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More Real-Life Stories on People Saving Money by
Shopping around for Car Insurance

post from Free Money Finance on 24 July 2008 05:05:00 PM. © Free Money Finance

Here are several more stories of people saving money by shopping around for car insurance. They were left as comments on my post titled Real-Life Money Saving Example. The first:

I'd been meaning to comment on our car insurance switch as well. We had been with Nationwide for ages (basically since I got my license 18 years ago!). I plugged in my information at one of those insurance quote websites (be prepared for the onslaught of phone calls, I used GrandCentral to screen them), and after reviewing a couple of them, I went with AIG as well. Two cars on Nationwide: $1440.20. Same coverage on AIG: $660.66. Yearly savings: $779.54.

Almost $800 savings for a bit of shopping. Not bad at all!

The next example:

I just switched my car insurance as well. I had been with Farm Bureau since I turned 16. My parents have been with them for all eternity as well. My monthly premium for a 2003 Toyota and a 2006 Kia was $140! Granted, I had a minor, weather-related accident (single car) a couple of years ago so I can understand that it has gone up.
I did the online quote thing too (and got inundated with calls!) and heard from Liberty Mutual. Turns out I got a discount based on where I went to college in addition to them not holding the accident against me. My annual premium is now $1024, down from $1680. The only down side is that I will lose my multi-policy discount with my FB homeowner's insurance, but I have already paid through June 09 so it is no big deal right now. Even without that discount, FB is still cheaper on the home front, and I am still saving $45+ per month!

Over $500 savings per year! And there's more:

I too was with State Farm forever. I have nothing against them other than the high rates. Other than that, I loved them. However, being just out of college, I need to save money.
So I went on JD Powers to read their reviews of insurance companies and found Erie Insurance (I think they only service a few states around Lake Erie of course). They were extremely highly rated (better than State Farm). I called them up and got a quote which was way less.
Now, I just bought a 2009 Toyota Corolla and my wife has a 2003 Mazda 6, both relatively new cars I guess. For both of us, we pay $540/6 months total... Less than half of what State Farm was charging. Not to mention, they consider you an adult at age 24 and can add on other discounts (employer for example).
I also get renter's insurance for $11/month which is pretty much standard.
I haven't had to use them yet in an accident, but so far they've been good. Also, they sell through independent agents which drastically cuts down on costs cause they don't have to pay as much commission as State Farm does.

Saving over 50% is good, right? ;-)

Here's one more comment:

A similar thing happened to me and in my case it was GEICO (yes GEICO) that gave me a SUPERB deal on Auto and American Family who gave me a fabulous deal on Home insurance. Between these two new policies (3 cars and 1 house), I save $600 per year with better coverage (went to $1M liability coverage since I have contractors at my home all the time for additions/improvement/maintenance).
Bottom line is that I hired the BEST companies for their 'sweet spot' and got myself a 'honey pot worth $600 per year' for better coverage. HOW CAN YOU BEAT THAT?

Is there any doubt that shopping around for car insurance can often save you a bundle of money?

Read The Full Article:
http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2008/07/more-real-life.html

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Omniture Discusses Google Analytics

post from Internet Sector and Stocks Analysis from Seeking Alpha on 24 July 2008 04:13:04 PM. © Internet Sector and Stocks Analysis from Seeking Alpha

Here what Omniture (OMTR) had to say about Google Analytics on its conference call:

It is true that many of our competitors compete with us on price because that?s all they have to compete with us on. And we believe that kind of competition actually works in our favor. Some tools are even free as many of you know, which we do not view as negative. In fact, the company with the purported best free analytics tool placed a major order with Omniture in the second quarter, and that is probably the best estimate of all to the differentiation of Omniture from the free analytics tools.

Complete Story »

Read The Full Article:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/86854-omniture-discusses-google-analytics?source=
feed

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Next edition of Powerful Money Tips and our new
Yahoo! Group!

post from Making More Money for You! on 24 July 2008 03:59:00 PM. © Making More Money for You!

How do you save over $500...

Dear Friend,

How do you save over $500? This may be done by setting up your corporation documents yourself as explained in Step 2 of the 10 Steps To Money home study system.

I talk to a lot of business people and entrepreneur at events around the country and what I hear just amazes me. I hear all the time, ?I'm waiting on my accountant or attorney to fill out my corporation documents so that I can start my business." Every time I hear that I just scream and say it is not rocket science people.

The reason your accountant or attorney does not get it done for you right away is that it is a low-level priority, something an office page does and that page is busy doing billable ?research?.

Another reason that most accountants or attorneys do not get it done as quickly is that if they get it done in 1 hour or less and then bill you for 2-3 hours you would get upset.

In Step 2 of the 10 Steps to Money system we show you exactly how to take back the power and get your paperwork completed in as little as 1 hour.

I have nothing against accountants or attorneys, over the years in business I have trained my fair share of them, they are just playing the ?job preservation? card. They think that if you do not know the process you will have to use their ?powers? to get it done.

There is no smoke and mirrors and that is what the 10 Step to Money system is all about ?conquering the Business Credit Beast.

To Your Business Success,

Pat Gage, The Opportunity Creator

Just another sample of his business systems.

I know this was short but I also wanted to add that we now have a Yahoo! group and anyone can join. We're discussing Pat Gage and other business types so if you're interested just click on the icon below.

Thanks again and good luck to you!

Karynn

And for those who are interested in making some extra money on the side, this link will help. http://10steps2cash.infusionsoft.com/go/0/Kaika/
Go to it and click on the Affiliate button at the top then follow the directions. It's completely free!

Click here to join makingmoremoneyforyou
Click to join makingmoremoneyforyou

Read The Full Article:
http://makingmoremoneyforyou.blogspot.com/2008/07/next-edition-of-powerful-money-
tips-and.html

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Amazon: Recession What Recession

post from Internet Sector and Stocks Analysis from Seeking Alpha on 24 July 2008 03:13:17 PM. © Internet Sector and Stocks Analysis from Seeking Alpha

Eric Savitz (Barron's) submits:

If we’re in a recession, you wouldn’t know it from looking at Amazon.com’s (AMZN) June quarter results.

Amazon shares were up sharply in an otherwise ugly market Thursday morning, propelled onward by some gushing post-earnings commentary from the Street. The key points: The company’s revenue in the June quarter actually accelerated from the March quarter, despite a weakening economy. Some analysts credit Amazon for this; other say it suggests increased consumer reliance on online shopping. Skeptics think Amazon can’t hold off economic pressures forever, and the bears think the stock is simply too expensive. But clearly, today belongs to the Amazon longs.

Complete Story »

Read The Full Article:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/86832-amazon-recession-what-recession?source=feed

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How Many Hours Do You Work per Week

post from Free Money Finance on 24 July 2008 02:15:00 PM. © Free Money Finance

Turns out that most FMF readers would like to go to a four-day work week. But one of the issues people brought up in that discussion was that the number of hours they already work each week is well above 40. So this led me to wonder about the following:

How many hours do you work each week?

Here's where I stand on this issue:

I'm in the office around 7 am every day and leave at 5 pm.

I work through lunch most of the time -- takings a "long lunch" a couple days a week (our offices are off the beaten path a bit so a lunch anywhere is a two-hour trek.) I'll count the "working through lunch" and "long lunches" as a wash.

I don't work on weekends (though I do check my email via Blackberry and respond/take action if needed.)

I travel a bit, but not so much that it impacts my life dramatically.

Given these, I work nine hours per day, five days a week, or 45 hours per week.

What about you? How many hours do you work per week?

Read The Full Article:
http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2008/07/how-many-hours.html

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Existing-home sales fall to 10-year low - How do
they know

post from Investing Thoughts on 24 July 2008 01:02:00 PM. © Investing Thoughts

Many foreclosures aren’t included in the data at all because they are not sold through the Realtors’ multiple-listing service.

Existing-home sales fall 2.6% to 10-year low - MarketWatch.

If up to 60% of home sales in places like Sacramento and Las Vegas are foreclosures what good is the data from this report? Sacramento and Las Vegas are showing significant year-over-year sales gains.

I write about Las Vegas and Sacramento markets because I am following the real estate trends in those two areas. The quote I pulled above makes me wonder if the sales data has any correlation in reality. How many othe areas are having a significant proportion of sales not show up in the national data?

ShareThis

Read The Full Article:
http://timplaehn.com/2008/07/24/existing-home-sales-fall-to-10-year-low-how-do-th
ey-know/

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FlowPlay's new deal and social gaming's rise

post from John Cook's Venture Blog on 24 July 2008 12:55:00 PM. © John Cook's Venture Blog

There's a lot of news emerging this week from the Casual Connect game conference in Seattle.

Read The Full Article:
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/venture/archives/144278.asp?source=rss

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Unusual Saving Method Nets $12k

post from Free Money Finance on 24 July 2008 12:49:00 PM. © Free Money Finance

Check this out:

Three years ago, I made a decision that changed my relationship with money: I stopped spending, and started saving, every five-dollar bill that passed through my hands. Squirreling away each and every $5 received as change from a cash transaction didn't require any complicated savings strategy, but it has paid off, to the tune of $12,000.

Anyone else out there have some sort of unusual way to save money that's worked for you?

Read The Full Article:
http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2008/07/unusual-saving.html

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Phoenix Technologies to buy General Software

For the third time this week, a Washington technology firm has been acquired by a publicly-traded company. This time it is Bellevue-based General Software, a 19-year-old maker of embedded software for telecommunications, data communications, servers and consumer electronics. It is being gobbled up by Milipitas, Calif.-based Phoenix Technologies.

Read The Full Article:
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/venture/archives/144272.asp?source=rss

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Five Signs that You're Living Beyond Your Means

As most of you know, I love to tell people that spending less than they earn is the key to financial success. Much of this blog is about that -- and how to get to the point where you have more and more surplus coming in to your finances.

That's why I like this Yahoo piece that lists five signs that you're living beyond your means. It serves as a good guide to keep us all aware of money moves that could derail our finances. Here are their thoughts along with some comments from me:

Sign No. 1 - Your Credit Score is Below 600

Not an issue for me, but having a good credit score is certainly a key part of good finances.

Sign No. 2 - You are Saving Less Than 5%

I currently save about 20% of my salary, though many FMF readers save much more. Good for you.

Sign No. 3 - Your Credit Card Balances are Rising

I'd change this to "you have credit card balances." Carrying any balance on a credit card is a BIG sign that you're spending more than you earn.

Sign No. 4 - More Than 28% of Income Goes To Your House

Taxes and maintenance are the only things I pay on our home since we haven't had a mortgage in over a decade. If we buy a new place, the longest we should have a mortgage is a couple years. But if we don't buy something this summer, it's likely we'll be able to pay cash for the new place outright as we'll have a few more months of saving ahead of us.