sold by a 3rd party or the actual manufacturer.
Next Amazon savings hack, the Double browser trick. What is that?
Amazon has been known to charge Prime members more for products compared to non-members to make up for the free shipping. I have personally seen this happen. A great way to determine if you’re paying more for items because you’re a Prime member is to use two Internet browsers and trick Amazon. In one browser, let’s say Firefox, login to your Amazon account and find the item you want to purchase, but DON’T add it to your cart. Just take note of the price. Then in another browser, perhaps Chrome, clear your browser’s cookies and cache so that Amazon thinks you’re a non-Prime member. Then visit the Amazon website and check the price of the item. If it’s lower than what you saw on your Firefox browser, you know you’re being messed with.To get the lower price, simply add the item to your cart using Chrome, THEN login to your Amazon account and buy as you normally would.
Amazon also has coupons and yet hardly anybody seems to know about them. Where are they and how good are they?
I’m always taking advantage of coupons on Amazon. Most shoppers I talk to have no idea they exist which always blows me away.
But yes, it’s true, they actually have coupons available and they’re a great way to save money. They have a little-known section of their site dedicated to these coupons. Make it a smart frugal habit to always check for a coupon when shopping at Amazon.
Another trick: combine Add-on items. You mean, you don’t have to buy some expensive $25 item to then get your add-on item shipped to you?
If you’re a Prime member, you’ve probably noticed that Amazon has gotten very good at using “Add-On Items” to save on their overall shipping costs.
They do this by only offering these lower-priced items if, and when, your total order amount surpasses $25.
An awesome workaround is to add all your add-on items to your Amazon “Shopping List” and then buy only when your list reaches $25. By mastering this technique, you can easily beat Amazon at their own game and still get free 2-day shipping.
I love this one, because I didn’t know it existed: Open an Amazon business account. Can anybody do that? And what does it get you?
After signing-up for a free Amazon Business account and test driving it for a couple weeks, I can definitely say it’s legit. The savings it provides via quantity discounts and “business only” pricing can save your business or organization a bunch of money over the course of a year. These quantity discounts aren’t available to regular Prime members and make for a great reason to sign your business up for free.
There is also a trick to get 1-day shipping for less. Do tell!
The first thing you have to do to make this work is to add more than 1 item to your Amazon cart. Next, select the 1-day shipping option on any item in your order. Leave all of the other items in your cart at 2-day Prime shipping. Because of the way Amazon shipping works, they save money by packaging all of your items together. So this means, for a small surcharge, you stand a great chance of getting all of your items delivered via 1-day shipping.
One final idea:You can skip Amazon altogether and use other companies that offer free 2-day shipping. How many companies did you find that do this? And what are some examples?
When I did a quick search, I found 13 other retailers that offer free 2-day shipping. Those are just the ones I found. I’m sure there are others. Sometimes other retailers will have a better price or selection than Amazon, so don’t think Amazon is the only one with this fast, free deal. A variety of examples:
•apple.com
•BestBuy.com
•jet.com
•sephora.com
and a biggie: walmart.com.
Links:
Get all the latest Amazon coupons here: www.amazon.com/Coupons/?&_encoding=UTF8&tag=ratherbeshoppinc&linkCode=ur2&linkId=dbe15b62cee75b1a6d298850cbbba70c&camp=1789&creative=9325
Where to sign up for a free Amazon business account:
www.rather-be-shopping.com/blog/go/amazon-business/
EPISODE 65~ FIND YOURS: How to Find Veteran’s Benefits for Yourself or From an Ancestor.