Community Magazine June 2009

It’s Your Busine $$ SevenWays to Save Thousands Families should always endeavor to save a year’s worth of salary as backup in case of job loss or other crisis. Here are some ways to build savings: Minimize car expenses. Eliminating a second car can save an average of $9600 per year 1. on lease payments, maintenance, insurance, gas and tolls. Save hundreds of dollars yearly by filling up gas at lower-priced 2. stations (all gasoline must meet state standards), using self-service and the lowest octane called for in your owner’s manual. Use a low-priced insurer for auto insurance. Your state insurance 3. department can provide a publication with the various companies and price comparisons Bank and finance wisely. Select a free checking account with no minimum balance require- 4. ments and save over $200 a year in banking fees. Set up online auto pay with your bank to ensure you make your 5. credit card payments on time, thereby avoiding late fees and interest rate increases. Reduce home maintenance costs. Pay less for home improvement by avoiding misunderstandings 6. and overpricing. Select an established, licensed contractor who has submitted written, fixed-price bids for their work. Do not sign any contract that requires full payment before the satisfactory completion of a job. Save a small fortune by reducing heating 7. and cooling with a home energy audit. Ask your utility company if they audit homes for free. If they do not, ask them to refer you to a qualified professional. Norman Balassiano, President and Chief Angel of Debt Increase Computer Efficiency “What computer should I buy?” is a common question for many people. For basic home computing which doesn’t involve serious gaming, almost any new name brand computer should be fine. Just make sure that you have enough memory (RAM) installed as Windows Vista eats it up. When Windows runs out of RAM to run your programs, it begins to use your disk drive as “virtual memory.” But accessing data on a disk drive is very significantly slower than RAM. That’s why it is usually worth the extra few bucks (now about $35 per gigabyte for most popular specifications), especially on the basic machines, to add a gigabyte or two. Just don’t go beyond about 3.5 gigabytes because that’s the most that the more popular 32-bit versions of Windows can make use of. Hal Husney, Superior Development Center Smart Refinancing With attractively low interest rates still holding, now is as good a time as any for Americans to refinance their mortgages. Today, typical fixed rate loans for a 30-year term under $400,000 are about 4.50 to 5.00 percent. Here are a few tips to help those considering a REFI: First, find out about any large upfront costs, such as “points” • and closing costs. Often, you can find a great rate without points (a point is 1 percent of your loan amount). Secondly, for a mortgage in New York, obtain an “assignment” • of the existing mortgage to save on New York’s mortgage tax, which is over 2 percent of your loan amount. This is a great cost saver. When you get an assignment of your old loan, you pay the mortgage tax only on the “new money,” or the differ- ence between your new loan and the old loan. Thirdly, with credit requirements tightening, now more than • ever it is crucial to consult with a qualified attorney who will guide you through the REFI process and help you avoid pitfalls. Lastly, shop around. Each bank offers dif- • ferent programs and rates and requirements can also vary widely among institutions. Jack Erdos, Attorney at Law/CPA Reduce Your Insurance Rates… Online Beginning on May 18th, the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles has, for the first time, approved an online Defensive Driving Course. Instead of the usual six hour program that requires physical classroom attendance, the online course can be taken from anywhere with an Internet connection and at any time of the day and can be paused and resumed at will. The Defensive Driving Course enables drivers to get a 10 percent credit on their automobile insurance premium, as well as a reduction of up to four points against their driving record. For more information about the four course providers that have been approved by the DMV, visit nydmv. state.ny.us/pirp.htm. AAAmembers can save 10 percent by visiting aaany.com. Joey Sasson, Garber Atlas Fries and Associates Inc. Do you have a killer business or personal finance tip? Send your contributions to business@community m .com 94 Community magazine

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