Finding The Best Home Phone Providers: 3 Important Tips To Consider
If you are like many people who consider home phone service to be an essential medium of communication, you probably have one installed in your house and maintain a mobile phone as well. Maintaining 2 phone plans can be a remarkably tough job especially when you can’t give up either of the two. Both are necessary in communicating to others.
You don’t have to give up anything. There are actually ways in which you can save a significant amount of money in your phone bills. One of it is by finding the right home phone providers.
So how can you find the best home phone provider that is suitable for your needs?
Tip 1:
Search for the best phone service provider. In searching for the best service provider, you shouldn’t depend on televised advertisements. Most people rely to the popular phone providers in making their judgment. Make the most out of the information that you can find on the internet. Utilize business directory. This way, you can thoroughly examine the competition in the market and make a better decision.
Once you find the home phone provider of your choice, ask around your area for any existing subscriber. If the phone provider that you chose does not service your area, continue searching for other service provider that fits your criteria. It will be easier if you can ask your neighbors of their trusted phone providers.
Tip 2:
Second important factor that you should consider is the subscription contract. Most phone providers include six or twelve month contract in their phone plans wherein the cost of calls will be at a fixed rate, but you’ll be under their service for a certain period time. Downgrade and termination of service would usually require fee on the subscriber’s part as indicated in the contract.
In examining phone plans, always look for these two factors: cost of line rentals and the call rate. These two factors are the determinants of your monthly bill. Some phone providers include mobile and internet plans in their services. Consider bundle subscription to save money and get better services.
Tip 3:
In cases where you have a current subscription to a phone provider and you want to change service provider, make sure that you review your contract about termination of service conditions. Contact their customer service department and fixed the necessary adjustments to make sure that you would not unconsciously breach anything agreed upon previously.
You can use all these ideas to compare your phone pricing but it means nothing unless you can sustain and continue to hold a quality service. Get my FREE advice to making the right choice for phone services at: Compare Phone Plans Australia
How To Chase Down Uninsured Motorists
Last year, my best friend, Susan, was driving home from work. She came to a stop at a red light. Unfortunately, the person driving behind Susan did not. Brittany, a twenty something year old had rear ended Susan’s Sports Utility Van. An otherwise peaceful ride home suddenly became a stressful pain in the butt.
Always Get A Police Report
Susan called the police to get a report documented for insurance purposes. The young lady driving the other car presented her insurance information to the police officer. The car belonged to her Mom but Brittany had a policy with State Farm. Everything went smoothly and the next morning Susan called State Farm to initiate the claims process against the other driver who was at fault.
Unpleasant Surprise
The State Farm representative found no record of a current car insurance policy for Brittany. It appeared as if she had applied for one and received some paperwork but had never paid any premiums so the policy was cancelled. Yes, Brittany had presented false insurance information to the police and the officer took it at face value without verifying the policy.
Tracking Down Mom
Susan isn’t the type of person to roll over in situations. She will find a way to hold you accountable. She called the home phone number of Brittany and left a message. A day passed with no response. Susan called back and left a more stern message. The next day Brittany’s mother called back. The mother apologized for the situation and promised to make good but she wanted to handle the situation outside of the insurance. Guess she didn’t have any either. Like mother, like daughter.
Uninsured Motorists Are A Big Threat
In some states, as many as one in three drivers are uninsured. This creates a tremendous amount of financial risk for the rest of us that obey the law. In addition, our car insurance premiums are inflated because insurance companies build in the cost of claims resulting from uninsured motorists into the premiums of those that do pay.
Police Were No Help
Susan was convinced that the fact that Brittany had knowingly presented false insurance documentation to the police officer at the accident scene was grounds for criminal charges. Susan called the police officer that wrote the report. He was sympathetic but offered no help. The law was not on Susan’s side in this case.
Repair Shop Drama
Susan brought her SUV into a reputable repair shop to get an estimate. The repair shop must deal with a lot of these situations because they offered to allow Brittany’s Mom to set up a payment plan for the repair. Susan sent the estimate to Brittany’s Mom and waited for her to go to the repair shop to prepay the bill which was about $900. Several days went by without any action. Susan was anxious and escalated the effort to chase down the money.
Nice To Have A Lawyer Friend
Susan called Mary, an acquaintance, who was a lawyer and asked for advice. Mary was very kind and offered to place a phone call to Brittany’s Mom. Getting a phone message from a lawyer must have put the fear of God into Brittany’s Mom because the next day she showed up at the repair shop to settle the bill.
Lesson Learned
Car accidents happen everyday. Sometimes you cause the accident and other times you are an innocent victim. Either way, you have to take matters into your own hands to hold people accountable. If you’re lazy and procrastinate, you are only hurting yourself. If you find yourself in a similar situation, mentally prepare yourself to take the bull by the horns and chase all the parties involved (police, insurance, repair shop, other drivers and their family) until you get the outcome you deserve.
Nathan Randall, editor, DailyDollar Newsletter provides free daily advice on money matters plus coupons and discount codes. FYI…you can now access the DailyDollar Newsletter via iTunes podcast, YouTube video, and on Facebook and Twitter too.
Find Out Five Favorite Ways To Save Money On Car Insurance
There are several ways to save money on your car insurance. Some of them are more obvious than others. Insurance companies are getting creative and rolling out obscure discounts all the time. Today we want to share five favorites.
1. Increase Your Deductible
We recommend bumping up your deductible to $1000. I can’t remember the last time I saw a car repair bill that didn’t approach $1,000 so when you speak with your car insurance representative, ask them to quote you the savings for all the deductible levels and make the best choice for your situation. Take whatever savings you generate and stash that in a rainy day savings account.
2. Protect Yourself From Uninsured Motorists
In real life, you get exposed to startling facts about the number of people rolling the dice and driving around without car insurance. You need to protect yourself from them. Purchase uninsured motorist coverage as part of your policy. This insurance kicks in even if you or a family member are hit by an uninsured driver while you are walking or on your bike.
3. Stand Under Your Umbrella, ella, ella
Rihanna is no finance expert but what do you want to bet she has an insurance policy in place to protect her assets from lawsuits? You should too. Mistakes happen and you might cause an accident someday. An umbrella insurance policy provides you additional protection above and beyond your auto policy. An umbrella policy is very inexpensive; costs only pennies per day; but provides big protection. Be sure to ask for a discount if you buy it through the same company as your car insurance.
4. Obscure Insurance Discounts
If you haven’t already got driver insurance discounts, what are you waiting for? There’s money save; go get it. If you work at home at all and telecommute, let your insurance company know because it could result in a discount. Also, if you sacrifice part of a weekend and take a safe driving course you can earn even more brownie points which result in more dollars in your pocket.
5. Ditch Collision Coverage?
How old is your car? At what age does it makes sense to lower or drop your collision coverage? The answer depends not only on the vehicle age but also on how much, if any, is left on the car loan. If your car is totaled, most insurance policies pay out on the depreciated value of the car, not what it is actually worth. This could create a shortage between your settlement check and what you owe the bank. If this concerns you, then ask your carrier about gap insurance.
It is a good idea to contact your insurance carrier on an annual basis to conduct a quick review of your policy. Also, if you switch cars mid-policy be sure to review what the appropriate coverage is for the new vehicle. Finally, ask about the availability of any new discounts.
Nathan Randall, editor, DailyDollar Newsletter provides free daily advice on money matters plus coupons and discount codes. FYI…you can now access the DailyDollar Newsletter via iTunes podcast, YouTube video, and on Facebook and Twitter too.
Overdraft Fees Exceed Payday Loan Costs
A November 2008 report titled “FDIC Study of Bank Overdraft Programs” helps us answer today’s question. Automated overdraft programs at banks are usually a computerized program by which the bank chooses to honor a customer’s overdraft obligations using a standardized procedure or a matrix to determine whether the NSF (non-sufficient funds) occurrence qualifies for the privilege of the overdraft coverage.
According to this study, the median transaction size of a check that resulted in an NSF transaction was $66. If a customer repays this overdraft in two weeks, the APR (annual percentage rate) is 1,067%. This is more than double the APR on some payday loans. Even the most expensive payday loans are usually between 650% and 780% APR.
Many payday loans are at least $500 and some as high as $1500. These loans are typically repaid in two weeks. Using these facts to compare apples to apples, the two week bank overdraft of $66 results in a 1,067% APR while a two week $1500 payday loan can be acquired for 780% APR or less. The consumer that chooses the payday loan also avoids the time and hassle of dealing with several bounced checks and check charges.
The FDIC study uncovered other disturbing news. A large percentage of banks studied by the FDIC have procedures in place which increase the frequency of customer overdrafts. For example some banks display account balances on ATM screens only after the overdraft has occurred. Also, some banks have a policy of paying large customer checks before small ones. The banks justify this policy by saying that most consumers’ largest checks are their mortgage or auto loan and that they are protecting their customer from being late on these particular payments.
Meanwhile, the bank simply earns more money when it bounces the other smaller checks that were written for groceries, the doctor, the babysitter and the cable TV company. Is it really coincidence that this practice happens to generate millions of extra fee income dollars for the banks?
Many consumers that choose to use services like Springtime Cash Advance and apply for payday loans can avoid the questionable practices of the banks altogether. The payday loans can be applied for online from the convenience of home. Consumers end up paying a much smaller fee for the access to cash through a pay day loan service than what the bank would charge to cover all the overdrafts.
Nathan Randall, editor, DailyDollar Newsletter provides free daily advice on money matters plus coupons and discount codes. FYI…you can now access the DailyDollar Newsletter via iTunes podcast, YouTube video, and on Facebook and Twitter too.
Identity Theft: A Victim’s Recent Story
There is no better proof that credit monitoring is worth the money than an actual customer testimonial. One of our researchers uncovered a situation where a consumer in this country recently received an email from his credit monitoring service that one of his credit cards was reported lost or stolen. Neither this man nor his wife had reported any of their credit cards lost or stolen. So, the consumer immediately contacted his bank that the credit card was issued from.
The bank informed the consumer that someone had indeed reported the card as lost. This was an attempt to steal identity and potentially ruin the consumer’s credit. The bank immediately closed the credit card and reissued a new account number to protect the consumer from any unauthorized transactions. This gentleman and his wife were victims of identity theft.
However, thanks to their credit monitoring service, the problem was caught fast and further damage was avoided. Without the credit monitoring service, who know how many thousands of dollars in transactions could have happened before anyone caught on to the theft. That could take an entire billing cycle.
We live in an age of electronic transactions and with identity theft taking place every 3.5 seconds, anyone can be a unwitting victim. Given the situation we have uncovered about the victim in this particular situation, we believe the modest monthly fee for a credit monitoring service to protect from identity theft can save consumers a lot of time, money and aggravation down the road. These identity thefts will continue because unscrupulous people feel they have very little chance of being caught. It just makes sense to spend a few bucks to protect your consumers financial future.
It is not easy to build up a credit record that is respectable and it certainly does not happen overnight. Your number could be up without warning and then you are hit with the ramifications of the damage the identity thieves are created in your financial life both now and in the future.
It is not easy to recover from these intrusions into your financial privacy and once compromised, your identity and the rewards of financial responsibility have vanished. It takes many consumers years to unravel all the havoc that has been created and recover from the impact. Make a smart choice and do some research on the service monitoring companies that can offer you some peace of mind.
Nathan Randall, editor, DailyDollar Newsletter provides free daily advice on money matters plus coupons and discount codes. FYI…you can now access the DailyDollar Newsletter via iTunes podcast, YouTube video, and on Facebook and Twitter too.