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EPISODE 12 ~ SAVE MORE: Cheap Hotels: A Secret Technique For Scoring Luxury Rooms At Deep Discounts

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Let’s talk about how to save big on hotel rooms —luxury hotel rooms. Consumers’ Checkbook, which studies services, has scrutinized online
travel booking services and says it has figured out THE strategy for scoring rock bottom rates on 4 and 5 star hotel rooms. The answer?
Priceline. But NOT using it the regular way. Checkbook’s editors spent years experimenting and Executive Editor Kevin Brasler is here to reveal their “system.”

OK, I’m going to name the step and you explain why it’s important, alright.

Number 1: Go to Priceline’s “Name your own price” tool.
With Priceline’s “Name Your Own Price” option, you don’t know which hotel you’re bidding on. Instead, you enter the city where you will be traveling and the dates for which you will need a hotel room plus the neighborhood you prefer and the star level. The system then tells you whether your bid was accepted and which hotel accepted it. It’s less expensive because you don’t get a choice.

Next you click the bubbles to only look at 4 and 5-star hotels. Why is that important?
If your price is accepted by any hotel that meets the conditions you set, that’s where you’re booked. Because you don’t get to choose, Priceline bidding works best if you bid only on four- or five-star hotels—so you can be reasonably sure of ending up at a nice place.

Third, step: Study the different neighborhoods in your destination city, called “geographic zones,” and choose your favorite one that DOES have 4 and 5 star hotels available. Why?
In order for our strategy to work, your preferred zone has to contain Priceline four- or five-star hotel options. Deselect all other zones, select only your preferred zone.

Fourth, Make an opening bid of $60 for any 4 and 5 star hotels in that neighborhood. Why $60?
We found that’s about the lowest rate Priceline will accept for high end hotel rooms. Ignore the warnings that your bid is probably too low and wait to see if it’s accepted. Sometimes it is.

If your bid isn’t accepted you go to step 5 and this is the REAL beauty of your system: you raise your bid. But Priceline doesn’t usually let you try again for 24 hours. How do you get around that?
Priceline DOES let you try again if you add another geographic zone to your search. But — and this is key– you add a zone that does NOT have any 4 or 5 star hotels. Then you increase your bid by $5. Since your search is still limited to only 4 and 5 star hotels, Priceline will search your original target destination again, not the added destination!

And the final step is?
You repeat the process as long as you need to. Each time you bid, request your preferred zone and a different combinations of secondary zones that do NOT have 4 or 5 star hotels. Then add another $5. In this way, $5 at a time, you will identify the very lowest rate you can get for a room.

How many tries does it usually take?
We find that we usually have to rebid only two or three times to obtain a great price from Priceline.

Does this ALWAYS work?
Almost always, but In some scenarios, Priceline’s “Name Your Own Price” won’t generate lower rates than other sites. For events such as the Super Bowl, the NCAA Final Four, New Orleans’ Jazz Festival, and other times when hotels expect to be almost completely booked, you’re very unlikely to find a deal on Priceline. But it’s still worth a shot.

These are Priceline’s own star ratings. Do you find them reliable? You might disagree with Priceline’s hotel-rating system. For example,
Priceline gives three or four stars to Crowne Plaza properties; in our experience, that often seems a bit generous. Since you can’t exclude specific hotels from the Priceline bidding process, you might get stuck in a hotel for which a four-star rating is a stretch. If you’re truly worried about that, you could use our method and just search for 5-star properties.

Give me some examples of the savings Checkbook has been able to snag.
Boston: Hyatt Regency Boston Normal: $169 Checkbook: $99 New York Roosevelt Hotel Normal: $159 Checkbook: $88 Minneapolis Radisson Plaza Normal: $188 Checkbook: $98 Orlando Marriott World Resort Normal: $194 Checkbook: $97

Checkbook’s Priceline method is a lot to absorb, especially if you’re driving or jogging as you listen to Easy Money, so Checkbook has provided a guest blog post to walk you through its Strategy in detail. Be sure to check it out at EasyMoneyShow.com/12.

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EPISODE 11 ~ SAVE MORE: Diminished Value On Your Vehicle: Get Compensated For Car Accident Damages

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Here’s something I wish I had known about when another driver plowed into my five-month- old car: it’s called diminished value. The other driver’s insurance company paid to fix my vehicle, but just the fact that it had been in an accident diminished its value and I—and you—should be compensated for that loss.

After all, your car is no longer as sound. One former car dealer says he used to automatically offer thirty percent less for a trade-in if it had frame damage.

Many people don’t think about the new, lower value of their vehicle in the aftermath of an accident. Instead, we just worry about how long it’s going to take for the body shop to fix the car so we can get back to our lives.

If you have a newer vehicle or an expensive one, you must ask to be compensated for diminished value. The other driver’s insurance company won’t offer. It’s important to pursue a diminished value claim right away, because most states have a statute of limitations on property damage claims, often three years.

If the other driver’s company resists, consider small claims court to collect diminished value. It should be a fairly easy case to prove: What was your car worth before the crash? How much less is it worth now because it was in an accident? You can also find a bunch of law firms online that specialize in getting people paid for diminished value.

Some of those firms estimate that the average value lost when a vehicle is in an accident is 33 percent. So let’s say you owned a car that was worth just 15-thousand dollars. If you were able to win a 33% diminished value claim, you’d get a check for $5 grand. That’s real money. And, more importantly, it’s money you deserve to put toward your next car.

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EPISODE 10 ~ SAVE MORE: When To Refinance: Learn the Refinancing Rule of Thumb That Can Save You Six Figures

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Refinancing to get a lower interest rate is one of the rare times that you
can save 5 or even 6 figures! But people always ask me how to know if the time is right. Should they refinance now? Or wait? Or… refinance all over again?

That’s why I created something that I call the “Refinancing Rule of 5’s.” It helps answer this question simply and finally. Here it is: You should refinance IF:

1. Your new interest rate will be at least .5 percent —half a percent— lower
than your current rate.

2. You will add 5 years or less to the length of your loan. Reducing the years would be even better.

3. You will be able to recover your closing costs in 5 years or less — preferably much less. Now let me quickly repeat and explain each part of the rule.

First, Your new interest rate will be at least .5 percent lower than your current rate. People used to say you should only refinance if you could snag an interest rate that was at least 1 percentage point lower. But since rates have been hovering at such low numbers for years now, a half a percent is actually a big deal and a good minimum goal.

Second, You will add 5 years or less to the length of your loan. Reducing
the years would be even better. Often when people refinance, they focus
solely on getting a great new rate and leave everything else the same. If they originally went with a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, they do so again out of habit.

Depending how many years there are left on your loan that can defeat the entire purpose because even if you get a lower interest rate, stretching out those interest payments over additional years will eventually cost more.
Third, You will be able to recover your closing costs in 5 years or less —
preferably much less. Closing costs are the fees you have to pay to get
the new loan, like the appraisal and title fees and so on. Most of all you
should make sure you will be in this house long enough to recoup the closing
costs required to refinance. To figure this out, all you do is divide the cost of closing by your monthly savings to see how long it’s going to take for the new loan to pay for itself. Let’s say your closing costs were $1300 dollars and your monthly savings from refinancing was $132. $1300 divided by $132 is 10 months. That is far less than 5 years, so you’re good to go.

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EPISODE 9 ~ SAVE MORE: Prescription Medications: Did you know you can get prescription drugs for free?

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THE COST OF PRESCRIPTION MEDS HAS MORE THAN DOUBLED IN THE PAST DECADE AND I KNOW FROM MY WORK AS CONSUMER CORRESPONDENT FOR THE DR. OZ SHOW THAT THIS IS A REAL PAIN POINT FOR PEOPLE.

SO, HERE’S THE DEAL: EVERY YEAR, THE BIG PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES EACH GIVE AWAY MORE THAN $200 MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF FREE PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS. YES!

IT’S TRUE. FOR SOME REASON, ALMOST NOBODY SEEMS TO KNOW ABOUT THESE OFFERS.
THEY’RE CALLED “PRESCRIPTION ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS AND THEY’RE MEANT TO HELP
PEOPLE WHO AREN’T OLD ENOUGH TO QUALIFY FOR MEDICARE AND AREN’T POOR ENOUGH TO
QUALIFY FOR MEDICAID. I’VE FOUND THAT THE INCOME THRESHOLDS, ARE REALLY QUITE GENEROUS.

FOR EXAMPLE, YOU CAN MAKE AS MUCH AS 90-THOUSAND DOLLARS A YEAR —EVEN MORE IF YOU LIVE IN AN EXPENSIVE AREA LIKE SAN FRANCISCO OR NEW YORK— AND STILL QUALIFY FOR THESE
FREEBIES. IF YOU DON’T QUALIFY FOR FREE MEDS, YOU MAY VERY WELL QUALIFY FOR DISCOUNTED
ONES.

THERE’S A CENTRAL CLEARINGHOUSE WEBSITE YOU CAN GO TO TO SEARCH FOR
PRESCRIPTION ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS THAT COVER YOUR DRUGS. AND PRE-QUALIFYING TAKES…I’M GONNA SAY…2 MINUTES. I’M NOT EVEN EXAGGERATING! YOU JUST ENTER THE MEDS YOU TAKE, YOUR AGE, ZIP CODE, NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD AND YOUR INCOME. AND THEN UP POPS A SCREEN TELLING YOU WHICH FREE MEDS YOU QUALIFY FOR AND HOW TO COMPLETE YOUR
APPLICATION. AT THAT POINT, YOU USUALLY HAVE TO PROVIDE PROOF OF INCOME AND DETAILS LIKE
THAT.

EVERY DRUG COMPANY’S PROGRAM IS DIFFERENT BUT IT USUALLY TAKES ABOUT 10 DAYS TO
GET FINAL APPROVAL. THAT’S IT! YOU WILL EITHER PICK UP YOUR FREE PRESCRIPTION DRUGS AT A LOCAL PHARMACY OR YOUR DOCTOR’S OFFICE.
I HAVE LINKED YOU TO ALL OF THE RESOURCES YOU NEED TO SEE IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU
KNOW CAN GET FREE PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS:

•Needy Meds: This nonprofit was started by a nurse and doctor to help
people find these programs: www.needymeds.org

•Partnership for Prescription Assistance: Run by PhRMA, the largest
drug industry trade group: www.pparx.org

•RX Assist: Founded by Volunteers in Health Care, which is affiliated with
Brown University: www.rxassist.org

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EPISODE 8~ SAVE MORE: Never Pay For Gas or Groceries or Vacations Again Thanks to Mystery Shopping

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I’VE BEEN DELIBERATELY AVOIDING ASKING PAM ABOUT THE REIMBURSEMENTS, BECAUSE THAT IS THE SAVINGS”ASPECT OF MYSTERY SHOPPING. SO LET’S TRANSITION NOW INTO OUR SAVE MORE SEGMENT OF THE SHOW.

SO, PAM, EXPLAIN TO PEOPLE WHY YOU ARE EVEN MORE EXCITED ABOUT THE REIMBURSEMENTS YOU GET THAN THE MONEY YOU MAKE.
My reimbursements for the year are about double my payments. And reimbursements aren’t taxable income, which makes them even more valuable than my actual payments. This is the point that needs to be brought out. It’s not about how much money you make but what you keep. I haven’t spent my own money on groceries since 2000. I do 4 to 8 grocery mystery shopping trips a week. I get a $12 reimbursement per location. The biggest thing is learning to buy smaller portions. If we want rib eye I will buy one at this store, one at the other. It takes some time to figure out how to do it.

WHAT ARE SOME OTHER EXAMPLES OF HOW YOU HAVE SAVED MONEY THROUGH REIMBURSEMENTS?
Often it is stuff I would have to spend money on anyway. Oil changes, car washes, clothes. When we go to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse that is a $160 or $180 reimbursement. We wanted to go to San Francisco. I found a hotel mystery job. They reimbursed me $440 for the nightly fee and paid me $50 on top of it to write the report. WHAT DOES YOUR FAMILY THINK OF YOUR MYSTERY SHOPPING CAREER? A while back my husband said can we just go somewhere and not mystery shop?

It took him a while to understand that the reimbursements really add up!

But now he gets it. My family gets to do things we could not normally afford to do. My daughter had the luxury of a mom who was always home. WELL, AT THIS POINT, YOU’VE GOT PEOPLE’S ATTENTION AND MANY ARE GOING TO WANT TO TRY MYSTERY SHOPPING THEMSELVES. WHAT ARE SOME RESOURCES FOR PEOPLE TO GET STARTED?

We operate several Facebook groups where we share information with each other. These are closed groups, but people can request access and I will grant it.

Connecting mystery shoppers, schedulers, editors and mystery shopping company owners:
www.facebook.com/groups/IMSCshoppers/

IMSC Job postings for mystery shopping:
www.facebook.com/groups/IMSCjobposts/

Website main page:
www.imscinfo.com/

Becoming a mystery shopper:
www.imscinfo.com/register-for-companies

Online training and resources:
www.imscinfo.com/education-resources

MEANWHILE, YOU ALSO PUT ON MYSTERY SHOPPING CONFERENCES. ARE NEWBIES WELCOME AT THOSE?
In 2009 the MSPA, which used to do shopper conferences, decided it wasn’t beneficial to have shoppers there so they canceled their conferences. So mystery shoppers decided to do their own conference. I held my first conference six months later in Las Vegas. Ended up at Greek Isles. Off the strip but we had over 135 shoppers and over 60 companies. This told me there was a need for this. I continued on. I’ve had at least one conference every year. Sometimes two or three. Now we get 150 – 300 people at each conference.

AND, DON’T BE SHY, TELL US ABOUT YOUR “HOW TO” BOOK ON MYSTERY SHOPPING
I wrote a book on it. The Essential Guide to Mystery Shopping. When things would happen. It took me years. I started writing down everything that happened and going back in and putting down notes on how to fix it. Everywhere I went people said “how do I do that?” I got so tired of telling people, I was like, let’s put this in a book.

AND YOU’VE GOT ONE VERY SPECIFIC WORD FROM THE WISE ABOUT HOW TO ACCEPT PAYMENT FOR YOUR MYSTERY SHOPPING WORK.
Some companies pay every week or two but other companies pay 30, 60 or 90 days out. You don’t want to go broke doing $200 dinners and not getting paid back for a long time. So insist on being paid more frequently.
*Elisabeth’s note: Be sure to read the Episode 8 “Make More” blog for details of how much money mystery shoppers make and how to get into the business.

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EPISODE 7~ SAVE MORE: How To Save As Much as 20% On a New Vehicle By Buying A “Dark Horse Car”

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WE’RE STARTING WITH OUR “SAVE MORE” SEGMENT BECAUSE IT IS A JUICY

ONE: HOW TO SAVE BIG BUCKS ON A VEHICLE BY BUYING A “DARK HORSE CAR.” HERE TO EXPLAIN WHAT THAT IS AND HOW MUCH YOU CAN SAVE BY BUYING ONE IS RONALD MONTOYA, EDMUNDS DOT COM SENIOR CONSUMER ADVICE EDITOR. WELCOME, RON!

I THINK PEOPLE KNOW THE EXPRESSION “DARK HORSE” REFERS TO A HORSE THAT’S NOT VERY WELL KNOWN AND COMES OUT OF OBSCURITY TO WIN THE RACE. BUT A FEW YEARS AGO EDMUNDS COINED THE TERM “DARK HORSE CAR.” RON, WHAT IS A DARK HORSE CAR?

Dark horse cars are vehicles that are equivalent to the most popular models but are less well known, less popular. When we first coined this term the classic example we used was the Nissan Altima, which is a dark horse equivalent to the more well known Toyota Camry. They’re really similar in quality and features, but the Altima is significantly less expensive.

WE’LL TELL PEOPLE JUST HOW MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE IN A MINUTE, BUT FIRST, DO DARK HORSE VEHICLES EXIST IN EVERY CATEGORY? They sure do. From compact cars to luxury cars, SUVs to pick up trucks, Edmunds has always been able to identify dark horse vehicles that can save you money. OK, SO LET’S GO THROUGH THEM, CATEGORY BY CATEGORY. YOU GIVE ME THE POPULAR CHOICE AND THE DARK HORSE CAR IN EACH. AND LET’S GO FROM THE CATEGORY WITH THE LEAST SAVINGS TO BE HAD AND BUILD TO THE ONE WHERE YOU CAN SAVE THE MOST MONEY BY BUYING A DARK

HORSE CAR.
Midsize Three-Row SUV
Mainstream: 2017 Toyota Highlander $31,590 (TMV $29,959)
Dark Horse: 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe $31,695 ($27,974 w/$2,000 incentive) ***$1,985 difference 7%

Luxury- Midsize Sedan
Mainstream: 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class $53,075 (TMV: $46,812)
Dark Horse: 2017 Volvo S90 $47,945 (TMV: $40,927)
*****$5,885 difference 13%

Compact Sedan
Mainstream: 2017 Honda Civic $20,415 (TMV: $18,857)
Dark Horse: 2017 Kia Forte $19,395 (TMV: $16,483 w/$2,500 incentive)  *** $2,374 difference 13%

Midsize Sedan
Mainstream: 2017 Honda Accord $24,030 (TMV $21,019) Dark horse:  2017 Hyundai Sonata $22,435 (TMV: $17,773 w/$3,350 incentive)  ***$3,246 difference 15%

Minivan
Mainstream: 2018 Honda Odyssey $30,930 (TMV, is sticker)
Redesign year
Dark Horse: 2017 Kia Sedona $27,850 (TMV: $26,422 w/$1,000 incentive) *** $4,508 difference 15%

Compact SUV
Mainstream: 2017 Honda CR-V $24,985 (TMV: $23,881)
Redesign year
Dark horse: 2017 Ford Escape: $24,645 (TMV: $19,707 w/$3,900 incentive)  *** $4,174 difference 17%

Luxury- Compact SUV
Mainstream: 2017 BMW X3 $41,045 (TMV: $37,764)
Dark Horse: 2017 Acura RDX $36,645 (TMV: $30,271) ****$7,493
difference 20%

Important Pricing disclaimers. Base models with no options were chosen for the starting MSRP. The savings were estimated from the average price paid in the Santa Monica, CA zip code. People's numbers will vary based on their negotiated price. On vehicles that have an incentive, the numbers are based on offers for the month of June 2017. Many of them will expire on July 5 2017. That being said, on any given day, you're likely to pay more for the mainstream vehicle, so the same concept applies.  If they are leasing, the numbers will be different and the incentives are likely to change as well. The savings numbers aren't meant to be taken as gospel. They are meant to showcase other vehicles that due to heavy incentives or the lower starting price, can be a better purchase for price conscious shoppers. THE SAVINGS ARE IMPRESSIVE, BUT I HAVE TO ASK: ARE DARK HORSE CARS AS GOOD QUALITY AS THE MORE POPULAR CARS WE’RE COMPARING THEM TO?

We’ve chosen these dark horse models carefully with quality in mind. Not just ANY alternative make/model makes a worthy dark horse. But it’s easier to find good dark horse picks these days because ALL cars have gone up in quality in recent years. On the flip side, some of the savings we see is because of the power of supply and demand and the fact that the most popular makes/models are marked up because they’re in demand.

TO SEE GREAT USED DARK HORSE CARS, CHECK OUT THE EPISODE 7 GUEST BLOG POST!

GUEST: Ronald Montoya, Senior Consumer Advice Editor

GUEST BIO:
Ron Montoya is a senior consumer advice editor for Edmunds where he helps shoppers navigate the car-buying process. He has plenty of first-hand knowledge of how to do that, since he buys and sells the cars in the Edmunds long-term test fleet.

Ron joined Edmunds in 2008, where he has held a number of different roles and written more than 100 articles as part of the Consumer Advice team. Prior to Edmunds, he worked at two Honda dealerships, which is where he first started developing his extensive knowledge of the car shopping process.

Ron received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from California State University

Northridge.
Currently driving:

2017 Mazda 3
First car / favorite memory: My first car was a 1984 Toyota Corolla. My favorite car memory was driving up the California coast to the Concours D'Elegance, in Pebble Beach, in a 1989 Yugo.

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EPISODE 06~ SAVE MORE: How To Raise Your Credit Score in Days Through “Rapid Rescoring”

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[LISTENER QUESTION] Hi my name is Jamie and I’m about to buy my first home and I’m worried about my credit score. Is there some way to improve my score before I apply for a mortgage? And how long will it take?

JAMIE, I’M SO GLAD YOU ASKED THIS QUESTION, BECAUSE YOU’VE GIVEN ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO TALK UP ONE OF MY FAVORITE LITTLE-KNOWN STRATEGIES. IT’S CALLED “RAPID RESCORING” WHERE YOU HIRE PROFESSIONALS TO DO THE HARD WORK FOR YOU. THESE PROFESSIONALS HAVE SPECIAL ACCESS TO THE BIG THREE CREDIT BUREAUS, SO THEY CAN CORRECT ERRORS ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT THAT ARE DRAGGING YOUR SCORE DOWN. AND THEY CAN DO IT FAST, LIKE IN 2 TO 6 DAYS.

RAPID RESCORING IS OFFERED BY WHAT ARE CALLED LOCAL CREDIT BUREAUS, WHO WORK IN COOPERATION WITH THE BIG THREE CREDIT BUREAUS, EQUIFAX, EXPERIAN AND TRANSUNION. IF THERE’S SOMETHING UNFLATTERING ON YOUR REPORT AND IT’S TRUE, THERE’S NOTHING THEY CAN DO ABOUT IT. BUT IF THERE’S A MISTAKE IN YOUR CREDIT FILE THAT IS UNFAIRLY HURTING YOUR SCORE, THAT, THEY CAN FIX. THESE RAPID RESCORING EXPERTS HAVE ACCESS TO DEDICATED PHONE, FAX AND EMAIL LINES AT THE BIG THREE, SO THEY CAN BYPASS ALL THE BUREAUCRACY THAT CAN MAKE CORRECTING YOUR OWN CREDIT REPORT TIME-CONSUMING.

THE RESULTS CAN BE DRAMATIC. I ONCE PROFILED A MARYLAND WOMAN NAMED VALERIE WHO SAW HER SCORE RISE FROM 598 TO 790 AFTER RESCORING. HER CREDIT REPORTS ERRONEOUSLY STATED THAT SHE HAD FAILED TO PAY OFF HER CAR LOAN. WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IS THAT HER BANK HAD BEEN BOUGHT BY ANOTHER BANK JUST AS SHE MADE HER FINAL PAYMENT AND THE RECORDS WERE LOST IN THE SHUFFLE. RESCORING TO CORRECT THE MISTAKE ALLOWED VALERIE TO QUALIFY FOR A SIX PERCENT INTEREST RATE INSTEAD OF EIGHT PERCENT —THIS WAS A FEW YEARS AGO. AND HERE’S THE AMAZING POWER OF RAPID RESCORING. THAT 2 POINT DIFFERENCE IN INTEREST RATE MEANS THAT, OVER THE LIFE OF THE LOAN, SHE STOOD TO SAVE 72-THOUSAND DOLLARS!

RAPID RESCORING, ALSO CALLED CREDIT RESCORING, IS ONLY AVAILABLE WHEN YOU ARE APPLYING FOR A MORTGAGE, BECAUSE THERE’S A RECOGNITION THAT THAT’S WHEN AN IMPROVED SCORE IS MOST CRITICAL. IF YOUR SCORE NEEDS A BOOST, YOUR MORTGAGE LENDER OR BROKER CAN REQUEST RAPID RESCORING. UNFORTUNATELY, IT’S NOT AVAILABLE DIRECTLY TO CONSUMERS. TO HELP THEM FIGHT UNFLATTERING ERRORS ON YOUR REPORT, YOU WILL WANT TO SUPPORT THEIR EFFORTS BY POURING OVER YOUR CREDIT REPORTS, SEARCHING FOR MISTAKES, AND PROVIDING DOCUMENTATION THAT PROVES YOUR CASE.

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EPISODE 5~ SAVE MORE: Creative ways to join a gym for less.

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• Look for Daily Deals. Never join a gym without A QUICK CHECK OF GROUPON AND OTHER DAILY DEAL SITES. Gym memberships and other exercise classes are one of their most common offers. There were 534 exercise deals on Groupon alone when I checked.

• Pay as you go: Better, yet, don’t join at all. Sometimes it makes more economic sense to get an exercise “class card” or pay daily rates as you go, especially if you’re unsure how committed you are. Paying daily or month-to-month may cost more, but it will actually save you money if you decide to bail out.

• Try Apps that pay for wellness:
Apps like Welcoin AND Pact WILL pay you to exercise, WHICH YOU PROVE BY SENDING PHOTOS OR LINKING THEM IN WITH SOMETING LIKE A FITBIT. ON THE Wellcoin AP, you earn points you can then use to purchase products LIKE gym classes. Pact ACTUALLY GIVES you cash! WHERE DO THEY GET IT? FROM OTHER MEMBERS WHO FAILED TO MEET THEIR GOALS! IN ADDITION TO THE MONEY, YOU GET AN intangible motivational value.

Exercise Your Health Insurance. many INSURANCE COMPANIES now offer some sort of gym benefit as part of their plans. For example Aetna says it offers discountS at more than 10,000 gyms. And United Healthcare reimburse PLAN PARTICIPANTS $20 each month IF you visit one of its LISTED fitness centers at least A DOZEN times.

• Go to the Hospital. That’s right, many hospitals have fully-equipped fitness facilities where they welcome the public. Best of all, most do not require ironclad long term contracts. For example, ONE HOSPITAL IN Washington, DC offers memberships for $80 a month. And ANOTHER runs all sorts of fitness series, from Aqua Aerobics to Zumba, for about $8.50 a class.

• AND FINALLY THERE’S Fitness Financial Aid!: IF YOU STILL DON’T THINK YOU CAN you can afford a commercial gym, The YMCA offers financial assistance and says it never turns away members who can’t pay. There are 2,700 YMCAs ALL ACROSS AMERICA.

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Episode 4~ SAVE MORE BECAUSE PROPERTY TAXES ARE NOt INEVITABLE —YOU CAN APPEAL.

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According to the National Taxpayers Union, between 30 and 60 percent of properties in the U.S. are over-assessed. THEY’RE CHARGING YOU MORE TAX THAN YOU SHOULD PAY. AND YET less than 5 percent of homeowners appeal. the majority of thOSE WHO DO win at least a partial victory!
IT GOES AGAINST THE GRAIN, BUT WHAT YOU WANT TO DO IS MAKE YOUR HOUSE SOUND AS CRAPPY AS POSSIBLE! MY FRIENDS Josh and Alicia Green embraced the concept of trashing their own house WHEN THEY MADE THEIR APPEAL. THEY REMINDED THE CITY THAT THEY LIVED ON A SUPER-BUSY ROAD. THEY WENT ON AND ON ABOUT EXPENSIVE REPAIRS THEIR HOUSE NEEDED, LIKE A NEW ROOF. AND THEY NOTICED THAT THE D.C. GOVERNMENT LISTED THEIR HOUSE AS HAVING 3 BEDROOMS, BUT A PREVIOUS OWNER had knocked out a wall and made it two bedrooms, SO THEY POINTED OUT THAT LOWERED THE VALUE, AS WELL. IT WORKED! The Greens SAY they spent about 5 hours and saved at least $5,000 ON THEIR property taxes OVER THE SEVEN YEARS THEY LIVED IN THAT HOME.
I DID A STORY ON A HOMEOWNER IN NEW JERSEY, WHERE PROPERTY TAXES ARE EVEN HIGHER, AND HIS APPEAL SAVED HIM $5,000 PER YEAR.
SO HERE ARE THE STEPS TO APPEAL YOUR PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENT:

FIRST, Meet the deadline. Tax assessments ARRIVE AT DIFFERENT TIMES IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE COUNTRY, SO FIND OUT WHEN YOUR JURISDICTION MAILS THEM OUT AND BE READY. you typically have just 30 to 120 days to file your appeal.

NUMBER 2, Understand “assessment ratios.” Some jurisdictions tax your house based on 100 percent of its value, but others assign a lower “assessment ratio,” LIKE 60 percent. SO a house with a market value of $100,000 would have an assessed value of $60,000. If you see a number that’s lower than your home’s true value, check the assessment ratio before assuming you don’t have a case.

NUMBER 3, Look for errors on your “property worksheet.” THESE ARE THE nternal notes and data the assessor used when setting a value for your property. CHECK THE lot size, house age and dimensions, number of bedrooms and baths, most recent purchase price and anything else that could BE INFLATING your home’s value. This is the tactic the Greens used when they pointed out their house had two bedrooms, not three.

4TH: See if the “comparables” are really comparable. The government’s internal notes will also include “comparable” properties the assessor used to help determine the value of your house. Look for reasons why the properties the assessor chose are not appropriate. Are they bigger? Newer? Newly remodeled? Do they have watertight roofs, while your house needs a new one, like the Greens’ did? Next, identify three to six alternative comparables that are more favorable to you. You can find them for free using A website like Zillow.

NUMBER 5: Escalate as needed. Some property tax disputes can be settled through informal discussions with the assessor’s office. More commonly, you will be asked to fill out forms and the entire process will be done on paper. If THAT fails, then most jurisdictions offer an in-person hearing as the next step. HERE’S A HOT Tip: Attend somebody else’s hearing first to get a feel for the process.

AND FINALLY, Hire help if you must. If you don’t have time to follow the steps above, you can hire help. Some real estate attorneys take property tax appeals on a contingency basis, which means you don’t pay unless you win. If you do WIN, a typical fee is A third to A half of the first year’s savings.

THAT’S IT! MY FRIEND ALICIA SAID APPEALING THEIR PROPERTY TAXES WAS EASIER THAN FILLING OUT HER KIDS SUMMER CAMP FORMS AND FOR THE TIME INVESTED, SHE GOT MONEY BACK INSTEAD OF FORKING IT OVER!

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Episode 3~ SAVE MORE: SAVE Money BY DIGGING UP SECRET WARRANTIES TO GET YOUR CAR REPAIRED FOR FREE

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Automakers sometimes offer secret warranties in order to avoid issuing a full-fledged recall. The manufacturer alerts its dealers OR REGIONAL OFFICES that if customers complain about the problem, the manufacturer will pay for the repair.

As you can imagine, the people in the auto industry don’t call them “secret warranties.” They use POLITE TERMS like “goodwill adjustment,” “warranty adjustment” and “after warranty assistance.” They also refer to them as “extended warranties,” because your car does not have to be in its initial factory warranty period to be covered.

There are about 500 “secret warranties” available at any given time, according to the Center for Auto Safety. IF YOUR CAR NEEDS A BIG, EXPENSIVE REPAIR THAT SEEMS PREMATURE FOR ITS AGE, YOU SHOULD CHECK FOR SECRET WARRANTIES.

Here’s an example of ONE OF THEM. A European luxury car maker WAS EQUIPPING ITS vehicles with WHAT ARE CALLED “run-flat tires.” These are tires that can limp along for several miles, allowing you to get to a service station instead of changing your tire by the side of the road. BUT THEY WEREN’T WORKING RIGHT AND company’s customers started complaining that the run-flat tires on their swanky cars were failing after just a couple thousand miles, giving the vehicles a ride like a diesel dump truck. The manufacturer instructed dealers to replace the tires for free if customers asked OR COMPLAINED LOUDLY and, voila, a secret warranty was born. THAT SECRET WARRANTY WAS WORTH $12 HUNDRED DOLLARS!

SO, How do you find out about secret warrantIES? One way is to bluff. My buddy, Michael Finney, the brash and brilliant consumer reporter at KGO TV in San Francisco RECOMMENDS CASUALLY DRAWLING to the service manager, “I think there’S a warranty adjustment on this repair.” And often, there is! He gets the work done for free.

The more mundane way to sleuth out secret warranties is to look up “technical service bulletins” on cars. These are notices that automakers send to dealers alerting them about emerging problems and giving guidance on how to handle them. THE EDMUNDS.COM AUTO WEBSITE KEEPS THIS LIST OF technical service bulletins

IF YOU FIND A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN ABOUT YOUR CAR’S PROBLEM, LOOK FOR VEILED LANGUAGE LIKE “CHECK FOR AVAILABILITY OF GOODWILL ADJUSTMENT” WHICH HINTS AT A SECRET WARRANTY. THE BULLETINS USUALLY DO NOT COME OUT AND SAY THE MANUFACTURER IS WILLING TO PAY BECAUSE THEN IT WOULDN’T BE A SECRET, WOULD IT? TAKE THAT BULLETIN WITH YOU TO THE DEALERSHIP. FOR THIS TO WORK, YOU MAY NEED TO COMPLAIN LONG AND LOUD, BUT IF IT’S AN EXPENSIVE REPAIR, IT COULD BE WELL WORTH IT.

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