Randy Ingle

OK, I’ve decided that it is time to check into getting a decent security video camera and one of the security systems that I’ve seen online with ADT. They have been around for a very long time and have a good reputation, they must be doing something right considering all of their little yard signs that I see dotting the lawns around the neighborhoods.

Times are not getting any better for people. The crime rates are still on the rise, with folks getting very desperate in order to survive. Druggies are even getting bolder with their thieving in order to keep up with their habits. Home break ins are becoming an every day occurrence and making the headlines more and more. It just ain’t right. More people are buying dogs and purchasing large dogs as well in an effort to protect their home, property and their loved ones. But I’m more of a security systems type of guy at this point.

ADT offers a backup battery and equipment guide features. We are always losing power out here so having a battery backup is a must. Some times we are without power for days and that could turn into a nightmare, considering the circumstances. Crooks would and could take advantage of a long time power outage and people could get hurt. So I’m glad that I did my research online and found ADT. They have a variety of packages available according to your needs and wants, it’s all good as far as I’m concerned.

If it’s one thing I’ve learned in the past couple of decades, is that there really is no such thing as financial security.  So many of my elderly relatives went to work for companies that had absolutely no retirement plan whatsoever, and now that they have retired they are dismayed to learn that they can’t survive on Social Security alone.  That is why my wife and I have started to get involved in saving our money in various ways in preparation for retirement.

To start out with, we each have IRA Accounts that we try to contribute to every year.  That’s a lot harder to do than you can imagine!  My wife has learned a little bit about Stock Trading and takes advantage of the companies that you can buy stocks from directly and then reinvest the dividends from them.  She’s bought into a few companies using Online Trading services as well.  We don’t have much money to invest, but we are trying hard to divest it so that we don’t have all of our eggs in one basket.

A couple of buddies of mine are planning a trip to New York City and have asked me if I would like to come along. They are thinking that the end of September would be a good time to hit “The Big Apple” it sounds good to me. The holidays are the best time to go to the big city, but the crowds are a pain, so September might just turn out to be a good choice for us.

There are so many things to see and do in New York. Of course we will make sure and see some good shows while we are there. I have been asked to check out some of the venues online, since I am pretty good on the computer, so I have taken some time to see what type of shows are going to be running them. The Internet makes this task a much easier one to take on. I’ve checked into some IZOD CENTER TICKETS as well as some JONES BEACH THEATRE TICKETS and they are much more affordable then I first thought, which is a pleasant surprise. New York isn’t known for being cheap what-so-ever, if you know what I mean!

It will be too late in the year to utilize any of the Central Park Summerstage TICKETS  that are being heavily advertised, but that is all right, there is a huge variety of events to pick from and I have my work cut out for me trying to please every one’s taste, wants and needs, but I’m up for it and look forward to the challenge.

As much as I would love to be able to cruise the streets in a brand new bmw m5, my tax refund check wasn’t even being close enough to being hefty enough to afford that kind of vehicle, yet. My refund check was a good one this year and I have been doing a ton on research online ever since I sent in all the paperwork to the I.R.S back in March. At first I was pretty much dead set on purchasing a Subaru, whether its was a subaru legacy or a subaru outback, that took some time to figure out which would be the best choice for my needs and wants. I even went to a local Subaru dealership and took some test drives on several of their models that they had on the lot. They were some sweet vehicles, I can tell you that!

After talking up the Subarus with friends and family these past couple of months, I kept being told how great the toyota land cruiser is so I took the time to check into that make and model of Toyota. The Car Connection has a great website that made the whole process a much easier task to take on. The Internet sure makes things a lot easier when looking for a large purchase such as this. I remember the days of having to drive from dealership to dealership, in and out of town in order to find the perfect vehicle, what a long and painful process that was. I’m glad that I didn’t have to deal with numerous car salesmen in order to get all the information that I needed this time around!

Isn’t she a pretty looking SUV? She is big and she is powerful with her V-8 under the hood that will be sporting a nice denim blue color paint job on her.

One of the things that bothers me a lot is how many solicitations I receive from different organizations to donate money to their cause.  Sometimes I get suspicious about the organization and ask for information about the organization.  One of the reasons for that is I often get phone calls from organizations that say they support the local police department, but when I contact the local police about the solicitation they deny any knowledge of the organization.  That puts a bit of a sour taste in my mouth when it comes to responding to requests for donations.

So when I was asked to donate money to the Orchid Recovery Center Charities, I was suspicious.  I had never heard of The Orchid Recovery Charities.  So I spent a little bit of time online to check out the Orchid Recovery Center and see what they are about.  I found that the Center is a rehab center for women, located in Florida.  So far the only charity I found that is involved with them is a charity named Kiva.  Kiva lends money to poverty stricken entrepreneurs, to help them pull themselves out of poverty.  That sounds like a good cause, don’t you think?

Have you ever been asked by a friend or relative to lend/give them money to help them pay a bill?  I think that most of us have had that experience, haven’t we?  I always have mixed feelings about lending money; I remember some advice my father gave me a long time ago about lending money.  He said “never lend any money that you can’t afford to lose.”  I think that is good advice. 

There have been a few times when I lent money to someone to help them out of a jam and then found them squandering money on something totally unnecessary.  That has always bugged me to no end.  If they have enough money to squander money on something totally unnecessary, then why haven’t they paid me back the money they owe me?  When I ask them what’s going on, why are they throwing money away on “stuff” when they owe me money, I get the “gee you’re a big jerk” reaction.  I think Ben Franklin gave some really good advice back in his time “Neither a lender, nor a borrower be.”

I’m always amazed when I hear about a friend of mine that passed away.  I’m not that old, yet it seems that every few months someone else that I know has passed away.  Some from illness, some from accidents.  Fortunately for their families, most of them have good life insurance policies to help their loved ones to keep their lives intact.

My wife and I have been reviewing our coverage and have been thinking about getting some term life insurance quotes.  The economic times are still too shaky for either one of us to feel comfortable without that safety net.  In addidition to funeral insurance I want to get mortgage insurance.  If something happens to either one of us, I don’t want the other one to lose the house.  That would truly be devestating!

Guest post by Linda Bradshaw

When my hubby was injured in my car accident in 2007, I tried to get my mortage company for our house in New England that we were trying to sell to grant me a hardship forebearance. Since he wasn’t able to work due to my injuries, I was hopeful to get some empathy from the company. Boy, was I wrong!

Long story short, the mortgage company has dropped the ball and tossed me around from department to department, where I have been met with gross incompetence at every turn.

After over two years, even though we FINALLY did a deed-in-lieu with the company last November, and the deed to the house was transferred into their name in December the company is continuing to send me notices that I owe them the money and the company is still sending notices to the credit agencies that the mortgage is overdue. This is resulting in credit card companies closing my credit cards or lowering my credit limits.

Every time I call Bank of America I am shuttled around from department to department, and told the matter will be escalated and someone will call me back within the next week. That never happens. I have called them about once every two weeks, and nothing is resolved. I have sent them letters, and I get replies that someone will contact me within 20 days, and that never happens either! I got collection calls several times a day for years on end until I finally blocked their telephone number!

As of today, I have been on the phone with Bank of America for the past four hours, being shuttled around from department to department, trying to find some help. I’m on hold at the moment, waiting for a supervisor to talk to me. The lady I just spoke with said that my account was in the process of being assigned to someone in the home retention department!

I have contacted my state senator Mark Warner’s office, asking for help a couple of weeks ago. Haven’t heard back from them yet.

Anyone know a good lawyer that would like to sue this company on my behalf to get this resolved and maybe some punitive damages for emotional distress it is causing? I had hired a lawyer that I was told is an agressive lawyer that loves to sue people, but for some reason he just doesn’t seem to be in the mood to take this on! If you know of a class-action suit going on for people in situations like this, or know a good lawyer that could/would help me, please post comment to this blog and I’ll get the information!

Can you feel my pain?

With April 15th looming so close there are a lot of unhappy tax payers who are trying to find a way to pay Uncle Sam his just dues. Even with all of the tax credits that have come out recently there are a lot of people who aren’t getting a refund and need to send in a check along with their paperwork.

My sister is one of those people and she has had to take out a personal loan in order to take care of her situation. This has broken her heart because she has never had to deal with borrowing money and all that goes along with the process before. She has always paid cash and has had great credit up until last year. The economy has taken it’s toll on everyone it seems.

But she did go online and found a website moneynowusa.com that made the process an easier one to take on. They had her taken care of in about an hour and she is on her way to the post office tomorrow to get in it the mail and post marked by the 15th along with everyone else that has waited until the last minute to get their filing issues done.

I’m worried, however, that this is an ominous omen for her financial future. Personal loans like this can be a problem if not paid off quickly!

We have a local ice cream parlor that has been doing a booming business since opening the first of April. The parking lot is always full, actually over flowing with cars and people standing in lines waiting for one of their ice cream treats. It’s good to see some one making money.

It is good to know that there are options out there for folks that are “in the know” or take time to look around a bit online to find products and services at good prices. I don’t know what I’d do without the Internet. Hard to imagine life back in the 70′s and 80′s without the World Wide Web incorporated into our daily lives, as it is for so many of us these days.

The economy has been making life way too stressful for way too many of us. It is all about the money these days (or the lack there of) and how to make the best out of a bad situation. Having Internet access puts a lot of power at our finger tips and the paper version of the “Yellow Pages” will be out of business in the next decade do to the Internet. It is so much easier to Google “eyeglasses” then to find the Yellow Pages, find the correct section and then try and find a local place that sells good quality, but affordable, eyeglasses to check out.

Zenni Optical is a well known online retailer of low cost eye wear. They have complete eyeglasses that start at $8 and shipping is always $4.95 each order. Every pair of glasses that are sent out are fully UV protected, come with a hard case and a cleaning cloth as well. That is a great deal that would be hard to beat anywhere, check them out if you have the need for some new glasses.

Post Regarding Zenni

A few days ago I was writing a check to a guy I don’t know in exchange for some frozen meat to stock up my freezer.  When I told my wife that I had written the check, and it was to a guy I didn’t know she was very upset with me.  She asked me which pen I used to write the check; she was worried that the guy might wash the check and drain our account!  Well, I told her that I wasn’t sure which pen I used, but I thought it was the uni-ball vision elite.  I wasn’t sure if that was a pen that helped to prevent check washing.  So today I did a little bit of cruising around on the Internet and found that according to their website, that particular pen does help to prevent check washing.  And then I went online to see if the check had been cashed yet, and it had been – for the right amount of money.  Whew!  What a relief!  We would have been some upset if we had found we were duped!

I understand that the home buyer tax credit is a great incentive to get more people to buy houses, but I don’t think that everyone understands it completely.  Talk around the break table lately has been about all of the confusion surrounding what is really going on with the incentive.

From what I understand, the incentive is a powerful one, and not that hard to understand.  If you haven’t bought a new primary residence in the past five years, and then you buy a new one, you get a tax credit.  A tax credit is different than a tax deduction.  A lot of people don’t even understand the difference between a tax credit and a tax deduction.  A tax credit is better than a tax deduction – the amount is subtracted from the amount of money you have to pay, irregardless of your taxable income, and sometimes results in a refudn.  A deduction reduces the amount of you may have to pay based on your taxable income.  It’s a subtle difference, but a very real and important one.

Unfortunately, with the way that the banks are cracking down, and people’s credit ratings going down the drain, the biggest problem that I see in rescuing the floundering housing market is the fact that people are having trouble getting a mortgage to pay for the new house, and a tax credit may not make a difference in that obstruction!

By this time next month I will have completed my 2 year obligation with my current cell phone provider. I am going to start looking around to find another provider who will give me a better deal, better reception and a new phone. I know of several websites that allow you to compare the current provider’s plans to see which one will suit my needs for the next year or two. But I also need to compare the coverage maps too! I don’t want to get stuck with a contract for a phone that doesn’t have good coverage! Where I live, I don’t know anyone who has a cell phone with great coverage. Must be because of all of the hills and valleys.

I am lucky to have a very large, but very close family. In this very impersonal world it is nice to know that family is there for you no matter what and that you can count on them when the going gets tough. With the economy in such a mess there is a lot of scary things going on for many people and their families. Back in the day it wasn’t uncommon for many generations to live under the same roof and it seems that this is once again becoming a necessity for many families.

A cousin of mine has finally landed himself a good job, after being unemployed for over a year now. He has to re locate to Oklahoma City for the position, so he is busy trying to find a few decent Oklahoma City Luxury Apartments to check into via the Internet. He and his wife have been living with her parents during his time of being unemployed and they are so excited to be able to once again be on their own and in their home in the near future.

Luxuryapartmentshop.com is one of the websites that they have been utilizing recently. This is a very user friendly site that assists with the search of the many Luxury Apartments that are available all across the country. Just a few short key strokes and bingo all types of choices pop up for your review. It also has a Resource Center to assist with other moving issues that can be helpful during this stressful time of relocating. You can get a Free Credit Score, a Free Credit Consultation along with some Free ID Protection, which is a big issue these days. You can also find some moving tips that might help along the way, any help during this time has to be welcomed.

I wish them all the luck in the world. I’m going to miss them both. We have been close since grade school and his wife is a doll baby and they will make some good looking kids when the right time comes to start their own family. Hopefully this new job will make it so that they can afford to start one soon.

With all of today’s high tech involved in our daily lives it is important to keep up to date with so many computer issues. Spyware, virus protection, colocation plans and dedicated servers are all very necessary to keep our information safe and secure. Businesses need the best managed hosting that they can get their hands on and there are a lot of options out there to choose from these days.

My sister is starting her own small business later this year and has been researching many of these necessities, being as pro active as she can, while she can. She is a whiz on the computer but still has a lot to learn.  I do believe that she will do well in her endeavors. It take a lot of guts to start any type of business during these uncertain economic times.

As for me, well, I’ll just keep on doing what I’ve been doing and hope for the best. The great weather is making a difference in people’s attitudes and there just might be a light at the end of the tunnel at some point.

When I was in college I was surprised to learn that less than 2% of the American population owned Stocks!  One of the reasons it surprised me was that is one of the definitions of wealth.  Supposedly if you have enough money to invest in stocks, then you are not considered “poor.”  As a result of that lesson, I became interested in Stock Trading and opened up a couple of IRA Accounts for myself and my wife.

Since then I’ve started to do my investing with my computer, online.  I found that getting an Online Broker was not very difficult at all.  You just have to be careful to check out all of the fees because some of them charge more than others.  I found that Online Trading is beneficial to me because I can do it at my own convenience, and the sales can be done quickly; wherease with the broker I used to have I had to wait several days to get my money into or out of my stocks.  I like fast!

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One of the things that I really like about the Internet is how easy it is to compare products and services, without having to leave the house.  I was just remembering some very old television commercials about using the telephone book’s Yellow Pages where the jingle was “Let your fingers do the walking….”  Now with the Internet, the fingers can still do the walking, but without even having to make a phone call! 

For example, if I go to negquote.com I can compare different New Mexico insurance companies, policies, and rates between a lot of different companies!  All I have to do is fill out a short form and click on submit.  Then just sit and wait for the information to come in!  How easy is that!?

Come the end of April I will have the pleasure of ending my 2 year contract with AT&T, who is my current cell phone provider. I’ve been doing a bit of research online to find the best provider to hook up with when the time comes. There are sites out there that allow you to compare plans and companies, which is pretty cool. Anything to make the task at hand an easier one.

A buddy of mine bought some real good tickets to concerts at the Houston Rodeo which is currently under way. But his mother has become ill and he will not be able to attend. He has been asking around to see if anyone would be interested in purchasing them from him, actually at this point he would be willing to just give them away so as not to see them go to waste. I personally would love to go, but it is too last minute for me to make arrangements. Even though I am self employed and have a bit of flexibility I still have obligations to meet that I need to tend to.

I haven’t been to a rodeo is a long time. There really isn’t a big call for rodeos up here in Maine, so the choices are pretty limited. But I have been to a few, out of state, and they really are a blast. Something that a lot of people are in to and I’m glad that they are still popular. They are usually affordable and you definitely get your monies worth, the events go on for a good long time and there is a lot going on all the time.

The Houston Rodeo is offering entertainment after the rodeo and has plenty of top name performers lined up this year. I looked it up online and they have Gary Allen, Keith Urban, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson and many more performing this year. Maybe next year, if I get my ducks in a row I’ll see about attending. It should be a blast.