Pouncerstone Consumer Tips And Shopping Resources

Pouncerstone

Consumer Tips And Shopping Resources

Pouncerstone presents information to help you manage and spend your money wisely. We also provide resources on items for which we find it economical to shop on-line:

Pet Medications And Supplies
CDs
Clothing
Books
Computer hardware, software and accessories
Educational tutorials and on-line courses focusing on using computer software. Covers topics ranging from helping beginners get started with using popular desktop software (including programs used to create web sites!) to helping more advanced users obtain professional programmer certification.

Consumer Tips

Our consumer tips section will be expanding over time. Currently, we provide information on the following topics, plus some additional resources:

Cut Down On ATM Fees Incurred
Earn A Little More Interest
Mortgage Refinancing Cautions & Reducing Interest Paid
Hiring A Contractor
Retirement Calculators

Cut Down On ATM Fees Incurred

One of the reasons ATM cards came about was to reduce the volume of customers needing to come into banks for routine transactions, such as deposits and withdrawals. In this respect, the use of ATMs should be reducing bank expenses. But, we only seem to see ATM fees continually on the rise. Here are a couple of ideas on how to reduce incurring these charges:

Take Advantage Of Credit Card Cash-Back Features - Use a Discover credit card, for example at major grocery store chains when paying for groceries. Often you can make the total amount charged to your credit card for up to $50 over the actual cost of your groceries. This cash back feature is not viewed as a cash advance by Discover. Not all grocery stores let you do this, so be sure to check with the store.
Alternatively when you need cash, you could pay for your groceries with a check and write it for up to $30 or $50 over at many grocery stores if you have a check cashing card with them. Or just write a check to cash at the grocery store's customer service desk. Often the charge for this is way under $1.00.
Bundle And Mail Small Deposit Amounts - If you receive small checks in the mail for consumer rebates, refunds, etc. hold onto them and deposit them all at once once they've accumulated to $50 or so. You could even mail the deposit to your bank and then it would only cost the amount of postage, rather than costing you an ATM fee.
Join A Credit Union That Charges No ATM Fees - Credit Unions That Don't Charge Customers ATM Fees - If your credit union your participates in Cash America, it might not charge members ATM fees (please check with your credit union first). However, your own financial institution may still charge fees for the transaction. This web site lists the ATM sites for Illinois and a number of states that participate in the "no surcharge" Cash America ATM network.

Earn A Little More Interest

Banks typically don't pay the most attractive interest rates on account balances unless you have a pretty high balance. You may want to consider budgeting so your balance remains a little above the "minimum required" level at your bank and opening a second checking account with a mutual fund that pays a more attractive rate.

It may take $2,500 or so to open a cash account with a mutual fund company, but from that point you may be able to let the balance go down as low as you like. (Being able to do this varies by mutual fund.) Accounts on these funds often have check-writing privileges, as long as the amount of the check you're writing meets their minimum ($100, $250 or $500, for example, depending on the mutual fund). This basically gives you free-checkwriting and interest rates on your balance that may be more in the range of 5% to 6%. Fees, rates, charges and minimum amounts vary by fund, so shop around carefully!

Mortgage Refinancing Cautions & Reducing Interest Paid

Mortgage refinancing sometimes may be a wise choice, but here are a couple of things to consider (besides the refinancing fees charged) when making a decision on refinancing:

Keep In Mind You Are Taking Out A New Mortgage - It seems people sometimes overlook the fact that when you refinance, you are taking out a brand new mortage and paying off the old. The bank is not adjusting the interest rate on your present mortgage. Therefore, if you refinance a 30-year mortage, you start a new 30-year period (even if you already have been making payments for 5, 10 or however many years on the old mortgage). So if you're 50 and you refinance with a new 30-year mortgage, unless you pay it off early, you'll be making your last payment at the age of 80. If you don't plan on keeping your home that long, then our point about the mortgage term becomes less relevant.
Rolling Other Debts Into The Amount Refinanced - It may seem attractive when you receive an offer to roll the amount owed on your credit cards into a new mortage amount, but think carefully. If you owe $100,000 on your home and add $20,000 of credit card balances to the amount of the mortage, by the time you pay that off over 30 years, you're paying almost $300,000. You may be better off transferring your credit card balances over to different credit card companies as you receive offers for low-interest rate balance transfers.
Other Means Of Reducing Mortage Interest Costs - If you pay your mortgage monthly and make an extra, 13th payment during the course of a year, you can have it all applied to the principal. Over a 30 year mortage, this can result in your mortage being paid off several years early. An alternative to this, if you prefer a more structured approach, you may be able to make your payments every two weeks, rather than monthly. This end result is the same, an extra month's payment each year. If you already have a mortgage that you pay monthly, there are companies out there who will work with your existing bank to switch you to such a program. The second company accepts your payments every other week, for example, and then transfers them to the bank that holds your mortgage.

Hiring A Contractor

Finding a reputable contractor can be a challenge. Here we offers some suggestions and resources to help you with this task.

Checking The Contractor's Reputation - Don't make the mistake of thinking that if you are hiring a contractor to perform work that requires a permit from your village or city, that this means your city considers him to be reputable or that he has any insurance that will protect you. Many towns require license bonding from a contractor wanting a permit, which only protects the town (and not you) from damage to their property.
If the contractor wants you to get the permit, beware. His unwillingness to get the permit may very well be a sign that he's lacks what is necessary from your village to obtain the permit.

One sign of a contractor who may not want his name known around town is one who uses vehicles with no names on them.
Insurance - Be certain to have the contractor you are considering give you a current certificate of workmen's compensation and liability insurance. If he tells you he's "already showed it to your village" or he has "forgotten it" or has another excuse for not being able to show you these certificates before you sign a contract and give him any money, cross this contractor off your list. Chances are that he has no insurance.
References - Take some time to references carefully. Just because a contractor gives you a list of references doesn't mean the list isn't comprised of friends and relatives. One of them could be his mother! Get addresses and phone numbers and call the parties who had the work done. find out their relationship to the contractor. Are they friends or relatives?
State Agencies And Other Organizations - Check with your State's Consumer Fraud Division, Better Business Bureaus and other organizations about complaints and charges against the contractor. But beware of contractors who boast of being members of certain consumer organizations. That may mean they just send a periodic check to the organization to become a "member". And complaints filed against a contractor may have been filed with the police, the State's Attorney, etc., rather that a consumer organization. Check around.
Chamber Of Commerce - Check with local Chambers Of Commerce when shopping for a contractor. Generally such organizations attract members who care to participate in activities and seem to be concerned about giving something to their community, in addition to caring about their standing in the community.
Contractor Attitude - If a contractor seems too busy to answer your questions, shows hints of being arrogant or rude, or seems insulted by your questions about the work and materials, cross him off your list immediately.
Check Your State's Web Site - Your state may have a Web site tying in with agencies that work to protect consumers, such as the State's Attorney's office. Find out if they keep a database showing the number of complaints filed against a licensed contractor. Find out from them if the contractor you are looking to hire is required to have a license, or if it is optional. This research may help you avoid hiring the wrong company.
Contact Your City And Other Nearby Cities - Some cities keep a "Complaint File", consisting of letters written by residents who've hired certain contractors with whom they've had unpleasant experiences. Call your city to see if they have such a file and if so, go and find out the names of companies in the file. This too, may help you avoid some headaches.
Down Payment - There shouldn't be any need to make a deposit of more than 5% or 10% upon signing a contract. Be wary of contractors wanting deposits for work that won't be starting for months.
The Contract - Make sure the contractor works with a contract that details the brand names, colors and styles of materials used, start and finish dates, workmanship warranties, payment and price information. Have it written into the contract that the contractor will provide you with a Final Waiver of Lien and written Manufacturer's Warranties before any final payment is made. If subcontractors are involved, be sure that it's documented that they will provide you with Waiver Of Liens also.

Don't sign any contracts with fine print and language that you do not understand. (Chances are there is something in there that favors the contractor rather than you.)

Don't believe a contractor who tells you "we don't use that page of the contract". If it's there, they'll use it.

Don't sign anything that has wording in it that differ from what the contractor previously told you verbally or in writing.

Make sure the contract states that the contractor will do a final cleanup. A cleanup done a day or two before the job is done "because that's the only day the clean-up crew can come" may well leave a mess to be cleaned up by you and at your expense.
Payment - Make payment only by credit card or check. Always get a receipt at the time of payment. Only make payment to the company with which you signed a contract. Never write checks to a sub-contractor. Indicate what you are paying for on your check.

Don't pay for any work or materials that you did not authorize. Discuss with the contractor what unforesee situations may come up. Never authorize any additional work without having firm prices from him regarding what the cost will be.

Don't make any final payment until you have inspected the work and final cleanup has been done to your satisfaction.
Waiver of Lien - When you make payment on work done, always get a Waiver of Lien. And when the job is completed, make sure you get a Final Waiver of Lien. Otherwise, if the company that your contractor bought the materials from did not get paid by the contractor, they may come to you telling them you owe them money.
Contractor Damages - If your contractor does any damage to your property, take pictures and file a police report immediately, even if he admits to it. Make certain the police take statements from the parties admitting responsibility. It's not unusual for an unreputable contractor to say "he'll take care of it" and do nothing or later change his story and say the damage wasn't his fault. Don't worry about hurting the guy's feelings - after all, if you backed into his truck, would he hesitate to call the police and file a report about what you did?
Bad Experiences - If you've had a bad experience with a contractor, don't just keep it to yourself. Call the police, state agencies, consumer organizations, etc. as appropriate. File a complaint with your city and let your neighbors know. You may be helping someone else avoid some troubles.
And if you've had a good experience with a contractor, spread the word. Those are the ones we like to see stay in business.
Other Resources - Below we list a few resources found on other Web sites that may be helpful as you take on the task of finding and hiring a contractor:
Crawford & Bangs Forms - Law Offices of Crawford And Bangs - Here you can find sample forms, such as a Final Waiver of Lien form.

Avoid Home Repair Fraud - Illinois Attorney General's Office - Very helpful and easy to understand information is provided here. Residents of other states may find their own Attorney General's Office has a similar site and we encourage you to do more research.

IL Dept. Of Professional Regulation - Illinois Department Of Professional Regulation - There's a wealth of information in this site. Here, you can search to see if an individual or company is licensed in Illinois. Also, through this site, if you've been given a professional's license number, you can find out if it is valid. You can also file a claim against a person or company regulated by this department. Again, residents of other states may find their own state has a similar site.

Sample Contractor's Agreement - Kinsey Law Offices - Here you can find a nice sample contractor agreement, in case your potential contractor lacks one that is to your liking. Don't hesitate to add additional provisions to the sample, as may be appropriate.

Retirement Calculators

Have you ever wondered if you're saving enough so you can retire at the desired age with enough money? Below are several links to web sites that will help you see how you're doing. The calculators may be used at no cost or obligation from the sites that provide them:

Quicken.com - Intuit - This calculator is from the folks who make the popular Quicken personal finance software. Pouncerstone finds this one to be the easiest to use.
Schwab.com - Schwab - Schwab offers a calculator which you can find by selecting retirement planning from the drop-down box at the center of the page and then select retirement planner.
The Ballpark Estimate - ASEC - This one is from the American Savings Education Council (ASEC).

This page is still under construction. We are also developing a list of books that we find helpful in sharpening our consumer and investment skills. When completed, the list can be found on Pouncerstone's Suggested Reading page. In the meantime, you may want to visit the Suggested Reading page to see our list of recommended books on other topics.


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D I S C L A I M E R: This information is offered for informational purposes only. No information or materials posted herein are intended to constitute financial or legal advice. Materials in this WEB site were not developed by an attorney, licensed financial planner or investment counselor. This site is not intended to be either: legal advice, financial advice or a substitute for obtaining such professional advice. This site assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of materials found in other WEB sites referenced herein. This site assumes no liability for the use or interpretation of information contained herein.