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| Friday, August 29, 2008 |
| Free 24-Page Photo Book with free shipping from Albeli.com |
Thanks to the good folks at SlickDeals, for a limited time, you can get a free 24-page photo book with free shipping from Albeli.
For coupon code and other details, see:
SlickDeals.net: Free 24-Page Photo Book,Labels: cp |
posted by Ruby @ 1:03 PM
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| Chance to win $2500 and get $5 Chevron Gift card |
Register for Mileage Tips Trivia and you have a chance to win $2500 Chevron Gift card. In addition, the first 40,000 registrants have a chance to get $5 Chevron Gift card (for $5 gift card, you need to confirm your email address within 72 hours + the offer is open only to residents of certain states).
For details, check out:
Chance to win $2500 Chevron Gift card
Points.com eLearners Earn Rewards at MyPoints.
 Labels: mile |
| posted by Ruby @ 9:23 AM
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| Thursday, August 28, 2008 |
| You are fired! |
Last week, saw a bombardment of ads on CNBC, promoting the US debut of the UK version of the Apprentice show which occurred this week. Sir Alan Sugar is the counterpart of Donald Trump in the UK version.
I have seen bits and pieces of the Apprentice - US version but never really liked the show. I hadn't heard of Sir Alan Sugar before watching the ads recently but am sure, like Donald Trump, he must be a very accomplished person professionally.
While admire the accomplishments of people like Donald Trump, to me, shows like Apprentice predominantly seem to focus on deifying their main hosts, and seem to indicate that everybody is dying to work for them. Personally, I don't care much about working for such companies regardless of the big deal that is made out of earning high salaries etc at such companies. I believe that people who are smart enough to land jobs through such shows are smart enough to be successful working even at other firms or when running their own businesses.
I don't watch much reality shows and especially for shows like Apprentice, I'm all the more uninterested. When it comes to spending time watching such shows, my thinking is simple - Sir Alan Sugar, Donald Trump, etc - you are fired! There are better things in life for me than watching such shows. |
| posted by Ruby @ 8:48 AM
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| Saturday, August 23, 2008 |
| IceSave |
As most people familiar with the concept of compounding know, two major factors that impact how much money you accumulate over a period are time and the rate of return (interest rate) on your investment. For example, 10,000 invested at 5% for 1 year grows to 10,500 but the same sum of money invested for 18 years at 5% grows to about 24,066 or 129% more. That’s why many financial experts recommend saving early for kids' education and other needs because given sufficient investment time, even small amount of money become large over the years. Of course, the other advantage is that it’s easier and less painful to regularly save small amounts of money rather than coming up with large amounts of money at once.
Besides the length of investment horizon, another important variable in wealth accumulation is the interest rate; the higher the interest rate, the larger will be the amount. Fortunately, there are many investment vehicles available that can provide decent interest rates on your investments, ranging from savings accounts to CDs to mutual funds (with or without the use of Coverdell Education IRAs) etc.
If going with savings accounts, different bank and financial institutions offer different interest rates, so it always pays to shop around. Fortunately, internet has made the task of comparing interest rates easier as there are many sites that let you do the comparison.
For UK residents, one bank that offers high, competitive interest rates on online savings account is icesave.
icesave is an Iceland-based bank owned by Landsbanki, a large and diversified financial services provider active in a variety of segments, including retail and corporate banking, capital markets services, investment banking, asset and wealth management.
icesave currently operates in the UK and the Netherlands. The bank offers different types of savings account for the UK residents, including the following:
- Easy Access Individual Savings Accounts (ISA)
- 2-Year Fixed Rate Savings Accounts
- 3-Year Fixed Rate Savings Accounts
Product details for each of the above account type are provided at the end of this post.
Currently, all these accounts pay a variable interest rate in excess of 6%. The bank is able to offer high interest rates as it doesn’t have an extensive network of branch, which reduces its cost structure. Instead, the customers manage their accounts online, with ability to call its UK based call center, when needed.
As per the info on its Web site, icesave offers high savings rate without any "catches or penalties". According to its Web site, icesave has won several independent awards for the excellence of our savings accounts, and is consistently included in best buy tables.
Just as FDIC-insured banks provide protection up to a certain amount in the US in the event of the bank’s failure, icesave offers the same level of financial protection as every bank in the UK. As part of what is known as the passport-scheme and using two different compensation schemes, in the event of the bank's failure, icesave provides 100% of the first £35,000 of total deposits held with it. Of course, as always, it is prudent to do your own research before investing your money with any bank, including icesave. In addition, considering the high rate of bank failures in recent years, it pays to continuously monitor the health of your bank and ensuring that your deposit amount remains below the protected limit.
The product details, including savings details, application criteria, introductory rates, rates, managing account and fees & charges for each of the three savings accounts mentioned above are currently as follows (Source: icesave):
Easy Access ISA:
Saving Details
The Easy Access ISA currently pays 6.1% variable AER (annual equivalent rate), with this rate guaranteed to be at least 0.3% above UK base rate till March 1, 2011. As per the icesave's site, the application criteria and other details are as follows:
Application Criteria
Existing Customer Only: no
Minimum Age: 18
Restricted Availability: no
Area Restrictions: none
Minimum Investment: £1000.00
Minimum Balance: £1000.00
Monthly Minimum: 0
Maximum Investment pa: 3600
Maximum Balance: Unlimited
Introductory Rates
Introductory Bonus: 0%
Incentives Offered: yes
Rates
Tax Free: yes
Open-ended Bonus: 0%
Rate Tiers: no
Fixed Interest Rate: no
Interest Payment Freq: Interest is paid monthly.
Managing Account
Passbook: no
Transactions at Branch: no
Statement Frequency: annually
Transactions by Phone: no
Transactions by Internet: yes
Transactions by Post: no
Special Access: no
Withdrawal Conditions: no
Transfers In: yes
Transfers Out: yes
Fees & Charges
Trans Notice/Pen/Charge: no notice, penalty or charge
Transfer Notice: 0
Transfer Penalty: 0
Transfer Charge: 0
Withdrawal Notice: 0
Withdrawal Penalty: 0
Withdrawal Charge: 0
W/d Notice/Penalty/Charge: no notice, penalty or charge
2-Year Fixed Rate Savings Accounts:
Savings Details:
Account Type: Term
Rate Type: The type of interest rate is fixed.
Headline Interest Rate: The headline interest rate is 7.06% AER.
Application Criteria
Existing Customer Only: No
Minimum Age: The minimum age is 18 years.
Restricted Availability: No restricted availability.
Area Restrictions: There are no area restrictions.
Minimum Investment: The minimum investment required to open this account is £1000.
Maximum Investment: The maximum investment allowed on this account is £2000000.
Minimum Balance: The minimum balance is £1000.
Introductory Rates
Introductory Bonus: No introductory bonus payable.
Incentives Offered: There are no free gifts or incentives offered with this account.
Rates
Tax Free: This product is not tax free.
Open-ended Bonus: No open-ended bonus payable.
Fixed Term: The fixed term is 2 years.
Fixed Term in Months: The term is 24 months.
Fixed Interest Rate: The interest rate is fixed.
Fixed Rate Period: The interest rate is fixed for 2 years.
Term Period: The account term is 24 months.
Interest Payment Freq: Interest is paid monthly.
Managing Account
Passbook: A passbook is not provided when this account is opened.
Transactions at Branch: Transactions cannot be made at a branch.
Statement Frequency: Statements are issued on-line.
Transactions by Phone: Transactions cannot be made by telephone.
Transactions by Internet: Transactions cannot be made by Internet.
Transactions by Post: Transactions cannot be made by post.
Special Access: Withdrawals are not permitted.
Withdrawal Conditions: Withdrawal Conditions -
Withdrawals are not permitted during the term.
Closure Before Maturity: Closure of this account is not permitted before maturity.
Transferred on Maturity: If no instructions are received from the customer before the account matures the balance is transferred to an easy access account.
3-Year Fixed Rate Savings Accounts:
Savings Details:
Account Type: Term
Rate Type: The type of interest rate is fixed.
Headline Interest Rate: The headline interest rate is 7.06% AER.
Application Criteria
Existing Customer Only: No
Minimum Age: The minimum age is 18 years.
Restricted Availability: No restricted availability.
Area Restrictions: There are no area restrictions.
Minimum Investment: The minimum investment required to open this account is £1000.
Maximum Investment: The maximum investment allowed on this account is £2000000.
Minimum Balance: The minimum balance is £1000.
Introductory Rates
Introductory Bonus: No introductory bonus payable.
Incentives Offered: There are no free gifts or incentives offered with this account.
Rates
Tax Free: This product is not tax free.
Open-ended Bonus: No open-ended bonus payable.
Fixed Term: The fixed term is 3 years.
Fixed Term in Months: The term is 36 months.
Fixed Interest Rate: The interest rate is fixed.
Fixed Rate Period: The interest rate is fixed for 3 years.
Term Period: The account term is 36 months.
Interest Payment Freq: Interest is paid monthly.
Managing Account
Passbook: A passbook is not provided when this account is opened.
Transactions at Branch: Transactions cannot be made at a branch.
Statement Frequency: Statements are issued on-line.
Transactions by Phone: Transactions cannot be made by telephone.
Transactions by Internet: Transactions cannot be made by Internet.
Transactions by Post: Transactions cannot be made by post.
Special Access: Withdrawals are not permitted.
Withdrawal Conditions: Withdrawal Conditions -
Withdrawals are not permitted during the term.
Closure Before Maturity: Closure of this account is not permitted before maturity.
Transferred on Maturity: If no instructions are received from the customer before the account matures the balance is transferred to an easy access account.
Fees & Charges
Withdrawal Notice: Withdrawals are not permitted.
For complete details on icesave's saving accounts, see:
icesaveLabels: frugal |
| posted by Ruby @ 7:42 AM
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| Wednesday, August 20, 2008 |
| Divorce and financial aid implications |
Was reading an old Kiplinger.com article regarding whether a custodial or non-custodian divorced parent should file the child's FAFSA financial aid forms.
According to the article, in the federal formula, only the finances of custodial parent are considered. The exception is that if the custodial parent is married, then the income and assets of the step-parent married to the custodial parent are also considered.
However, some institutions may consider the income of both natural parents.Some private colleges, however, do ask about the noncustodial parent's income and assets on their own aid forms and consider the resources of both parents -- as well as the custodial parent's spouse. But they generally don't consider the income and assets of the noncustodial parent's spouse. Of course, as the article suggests, it's always good to ask the school upfront regarding its financial-aid formula.
It's a good idea to ask up front about the school's financial-aid formula, which could make a big difference in the amount of aid you could receive. For complete article, see:
Kiplinger.com: Divorce and the FAFSA |
| posted by Ruby @ 7:22 AM
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| Friday, August 15, 2008 |
| Getting rid of medical debt |
The Wall Street Journal article discusses some of the ways to get rid of medical debt.
Among the recommendations are:
- Check for errors on their medical bills. One of the most common problems is duplicate billing of services under different descriptions. "An operating room charge already includes routine services, equipment and supplies," says Johnson. "But then I look at the bill and I will see [the same] routine supplies billed out again." - Stay on top of the insurance companyMany people don't realize that if there is a dispute between a doctor and a health plan, the physician will eventually just bill the patient. To avoid taking the hit, find out if any bills aren't getting paid and what the issue is, such as wrong billing code, and try to get it resolved as quickly as possible. - Negotiate with doctors/hospitals on charges, especially if paying out-of-pocket.
- Ask for help from hospitals as they may have programs which provide financial assistance. Some of these programs offer help to patients suffering from specific diseases, such as cancer, while others provide aid based on where a person lives. - Ask for a payment plan to protect your credit from being ruined for not paying your medical debt
- Deal with collections agencies in case a patients account was sent to collections by mistake
Personally, I have encountered errors on my bills several times. In each case, the doctor/hospital used the wrong billing code and after a few days, the insurance company will send me the statement that the procedure is not covered and I need to pay for it. In the past, I would either not notice it or believed that everything was correct, and would end up paying the bill myself. However, more recently, if a procedure isn't paid, I always phone the insurance company to find out details for rejection. So far, in each case, I found that the doctor/hospital had used a wrong billing code which resulted in the rejection of the bill.
I just had to call my doctor/hospital again and asked them to resubmit it with the correct codes and in each case, the insurance company ending up paying for it. So now have realized that it pays to read the insurance statements carefully.
For details, see:
WSJ.com: Digging Out of Medical Debt |
| posted by Ruby @ 8:12 AM
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| Saturday, August 09, 2008 |
| Free Degree Deodorent for Men sample from Unilever |
For a free sample of Degree Deodorant for Men sample from Unilever, check out:
Free Sample: Degree Deodorant |
| posted by Ruby @ 8:12 AM
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| Wednesday, August 06, 2008 |
| Delta Skymiles Promotion: 20,000 frequent flier miles for a free hairloss consultation |
Delta is running a Skymiles promotion awarding 20,000 frequent flier miles for a free hairloss consultation with Bosley. Promotion ends Aug 25, 2008.
For complete details, see:
Delta Skymiles Promotion: 20,000 frequent flier milesLabels: mile |
| posted by Ruby @ 7:48 AM
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| Tuesday, August 05, 2008 |
| Internet Explorer problems |
As I had mentioned in one of my previous posts, my computer was recently infected with a spyware. I had to reimage my PC. For some reason, after I reinstalled Internet Explorer 7, I kept getting the following message every time I would go to sites like Yahoo finance etc:
"Internet Explorer cannot open the internet site"..."Operation aborted".
The error was quite annoying as I had to click the OK button several times to get rid of it and this happened every time I tried to go to some of the sites.
I checked various messages on the internet but couldn't find the solution. I even uninstalled and reinstalled IE7 but that didn't solve the problem.
Ultimately, through a friend's friend, I found out that such an error was likely caused by Skype plug-in on my system although it can also be caused by Yahoo or Google toolbars. To get rid of the message, I needed to disable a couple of add-ons from Skype by going to the Tools menu in Internet Explorer and clicking "Manage Add-Ons" followed by "Enable or disable Add-ons". I had to disable 2 or 3 add-ons from Skype and then close and reopen Internet Explorer and that resolved the problem. The disabling of add-ons didn't impact Skype - it still works fine.
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| posted by Ruby @ 8:43 AM
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| Favorite Quote |
"If you look at what you have in life, you will always have more. If you look at what you do not have in life, you will
never have enough".
- Author Unknown
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