Now that we have a new economy upon us, I see nothing but opportunity but to take advantage of the new interest rates, say in refinancing a home or just saving more. In fact Americans are saving more now than ever. Its still a little low, but it is improvement. The web is full sites that can help us find the best interest rates and the one I recommend is monitorbankrates.com. What I needed first were good Financial Calculators that would help in the areas of Mortgage payments, CD Ladder ideas, Certificate of Deposit which is very popular these days for strong conservative banking. You find the Mortgage Calculator very easy to use in finding your payment with pmi and taxes. What was most interesting to me was one I had never used before and that was the Debt Consolidation Calculator. This was very intricate in helping you decide if consolidated all your car debt, credit card debt was a good idea by factoring your principal and the interest rate you are paying. Many of us do not have any equity or if we do, should we make this move. I would strongly recommend making these calculations before doing so! This a very nice, easy to use website which also dedicated to publishing good financial articles especially around credit cards, mortgage rates and What’s in the Stimulus Bill for you. This is a professional site that you will enjoy as well as find informational!

I want to thank Mr Markopolos who first contacted the SEC on Bernard Madoff in 1999 questioning his Ponzi scheme. Sure he may been a rival, but facts are facts. Thanks to WSJ for his excellent reporting and using Mr Markopolos. Steady returns with a veil of exclusive clients making very nice money in a special club for years…how did it all get past the SEC? It appears this was a country club of sorts for the elite who ironically, it appears, kept their heads in the sand as long as the returns just kept coming.  Now the WSJ has made a list of who’s who on the Madoff Investment club and it will shock you. Wake up America….but then again you have. You are tight with your money, you now examine what you buy and from whom. Perhaps now this type of scheme will be a thing of the past. It does not take more regulation. The rules are there. It take each of to look in the mirror and decide our actions and take responsibility for them. Let this be a lesson to us all.. gee if it sounds to good to be true, perhaps it is!

I know its a very tired source of conversation but housing is in a real crunch. Interest rates are great if you can qualify. what I have found is that people have the money to buy homes but their down payment is in their home equity. How do you get that our, well by selling your home and unlocking that equity. Hence, the domino effect will begin. Who or what will be the initial tipping point to get things moving again. Could it be Obamas new plan to build roads, bridges hospitals? I think so. But how are we going to pay for all that investment in infrastructure? Raise taxes on wages that comefrom that construction? Does it really matter in these times. You see, we do not have a war or cold war to heat things up again. There is nothing to fall back on but on ourselves. We all need a home and are at a point where we can afford a mortgage so why not get back in market. I just dont get it. I will revisit this in my next post.

Hey guys I just found a great site. All of us love free samples be it from the grocery store etc.
Free Samples and Savings
What I found: printable coupons for wal mart, home depot Dell and Marriot. I also found a community site where other great interet surfers have found great products like Niva, Wrigley Gum and dove products. My family likes to keep in our happy little habits at the grocery store without reaching out too much, like shopping out the box. I can try out the some of these name brand products either free or at a serious discount.

Under free samples, you can click on mulitple categories like baby, automotive, health, cooking, clothing and home and garden. Give it try. I was very fun and what I like are the user comments so I know if I should be wasting my time with a particular product.

I saw in the paper today that Oregon will begin to crackdown on the payday loan industry and I for one am happy about it. Legalized loan sharking, as I call it, is such a fraud to the poor and uneducated. However, even the educated I bet can get consumed by luring idea of getting paid now instead in two weeks when you pay check comes in. Cant you wait. Anyway, its sad to think we need to develop laws to keep payday loan interest rates down so as not to harm people too bad just after we developed laws to make such loans legal. Wow is that ironic!

Look up down the major streets of your town and you will see the store fronts of these lenders. Now watch the comes coming in and look at the people. It saddens me to see a parent walk in while the other parent stays in the car with the kids. Do they know the spiral downward?

Too be continued….