GateHouse News Service:

Here are several resourceful and creative ways that small-business owners can save money as they navigate today’s economy.

• Barter: While bartering may sound a little old fashioned, it’s a great way to work out deals between businesses and save cash.

• Save: Take advantage of programs designed to help you save money on everyday business necessities, such as office supplies and computers.

• Evaluate expenses: Take this time to re-evaluate all of the annual service contracts that your business currently has in place.

• Promote: Advertising is a good investment for business dollars, but keep in mind that you don’t always have to spend big bucks to conduct a successful advertising campaign.

• Travel: Eliminating any business travel that isn’t absolutely necessary can save small business owners a great deal of money. In place of traveling to see customers and clients, plan weekly meetings using free Web or phone conferencing applications.

Photo by nosheep.

Every member gets a

*New Special Report MONTHLY as part of their membership.
*More Frugal Recipes monthly
*Frugal Living and Homemaking Articles

Check it out… you may like it!

Hillbilly Housewife Club (affiliate link)

Here’s an example of the type of information they provide:

Freezer Cooking Made Simple

Description:  This eBook is filled with all the information necessary to learn how to freeze foods and make those dollars stretch.  With information such as how to get started, what items you need, what foods freeze well and foods that don’t quite cut it when it comes to freezing, this eBook tells it all.  Worksheets, printable labels and even a few quick and easy recipes are included to get you started with healthier meals when living on a tighter budget.

Review:  As a mother, wife and just all around caretaker of my home I needed to find something that would take less time and save me money in the kitchen.  I went looking for ideas and found many that seemed to be the answer.  Most of them I found to be more time consuming than anything. Then, I came upon this eBook.

Freezing foods makes sense in all aspects.  It’s amazing how in just one afternoon you can have a freezer full of healthy foods to feed your family for a month.  This eBook will show you how.  It’s easy to understand, has all the facts you need to know and will give you the answers to any questions you may have.
Freezer Cooking Made Simple is set up so that even the newly married can find what she needs.  It explains why freezing foods can save you money and time.  It talks about what you need in the way of equipment, how to shop for foods and how to cook these foods.

There is a section that explains how to safely store your freezer meals including labels to help you remember exactly what you have and how to reheat it.  Susanne has included a printable shopping list along with a worksheet to help plan your meals on a weekly and monthly basis.   Best of all – there are even a few recipes added to get you started.

If you’re looking for a way to save money and time in the kitchen, I strongly urge you to take a look at Freezer Cooking Made Simple.  Once you read through it, put it into motion immediately. You will see that this is a very simple and easy way to make those hours in the kitchen count.  Shopping, cooking and freezing foods aren’t as hard as many of us believe.  Give it a chance and you will find the answer you’ve been looking for all along.

I was talking with a friend last night. He’s getting a loan remodification. With rates at 4% or so, that’s tempting. I’m not sure I have the cash. Also, these have to be loans that are federally insured, like “Freddie Mac” or “Fannie Mae”.

These get passed around from mortgage service company to mortgage service company faster than the cold virus gets passed around in the winter so you have to check with your mortgage service company to SEE if you have a Federally insured loan eligible for a loan modification.

I doubt mine is but I’m checking.

I actually ended up getting a mortgage that promised us that after 5 years, we’d get an automatic rate reduction … not much. This micro loan modification educes payments by $20 per month or so! I was surprised that the lender automatically modified this loan because I figured they’d find some way to cheat us out of the promised loan modification through the “fine print.” You know “I’m sorry Mr. Huckaby, we determined that you thought about being late on your payment once and so we can’t honor our Loan Modification clause in your original mortgage deed!”

They must have forgotten to jerk me around since I’m paying such high rates when everyone else who could has refinanced already!

Anyway, with rates this low, if you DO have a federally insured loan, you may be eligible for sweet deal on a loan remodification right about now.

The first step would be to talk to your existing mortgage service company and see what they’ll do to keep you happy.

If you are facing foreclosure there are lots of companies vying for your business. Below is an affiliate link. I can’t vouch for the services at all but they may be an option for you. You may also want to talk to non-profit credit counselors who may be able to help. The Loan Modifications I’m referring to was for folks who – like my friend – are NOT behind in their payments.

Related Affiliate Link (no warranty implied!): Stop – Before Foreclosure
Simple and Easy – Get Started Today
Wipe Out Your Debt in 12-36 Months

They’re good for a chuckle – and a reminder not to do them yourself!

1. Paper-thin home office deduction
2. Hell hath no fury …
3. At least it wasn’t ‘Travel & Entertainment’
4. Bubble bath credit
5. Beautify your return
6. Unmarried, filing weirdly
7. Dancing with the IRS
8. Of guard cats and canine contractors
9. Costly adoption

Chart: Potential Energy Savings

That’s why this product really interests me. I know this stuff works! It worked for me and I predict lots more people will be doing things to become self-sufficient.

How much would you be saving if you could cut 33% from your power bill right now? Anything you can put back into your pocket or circulation these days is a welcome relief.

If learning how to save money on your monthly expenses interests you, this information will be quite helpful to you… Join the frugal revolution!

It’s a 90+ year old Granny who reveals her “Great Depression Cooking Secrets”. One of them is “peas and pasta”. It’s funny. You make that with some bacon and chicken and they call it “Chicken Carbonara” at a fancy restaurant!

Here’s one of her videos.

Have fun eating hearty and cheap!

HT: Hillbilly Housewife Blog

Right now people are being bombarded by offers to get cash for their unused jewelry. That’s because Gold’s price per pound is skyrocketing! (It always does when people see the stock market tumble and governments plan to print money galore!)

That’s why as I write this, Gold is over $900 per ounce! (For some perspective in July of 2000, it was between $250 and $300 per ounce!)

So if you need cash right now turning your unused jewelry and long forgotten bling into cash might be a good idea.

Here’s how to check your options.

1. Check out an online buyer like Cash4Gold.

Here’s their link: Cash4gold: America’s Number One Gold Buyer

They are a nationally competitive group who advertises nationally. Check out the deal you will get there. Remember, they are melting down your gold jewelry to get the $900 per ounce.

From what I’ve heard, many of their customers are happy. Which ones? The ones who want the simplicity of contacting a refiner, putting a bunch of junk jewelry in a bag, and getting a check in the mail and using the newly cleared space.

But sometimes customers assumed they would get more money than what they actually received. Here’s why your gold jewelry may not be as valuable as you might wish!

You see we “hear” $900 per ounce for gold. But that’s NOT what you’re going to get. Here’s why.

From the “spot” price for gold when they sell it, they (any buyer really) have to

1. Pay for overhead
2. Pay all the shipping
3. Pay the advertising cost
4. Make a profit
5. Pay you!

Another factor is that any gold jewelry you send Cash4gold likely isn’t pure. Pure gold is too “bendable” and not firm enough. Most jewelry, as a result, is slightly impure and nobody’s paying $900 per ounce for that!

What makes things trickier is that the price may vary between the day you send your used jewelry in and the day it’s processed. Hopefully the price has gone up… but it may have gone down!

But as you can see from all the expenses that have to be covered, if gold is selling for $900 bucks per ounce, that’s not what you’re going to get.

Now there are other options besides a national company like Cash4gold.

The most common option is a local jeweler.

Though they deal in gold, these folks are reselling your gold to someone like Cash4gold. Usually local jewelers don’t have the ability to process scrap themselves.

If you use a local jeweler as an option – and it may be the best one for you – their costs will be something like this.

1. They will determine the amount of gold in ounces
2. They will call the company buying gold from them to see what they are paying
3. They will determine the acceptable amount of money they wish to earn per ounce to cover their overhead and profits

They will pay you the balance.

Even dealing locally, there are going to be expenses to be paid so you won’t be getting the full “spot value” of gold from a local source.

The closer you can get to a Gold Refiner like Cash4Gold the more likely you are to get the best deal.

Gathered up your scrap jewelry?

Now you know how to start finding out how much cash you can reasonably obtain for your unused bling!

It’s pretty competitive in this business so people are doing things like giving away free online returns for simple 1040EZ returns.

But when you’re an entrepreneur or you have a side business or just possible deductions, it’s time to make sure you’re only paying what’s necessary. For that, tax software is especially handy.

Right now, Turbo Tax and H&R Block are dueling it out for your business and offering up to 39% off for your purchase of their product. You might as well save some money on the tax software too.

Even better, if you get audited, some of these packages (maybe all I couldn’t tell) are covered by a HUMAN to serve as your go between! That’s pretty cool!

Great Discounts On Tax Software

On the interview he didn’t say whether this was requested in the discovery process or in court itself. If they can’t find it, they can’t find it.

It’s a good question. After all, anyone can put anything into a computer to say you owe something.

It’s not unusual to see reports of people “burning their mortgage note”… after paying the required amount, they burn the original to signal that no further obligation is owed.

What this attorney is saying is that these original notes have often been lost and there may be no legal proof that you owe anything.

Of course the other side will say that you were paying for some reason and that’s an admission that you had incurred a debt.

Still, what have you got to lose?

Note: I heard this while in my car. Sorry I don’t have a link for you to read more. If you have one, please leave it in a comment.

Chuck's Square Foot Gardening Boxes

Yes, it’s time to think about your garden. Where I live people are tilling space for their gardens right now. I’m planning to go out and clean up my square foot gardening boxes with their “special mix” of ingredients.

Where I live, it’s time to consider setting out onion sets right now… and thinking about setting out cabbages.

What are your garden plans this year?

Related Link: My Organic Food Garden