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EPISODE 22 ~ SAVE MORE: Cut the Cord: Cancel Cable, Save Big And Watch Anything You Want

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Now let’s talk about one of my favorite ways to “save more,” namely by cutting the cord, canceling cable. Americans spent an average of $103 a month —$1,236 a year— on cable television in 2016 and the prices are only going up. People are so intrigued and yet so confused about cutting the cord that my next guest produces an entire podcast and blog about how to do it right. Please welcome Dennis Restauro of Grounded Reason to Easy Money. Hi Dennis!

I think you were intending to do a broader podcast and blog about technology, but Grounded Reason really grew when you talked about canceling cable. Talk about how the podcast and blog took off, because I think it proves there’s a ton of rabid interest in cutting the cord!
When I started my podcast and blog, I didn’t know the first thing about blogging. I started it as a hobby to improve my writing skills.  By the end of the first year my blog was getting over 100,000 page views a month. Since then it’s become a very fulfilling part of my daily life, where I interact with people, guide them to the answers they seek, and hopefully help them solve a few problems along the way.

Your blog and podcast were my main source when I wrote a recent Washington Post piece about how to cut the cord. So let’s get into the steps I learned from you, the master. Number 1: If you want to cancel cable, first you need an HDTV ANTENNA, right?
Actually, all you need is a regular antenna. Manufacturers are using “HD Antenna” as a marketing term. Since 2007, local TV stations have been broadcasting digital signals so crisp that the reception is better than that of cable TV. Plus, despite all the hype about shows on niche networks, 19 out of the top 20 TV shows in 2016 aired on over-the-air broadcast networks. That’s why step one is to buy an antenna or dig out an old one. You can use the old rabbit ears or get a modern digital TV antenna so sleek it will match your decor or so skinny you can mount it out of sight.

Number 2, you need decent internet speed AND price. What should people be looking for?
To stream high definition TV shows, you need a speed of at least 10 Mbps (Megabits per second) —per TV set. If you live in an area with 2 or more providers, you should be able to get that kind of internet service for no more than $40 a month. You may have to do the dance and switch from one provider to another once your introductory period is up to maintain this low rate. Also be on the lookout for fees that aren’t included in the base rate.

Third step: Tell us about HDMI cords. What are they, how much do they cost, how do you hook one up and what do they do for you?
This is really the poor man’s solution, but worth trying and if you’re happy, you need go no further. The very cheapest way to watch internet shows on your TV is by connecting a laptop to your television set with an HDMI cord. Cost: as little as $3.50. It may sound complex, but it’s just like connecting an external monitor to your computer. You can then watch individual shows —and often entire seasons of shows— that the television networks have posted on their websites. Channels like CNN even offer live video feeds updated every few minutes.

Step 4: I’m a fan of websites that tell you where you can watch your favorite shows without cable. Do you find them useful?
They’re useful for finding new shows to watch. But these days digital TVs have great menus of their own. So you may not need outside services like Untangle.tv, Fan.tv and JustWatch.com.

Number 5: Check to see if you already have a smart TV. I myself was “this close” to buying another Roku box and then the guy at the store told me my TV was probably already internet ready. Is this a common mistake??If you purchased your television after 2009, there’s a good chance it can already stream television shows via the internet. Many modern televisions are “internet ready” with apps like Hulu and Netflix embedded in them. The problem is that sometimes a particular TV does not have the particular apps loaded onto it that YOU want. SO be sure to check because loading apps onto a TV is not simple like loading them onto a smart phone.

6: See if you can stream shows through your Blu Ray or gaming consoles. Once again, the idea is to use the technology you already have.
If your television isn’t pre-loaded with internet apps, you may have an external device that is. Many Blu-Ray players can stream shows and cost as little as $50. This is how I got started. Alternatively, recent editions of gaming systems like Playstation, Wii and Xbox can also stream videos.

And now, at step 7, you can finally consider spending a little money on a player. I think people should choose their player based on what shows they want to watch, because they all have different strengths. Do you agree?
Most players these days can access most programming, so this isn’t as important as it used to be. But if you have niche viewing habits, check to see if the device you’re interested in can access your shows. Some examples of players:

Amazon Fire ($40-$90) is a favorite of the editors at PC Mag because it supports so many different media services.

Apple TV ($149-$199) integrates seamlessly with other Apple devices.

Google Chromecast ($35-$70) Allows you to watch YouTube videos (and more) on your TV.

Roku ($29-$121) is easy to use and offers access to the most different channels.

Tivo Bolt ($300-$400 + $15/month). This device is more expensive because it streams video, but also skips commercials with a single click and does all of the other things that made “Tivo” into a verb.

And, finally, step 8, the last step. is to add streaming services. I like to divide these into “mainstays,” “Live” and “Premium.” So let’s talk about the mainstays first. These are services like Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix. How much do they cost and what do they offer?
• Amazon Prime ($99/year) offers hundreds of free shows, its own original programming, plus the ability to pay for shows and movies on demand. Many people already have Prime for the free shipping, so this shouldn’t even count as a cost for them.
•Hulu.com ($8/month) offers ABC, Fox and NBC shows, in case you missed them live with your antenna plus many cable networks from Comedy Central to SciFi Channel.
•Netflix ($8-$12) has the largest selection of television shows of any service and produces its own popular programs like Orange Is The New Black and House of Cards.

Now let’s talk about Live options. These are new and exciting and solve the perennial problem of how to watch many sports without cable. What are some names and prices?
• DirectTVNow ($35/month) provides 60 channels, from A&E to the Weather Channel but is so new that users report bugs to work out.
• PlayStation Vue ($30-$65) works with its own devices and others and includes base packages plus add-ons you can tailor to your tastes.
• Sling TV ($20/month) includes 30 or more channels, depending on your package, and with no contract so you can cancel any time.
•YouTube TV ($35/month) is You Tube new’s streaming service and is still adding metropolitan areas and channels.
•Fubo-TV ($35/month) offers a lot of sports options and is the newest of all.

And, finally, there are the Premium streaming services, which are the same as premium channels on cable, right?
Yes, and keep in mind that these can also be added to some of the basic options above. So check which is a better deal before buying them ala carte.
HBO Now ($15/month) is available on nearly every device.
Showtime ($11/month) can be added to Amazon, Apple TV, Hulu Roku, and Playstation Vue.
Starz ($9/month) is available via Amazon Prime and a dozen other venues.

This is all great info, Dennis. Thanks so much! Dennis has also provided a guest blog post with even more cord-cutting advice. Plus I will link you to his excellent Grounded Reason podcast and blog.

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EPISODE 21 ~ SAVE MORE: Wholesale Groceries: How To Get Them By Forming A Grocery Buying Club

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One way to “save more” on food, household and personal care items is by forming a grocery buying club. They’re also sometimes called co-ops, but no matter what the name, multiple families are banding together to buy groceries wholesale.

Buying wholesale means you’re buying your groceries from the same distributors who usually sell to grocery stores. You’re cutting out the middleman. A refrigerated 18-wheeler literally pulls up and makes a delivery.

The typical grocery buying club savings is about 25 percent. Jen W. of New Hampshire says she saves her family of three about $200 a month. Larger families report saving as much as $500 a month. Wholesalers who sell to grocery buying clubs recommend having seven to ten families in your club. But it’s really up to you to determine how many families you need in order to meet the minimum order required by your wholesaler. Jen’s wholesaler requires a minimum order of $350 and she finds she can easily meet that with just three families in her club.

Grocery wholesalers list their products in catalogs or on their websites. They can typically supply anything except fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy. The best buys are on bulk products like pasta, rice, flour and sugar. Club members purchase jumbo sizes of these products and divide them up for maximum savings. Natural and organic products are often available because many co-ops started out catering to that niche.

Usually members of the club divide up the responsibilities. One member compiles the order; Another member collects the money; Somebody else volunteers their home to receive the delivery.

I checked the price of buying 5 products through a wholesaler versus at a regular grocery store and the savings were impressive, especially because I checked all organic products. The regular store price for my items was $36.65. The wholesale grocery buying club price was $28.04, for a savings of $8.61 or 23%. And remember, if your start a grocery buying club, that savings will be multiplied times an entire shopping list. There are wholesalers in all parts of the country who sell to buying clubs. I will link you to a website that lists many grocery wholesalers, so you can inquire about starting a buying club.

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EPISODE 20 ~ SAVE MORE: Credit Score: Raise Yours By Asking Your Creditors For A Simple Favor

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This one is also about credit, namely how to raise your credit score by asking your creditors for a favor.

Our credit scores are based on the information in our credit reports.  If your overall payment history with a company is good and you make one glaring mistake, you may be able to get the bank or credit card company to delete it from your credit report. Your chances are best if you’re a longstanding customer and it’s clear that the late payment or other blunder was out of character. All you do is call up the company and ask. If the first low-level operator says no, ask for a supervisor.

Simply explain that your overall history with the company is good, point out you are a loyal customer (especially if they make a lot of money off of you), and ask if they would do you the courtesy of removing the offending item from your three credit reports. Creditors have the leeway under the law to perform favors like this.

While you’re on the phone with your new call center friend, ask why the company isn’t reporting positive information about your account that could help your score. Some card companies don’t report credit card limits. Others only report to one of the three credit bureaus. If your account is in good standing, it would be a tremendous benefit to your score if that bank reports the account to all three bureaus. Some of the bureaus may not even know it exists! Scan your three credit reports for discrepancies like this and politely ask –on the phone and in writing—if the bank will delete out-of-character negatives and report helpful positives.

Having a high credit score helps you save money by snagging low interest rates on everything from credit cards to cars to a house.

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EPISODE 19 ~ SAVE MORE: Online Grocery Shopping Versus In-Store Shopping: What Saves You More?

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Now let’s talk about how shopping for groceries online might actually save you money compared to shopping in person. Yes, despite the delivery fees.

When I tackled this topic for the Washington Post a couple of months ago, my first question was are online and in-person grocery prices the same or different? Frankly, I was worried that there might be a markup on online products. So I compared online and in-store prices at Giant and Safeway, two of the largest nationwide chains, both of which have delivery services.

I checked 10 popular products that most families would buy and found that the total at both stores’ brick and mortar locations was about $45. I’m delighted to say that their online store totals were within a dollar or two of that. Some prices were a few cents higher, but some were lower, so it came out almost even. I only checked the 10 products but when the website cheapism.com did a broader comparison, it also found online and in-store prices were pretty equivalent.

So if we consider that settled, then it’s all about whether you can make back the delivery fee. Stores charge between $7.95 and $12.95 to deliver your groceries, depending on the size of your purchase. You may also want to tip your driver, although some stores don’t allow it. So… can we recoup the delivery fee? Stay with me…

You offset a little of the delivery fee right away since you don’t have to pay for gas. Plus there are ways to get free or discounted delivery: First, many stores offer discount codes for free delivery if you buy a certain dollar minimum. Second, sometimes manufacturers will pay for your delivery if you buy a certain amount of their products. Third: when certain time slots aren’t filling up, stores will often offer discounted delivery.

I would argue that the bigger benefit to shopping online is the time you save by skipping the trip. Plus, if you enter your loyalty card number, all the products you’ve bought at the store in the past should pop up as a customized shopping list. Just click the ones you’d like to buy again and you’re done. No wandering from aisle to aisle. When you shop from home you can also check your pantry to see if you need something, rather than guessing and wasting food. And, if you’re a parent, taking kids to the supermarket inevitably takes more time. So there’s that.

But here’s the real beauty of shopping for groceries online: your online shopping cart keeps a running total of your purchases. If you’re over budget, you simply uncheck something to remove it from your cart and get back on track. By contrast, when you’re at the store, unless you’re Rain Man, you have no idea what your total is as you shop and putting items back after the checker rings them up is awkward.

You can also shop around by unit price online. Looking for something like canned peas, where the brand doesn’t matter? Tell the computer to sort them by price from lowest to highest, and stick the cheapest one in your cart. By contrast, scanning up and down the shelves with your eyeballs is much more time consuming.

Shopping online also helps you avoid impulse buys. In fact, when I spoke with a Giant executive, she admitted that that is challenging for them as a company.

You can even use coupons when you shop online. Some stores allow you to use paper coupons for online orders by presenting them to your driver. Others have virtual coupons right on their websites. Online grocery stores also feature sales. Some even have handy tools that list products you’ve purchased in the past that are currently on sale.

Now, to address what EVERYONE always says when I suggest they try grocery shopping online: picking out your own produce. Yes, it’s nice to choose your fruits and veggies, but keep in mind, online grocery stores DO have a comment section where you can leave instructions for your personal shopper. Like your bananas green? Your apples small? Say so. I now do a combination of in-store and online grocery shopping. I hope I’ve convinced you to at least give online shopping a try.

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EPISODE 18 ~ SAVE MORE: Medical Billing Advocate: Hire a Specialist to Catch The Errors in Your Medical Bills

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Now let’s plow into our SAVE more segment for the week: how hiring a medical billing advocate can save you thousands of dollars on hospital and other medical bills. My guest is Jeanne Woodward of Medliminal, a firm that specializes in finding and fighting erroneous medical charges. Welcome, Jeanne!

First of all, how common are erroneous medical charges?
Medliminal estimates, based on our years of analyzing medical bills, that 90 percent of them contain errors. And guess what? Most of those errors are in the hospital’s or other medical provider’s favor, not yours!

That’s a huge number. How does this happen?
•Sometimes patients are charged twice for the same service under different codes or descriptions.
•Maybe your surgeon charged full price for multiple procedures, even though they were on the same day.
•Often hospitals charge for related services that should not be billed separately.

You’ve got some specific examples of products or services that hospitals charged big bucks for. I’m going to name them and you explain and tell us the pricetag, OK?
•Thermal Therapy. That’s a euphemist for a bag of ice and one hospital charged $15 for it.
•Handling fee. They carried a vial of blood to the lab and charged $18 for that.
•Cough support device. This was literally a teddy bear! And it cost $62!
•Venipuncture. That’s the technical term for inserting a needle to draw blood. One hospital charged $680 for it.

So medical billing advocates help people find and fight these charges. How do you do that?
•First we request the patient’s complete medical records and an itemized bill. Patients rarely see those and they are a goldmine of details. We compare the medical record against the medical bill and look for discrepancies.
•At Medlimimal, we have developed software that scans hospital bills for errors and overcharges. Plus our people are nurses and coding experts, so they KNOW healthcare. They also comb through the patient’s bill personally looking for things that don’t make sense.

Are the errors they find just accidents? Or do they seem intentional?
Both.
•Mistakes can be simple human errors like misplaced decimal points or the wrong patient ID number.
•Or problems can be more intentional, such as: Upcoding, where a hospital bumps a procedure up to a more complicated code in order to charge more. Or charging for things that are supposed to be included, like surgical supplies that are included with the surgery.

Without naming names, can you give me an example of an individual you helped, what the major errors on their bill were, and how much you saved them?
Cynthia K. of Florida thought being diagnosed with breast cancer was the worst thing that could happen to her. But then the hospital where she had her 40-minute lumpectomy overcharged her. Before the operation, the hospital told her it would cost $5,000. Instead she got a bill for $12,700. Her medical billing advocate found all sorts of classic errors. The hospital had billed Cynthia for two first hours in the operating room. There were drugs listed on the medical bill even though they weren’t in Cynthia’s medical record. And the hospital had charged Cynthia $192 for a postoperative support bra that her advocate was able to find for just $19 on the internet! All in all, the advocate was able to save Cynthia $6,858!

How much does it cost to hire a medical billing advocate?
Some charge an hourly fee, ranging from $25 to $150, for their work. Others work on contingency. That means you pay nothing unless they negotiate a lower payment for you. They then charge a percentage of the amount they saved you. 15 to 35-percent is typical.

If people listening have insurance, they may wonder why they would ever need a medical billing advocate?
•If you have a high deductible health plan, that means you have to pay the first few thousand dollars worth of care, so it’s worth it to reduce the cost as much as possible.
•Plus, many of us have co-insurance plans these days where we have to pay a percentage of our medical bills. If you’re hospitalized for something like a heart attack, your portion could easily be $20,000. You would want to reduce that bill as much as possible to shrink your own portion.

We’ve been talking about hospital bills, but what other kinds of medical bills can billing advocates help with?
—Doctor’s bills
—Lab and other diagnostic bills, like for MRIs or CT scans.
—And we can also help people get paid when their insurance company refuses to cover a claim.

At what point in the process should you hire a medical billing advocate?
It’s crucial to hire a medical billing advocate BEFORE you pay your hospital or other bills. It’s a lot easier to pay less money in the first place than it is to get money back after a hospital or other medical company already has it.

Jeanne Woodward of Medliminal, thank you so much for being here on Easy Money! And, lucky us, Medliminal has provided a guest blog post telling you steps you can take on your own to try to reduce your medical bills. If it’s complicated you’ll want to hire a pro… and they are also sometimes called claims assistance professionals, medical claims professionals or healthcare claims advocates. I will link you to several sites where you can find one, whatever they’re called!

Medical Billing Advocates of America: BillAdvocates.com
Alliance of Claims Assistance Professionals: Claims.org
Patient Advocate Foundation: PatientAdvocate.org
Healthcare Advocates, Inc.: HealthcareAdvocates.com
Health Proponent: HealthProponent.com
Care Counsel: CareCounsel.com (This service is only available through employers, so check with your HR department to see if your company participates.)

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EPISODE 17 ~ SAVE MORE: Medical Tests: Shop Around And Save Thousands On Medical Tests

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If you are uninsured or are insured but have to make a substantial coinsurance payment, it’s worth it to shop around for medical tests. The difference in price from one facility to another could be 20 to 60-percent —or more.

My friend Ingrid in California had tried everything to relieve shooting sciatic pain that started when she was pregnant. Now she needed an MRI to determine if she had a ruptured disk or if something else was causing her sciatic pain.  Since she’s a shopper by nature, Ingrid decided to shop around.  She called two different places and one charged $4000 for an MRI.  But another place, just as close to her house, charged just $1500!  That’s a $2,500 savings, which is 63-percent.

And that was not an isolated case.  Across the country in New Jersey, I was doing a savings makeover for a family and the mom needed a routine colonoscopy.  That’s expensive and the family had to satisfy a high deductible before their health insurance kicked in, so this was their own money that would be paying for this.  So we called 10 facilities within 5 miles of their home.  And guess what: we found one that was $3,980 less than the rest!  Now THAT’s how I like to save money!

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EPISODE 15 ~ SAVE MORE: PMI: Petition To Drop Private Mortgage Insurance and Save BIG

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Private mortgage insurance isn’t for you.  It protects the lender in case you stop paying your mortgage.  Lenders are required by law to stop charging you for private mortgage insurance when you have 22% equity in your home, but some have been known to conveniently forget.

To complicate things, if you reach 22% equity not through payments, but because real estate prices have gone up, and your house is now more valuable, you’re going to have to prove your case.  The key is to ask your bank what proof it requires.  You may have to gather comparable sales figures for other homes sold recently in your neighborhood or you may need to hire an appraiser to determine the new value of your home.  Whatever it is, Do it! 

Dropping PMI is worth it.  PMI varies, but it often costs about 1 percent of the original loan amount —PER YEAR.   So if your total mortgage was $500,000, you could be paying $5-thousand dollars —a year— in private mortgage insurance.  Ouch.  Of course, dropping PMI in this example saves you 5-thousand dollars a year —And that’s EVERY year— for the rest of the years you have that loan.

But, there’s a way to roll this savings into another strategy that saves you even more money!  When your bank drops the PMI premium, keep paying that amount –but instead of paying it toward PMI, put it toward paying extra toward your mortgage principal. You are used to paying this amount anyway, so it’s a great painless strategy.  Paying extra toward the principal on your loan saves you money, because soon there’s less principal to charge you interest on.  You also end up paying your loan off early.

Let’s say your PMI payment was $100 a month on a $225,000 loan.  If you prepaid that $100 a month —just a hundred dollars— as extra toward your mortgage principal each month, you would save $24-thousand dollars over the rest of the loan.  That is the power of reverse compounding and it is one of my favorite save BIG strategies.

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EPISODE 14 ~ SAVE MORE: Contests & Giveaways: Use This System To Win Everything You Might Have Otherwise Bought

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There’s an easy way how to win cash, cars, trips and more instead of paying for them.  I know, it sounds impractical, but here’s the key: volume.  If you enter a lot of sweepstakes and contests, you will win some. Carolyn Wilman, but she’s better known as “The Contest Queen”, actually has a system for entering sweepstakes that makes it easy and fun.  She’s also the author of “How to Win Cash, Cars, Trips and More.” 

Let’s get people’s attention right away.  Carolyn, please list off the 10 most impressive prizes you’ve won.
MY TOP 10 PRIZES ARE:
10) Free pizza for a year. (I taught my daughter “What’s better than pizza? FREE PIZZA!”)
9) A portable blender (Left the first one I won in the divorce. It bugged me, so I won a replacement one when the sponsor hosted the same contest the next year.)
8) The Kindle I won after I took a break from the hobby. It made me feel like I was still the Queen J
7) Theatre and concert tickets allowing me to take my daughter to her first musical and first concert. (They were The Sound of Music and Rihanna.)
6) A huge basket of Elizabeth Arden cosmetics. (I needed new make-up and this win just up’ed my beauty regime.)
5) The $2000 shopping sprees I won. Yes, that is plural. One at Roots and one at SportChek.
4) A 2-week tour of Europe. (If it’s Tuesday it must be Belgium. – what a whirlwind vacation!)
3) Going to the Winter Olympics.
2) Attending Hogwarts. (Yes, the real Hogwarts. Flew to London for the weekend to attend a party on the set.)
1) Meeting Sting.

OK, I think people are listening now.  Carolyn, you are a “sweeper” also called a “contestor.” Tell us what that is.
Americans enter sweepstakes so you are called sweepers. Canadians enter contests so we are called contestors and in the UK they enter competitions so they are called compers. It’s a fun way to describe someone who enters to win as a hobby. I didn’t learn about sweepstakes clubs until I began researching my first book. In Canada we didn’t have clubs. I was kindly invited to be a guest at a few American meetings and I knew I had to bring the experience to Canada. There are only a few here, but dozens in the United States. Plus the clubs get together annually for a massive sweepstakes convention. This year it’s on a cruise out of Miami FL, and next year in Charlotte NC. To me this is the best part of the hobby. All the friends I have made I would never have met otherwise. Some are even lifelong.

Why do companies give away lavish prizes?  I know people worry it’s too good to be true.
That is exactly why most people don’t enter. They think it’s a scam, but last year companies in the United States spent $3-4 billion dollars running legitimate promotions. Companies chose to spend that much on sweepstakes as they deem them to be a viable marketing tool. A way for them to connect with consumers. No one give away prizes out of the goodness of their hearts. If they felt they were not seeing corporate benefit from running giveaways, they would stop, but that’s not the case. It’s only grown exponentially since social media has taken hold.

What’s the difference between sweepstakes and contests?  And which do you prefer?
The difference is a sweepstakes is luck and a contest is skill. I prefer sweepstakes as they are randomly drawn. That said, I did win third place in a Superbowl Chili cook-off for a local paper. Contests are perfect for anyone with a honed skill as they can win big. If you are an avid photographer or prolific writer you could win entering your pictures or essays as those are generally judged, plus get fewer entries due to the skill set required.

Since entering lots of different contests and sweepstakes is the key, how can people find out about them?
Sweepstakes Advantage and Sweepstakes Fanatics are two popular sweepstakes aggregate websites (sites that gather legitimate giveaways in one place and sorted by entry frequency and prize type). SweepSheet and IWINCONTESTS are two popular sweepstakes newsletter aggregates. (similar to the above but in a newsletter format with an online presence) Most are ‘FREEmium’ sites. There is a free level of use, but I believe in investing in your hobby. The price of a subscription is negligible compared to the amount you will win in any given month or year. Prices range from as little as $30, up to $52. Just by becoming a free member, you will get access to hundreds of free sweepstakes right away. The reason you would want to pay for a premium membership is access to better odds giveaways, local sweeps, text sweeps, etc.

Since volume is the key, technology is really helpful.  First tell us about sweeping software.  How much does it cost and what does it do? 
There is only one program left that I use for entering sweepstakes, RoboForm. The ones I wrote about in my first book have all but virtually disappeared as technology moves forward and changed.
The benefit of using a program like RoboForm is 1) it allows you to fill out forms with one click and 2) removes the margin of error

for typos. It also helps those with typing issues such as those with arthritis. Sponsors prefer it if entrants use any tool that there disposal, because errors are frustrating for them also. The key to winning is being organized and saving the pages for daily or weekly sweepstakes allows you to go back and increase your odds of winning.

You’ve gone beyond the basic sweeping software and created your own online winning system.  What’s that all about?
When I first started entering contests and sweepstakes, I would often get confused and enter one that was already over or enter more times than was allowed.  So I created an online winning system to keep things straight.
•First you create one-time, daily, weekly and monthly folders in your browser or within RoboForm.
•Whenever you find out about a new contest, first read the rules and see if you qualify and which of the folders it belongs in.  Then file it in the proper folder with the contest end date.
•You then know when to enter or re-enter that contest based on the folder it is in.
•If you chose to enter for additional people such as family members of friends, add in their initials to the file name.

You mentioned the importance of reading the rules.  You learned that yourself in a very colorful way.  Tell us your story.
I skimmed the rules. I know. I know. I say read the rules and I don’t follow my own advice! Well, I learned my lesson the hard way! I received a call one day from a local paper that I had won Silver Grandstand passes to the Indy race. However, to win the grand prize I had to have a sumo off with the other 3 winners. When I arrived only one other contestant was there. He was bigger than me and had sumo’d before. It was 104 degrees, humid, the suit was sweaty, too big for me and in the end I was smunched! UGH!

How many hours a day do people need to spend entering contests in order to actually win?
I recommend spending 1-2 hours a day entering contests and sweepstakes.  That’s enough to win plenty, but not so much you cut into work, family time, and other obligations.  Sweeping should be a hobby and enhance the quality of your life, not reduce the quality of your life.  Also keep in mind that it will take about 90 days before you begin to win because the sweepstakes you enter today will not be drawn for a few weeks. I do know some people that spend 3 or 4 and others that spend 8+, but I believe 1-2 is the perfect balance.

Besides volume, what are some other ways for people to increase their chances of winning?
•Stagger your entries.  If multiple entries are allowed, enter at various times during the entire contest period.
•Short entry periods: Sweepstakes that are only open to accepting entries for a 2-week period, for example, will garner far fewer entries, increasing your odds.
•Entry limitations.  SImilarly, promotions that are limited by zip code, city, state or even age-range also narrow the field and increase your odds.
•Many prizes: Look for sweepstakes that offer multiple different prizes along with or instead of a grand prize.  Fewer people enter to win the secondary prizes, so once again your odds are better.
•Harder to enter: Sweepstakes that require you to mail in your entry, or require an essay, photo, video, caption, etc, draw fewer entrants.
•Prizes that are worth it.  Focus your efforts on really valuable prizes or things that you really care about.

Entering contests is a hobby, but you’ve also parlayed that knowledge into a career, right?
The reason I was able to come up with my Online Sweeping System is I used my business background to quickly figure out what I was doing wrong and how I could improve it. I took Business Management in college with a Marketing major. I worked in every aspect of sales and marketing in the IT (Information Technology) industry for 15 years before I started sweeping. Around the same time I started entering I became a stay-at- home mom, and when I was ready to go back to work I decided to shift careers. In 2004 I took my knowledge of the hobby and launched my marketing company to help sponsors and agencies run better sweepstakes. I like to say I want to work myself out of my hobby (as those parties affiliated with running a sweepstakes are ineligible to win)

And, finally, to prove, anyone can do this… that it’s not just you who’s lucky… please list off some of the prizes won by people who you have coached.
—Wendy won a house
—Delaney won a Ferrari
—Sandra and Michael won their choice of a trip to outer space or $80,000 in cash.

Carolyn Wilman is the author of “How to Win, Cash, Cars, Trips and More”. She has also written a guest blog post with even more detailed advice on contest winning.

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EPISODE 13 ~ SAVE MORE: Home Appliances: Save Money By Knowing When to Repair Or Replace Your Appliances

Save more money with The Easy Money Show

Get this: Other than houses and cars, home appliances can be the biggest investments we make. Not nearly as glamorous either. First, I’ll give you the over-arching rule of thumb: If the repair will cost more than 50 percent of the price of replacing the appliance, you should get a new one. I could end it there, but that would be a pretty lame segment. Plus, I know you may be in denial that you actually have to pay to replace one of these big machines in your house. I went through it myself with my dishwasher.

So here’s the other info that can help you say sayonara to old appliances: their average life span. That’s right, the National Association of Home Builders did a study and actually figured out how long most appliances typically last before they conk out for good. Here goes:

Air Conditioners 15 years
Dishwashers 9 years (mine lasted WAY less)
Dryers 13 years
Furnaces 15-20 years
Garbage Disposals 12 years
Microwaves 9 years
Refrigerators 13 years
Stoves 13-15 years
Washers 10 years
and
Water Heaters 10-20 years

Where your appliance falls in those ranges will depend on the brand and how well you maintain it. Think of your appliances like a car. They need tune ups. The number one steps you can take for a few key appliances are to: never overload your washer, remove lint from your dryer trap AND vent, keep your dishwasher drain and filter clear, and vacuum your refrigerator coils (I need to do that —or nag my husband to!)

OK, so you can save by biting the bullet and replacing instead of repairing.

And there are ways to save on the repair itself. First of all, be sure to check your warranty before paying for repairs. My furnace went out recently and the technician told me it was going to be a $600 repair. But I had this fuzzy memory that we had somehow extended our warranty just by registering the unit with the manufacturer when we bought it. I insisted that the local company check and, sure enough, we got the repair for free.

If you do need to pay for a repair, be the hunter, not the hunted. In other words, do business with a repair company you seek out, not one that goes door-to- door offering free inspections. That’s a come-on to get in your door and find expensive faux problems.

Next, insist on a written estimate. Reason being, some states require the company to get your permission if the cost is going to go up more than 10 percent.

Finally, pay little or nothing up front. Fly-by- night appliance contractors have been known to get their money in advance and then disappear without doing the work. Established firms will be happy to get paid at the end of the job.
Know these rules of thumb and you can avoid overpaying for appliance repairs or repairing them this year only replace them next year.

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