Until July 16, 2009, Amazon has a deal going where you can get 30% off boxed sets of LOST on Blu-ray.  I know that LOST can be highly addicting and if  you happen to already have a Blu-ray player (or a PS3), you might want to check it out.  Heres the link.

There are also some free MP3’s for jazz and heavy metal.

PS - We did not fall off the face of the planet, just have quite a bit up in the air right now  :)

Birds of a feather flock together and crap on your car.

The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat have gotten to be really good friends.

The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.

Did you ever notice: The Roman Numerals for forty (40) are ” XL.”

If you think there is good in everybody, you haven’t met everybody.

If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.

The sole purpose of a child’s middle name is so he can tell when he’s really in trouble.

Did you ever notice: When you put the 2 words “The” and “IRS” together it spells “Theirs.”

The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.

When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra.

You know you are getting old when everything either dries up, or leaks.

First you forget names, then you forget faces. Then you forget to pull up your zipper. It’s worse when you forget to pull it down.

The frugal living craze has done a lot of good things to improve consumer spending habits, but it has put an importance on immediate and often minimal savings over long-term financial goals. For example, the majority of us spend hours running around town buying goods from multiple stores that have the cheapest prices, but spend only minutes deciding on investments that determine when and if we retire.   We can refuse to go to a concert because the Ticketmaster fees cost 15 % of the total ticket, but could care less about choosing an investment with a high expense ratio that could cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars.

We also have the habit of associating certain debt and costs as socially necessary, regardless of our financial needs.  For example, taking out a home equity loan to overdue a home remodel or borrowing thousands for a private college degree, which is arguably worth the same as a local state college.  Again, such issues are generally not taken up at the water cooler at work, but probably should be.  When it comes to making important decisions that substantially affect our economic futures, people simply do not discuss these issues with others, largely in part because decisions of such magnitude make people uneasy and insecure.

Generally, daily frugality topics dominate discussions at home as well.  For example, it’s ironic that a couple will debate and argue about the best economical thermostat setting in their home and almost always choose one that puts them a few degrees past their comfort level just to save a few dollars.  Thus, almost guarenteed are continuous arguments about keeping the home too cold or warm, however, this same couple probably spend no time reading the details of a home mortgage loan, arguably the biggest investment decision of their life.

Perhaps spending a few extra dollars a week on indulges that truly make us happy is well worth the price and spending a few extra minutes making big picture money decisions is what we should really should be worrying about.  Although this message goes against many of the daily ways to save money we preach about, it’s important to remember that we spend the some of the best years of our life working hard and only a few minutes making some of the most important financial decisions of our life.

http://www.myp2pforum.eu/

Myp2p is a peer-to-peer (P2P) website that allows users to stream content like live TV and sports.  The site offers multiple external P2P channel links, but before you can view the stream, you need to install the proper viewer (their software page is located at: http://myp2p.eu/software.php?part=software).  It seems that a lot of the streams use TVAnts.  After the correct software is installed, you can click the tabs at the top of the page to view the available streams.  For example, if you click the “MLB + Baseball” link on the homepage, you will be taken to a message board and all of the days MLB games are listed in the “Baseball Today” post.  Nearly every MLB game usually has a stream available.

http://channelsurfing.net/

Channelsurfing.net is a lot easier to navigate and play compare to the above choice, but the viewing options seem to be limited.  Again, this site has both live TV and sports streams such as: CNN, MLB Channel, Showtime, MSNBC, ESPN, NBA Channel, and Comedy Central to name a few.  This site seems to primarily require Windows Media Player to view the streams.  One you first log onto the site, scroll down towards the bottom of the page, there you will find all of the free channels centered in a long line going down the page. Simply click and enjoy.

www.hulu.com

Lastly, I will mention Hulu, which has become a popular site for online TV and movie viewing.  The difference with Hulu is that it’s an on demand web site, which means it doesn’t show live TV, rather episodes that were previously aired.  Hulu is much more advanced than the above options, for example it allows users to add shows to their favorites and receive updates when new episodes are available.

I have stressed before the value of investing directly into an index, an idea that has been tested as of late.  Buying into an index simply means your fund tracks the S&P 500 or Dow Jones Industrial Average, as two examples.  When you purchase a fund that tracks an index like this, you are essentially buying a little bit of each stock representing the index, not literally, but it’s a good way to picture it.  In my opinion, the main advantage of buying directly into an index like this is that you’re guaranteed, year after year, to get returns equally matching the index.  You won’t see returns above or below the index, which is what many investors dislike about this boring approach.  However, it’s nearly impossible to find a mutual fund that can consistently beat the index year after year, let alone find a mutual fund that can even match an index over its lifetime.

This approach to investing is very similar to a manager of a Major League Baseball team.  Everyone knows (except Ben) that in baseball, numbers and stats are relied upon to make decisions.  If a certain hitter has great career numbers versus a pitcher, he will likely get the start, regardless if he’s the best player for the position or not.  Taking this same approach to investing, if an index fund year after year continues to beat most mutual funds, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), and other investments, why would you play anything else?

I like the S&P 500 index, and thus, most of our retirement money is invested in it.  I invest in the index in two different ways; the first is through an employer sponsored retirement match program.  Typically, most retirement funds will offer at least one index fund.  The second way is by buying an ETF of the index in my  Roth IRA account.  Another advantage to these indexes is because they simply track an index, the day-to-day management of the funds is minimal, which means the fees associated with owning them are very low versus  a mutual fund for example.  This is significant because just a 1% yearly fee on a retirement account can reduce the earnings by 17% over a twenty year period (read more about the impact fees have on mutual and index funds here.)

Lastly, I do want to have a little fun and control over my investments, so I do buy individual stocks.  However, to keep myself in check, I limit my overall portfolio of individual stocks to not exceed 10% of the entire fund.  Overall, I’ve been OK at picking a few stocks.  For example, I recently got lucky buying Sirius radio (SIRI) when they were close to bankruptcy and since my purchase, it has gone up tremendously.  Having said that, I have made a few bad bets, primarily early in the financial crisis when I purchased a few bank stocks thinking they were steals, but I didn’t totally realize the severity of the economic crisis at the time.  This is a perfect example of why keeping your individual stock picks to a minimum is beneficial, in the end, I’ve returned close to what the index has over a short period, but I’ve had a lot of fun picking, researching, and watching the stocks.

The following are provisions in the bill followed by my comments to the Senate in BOLD:

The legislation creates a one-year program that allows the Secretary of Transportation to authorize the issuance of an electronic voucher to offset the purchase price or lease price for a new fuel efficient automobile when the consumer surrenders their current gas guzzler.

Wow! This bill sounds too good to be true, it will help stimulate our dragging automotive industry by giving consumers an incentive to purchase a new fuel efficient cars all while being environmentally friendly.  Your constituents will love you for this! Senators, please continue reading past the first provision of the bill, the devil is in the details…

Participating car dealers cannot resell the trade-in vehicle and must also surrender the title to the U.S. Government and transfer the car to an entity for disposal/shredding.

Really? Participating dealers have to sign over the vehicle to the U.S. Government who then in turn will crush the car into tiny pieces?  I realize a lot of these cars being traded in are probably not worth a lot, but tell that to the person who waits for the bus everyday because he/she lost their job and couldn’t afford their car payments anymore.  Why don’t you just crush these perfectly good vehicles in front of the hard working, now jobless, automotive workers in Detroit who made them?

Supply and demand is a concept that lets the market put a price on things based off the amount of consumers shopping and the quantity of products available.  It’s just a guess, but when you completely eliminate an affordable class of used cars, the supply is down.  Combine the now shrinking supply of affordable used cars with an economy set to recover in the coming years and you will likely have successfully raised the price of what used to be reasonable priced vehicles.

In order for a consumer to actually receive the credit, he/she has to purchase a NEW vehicle or lease one.

The bill is called a consumer assistance bill—what part of consumer assistance is encouraging people to take on debt all for a coupon off the purchase price of a vehicle?  The last thing many households need right now is another note to pay off.  The additional costs in buying a vehicle nearly equal the lousy credit.  For example, taxes, fees, title, plates, and higher insurance are all expenses a new vehicle owner is strapped with.  And I won’t even start on the economic downsides of leasing a vehicle.  What was the main lesson learned from the mortgage crisis?  Just because you can get the loan, doesn’t mean you can afford it.  Just because the Government gives incentives to buy something doesn’t make it the “right time to buy.”  Senators, you can’t fix the economy by encouraging people to take on debt, that’s what caused the problem.

A Consumer can get a $3,500 voucher for a new vehicle if the combined highway/city fuel economy of the new vehicle is at least 4 miles per gallon higher than the trade-in vehicle.
Wow, we are going to save the earth 4 miles per gallon at a time.

What are you thinking?  4 miles per gallon is nothing and is likely accomplished by simply not turning on your air conditioner while you drive.  Why don’t you just write up a bill that gives consumers a $3,500 tax credit to make sure their tires all have the correct air pressure?

A Consumer can get a $4,500 voucher for a new vehicle if the combined highway/city fuel economy of the new vehicle is at least 10 miles per gallon higher than the trade-in vehicle.

Senators, let me remind you that the car dealerships have to crush the trade-in vehicle, meaning the consumer does not actually receive any money from the dealer for their vehicle like they traditionally would.  Instead they are limited only to the amount this bill would give them.  The last time I checked, a vehicle that gets about 10 miles per gallon better than their trade-in is expensive—that’s why nobody is buying the new cars and that’s why the auto industry is hurting.

In order to receive the credit towards a new car, the consumer would have to purchase a “passenger automobile,” which is defined as a vehicle with a combined fuel economy value of at least 22 miles per gallon.

OK, the environmentally friendly part of this bill is getting a bit humorous.  Not only do consumers only have to improve their vehicle’s miles per gallon by about 4 to receive a significant credit, but they only have to purchase a new vehicle that gets 22 miles per gallon.  22 miles per gallon is horrible!  Who lobbied for this provision?  Let me guess, the auto industry?

There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Transportation $4,000,000,000 to carry out this Act.

Senators, you cannot fool the voters, this is clearly a $4 billion bailout package for the auto industry, which is basically now owned by the voters and ultimately will be returned to the industry, who will profit.

H.R. 2751, the “Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act” should ultimately be renamed to something that more accurately defines its contents, like the “Consumer Disservice to Waste and Overspend Act.”

Step 1: Download the Following Free Applications and Install them on your Slow Computer

• CCleaner - CCleaner is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space.

• Malwarebytes - Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware is a high performance anti-malware application that thoroughly removes even the most advanced malware and spyware.

• AVG Free (only if you do not currently have an antivirus program installed) – AVG is a free antivirus software does nearly everything you could want from scanning your drives to monitoring your internet downloads.

Step 2: Run CCleaner

Let’s start by opening up CCleaner.  As you can tell, there are four main tabs on the left hand corner of the screen: Cleaner, Registry, Tools, and Options.  For cleaning up your computer you are going to want to run both the Cleaner and Registry functions. Leaving all of the defaults alone, click the “Cleaner” button and then click “Run Cleaner,” which is located at the bottom right corner of your screen (your internet browser is going to have to be closed). Next move to the “Registry” function and click the “Registry” button in the left column.  Next, click “Scan for Issues” towards the bottom left section of the application.  After the scanning is complete, then click “Fix Selected Issues…,” which is located at the bottom right hand corner of the screen.  You will then have the option to backup your registry, I usually do not save, but you may if you wish.  Continue to run the Registry scan until you no longer have any issues pop up.

Step 3: Run Malwarebytes

It’s now time to remove all of the spyware on your computer.  Start by opening up Malwarebytes, which should now be installed on your computer.  Upon opening, simply click the “Perform full scan” box and then click “Scan.”  Select your main hard drive or drives and start scanning.  Depending on the size of you the drive, this can take awhile to finish, it’s worth the wait. Once the Program is done scanning, you will want to remove all of the found problems.

Step 4: Remove Unwanted Programs

It’s a good idea to remove all of the programs on your computer that you no longer use.  To do this, go to your Control Panel by click Start/Settings/Control Panel/Add Remove Programs.  Browse your list of programs installed and click the ones you no longer use and then hit the “Remove” button.  If you are unsure what some of the programs are, or if somebody else from you home may use them, pay attention to the “Last Used On” option to get an idea of how often the programs are being run.

Step 5: Remove Unwanted Startup Files

Now it’s time to stop some of the programs that automatically start up with your computer, these unwanted programs can not only bog down your boot up time, but interfere with your computers performance even after the machine is fully booted.  Start by clicking Start/Run.  In the Open field type “msconfig” then click the “Startup” tab.  Here you will see a list of programs installed on your computer and each one with a box that is checked boots up when Windows starts.  Go through the list quick and uncheck any of the files you know you do not need starting with your computer like AOL Instant Messenger and Winamp.  Be carefully not to uncheck any programs that are needed by Windows.  The best way to determine if a program is needed is to Google the name of the file.  You can find the file name by expanding the “Command” tab and searching the .exe file names.  The first search results should explain what the program is and if you need it at startup.

Step 6: Remove Viruses

Hopefully your computer doesn’t have any viruses, but it can’t hurt to run a scan.  First make sure your program is up to date.  Once your updates finish installing run a full system scan, just like you did with Malwarebytes and remove any viruses found. If you do not have a antivirus program installed, download AVG, its free and is good enough to protect your computer from future viruses.

All in all, the above process can take anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple of hours depending on the speed of your system, size of hard drives, and the number of problems found.  However long it takes, it is definitely worth doing every couple months or so to ensure your system is running as efficiently as possible.  Literally doing this process to a computer that has been neglected for sometime can make it feel like a brand new machine.  Hopefully this tutorial can save you from prematurely buying your next computer $

Over the past year or so, writing for Milk Your Money has led me on an impressive journey through the wide spectrum of topics surrounding personal finance, the economy and money in general. I have met some awesome people and have learned much more than I would have previously imagined. This path has led in several directions, sometimes in several at once. One of the methods that proves itself over and over in some shape or form is the idea of taking control for yourself and making money on your own terms. We can break this down even further and apply a digital twist. Meet Magento, the open source ecommerce system written primarily in PHP. Where is the best place to start? At the beginning of course! William Rice has recently (as of March 2009) written a guide that takes a beginner through the initial process of setting up and operating an online store. He doesn’t suggest that you are going to put Amazon out of business, but if you are committed and dedicate the time and resources you will be able to sell with some level of success.

General
One of the overall themes that William Rice maintains is that it is important to plan in the beginning as much as you can in order to save a great deal of time later down the road. As a reader, I can see the advantage to reading through this guide several times before even downloading the application. There are quite a few key things that need to be clarified early on in the process.

Another important tone that the author threads through the guide is thoroughness. While only a fraction of the features are covered here, the essentials are discussed in full along with common errors that people have made in the past that you should avoid. Some parts may seem tedious, but they are no less important. You will have a much deeper understanding of how the system works as well as appreciate it much more.

Pros:
–   The biggest positive aspect of this book is the fact that it is so accessible. Its written for the user in terms that are easy to understand and fosters a curious attitude.
–   Of course my favorite aspect of this book is the absolute thoroughness of the topics covered. Some might see this as a negative and somewhat boring, but this isn’t the latest Harry Potter book: its a guide to setting up an extremely powerful content management system for an online store.
–   The topics are quite literally everything you need to know, step-by-step.
–   The structure of how the information is presented is also well done, although the headers could have been a little more formal, AT the end of each chapter there is a recap and the actual steps are displayed.
–   Pictures are in color (at least the copy I received is) and while that might seem trivial, I think it makes a difference. I have even seen quite a few Photoshop books that are in black and white.

Cons:
–   I do have a few things about the book that I would have changed. For starters, I was somewhat disappointed at the boundaries in the scope that book carved. It might have just been a matter of having some experience with PHP (and IT in general) that I was chomping at the bit for more. This could be construed as a positive thing but it was frustrating.
–  I also thought that there could have been more explanation for some of the fundamentals for a beginner. Explaining image sizing for example is an important aspect that any web designer in any capacity should understand and grasp firmly. It would have taken just a decent a paragraph or two but the author was almost too strict in sticking with the scope of the book.
–   One other shortcoming I want to point out is that there a lacking in customer theory in that I would have liked to read more to get inside the customers head as to why things are the way they are and why. This could be argued that its simply a trial and error endeavor and this is just the way it is. Its also out of the scope of a beginners book and hopefully there will be a little more “user science” in an advanced version, if there is one.
–   Design and customization could have been addressed more although, again, this is the beginners guide.

My Wish List for an Advanced Guide:

• Multiple pathways for payment (eg, can a payment be split in two different accounts)
• What is the patching process?
• Batch processing for products?
• What if the product is simply downloadable? Can you remove all shipping options?
• More on themes/skins/customization
• More of the features that make Magento so popular.
• What is the user thinking?

Summary:
It might seem as though I was harsh but over all I am very pleased with this book and if I were serious about setting up an online store this would be an indispensible resource to get started. Pick it up if you are committed to starting an online store.

Interview with the author:
MilkYourMoney.com:  What is your background with PHP? How long have you been using it?

William Rice:  I’ve been teaching software and writing software manuals since 1988. In college, I minored in computer science but my degree, and experience, is in technical writing and training. I’m a technical communicator, but not a programmer. So, my experience with PHP is from the user’s side. I very occasionally modify some PHP code to make a web-based application do what I want. But I haven’t crossed the line from user to programmer, and I’m not likely to any time soon.

MYM:  What do you like the most with this language when using it for ecommerce as opposed to others, like for example .NET?

WR:  I like the incredibly wide choice of hosting services that PHP-based applications give me. The LAMP platform–Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP–is so common that I never need to worry about finding a host who has the right combination of pricing and features.

MYM:  What successes do you see with people picking up Magento?

WR:  Let me draw a parallel here. Blogs have enabled millions of people to express themselves and connect with others. I think that soon, most people will find it almost as easy and inexpensive to set up a great looking, full featured online store. Online stores probably won’t be as popular as blogs, because more people have something to say than something to sell. But, even if online stores are only a fraction as popular of blogs, that creates millions of entrepreneurs. And Magento is helping to make that happen.

MYM:   In your opinion, what is the growth of use with Magento?

WR:  The official Magento site, magentocommerce.com, posts download statistics. It’s also interesting to go to google.com/trends and search on the term “Magento.” Try combining it with other search terms, such as the names of Magento’s competitors. It’s very informative.

MYM:  How many online stores have you started, if any?

WR:  While writing Magento Beginner’s Guide I started, and abandoned, several online stores. That was part of the learning curve. I’ve supported several store administrators since then. I’m looking for someone who would like to partner with me and run my demo store, brew-me-a-cup.com, as a real business.

MYM:   Have you considered making videos that run parallel to this guide?

WR:  Not yet. The publisher and I are exploring a follow-up book, so that’s where I’m spending my writing time.

MYM:  Aside from using this guide, what can a beginner do to be better prepared to use Magento?

WR:  Learn and apply good business practices! Magento enables almost anyone with a product or service to sell, to join the commerce game. But it doesn’t change the rules of the game. During the dot-com crash, many people learned the hard way that online businesses are subject to the same rules as traditional businesses: treat the customer well, be honest, keep your eye on the bottom line.

MYM:  Are there any plans to write an advanced guide?

WR:  The publisher and I are investigating what kind of approach would be most helpful for Magento users: Should the book focus in depth on a few advanced features? Concentrate on solving some specific business challenges that are common for Magento users? Contain basic instructions for as many advanced features as possible? These are questions we need to explore before I start writing.

MYM:  Overall, I found your book to be extremely helpful and appreciate your participation.

WR:  Thank you.

Again if you are interested in picking this book up, you can get it here or on Amazon.

Typically, most heat pumps and air conditioners will have two main points where you monitor the pressure in your system.  The first, the suction line (low side) is the line where you would measure the psi of the refrigerant in your system.  This is also the line where you would install more refrigerant if needed.  The other main gauge to monitor is the head pressure, which like the low side, easily allows a gauge to be hooked up to measure the pressure.  There is not one pressure fits all type of measurements to look out for, each system varies slightly, but largely the measurements are similar.  Most units will have a chart listing the proper pressure based off the outside temperature; this chart is usually located on the back cover of the outdoor unit.

How to Recharge a Heat Pumps Refrigerant.

For heat pumps, it’s much easier to recharge you system in the summer while your unit is in the cool mode versus the heat mode in the winter.  This is due in large part to the more predictable measuring of pressure and outside temperatures etc. Having said that, here are the basic steps to check your systems pressures and install more refrigerant if needed while it is in the cool mode, keep in mind this is the basic tutorial:

1)    Shut off your unit and cut off all power.
2)    Take off the back cover of your outside unit to reach the necessary gauge ports. (Some units gauge ports are easily assessable without having to remove any part of the outside unit).
3)    Locate the suction (low side) gauge port.  Generally, this port is directly hooked to the refrigerant line running into your home.  The refrigerant line is the much bigger line running directly into your home and is covered with insulation.
4)    Take off both the dust cap on the head pressure port and the low side suction port and install gauge fittings tightly.
5)    Once everything is hooked up and secure, give your unit power and turn it to the cool mode.  You should see your gauges jump.  Let the unit run for about 10 minutes, which should help give you the most accurate reading.
6)    Look at the back cover of your outside unit, this is where the chart that tells you what readings to look for in cool mode based off the outside temperature.  Generally, when a heat pump is in the cool mode, the low side suction line should be +/- 70 psi and the head pressures should be around 225-250 psi.  This is all with an outdoor temperature of about 90F degrees.
7)    If your unit is running a low side pressure of much less than 60-70, it’s likely you need to add some refrigerant.  This is done the same way you would add it to your vehicle.  Take the can of environmentally friendly refrigerant and hook it to the other end of the gauge (you can almost always buy the gauges and refrigerant together) and loosen the valve to slowly let refrigerant run into the line.  You will see the gauge jump way up indicating that refrigerant is going into the system.   A good rule of thumb is to grasp the refrigerant line running into your home and fill the unit until you begin to feel the line get cold.  When it gets cold, shut the valve and let the system go for a couple minutes and take a reading.  Continue to do this until your system is at the proper pressure.
8)    Basically, that’s all there is to adding refrigerant to your system.  This DIY process will likely cost you about $50-75 for everything you need, versus about $300+ to get it done professionally. Many DIY sets will also come with a stop leak can, which can be added the same way as the refrigerant (still being mindful of your pressures).

What Should the Temperature of the Air Coming Out of My Vents Be?

After you properly fill your system with refrigerant, its a good idea to test the air coming out of your vents to make sure everything is working correctly.  To do this, use a simple thermometer and stick it up in your vents (usually recharging sets also come with one of these).  Take a reading of the air going into your unit from the inside (this is the same place you change your filter) and take a reading of a vent closest to your indoor unit.  If everything is done correctly, the air coming out of your vents should be about 15-18 degrees colder than the air going into your unit (basically, the temperature your thermostat reads as the current indoor temperature).

I anticipate professional HVAC repairers to pound this post with comments that doing any of this without knowledge will likely cause serious damage to your system.  While I will say that if your gauge readings are completely out of whack, that can mean many other things are wrong with your system other than just being low on refrigerant.  However, homeowners with a small leak know that their system is going to need recharging every summer or so, these are the people this is intended for.  Despite what professionals say, this process is pretty simple and straightforward and best of all, cheap.  Good Luck!

Here is the link to where you can find environmentally friendly refrigerant.  You can also find good deals on refill sets on Ebay.

In this short talk from TED U, Joachim de Posada shares a landmark experiment on delayed gratification — and how it can predict future success. With priceless video of kids trying their hardest not to eat the marshmallow.

I really don’t buy into the notion that some people can’t afford to go to college.  In fact, it seems that the less a person/family has, the cheaper tuition is.  Because parents are “expected” to contribute a certain amount towards their child’s college tuition costs and depending on the wealth of the parent the amount of Federal money going toward a child is minimized—regardless if the child actually receives a penny from his/her parents.  So in reality, a child of a moderately wealthy family that doesn’t receive any money from his/her parents to attend college, actually ends up paying a much larger sum than a lower income family member.  The merits behind the idea make sense, the both reality is far from the intended conclusion.

How are the high college tuition costs similar to our mortgage meltdown?  In my opinion, the rising costs are attributed to mainly to an ease of credit availability.  Just like with the mortgage mess, people could easily get loans for houses they had no right being approved for, which of course we all know now, ended and is ending badly.  The same scenario plays out in the private student loan market; kids are easily getting approved for loans their parents wouldn’t even dream of getting.  If you think about it, an 18 year old college graduate may have a difficult time qualifying for a loan for a $7,000 used car, but this same student could easily get a $20,000 loan to attend college and not just once, but four years in a row.  This easy flow of credit to high school graduates makes college affordable at any costs and the victim eventually becomes the student and the winner is clearly the banks and the universities.  If we really want to make college affordable, the answer is not in securing credit for potential students, it’s simply reducing the cost to attend college.  How do we do this?  I have no idea.  $

Step 1 – Purchase Refrigerant and Gauge. The main reason people are scared to charge the car’s a/c is because it’s known that you need to be licensed to handle Freon.  This is true, however, 1995 and newer passenger cars and trucks take a kind of Freon called R134A, which does NOT require a license to use.  Almost every auto store will carry R134A Freon and just last weekend I saw it pretty cheap at Wal-Mart ($10-15).  Typically, one can is enough to completely charge your system unless it is empty, which might take two.  When purchasing the Freon, make sure you buy a can that comes with a gauge.  This gauge will measure the pressure in your a/c system and makes refilling the refrigerant to the correct pressure a breeze.  This gauge is reusable and will only require you to purchase cans for future fillings.  The following pictures are all different products that will work.

Step 2 – Locate the Low Side Fitting Under the Hood. Don’t let this kind of language discourage you, the low side fittings is easy to locate and the picture provided should help.  Air conditioners have two sides on them a low side and a high side.  The Freon has to be filled through the low side fitting.  Usually, your vehicle will have an “L” label on the low side cap and an “H” on the high side cap.  The nozzle that will attached to the low port does not physically fit on the high side port, so don’t get too worried about doing this wrong.  You will have to unscrew the dust cap  in order to put on the gauge.

Picture of Low Side Fitting Port - Usually Blue and labeled “L”

Step 3 – Attach Gauge and Refrigerant to Low Side Port. Once you have located the proper port, it’s time to connect the can of Freon and gauge.  While the car is off, pull up on the gauge nozzle and press it down gently onto the port, you will know it is on correctly when you wiggle the gauge and it stays on securely.  Next, attached the can of Freon to your gauge, depending on the type of can and gauge you have, you usually turn the can into the threads until it is tight—this will puncture the can.  Once this is connected, do not pull the trigger on the gauge, because this will release the refrigerant.

Your Gauge Should Look Like This When Hooked Up

Step 4 – Start Car and Read the Current Refrigerant Level. Now that everything is attached, go ahead and start your car and turn you’re a/c on full blast (all the way to cold and fans on hi).  While your compressor is running, you will see the gauge move.  You want your pressure to be right in the middle of the blue gauge setting (settings may vary by gauge, but they are all pretty obvious as to where the correct pressure should be).  One tip to reading the gauge is that if you’re a/c is completely out of refrigerant, your compressor will cycle on and off so the it does not burn out.  Because of this, you will only be able to get a correct reading while the compressor is on, you will know the compressor turns on when you hear your fans start spinning towards the front of your car behind the radiator.  You should also physically hear the compressor turning off and on.

Any Reading in the Green Means You need to Add Refrigerant.

Step 5 – Recharge Refrigerant to Proper Pressure. Locate the trigger or dispenser on your gauge and hold it in, but only when the compressor turns on.  Remember, you will likely know by the fans cycling on and off.  After holding it in for a few seconds and allowing some refrigerant to enter the vehicle, the compressor will likely stay on because it now has a slight charge.  After holding the trigger for a few seconds, stop and take a reading.  Keep doing this until the gauge is right in the middle of the proper pressure point. It can take 5-10 minutes to completely drain a can of refrigerant.  Be careful not to overcharge your a/c system because this cause damage or failure to your compressor.

Step 6 – Remove Gauge and Put Dust Cap Back On. You are essentially done at this point, all you have to do is release the gauge from the low side port, by reversing the process by which you installed it.  Once the gauge is removed, put the dust cap back on.  That’s it, you just saved yourself at least a 100  bucks!!  If you have any questions, feel free to post them and we will try to help you out.  The video below should also help make the process clearer.

Video Showing How to Charge Your Car’s a/c (the gauge is slightly different than what I explained in the post)

The rising unemployment in the U.S. is a grim reminder that those of us with jobs should stop complaining and start being thankful.  Unfortunately, one of the real classes of people who are being undeservedly punished by our economic struggles are college graduates.  With unemployment climbing, college grads are finding themselves trying to beat out job applicants with a bigger work histories under their belt.  Without a solid job, graduates are finding it difficult to make their student loan payments that become due upon receiving a diploma.  What are their options?

Talk to Lender. Just like with those having trouble with their mortgages, immediately calling your lender and explaining your situation can pay off.  Your options may vary depending on the lender and the type of loan (federal or private).

Income-Contingent Repayment. Generally, opting for an income-contingent repayment plan will lower your monthly bill.  The bank will decrease your monthly payment depending upon your gross income.

Deferment. If you defer your loans, they will temporarily be suspended and will not be due on a monthly basis.  In order to qualify for deferment, you must have some type of economic hardship, which would include unemployment.  The problem with deferment is that although it provides immediate relief, the interest on the loans continues to grow.  Although, if the loan is a subsidized federal loan then you do not have to pay interest while in deferment.

Forbearance. You can specify a certain amount of time where you will stop making payments on your student loans, however, during this time, interest will continue to accumulate.

Extended Repayment. This option allows the borrower to extend the length of the loan, which in turn would reduce your monthly amount due.  Generally, this option requires that you consolidate (group all of your loans into one) and will cost you more in the long term because of accruing interest.  If you have to opt for this repayment plan right away, try not to get used to your low payments.  Once you can afford to do so, pay more each month to reduce the length of the loan and reduce your total repayment.

Live Frugally. Although there are options to help cash strapped graduates pay their expensive student loans back, the best way is to simply cut back your spending and make your minimum payments.  This option may not be available to everyone, but the most graduates can likely spot areas in their life where money is being spent foolishly and use that towards their loans.  Remember, for graduates, you have nowhere to go but up.  This is the likely the time in your life where you will make the least amount of money.  Use this time to understand the power of saving and living frugal, it will only help you in your  years to come.

For more information on how to afford your student loan bills, visit http://www.ibrinfo.org.

A global craze we are seeing now is the iTunes App Store, where we saw that they latest news was the 1 billionth app sold/downloaded.  That is a ton…Surely within all that there are some tools to save you money, right?  If you have an iPhone (and we aren’t saying go get one necessarily) but take a look.

Bank of America - Free
This mobile banking app allows you to connect directly into your account to check available balances, pay bills, transfer funds or locate ATMs and banking centers on the go.  Free if you have an account with them.

E*TRADE - Free
Trade anywhere with one of the most powerful mobile trading applications on the market.  Fully synchronize with your online portfolio in real time.

Bloomberg - Free
A trusted source for financial news, more than 280,000 professionals use Bloomberg to get news and analysis for the worlds markets.

Mint - Free
Track, budget, and manage your money on-the-go by signing up online and getting this app.  Your transactions are automatically loaded for you as your profile is completed.  Automatically synchs.

Daily Finance - Free
Provides real time stock quotes, tracking for multiple portfolios, customizable news from over 3,000 sources and professional charting.

PayPal - Free
Allows you to send money securely to friends and family and make simple purchases on the go.  Fast, easy and secure, its the industry leader in money transfer.

Check Please Lite - Free
Calculate the tip or split the bill between multiple people.
Balance - Free
Keeps track of the balance of one of your accounts.  Meant to replace a paper check book, Balance maintains the credit and debit to your account.  You can also export the transactions to your computer.

Morning Star - Free
Make smarter investing decisions with Morningstar Mobile.  Get ratings on mutual funds and exchange traded funds.

Spend Lite - Free
The free version of Spend, this is a simple budget manager that allows you to create an unlimited number of daily or weekly budgets.  Keep track of your money (Lite allows 5 weekly budgets) and allows you to keep accurate records of everything you purchase.

ATM Finder - Free
Find ATMs located around the world using your iPhone GPS by entering an address or airport location from where ever you are.  This means you can skip the part where you put YOUR location, it already figures that out for you.

Home Budget Lite - Free
An expense tracker designed to help you budget, track and possibly control your monthly expenses at home.  Watches both income and expenses, you have control.

Save Benjis - $.99
This app gives you the best internet prices while you shop in the real world.  Compare prices on your iPhone for millions of products from hundreds of stores.  When you find one you like, get it right through Save Benjis.

That last one we kind of snuck in there, its not on the free list, but I felt that it should be included.  The iTunes App store doesn’t really lend itself to linking but if you go onto the iTunes Store and find Apps and sort by the Finance category, you will find more apps than you can shake a stick at.  These were just the ones I liked the best.  (Apple, or the Apps vendors’ didn’t give me a penny to mention anything here.)

I’m the type of guy who enjoys doing projects on the weekends.  In fact, just last weekend we installed a new ceiling fan in our bedroom.  The job should have been an easy one, but of course, they rarely are.  There was no previous fan or light, so we had to run electrical cable and create a switch (required a few small holes in the wall).  After cutting the hole in the ceiling to hang the fan, I discovered our condo has aluminum studs, which meant I couldn’t hang the heavy fan directly from the aluminum, unless I wanted our ceiling to fall through.  So I then had to cut a hole in our ceiling the length of two studs and hang a 2×4 between the studs.  From here I could hang the fan from the 2×4 so the weight of the fan went across two studs rather than one.  Finally, I then had to cut sheetrock to cover my whole, tape, mud, and paint.  The reason I tell you all of this is because what should have been a simple job requiring only a few tools, ended up being a entire weekend ordeal that took multiple job specific tools.  Constantly running back and forth to the store to buy needed tools can be extremely costly.  Fortunately, I have collected an assortment of tools over the years to do these random jobs, but I rarely buy them at the Lowes, Menards, or Home Depot.  Why?  Because they cost way too much!

If Sears or Lowes is the first and only place you go to pick up the right tool for the job, you are probably overspending close to 20-40%.  Believe it or not, those tiny tools stores you see in strip malls are generally the cheapest places to get the essentials.  The closest one to where I live is called Harbor Freight Tools; the store is jam packed with nearly everything you could need.  When I say everything, I really mean it—automotive, plumbing, electrical, painting, and carpentry tools.  All these tools sell for a fraction of the cost compared to the top headliner stores.  I can already see some of you manly men wincing at my plug for generic tools.  I hear you, that was once me, but once you enter these discount tool stores, you feel like a kid in a candy store.

Literally, you will find yourself picking up tools that you think you might need in the future (which you will I guarantee it) for just a few dollars.  It’s rare to spend more than $20 on most everyday tools in places like these.  You are probably thinking, “these are probably  cheap because they will just end up breaking.”  To be honest, most tools are pretty heavy duty and really require a beating to stop working.  And for the most of use, our tools are used very infrequently.  Granted, discount tools may not be the best option if you are constantly using tools on an everyday basis, but unless you are a mechanic, I doubt this happening.

The next time you find yourself browsing the isles at Lowes trying to convince yourself you need everything, try stopping in a discount store and just take a look.  You just may find yourself still in the store hours later—I know I did. Where do you find discount tools?