Money Blue Book

I got a sudden phone call from my friend yesterday. His stunned voice said it all – he and his newlywed wife had just become victims of an attempted home burglary. The shocking part is that he and his wife were home at the time sitting at the kitchen table, eating breakfast. Their early morning meal was interrupted by a sudden loud banging noise from the direction of their back porch – sounds made by someone knocking on the door. The tapping sound was quickly followed by the chilling clang of breaking glass and creaking window latches. Within moments my friend dashed to the back door and caught the glimpse of the male intruder. Startled by the appearance of the home’s occupants, the stranger hastily retreated on foot, leaving behind broken glass and evidence of his attempted break in.

Home Invasion Robbery Is A Crime Of Opportunity and We Can Do Something About It

The good news is that there are common sense steps we can all take to drastically reduce our chances of having our houses, apartments, or condos burglarized. Looking back in greater depth with my friend, he and I both realized that he had committed a series of crucial home maintenance mistakes that made him a bullseye target for such activity. Since moving into the old Northwest Washington D.C. house a month ago after taking it over from his remaining parent who had just passed away, he failed and neglected to immediately fix up and repair the home’s exterior upkeep. The grass had grown high and newspaper deliveries were being piled outside and not picked up properly. The rickety fence gate was not properly latched shut and the house simply invited opportunism. Home burglaries are frequently crimes of opportunity and can occur when you’re away at work or on vacation. Someone who cased my friend’s house may have believe it was unoccupied. He was very fortunate that he was home that day to scare the attempted burglar away. However, we should all learn from his mistake and follow this list of ways to lesson our chances of becoming a home invasion victim.

Tips Homeowners Can Use to Keep Their Home Free and Safe From Invasion

1. Defend Your Home Like An Onion, Not An Egg – A great deal of home invasions occur during the day when you’re simply at work, and not just when you’re on vacation or away for extended periods of time. Because you can never fully burglar-proof your home completely, your goal should be to increase the path of resistance it takes to break in. One powerful level of defense (egg shell) is not enough to protect against burglars. Your goal should be to create multiple levels of security (onion layers) to thwart the attempts and scrutiny of potential burglars.
2. Make Your Home Look Lived In – Burglars are usually less likely to rob a home they think is currently occupied. On the whole, burglars want the path of least resistance and prefer targets where they know the residents are away. It’s best to generate live-in activity to give the impression that people are still coming and going from the home.
3. Put A Radio and Your Lights On A Programmable Timer – Lights that remain lit day and night is an indication that no one is home. You can easily buy a small programmable timer from Home Depot or Lowes, and set it so that lamps can automatically turn on in the evening and off in the mornings. You might also consider installing lighting controlled by motion sensor. Nothing makes an intruder’s heart jump more than lights that suddenly flicker on. Burglars also tend to avoid noisy homes since it’s an indication that someone may be home. Rather than play a static, fluid noise like music, I recommend putting a noisy talk radio station on timer to come on throughout the day to offer the illusion of occupancy.
4. Hang Your Blinds and Curtains Strategically – Some people think it’s better to keep them shut while others think it’s better to keep them wide open to give it a lived-in feel. Personally, I think it’s better to keep the first floor drapes and blinds shut to prevent people from peeking in. You may want to keep the upstairs curtains slightly drawn open to expose the lamp light that you’ve set with a timer.
5. Keep Your Home Exterior Properly Maintained – Don’t let shrubs or bushes hide your windows from view as they could be prime jimmy targets. Trim those hedges, cut your grass, and scrub the graffiti off your wooden fence to keep your place well groomed. If you will be gone for a long time, consider hiring someone trustworthy to mow your lawn periodically when you are away.
6. Put Your Mail On Hold When You Are Away For Vacation – Don’t let your mail pile sky high outside your door when you’re away. Accumulated mail as well as magazine and newspaper subscriptions are visible telltale signs that the occupants are not home. With a few quick clicks on the USPS Hold Mail Service website, you can temporarily suspend delivery of your mail while you’re away on vacation.
7. Close and Secure All Windows, Doors, and Gates – This one is just common sense. Please make sure your windows and corresponding latches are bolted on tight. Keep your doors firmly locked and make sure your lawn gate is latched properly.
8. Have A Neighbor Or Friend Check Up On Your Home and Pick Up Your Mail When You’re Away – Asking a trusted neighbor or friend to house sit is a great idea to maintain that lived in illusion. However, just having him or her occasionally stop by to check up on the house is a smart move as well. Remember, in the unfortunate event you are gone for a long time and your home is broke into, it’s better that your neighbor discovers this sooner than later. You don’t want your home further exposed with its broken front door wide open longer than it needs to be.
9. Park A Car In The Driveway When You’re Away For Vacation – Some debate whether leaving your car in the driveway is a good tactic or not, but I personally think it is. You want your home to appear lived in and a car in the driveway helps to give that impression. Another idea is to offer your driveway to a neighbor to use as his or her own parking spot. Remember to remove your garage door opener from your vehicle if you decide to leave the car outside.
10. Get a Dog That Likes To Bark – Dogs that bark at anyone who approaches the home is ideal. Burglars want to remain silent and a live dog alarm will help scare would-be intruders away. Remember to give the dog enough food or better yet, have someone come by regularly to feed it.
11. Consider Installing A Home Security System – If you can afford it, consider installing a home security system like an ADT or Brinks burglar alarm that alerts the police in the event of a break in. Be sure to plaster the alarm warning stickers and signs outside to make them very visible. Even buying and putting up fake alarm stickers and signs may help deter a few criminals.
12. Don’t Tell People You’ll Be Away On Vacation On Your Answering Machine – If you have a home phone number that can be easily traced and located through the phone book or even by a visible “for sale by owner” sign on your front lawn, don’t broadcast the fact you’ll be away on your answering machine. Just say that “you can’t come to the phone right now” and set it to pick up after 4-5 rings to make it really look like you can’t come to the phone at that precise moment.
13. Don’t Hide Your Spare Key Under The Doormat – Does anyone really hide their spare key under the doormat, mailbox, or in one of those silly fake rocks anymore? When I was little, my family buried a spare key in the back yard inside an empty prescription pill bottle more than one foot deep in the backyard under a few bricks among many. Such a method of stashing a spare key only works if it is buried deep in an area with plenty of possible burial locations.
14. Hide Your Valuables In Unsuspecting Places – If all else fails and your home is broken into, be sure your personal and expensive valuables are well hidden, particularly if you will be away for an extended period of time. Since most burglars usually go straight for the master bedroom, I recommend stashing your jewelry and cash in unconventional locations less likely to attract the attention of a home intruder, such as – the laundry room, bathroom, garage, or perhaps even inside your refrigerator – like what this guy did.

Updated List Of The Best High Interest Online Savings Account Offers and Bank Rates!

The high yield savings account and money market annual percentage yields (APY) listed below are regularly verified and confirmed to the best of my ability. However, I recommend that you personally check individual bank rates before applying. I will attempt to actively update the APY interest numbers after every major interest rate move by the Federal Reserve, but keep in mind that online savings and money market account rates do fluctuate.

For those who want to know my short list of the best online banks that offer the best yield interest rates for savings and checking accounts, here they are. All of the top online banks I list here provide very competitive online banking features and back their websites up with commendable customer support. The following are all highly recommended by fellow high yield savings and money market account seekers:

1. Lending Club – Averages a whopping 9.60% APY rate of return. Lending Club is definitely a rather impressive high yield interest rate alternative to traditional online banks.
2. EverBank – 3.01% APY
3. Ally Bank – APY
4. Dollar Savings Direct – 1.70% APY
5. WT Direct – 1.66% APY
6. Capital One Direct – 1.60% APY
7. FNBO Direct – 1.50% APY
8. ING Direct - 1.30% APY
9. HSBC Advance – 1.10% APY
10. E-Trade Savings – 0.80% APY

Interest Rate Chasers and Choosing A High Yield Savings Account There’s an interesting breed of savvy savers called high yield interest rate chasers that are continuously on the hunt for the best interest rates. However, although it is very important, I don’t think high interest rates alone should be the sole determining criteria when deciding where to do your banking. Thus you don’t need to immediately go nuts and jump ship whenever your bank drops your interest rate by a few decimal points. There are other quality factors worth taking into consideration and evaluating such as – reliability, customer service, website interface ease of use, brand name reputation, availability of brick and mortar branches, and consistent history of offering high rates. Just for the record, the vast majority of my cash is invested in the stock market, but what little cash I have is stashed in my Citibank Ultimate Savings Account. It doesn’t offer the highest APY interest rate out there, but Citibank has always offered reliable and satisfactory service, with the added convenience of brick and mortar branches. Of course, with the growth of online banking and the stiff competition among online banks for high yield banking customers, I will likely expand my high interest savings account options very soon. The online banks listed below are sorted in the order of interest rate currently offered, starting with the highest APY. I’ve chosen to leave out some regional banks as well as several established institutions like JP Morgan Chase Bank, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America for various reasons. Many of them either offer terrible interest rates for their savings and money market accounts, or their top rates require too high of a minimum account balance to achieve (frequently more than $100,000). Below, I’ve also provided information such as the minimum initial deposit required to open an account, as well as additional noteworthy information such as whether there are fees or minimum balance requirements. All of the online banks listed below, with the exception of P2P social lending sites, have indicated that they are fully FDIC insured, which means all customer bank accounts are protected against catastrophic bank failure and financial loss up to a fairly substantial amount, backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government. As we should all be well aware at this point in time, due to the near rock solid FDIC insurance coverage that they provide, checking, savings, and certificate of deposit (CD) accounts invested at traditional and high interest online banks are the safest places to put your money during turbulent economic times. At the same time, those looking to diversify their holdings for greater interest rate returns, but still enjoy similar semblances of protection may want to check out a number of savings account alternatives available out there. List Of The Top High Interest Savings and Money Market Accounts

Please let me know if there are any other better high interest online banking and savings account deals out there! I’m also interested in keeping abreast of the best CD rates in the market as well.

I’ve had numerous financial milestones in my life, but one still seems to stand out in my relatively young working life. From the time I eventually emerged from under my parent’s financial wing to finally working and fending for myself, I still remember when I finally saved and banked that first $10,000. Everything else accumulated after that just seems to pale in significance to that first ten grand.

Crossing the $10,000 Milestone Signified the Mature Transition From Paycheck Living To A Forward Looking, Savings Oriented Lifestyle

During college, I was financially spoiled and completely under my parent’s financial protection. Whenever I was low on funds I simply received a parental handout. But as time passed, the funds began to dwindle as my parents started to reinforce the importance of keeping spending habits in check. At the time, my spoiled mentality prevented me from realizing that my parent’s growing refusal to give in to all my financial demands was due to their desire to teach me the importance of frugal living. At the time, I was childishly bitter when my handout demands were rejected. Looking back though, I now feel very lucky and grateful to have had parents who had the love and care to teach me important life lessons I would need in the future, as well as the financial means to help partially subsidize my education.

When I graduated and started working for the first time I began to face the harsh financial realities of the real world. My first legal job was a low paying judicial clerk position I took on for resume building purposes. I had always naively thought saving money was a piece of cake and never realized until I started working just how big of a bite Uncle Sam took out of my bi-weekly paychecks through federal, state, and social security taxes. The taxes methodically dwindled my already paltry take home pay down next to nothing.

Starting out, saving money was tremendously difficult and I floundered many times, crossing in and out of credit card debt to keep afloat. I still remember moments when I took on 0% APR balance transfer offers for a few months to make ends meet. Perhaps not necessarily the wisest of approaches but I quickly paid off the credit card principals on my own with some limited assistance from my parents.

It was tough but I longed for the day when I could finally break the magical $10,000 savings mark. At that time I didn’t have much of a financial plan, but I knew I wanted to save at least that much. To me, having that tangible and symbolic amount of money at my disposal represented accomplishment and security – at least enough to live on for a few months if all else failed. Eventually I reigned in my irresponsible spending habits, and confidently stormed past that $10,000 milestone. I know it’s probably not all that much for most people today, but it was a tremendous confidence booster that set the tone for the rest of my financial future. With that in the bank, I was able to move on up to better housing and away from the crime, roaches, and rats prevalent in the area where I lived and went to school.

Lots Of Important Financial and Life Lessons Learned

Now, several years have passed since I crossed over the symbolic $10,000 mark and I’m still looking to meet many more financial objectives. We all need to set financial goals and checkpoints in our lives. Remember, even those who have a lot of money had to start somewhere. I’ve come to greatly appreciate every cent I’ve saved since then and not just because it’s money, but because it shows that I’ve worked hard and practiced fiscal responsibility, centered around a more frugal lifestyle. Cutting the financial umbilical cord was the best thing that ever happened to me. It forced me to mature and prepare for that day down the road when I myself would need to financially take charge of my own family and pass on my financial experience to my own kids.

One of the biggest problems and common complaints of using rebate credit cards is the reward program’s propensity to encourage overspending. Finding a reward credit card is easy and particularly with cash back cards, redeeming rebates is a breeze. But the problem is – are you putting your cash back earnings towards the right type of expenditures? Credit cards that offer airline miles or redeemable gift cards are certainly wonderful, but they don’t do much to encourage the right type of spending or the development of responsible money habits. Citibank’s Home Rebate Platinum Select Mastercard is a unique card that tries to change all that by helping you automatically put those rebates towards something important and worthwhile – the mortgage loan you have on your house or condominium.

Automatically Pay Down Your Home Mortgage Principal Using the Citibank Home Rebate Card

If your current card reward program is only going to encourage you to spend beyond your means on things you don’t need, you should definitely take a look at the Citibank Home Rebate Card as a serious alternative. It’s not the sexiest or fanciest of rebate cards, but it’s uniquely practical and well suited for home owners and those who want to be more responsible with how they spend their rebate dollars. The card automatically reallocates all earned rebates towards paying off your home loan principal. Paying down principal is better than paying ahead on your mortgage because by paying down the principal, you lower the total amount of interest you pay, and may be able to shorten the duration of your mortgage by months or even years on a standard 30 year mortgage.

With the Citi Home Rebate Platinum Select Card, cardholders earn a 1% rebate on all eligible purchases. Once a year, the rebate you’ve accrued is automatically sent to your mortgage company and applied to your loan principal. This is the reason why the Citi Home Rebate Card is so popular – it helps people bypass the temptation to redeem rewards and rebates for things they don’t really need, and it also helps to rein in their overspending habits. The card is a useful tool for those trying to adopt a more frugal and responsible lifestyle.

Although not nearly as versatile or universally available for all applicants, similar programs can be found for specific mortgage companies, including the Countrywide Credit Card - Rewards Platinum Visa – ($50 payment to mortgage principal for every 2,500 points earned), and the GMAC Mortgage Equity Rewards MasterCard ($25 payment to principal for every 2,500 points).

Charge Your Monthly Home Mortgage Payment Using An American Express Credit Card And Earn Rebates

In a significant but fairly recent development, at least one credit card company has joined forces with members of the mortgage loan industry to give card holders the ability to pay monthly home mortgage payments using their credit cards, including ones that even offer cash back and reward rebates. American Express started the trend earlier in May 2007 by inking partnership deals, first with American Home Mortgage, and later with IndyMac Bank. Currently, the offer is only available to those that have new or refinanced home mortgage loans through these lenders, but it’s reasonable to expect the program to be expanded in the coming future.

Under the new American Express partnership called the Express Rewards Mortgage Program, partner lenders like IndyMac have agreed to accept American Express reward credit cards for mortgage payments. The arrangement is only available to eligible consumers taking out a new or refinancing an existing prime home loan through partner lenders. Borrowers must pay a one time fee of $395 to the lender at the time of closing, but depending on the American Express reward card you decide to use to make the monthly payment as well as the size of your monthly mortgage payments, the upfront cost can be recouped fairly rapidly, within 1-5 years, a relatively short time in typical mortgage years.

For mortgage loan owners who usually pay hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars on their mortgages every month, just imagine how many reward points you can earn! Since the mortgage payment is typically the largest monthly cost for most people, being able to charge the payment to your card is a tremendous windfall in terms of earning cash back rebates. Let’s say your monthly mortgage obligation is $2,000 a month and you charge another monthly $1,000 for living expenses. By tacking the entire amount onto the American Express Blue Cash® Card for example (probably one of Amex’s most popular high rebate percentage card), you could easily earn a cash back rebate of more than $400 a year. The amount you can earn can be substantially even more if your mortgage or expenses are even higher. It works because with the Blue Cash Card, once you’ve charged $6,500, you get to earn the bonus rate of 1.5% back on further purchases (and as much as 5% back on any charges for groceries, gas, or drugs).