5 Free and Easy Ways to Relieve Stress

Money Tools For Life

Sometimes your day just needs a “reset” button. Rewind, set another alarm, and emerge in hopes it can only be better than the present. But surprise! Life just doesn’t work that way. You soldier on, drink another cup of coffee, and muster up the courage to keep checking emails with hope nothing else has gone wrong. On days like these stress can override your focus to get anything accomplished. While studies show that some stress can be motivation, too much can lead to headaches, depression, and other health issues. Thankfully, there are many affordable solutions to ease the tension and give your day a mental reset.

Here are a few of our favorites:

1. Make a list. Have you ever started to work on something and ended up doing three other things before you realize you still have not completed the first task? This is a very common problem, and also a…

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Tailgate on the cheap

Money Tools For Life

Following our last post on why we are very excited for this month, as we enter the second week of September, football season is now also in full swing. It is the time to celebrate your favorite team with family and friends – and saving without skimming the fun will be the cherry on top! Here are some tips for your next tailgate:

• Pool a tailgate

Invite your friends not just to your tailgate, but to help put it together. By delegating dishes and sharing cooking resources and ingredients, you can help each other lessen the work load as well as budget burden. Most people will be happy to be part of the tailgate simply by bringing one dish or contributing some equipment. Pooling a tailgate together also extends to carpooling with as many people as possible to save gas and parking fee for everyone. The more the merrier…

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Weekly Mortgage Update!

How Is National Mortgage Settlement $ Being Spent?

From the KCM crew

Weekly Mortgage Watch

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7 Money Lessons For College Freshmen

Money Tools For Life

The most exciting time is here – you are about to start college! You will get to manage your own schedule, and very importantly, your own money. It can be a learning curve – so let us help you with the first steps! Take these tips with you when you start college in these coming weeks:

1. About credit – Your credit behavior now can make or break your financial life in the future, when you need good credit score to buy a house or a new car, among many things more. So learn about credit and credit cards (we have blogged some basics and credit card tips). You will also see a lot of credit card offers on campus or even in your mailbox. Consider them very carefully – remember: Credit is not free money, and make it a priority to pay your balance in full every month.
2. About…

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Smart shopping with apps

Money Tools For Life

Following up with our post on how you can conveniently and instantly manage your finances on your smartphone and tablet, here are other popular apps to help you save everyday:

Save on gas

GasBuddy – This app searches for the cheapest reported gas price close to where you are and directions to get to each station. This comes in very handy every time you fill up and especially during road trips [link to old blog post on this]. You’re also rewarded points for reporting gas prices, which can go toward tickets to a weekly drawing for a $250 prepaid gas card at any station. Available to iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone.

Save on shopping

ShopSavvy – Scan the barcode of a product to have the app search for the lowest price in your area and online. You can also see available promotions or receive future price…

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Weekly Mortgage Watch!

The Economy’s Impact on Housing

By the KCM Crew…

With the economic recovery sluggish at best, many ask what impact this has on housing. Over the last several years, most economists believed that housing would not recover until the overall economy recovered. However, it now seems that the housing sector may be a driving influence in the recovery.

Here are four reports released in the last 30 days affirming this point:

Morgan Stanley

“In terms of its contribution to real GDP, residential fixed investment has been a positive – albeit modest – force over the most recent four quarters, marking its longest span of back-to-back positive results since 2005.”

Deutsche Bank

“The [overall] resumption in residential activity cannot be understated as the long awaited housing recovery should help buoy consumer confidence and provide a mild lift to second half economic output after what was likely a disappointing first half of the year.”

Fannie Mae

“The data from the past month collectively point to decelerating economic growth, but growth nonetheless…However, despite signs of deteriorating momentum for economic activity, housing continues to be a bright spot as news from the housing market has been relatively upbeat, presenting a rare upside boost to the economy.”

Goldman Sachs

“As we look back at previous major housing recoveries, 1975 and 1991 began with negative jobs growth…In each case, the home sales recovery was fueled by home price improvement, driving new job growth and those jobs creating a fresh wave of demand that supported a multi-year recovery in housing.”

Is housing a victim to the current economic malaise? No. It may even be the cure.

Sales tax holidays this weekend! What to buy?

POSTED BY THE EDSA GROUP ⋅ JULY 31, 2012 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT

All shoppers and savers: Watch out for your state’s sales tax holiday this weekend!

This year, many states have their sales tax holidays in August, particularly this Friday-Sunday:

• Alabama – August 3-5
• Arkansas – August 4-5
• Connecticut – August 19-25
• Florida – August 3-5
• Georgia – August 10-11
• Iowa – August 3-4
• Louisiana – August 3-4
• Maryland – August 12-18
• Missouri – August 3-5
• New Mexico – August 3-5
• North Carolina – August 3-5
• Oklahoma – August 3-5
• South Carolina – August 3-5
• Tennessee – August 3-5
• Texas – August 17-19
• Virginia – August 3-5

(Other states’ sales tax holiday dates can be found here)

With the exemption of state sales tax, sales tax holidays are great opportunities to stock non-perishable items your family will frequently use, or to make those big purchases that you have planned for. Household items, digital products and new furniture are some examples of purchases where you can save big during the tax holiday. Note that the exemption generally doesn’t apply to cars, meals or taxable services, however. Other conditions can be found on the website of your state’s Revenue Department.

Tax holiday in August means great back-to-school savings!

What’s more for residents in states listed above, an August tax holiday means great savings for back-to-school buys! Beyond stocking pencils and notebooks, consider making use of the sales tax exemption for other school essentials like:

• Shoes – especially for kids. Since they can be grown out of so quickly, the more savings on shoes the better!
• Uniforms
• Supplies for extracurricular activities – for sports, art classes, choir…, miscellaneous supplies stack up, which means your savings on these items will stack up without the state sales tax!

What else do you buy to maximize savings on sales tax holidays?