Hire a Contractor vs Do it Yourself

At two different barbecues last weekend, the conversation turned to hiring a contractor vs doing big projects yourself.  One of our friends had decided that rather than spend all Memorial weekend working on installing a fence he would hire someone to install the fence for him.

All of us had been through several major do it yourself projects because just a few years ago we preferred taking on big house projects ourselves.  We pretty much came to the conclusion that although we did get a sense of pride and accomplishment when finishing a project like installing a patio, putting up a fence, or drywalling a basement; that for us hiring someone was the best way to go.

Why We Hire Contractors

At our second cook-out, some of the dads were talking about how we’d shifted more towards hiring than doing projects ourselves and our host asked why that was. 

Available Time
I think a lot of it has to do with a lack of time.  When you have two little kids running around, it’s hard to get your daily household tasks taken care of, let alone a major project that requires planning and big blocks of uninterrupted time.

Quality & Speed
We also agreed that when you hire the right person, not only is the work done much faster, but they also do a better job than we would since they’re professionals and we’re just guys with “how to build a deck” books.  Especially when it comes to things like wiring where the repercussions of error could be electrocution or a fire, we felt safer using an electrical contractor.

Not only that, many times contractors will offer a warranty period during which they’ll come back and fix any problems that pop up for a 6 months or a year.

Cost of Mistakes
The last main reason was that some of us had at least one project where we did a project ourselves to save money but then ended up having to hire someone to fix it. It would have been cheaper to just hire them in the first place.

Hiring a Good Contractor

Of course the important part of the paragraph above is “when you hire the right person”. You can run into a lot of headache and hassles if you don’t find a good company or contractor to do the work.  One good way is to get a referral from a friend; our friend putting in the fence had a great home builder and asked his recommendation on who to hire for the fence.

Another option that we’ve had a great experience with over the last two years is a company named Angies List.  They use the same recommendation type approach but instead of getting feedback from just one or two of your buddies, you hear from dozen or hundreds of people in your town that have worked with a contractor and what their experience was.

What about you?  Do you usually hire a contractor or would you prefer to do it yourself?

Posted on June 1st, 2010 in Angies List, Home Owner | 8 Comments

Written by Ben Edwards · Filed Under Angies List, Home Owner 

Citi Cash Bonuses I Missed

Earlier this week I made a list of some of the best cash bonuses online and I’ve had some people point out that I missed a few.  I’ll go back and add them to the list but here are some details on one I overlooked:

The Citi Forward credit card from Citibank will give you ThankYou Points after spending a certain amount within the first three months of signing up for the card and opting for paperless accounting.

You can use those bonus points for gift cards, a statement credit, or other rewards in the ThankYou network.

In addition to points promotions, Citi still has some of the best introductory interest rate offers around. They’re really good about offering 0% intro APR for balance transfers and purchases, two cards you might want to check out are the Citi Simplicity and the Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card. 

So what would you do with your bonus; invest it, save it, spend it?  Here are a few recent links on some tips you might use if you decide to save it or invest it.

Investing

Personal Finance

Career

Thanks to the following site for including posts from Money Smart Life when they were carnival hots:

Posted on May 31st, 2010 in cash bonus, Credit Cards, Deals | 1 Comment

Written by Ben Edwards · Filed Under cash bonus, Credit Cards, Deals 

Memorial Day Savings

Many people think of Memorial Day weekend as a time to spend money because so many businesses have big Memorial Day sales.  I’m actually not planning on spending any money this weekend, other than a little on food and beer for a barbecue : )

However, for all of you hitting the Memorial Day sales, here are some articles on shopping and saving money. Our local TV and radio have been full of ads for big car sales this weekend so I included several on buying, selling, maintaining an automobile.

I also added in a few on college graduation because there are many graduation parties going on over the holiday weekend and I thought I’d point out some money tips for those graduating seniors.

Buying & Selling Cars

Shopping

Saving Money

College Graduation

Enjoy your memorial day weekend!

Posted on May 30th, 2010 in Frugality, save money, Shopping | 1 Comment

Written by Ben Edwards · Filed Under Frugality, save money, Shopping 

Best Cash Bonuses Online

Cash bonuses are a decent way to bring in a little extra one-time money. You’ve probably experienced this first hand with local bank promotions where you get a bonus if you open a new account.  Typically these types of deals online are from banks and credit card companies who offer you a cash bonus if you become a customer.  The payouts usually start around $20–25 at the low end and some of the best cash bonuses can earn you up to $100.

What’s the Catch?
Companies that offer these bonuses want your business and are willing to reward you for trying out their saving account, debit card, credit card, etc.  They’re confident in the quality and competitiveness of their product and that you’ll be satisfied with what they offer.  Even though it costs the company money to get you to try their services, they know enough people will stick around that the bonuses will eventually pay for themselves.

Beware the Bonus Trap
Since these companies know that adding customers will make them money in the long run, they’re willing to pay you a cash bonus to sample their service. Just be sure to avoid racking up bank fees and carrying a balance on your credit card, otherwise your bonus will just be spent on fees and interest.

What are the Best Cash Bonuses?
The best cash bonuses can change over time as banks and credit card companies start and end various promotions.  Some tend to be cyclical, they’ll pop up around the same time one or twice a year.  For example, the TradeKing bonus below isn’t active right now but seems to come up every fall.  The ShareBuilder Bonus was $25, went up to $50 for a while, and now is back to $25.

Not all bonuses are created equal, some have definite advantages over others. For example, some are actual cash and others are statement credits that you can use like cash. 

The amount of time it takes to redeem your bonus can vary from bonus offer to bonus offer. Most of them have you wait at least 30 days so you can’t open an account, take the money out, then close it the next day. One thing I’ve noticed is that bonuses for local banks tend to have more lenient rules because people actually have to take the time to come into the branch rather than simply entering promotion codes and an application on the web.

Whatever the terms of the offer, make sure you understand them when you sign up so you get your money. Here’s a list of popular cash bonuses:

Credit Card Bonuses

Bank Bonuses

Online Brokerage Bonus

Posted on May 28th, 2010 in Banking, cash bonus, Credit Cards, Deals | 4 Comments

Written by Ben Edwards · Filed Under Banking, cash bonus, Credit Cards, Deals 

How to Send Money With Your Phone

Sending money with your phone is getting easier as more banks are starting to offer person to person payment services.  If you belong to one of these banks you can send money with your phone simply by sending an email or text message.  The person you’re sending money to doesn’t even have to be a member of your bank to get their money.

Here’s a quick look at the mobile payment services of PayPal, Popmoney, and ZashPay that you can use to send money with your cellphone.

Send Money with PayPal

If you’re a PayPal customer, you’ve been able to send money using someone’s email address or cell phone number for a while now.  I’ve sent money to many people via their email address, however, in order for the person on the other end to get their money they have to sign up for a PayPal account.  New p2p payment services, like Popmoney or ZashPay, are different because the recipient doesn’t need to have a PayPal account to get their money.

Send Money with Popmoney

Services like Popmoney are provided through your bank with the help of companies that specialize in online fund transfers.  For example, FNBO Direct works with a company called CashEdge to provide the Popmoney mobile payment option to their customers.  CashEdge works with many different banks, so if the person you’re sending money to belongs to one of those other banks in the “Popmoney network’ then they can have the money deposited directly into their bank account.

If their bank isn’t using Popmoney then the person you’re paying provides their bank account information at the Popmoney website and the money is transferred.

Send Money with ZashPay

ZashPay is offered through banks and credit unions via the financial technology comany Fiserv.  They aleady have a working relationship with several thousand banks through their online bill pay service called CheckFree and hope to eventually make ZashPay available to the customers of all those banks.

The flow of how money is sent and retrieved is similar to that of Popmoney.  People that you send money to who aren’t in the network of banks that use ZashPay will go to the ZashPay website to start claiming their money and then be directed to their financial institution to login and complete the deposit.

Sending Money with Your Cellphone

It’s pretty cool to think that where you used to have to go to a place like Western Union to send money, now you can do it simply using your cell phone.  As the network of banks providing person to person payments grows and the technology continues to improve it will be easier and easier to pay someone with the push of a button.

Posted on May 27th, 2010 in Banking, Mobile Payments | 4 Comments

Written by Ben Edwards · Filed Under Banking, Mobile Payments 

Best Jobs for College Graduates

A lot of the best jobs for college graduates are in one of two fields, information technology or health care.  Forbes just published a list of the best jobs based on how much demand there will be in the years ahead and technology and health care related jobs were by far the most promising for college graduates.

The top jobs were in the technology sector, with two of the top three jobs and four of the top seven being related to technology:

  • #1 Health Information Technology
  • #3 Data Mining
  • #4 Embedded Engineering
  • #7 Mobile Media

The best job from a demand perspective can actually be classified in both the techology industry and the health care industry, Health Information Technology.  This, along with three other careers, gave health care four of the top eight best jobs:

  • #1 Health Information Technology
  • #2 Clinical Trials Design and Management for Oncology
  • #6 Geriatric Health Care
  • #8 Occupational Health and Safety

Health Care Technology

I think the convergence of technology and health care related jobs illustrates how valuable job skills in those two areas will be in the coming years.  When I was in college I did an internship with an electronic medical records company and I saw first hand how much potential there is in that area.

The health care industry creates and relies on so much data during the process of caring for patients that creating tools to manage, organize, analyze, and protect that information provides benefits for everyone involved: hospitals, patients, insurance companies, doctors, etc.

The report behind these numbers was from UC San Diego and they describe a Health Information Technology job as a position that:

“organizes these records, ensuring that charts are complete, accurate and timely… technicians are needed, specifically engineers, analysts, consultants and support specialists.”

How would a college graduate prepare for a job in that area?  The report suggests courses in medical terminology, clinical classifications and coding systems as well as database management. Even if you already have your degree almost done or completely finished, simply adding a concentration or getting a certificate by staying an extra semester can help you get a foot in the door.

Mobile Jobs

The mobile media and embedded engineering jobs point to another growing trend in our country, consumer consumption of information while on the go.  The iPhone, Android phones, and now the iPad are the leading edge of a mobile paradigm that will create many thousands of jobs in the years to come. 

As we want our devices smaller and more powerful, embedded engineers will be hard at work designing ever improving equipment.  The report suggests that companies in need of these engineers:

“hire employees with a bachelor’s degree and experience with computer systems. Common majors include computer science, software engineering, control systems”

As the hardware and networks keep getting better, the variety of content that we can view on mobile devices will also grow. The Burea of Labor Statistics suggests that related careers for “Graphic designers, videographers, casual game/app developers and software engineers” will increase from 13–32%.

Best Jobs by Demand

This report didn’t look at the best paying jobs, but rather those that would have the highest growth in demand over the coming years.  Of course jobs that are in demand do tend to pay more, and technology and health care jobs that topped the list typically pay pretty well.  Here are the other jobs that made the list of best jobs for college graduates:

  • Spanish/English Translation and Interpretation
  • Sustainable Business Practices and the Greening of All Jobs
  • Teaching Adult Learners
  • Teaching English as a Foreign Language
  • Marine Biodiversity and Conservation
  • Health Law

 

Posted on May 26th, 2010 in Career, College | 7 Comments

Written by Ben Edwards · Filed Under Career, College 

College Graduates & Credit Scores

Getting insurance after college was yesterday’s topic, along with a few tips on managing your credit after graduation.

I had a few follow up questions come in about credit reports and credit scores so today I’ll talk more about how your credit can affect your life after college and what you can do about it.

Renting an Apartment

As you’re out looking for an affordable apartment be aware that many landlords will run a credit check before deciding whether to rent to you or not.  Having bad credit or no credit history could lead them to decide not to rent to you at all or charge you a huge deposit to cover several months rent.  If this applies to you and you can talk your parents into co-signing on the lease then the landlord may agree to let you move in.

Buying a House

One of the first things a bank will do when you’re applying for a home loan is to check your credit report.  A poor credit score might mean they won’t lend to you; and even if they will it probably means that you’ll pay a higher interest rate on the money you do borrow.

When my wife and I tried to get a mortgage pre approval when buying a house right out of college, she had no credit history at all and I had great credit.  The interest rates they offered were higher than what I qualified alone for so we ended up applying for the loan only in my name to get a better rate.

Getting Insurance

You might not realize it but your credit history can affect your insurance rates.  The worse your credit, the more you might have to pay for car insurance.  As we talked about yesterday, people in your age group typically have to pay higher rates anyhow, you certainly don’t want to raise them even more.

Credit Reports & Scores

The first step is to learn about the various credit agencies and types of credit scores, such as your fico score.  If you don’t know where you stand, there are several ways you can get a free credit report; I just got my Experian report for free through my American Express card.

Fixing Your Credit

If you find anything incorrect in your credit history, here are some tips on how you can dispute your credit report and have it corrected.  Then take a look at these 5 steps to improving your credit score.

Another option the above article doesn’t discuss is to get a secured credit card.  This takes the risk off the lender and lets you open a credit line that you can use to start building up your credit history.  Of course you have to be smart with your card, here are some college grad credit card tips for picking the right card and using it wisely.

If you haven’t already, you’ll also want to start an emergency fund after college so that when you’re hit with an unexpected expense you don’t have to take on more credit card debt to pay it off.

Today we looked at why having good credit is important and some things you can do to get yours where it needs to be.  Don’t put it off, get started today.  Good luck!

Posted on May 25th, 2010 in College, Credit Cards, credit report, credit score | 3 Comments

Written by Ben Edwards · Filed Under College, Credit Cards, credit report, credit score 

College Graduate Insurance & Credit Tips

As a recent college graduate, things like health insurance and your credit score are topics you’ll have to start figuring out now that you’re venturing out on your own.

Health Insurance for College Graduates

The good news is that finding temporary health insurance for college graduates may not be as urgent as it once was.  One part of the health care reform bill was an extension of dependent coverage that allows child dependents to remain on their parents insurance plan until they are 26 years old.

However, once you are earning your own income and no longer a dependent you’ll want to make sure that you get your health insurance taken care of right away.  If you’re uninsured and have a major medical expense it could put you into major debt, not a good way to start off your adult life.

When you start a new job, make sure you check the insurance policy of your new employer.  Many companies start offering insurance coverage right away but that’s not always the case so you may have to look for temporary insurance to fill the gaps.

Auto Insurance for College Graduates

The bad news is that insurance companies see college grads as a larger than normal risk so it won’t be easy to get cheap car insurance.  There are a few things you can do to try and lower your insurance rates while still getting you enough coverage. This post on auto insurance for college grads looks at finding the right agent, doing your research, and steps you can take to to lower your rates.

College Graduate Credit Scores

Hopefully you didn’t ruin your credit score while in college, but even if you didn’t go crazy with the credit cards you could still face problems with your credit.  If you haven’t established any credit history at all this could also make it tough for you any time you apply for a loan.  Companies lending you money want to know how likely you are to pay back what you borrow.  If you have no past track record then often times they assume you’re a higher risk to protect themselves.

If that applies to you, here are some tips for building your credit history.  If you do have a decent credit history and are looking for some credit card options here are some of the best credit cards for college graduates.

Keep in mind that you have to keep paying your bills on time to keep your credit score up.  Here are some spending and budgeting tips for college grads to help you keep control of your money.  Any student loans that you owe will have an impact on your credit report, here are some tips on lowering your payments and paying off your student loans.

Hopefully those tips on insurance and managing your credit score will make it a little easier as you leave school start managing your own finances.

Posted on May 24th, 2010 in College, Credit Cards, credit score, Insurance | 5 Comments

Written by Ben Edwards · Filed Under College, Credit Cards, credit score, Insurance 

ShareBuilder Stock Market Investing Survey

ShareBuilder, an online discount brokerage, ran a survey of investors at the beginning of this year to find out how the volatile stock market had effected their perception of investing. The criteria that ShareBuilder used was:

“investors between the ages of 21 – 65 who have an investment account that enables them to buy stocks, funds and other securities other than a 401k or 403b”.

The survey included 1,021 non-customers and 912 people who had a ShareBuilder account, here is a look at their analysis of the results.

Stock Market Perceptions

When analyzing the answers, ShareBuilder found that younger investors, 21–39,  tend to be more optimistic about the potential of the market than investors in the age range of 40–65.  It makes sense to me that a younger demographic would be less risk-averse because they have a longer timeframe until retirement and probably have fewer financial obligations than people at a later stage in life.

ShareBuilder also asked about expected rates of return and found the answers to be closely aligned with the historical performance of the stock market.  Based on this, their opinion was that the despite the market troubles over the last few years and problems with the, investors still expect about the same return on their money that the market has shown over the last 75 years.

Investing Advice

One trend that the survey hinted at was that fewer investors are trusting their money entirely to financial planners, brokers, or financial advisors.  Due to thier portoflio losses in 2008 / 2009 and some of the problems with financial institutions, the study suggests that more investors are playing a bigger role in how their money is invested.

People are turning to financial websites, blogs, and financial print publications for information and advice on investing.  I think it’s great to be informed but I still think it’s smart to seek the guidance of professionals who can look at your specific situation and offer personalized financial advice. There are more and more financial advisors with blogs where you get both the candor of a blog and the experience of a financial professional.

Getting Started Investing

In terms of getting into the stock market, the perception seems to be that you need at least a few hundred dollars to start investing.  In their survey, the average amount of money that people said you needed to start investing was $699.

It makes sense that when ShareBuilder asked their own customers that question, 44% responded that you could start investing with $100 or less. With just $4 trades, the ability to invest only a little money at a time, and regular ShareBuilder promotions, they have made it easier for people to get started investing their money.  Of course cheap stock trades do lower the barrier to getting started but there still needs to be the desire to invest in the first place.

The study found that the parents of young investors were the single most important influence in getting them started in the market.  I can relate to this finding, the whole reason I started buying stocks and mutual funds when I was in high school was because my parents taught me about the market and encouraged me to start investing. ShareBuilder has helped make that easier as well with investment accounts for kids.

Overall it was a pretty interesting survey. Of course, it’s not representative of the whole country but it was encouraging that it did show some investor optimism.

Posted on May 21st, 2010 in Investing, ShareBuilder | 3 Comments

Written by Ben Edwards · Filed Under Investing, ShareBuilder 

How to Prepare for Being Laid Off

Being laid off often comes as a nasty surprise; many times its something you didn’t expect and in some cases something you didn’t plan for.

Losing your job is quite a traumatic experience, not only is it financially chanllenging since your income is suddenly reduced, it’s also emotionally taxing as well. My wife found out yesterday that her whole department was being laid off due to budget cuts so she’s experiencing the roller coaster of unemployment first hand.

In her case it wasn’t unexpected, she had been hearing talk of it for a while now, but it still wasn’t any easier getting the news.  Of course, it’s always somewhat easier if you’ve prepared financially for losing your job.  Over the last few years I’ve covered the topic of getting your finances ready for a layoff a few times and thought I’d consolidate them all here.

  • Liz Weston shares her tips for what to do if you lost your job. 
  • I share a previous scare I had about losing my job and our emergency fund.
  • Here’s a list of things you can do to get your finances in order for being laid off. 
  • A few suggestions about coping with the fear of being laid off.
  • Here are some job tips for being laid off and how to find your next job.

It’s interesting how being laid off gives you a different perspective on your job.  When you have a job it’s easy to complain about all the things about your work you don’t like.  However, as soon you lose your job, or even are threatened with losing it, suddenly you feel much more appreciative of being able to go in every day and get that steady paycheck.

Hopefully some of the suggestions above will help you prepare for being laid off to get you ready in case you ever find yourself in that situation.

Posted on May 19th, 2010 in Career, Personal Finance | 6 Comments

Written by Ben Edwards · Filed Under Career, Personal Finance 


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