Home Automation, Do Any Of You Do It?
A house 4 doors down from me got broken into by some teenagers not long ago. The homeowners were away on vacation and they were able to break in during the day when everyone else was at work or at school, so they had plenty of time to run through the house and steal what they wanted. What is sad is, these homeowners are the type that hold their mail at the post office, have friends drop by to check on the house, and even have their lights on timers too to fool anyone brave enough to break into their home.
I knew the homeowners well and it is an awful feeling to know that could have been my house or could one day very well still could be. I am gone away from home every Monday and my wife runs in and out all the time every day as well, so there are times where someone could break in if they really wanted. This got me thinking about home security through one of those companies like ADT and Brinks to monitor my home and alert the police and myself of any break ins or troubles going on at the house while I am away. You see the infomercials all the time for their service, and I think its about time I actually looked into it for myself and my family. You just never know what could happen while your away or even while your at home.
Many of these system do pretty good job of home security, but a few even offered the option of home automation as well, where you can have your lights come on at certain times or make sure your garage doors are shut, and even turn TVs on and off. You can even watch your video surveillance through your iPhone if you wanted to while your away! About the best one I could find that did an awesome job of both home security and home automation was ACN INC who has several of their services listed at https://www.myacn.com/security/automation.html.
The remote management is pretty sweet if I say so myself. From a laptop or phone, or even just through a browser on a friend's ( or work ) computer, you can check in on your house and control it ( like door locks ) from the web interface and smartphone. If you want to impress your boss or even one of your co-workers, set one of these up and see their eyes light up with amazement. You remember that scene in Home Alone where Kevin had all the lights and music on to fool the buglers with cardboard cut outs of Michael Jordan on the train tracks so that it looked like someone was having a party in the house? Yeah, you can pretty much almost do that entirely from your iPhone or laptop while your away on vacation and know your safe. And if the guys still break in, you have your home security alarm go off alerting the police and neighbors that your house has been broken into, protecting your valuables and your piece of mind.
Sending Our Son Off To College
This week has been pretty huge for me. Not only did I help my mother with a ton of work she needed to have done for her home, but we also helped our son get into college today.
Now, this isn't your typical cry a tear and get all sad moment. Even though we sent him off to college, we will see him every day right here at home. Why? Because we signed him to up an online college where he can take classes when and where he wants, at his time. We found out about online colleges when my sister's daughter signed up for one and me and my wife thought it would be perfect for our son since he is a little "shy" about meeting new people and doing things on his own.
We browsed around online for awhile looking at review sites and comparing the colleges until we hit a press release about The College Network and everything they offered. They are located right in Indiana, so even if we need to go up to their office, its only a few hours drive away!
The process was pretty easy and we were signed up and done within a few days time, which was a blessing for me and my wife since our son waited until the last possible minute to decided to go to college.
The flexible time schedule works out great as he is working a job he really likes and wants to be able to keep the same hours and try to get some advancement where he is now. Also, since he is at home, I can help him with any questions and work he has in his studies as he is going into a related field that is very similar to mine.
With all the college choices out there, he could have went anywhere. The only problem is, a lot of the college he wanted to go to where out of state which means big bucks for each semester and big bucks for housing and travel as well. When we finally got him nailed down to going in-state, all the big time colleges here were still mighty expensive and had really high min. requirements just to get in, like ACT scores of 30+.
The money and the testing scores would have been am issue. Also the fact you have to take classes on their time is a huge issue as well. With an online class, you still have to come to some classes online at a certain time, but you can also get the classes recorded with web recording software and you can always review the material later as well which is rather hard with a real class that you attend and can not record ( unless you bring a camera ).
I am proud my son decided to continue his education and I am really happy we can still see him everyday and help him out as needed to help him further his life and education.
Just got a reverse mortgage for my mom
A few days ago, I helped my mother get her reverse mortgage finalized.
I think she was relieved, I know I was. Ever since dad died a few years ago it has been a rough time. Not only did we have to deal with the lose of my father, but he was still the bread winner after all these years. He was bringing in Social Security ( as well as she ), but he also had a pension and worked a full time consulting job as well on the side. His income was a major help for their lifestyle as they lived almost completely debt free so all of their money was used to take vacations and provide for their children and grandchildren.
A few months after his passing, his pension income of course had stopped and so did his social security. He did have a small payout from some life insurance he had with his bank and his consulting gig as well, but that was just enough to bury him and have a small service for his passing. It was no where near enough though for the medical bills and "monthly" bills you still have to pay when you have no debt. Things like utility bills, groceries, property taxes, entertainment, etc.
My mother got by the best she could, with some savings she had and also cutting back on lots of things. Me and my sister also helped out a lot, doing grocery shopping for her and and paying her taxes of her this first year. However, we could tell it was going to be a financial strain on us now as well. That is when we decided to help my mother look into other options that would help my mother.
My sister's husband was in a similar situation where his family had helped their dad get a reverse mortgage that helped bring in income for his dad. It's a tab bit complicated as there are many options to chose from and some legal advice may be needed depending on where you live, but he said it was well worth the effort as his father is able to live on his own and not rely on everyone to help him.
We went thru the process and my mother got one where she would owe no money back ever as long as she lived in the house. The only time she would owe any money is if she sold the home or moved, which is not going to happen since she has lived there for well over 40 years now. At her age, moving is more of a nightmare then a delight and would only stress her out even more.
So now, she gets a monthly paycheck just like dad's pension and work check. It is income she can rely on and can now do for herself which gives her a lot a sense of enjoyment knowing she doesn't have to burden us for our time or money. Me and my sister love to help our mother, but sometimes it feels good giving that power back to her.
Hard to find a quality Toronto Web Design Firm
Our company needs a new website and I was tasked to be the one to find a company that could build us one. This should be simple right?
I thought this would be easy, but I am already into my 5th day of calls and emails and I seem to be mostly hitting dead ends and phone tag with just about everyone I come across. T-dot is a huge town and I expected a lot more quality then this honestly. However, it seems like anyone that can slap together WordPress and a free theme, and then bump themselves to the top of Google can now call themselves a web designer.
Day 1: I fire up good ol' Bing and type in a search for Toronto Web Developers and I call the first 5 people and email the other 5 from the front page. I had to leave a message for the 5 people I called and on the emails, I got 2 auto responder emails. I wait 4 hours and nothing while I keep working on other tasks. The bad thing is, I started this at 11 am and at 3pm I notice I had not been called back yet or even emailed. Once 4:30 rolls around, I decided that I am going to write these companies off my list of possible vendors since if they did call me back now, I would be in "going home" mode and would not want to deal with them.
Day 2: 1 of the vendors called me back, but I told them never mind. If it takes a whole day to get back to me, then your customer service sucks or you are way to busy to handle my project. I then flip open the yellow pages and hunt down web designers and select 7 with the best ad and call them up. I only reach 2 live people while calling and didn't even leave a message for the others. Only 1 person out of the 2 even sounded halfway knowledgeable, so I kept his name down as a possible vendor and told him to call me in a few days with an estimate.
Day 5: Day 2 was a Friday, so this Monday would make day 5 since I started. I fire up Google and do some digging and use the term "Web Design Toronto" and get a few more new selections for my task at hand. I call up 2 and get a busy signal on both companies. I come across 9thsphere.com and decide to call them up and make it my last call since this whole project seemed to be a flop and I get a live person on the other end of the phone when I call, score 1 point for them.
I get transferred over to a rep. and talk to them for about 15 minutes about my site and what I am looking for and if they can send me over some info via email. Before I hung up the phone, I already had documentation in my hand about their company, what they can do for me, what they have done for others, when they can meet with us, and a ball park figure on what projects like ours typically costs.
It's been a headache to find a quality team, but the wait was worth it. I can tell I found an experience team today and my boss should really be impressed with what I found for him.
Exercise Your Education – Be Smart With Student Loan Payments
Let’s face it: College is expensive. You learn a lot of skills in school, limited but not included to decision making, finding good relationships, and living independently. And inadvertently, you’ll probably learn all kinds about debt—how to accrue it, and hopefully how to manage it.
Over 60% of students exit college on their graduation day with a big bill of debt. Similarly, a majority of students are choosing not to think about their loans by deferring them until later. 80% of students of students do not live on a monthly budget, and over half of students worry that they won’t have enough money to pay for college.
The statistics above are not meant to scare you, but will hopefully give you a point of reference as you plan for school. Whether it’s for yourself or your impending college student, here are a few tips to help you when it comes time to pay the loans back.
Try to use your credit card sparingly. Sure, things come up, but it’s best not to abuse the credit system—because it can quickly become a habit. If you do use the card, make sure to pay off the balance monthly so you don’t accrue extra interest. For students still in school, having a part-time job can help you build spending habits and acquire extra cash to help offset your upcoming payments.
Lots of banks and online resources are readily available to help you plan your budget—inside and outside of the classroom. Interactive websites are there to help you save your money as well as how to track your finances with great repayment calculators.
And, much like any other kind of debt, you have to pay it back. For the first six months, though, you offered a grace period. This is because the lender knows that it takes some time to get on your feet and find a job directly out of school. If you find work in a not-for-profit sector, you can have this period extended to 12 months. Please note that every loan might be a little different, so make sure to know your terms before signing up.
If you are looking for a basic student loan payment calculator, check out the FinAid website. There, you will be able to punch in a few fields worth of information and be on your way. Other resources include information on loans, scholarships, military aid, and savings. Be sure to check out their side sections on other types of aid that might be available to you as well as financial aid applications.
Student Loans and American Debt
Student loans have just recently surpassed credit card debt for the fastest growing contributor to American debt. This is a shocking revelation that is spiraling more and more out of control by the semester. In 2010, the average college graduate owed about $25,000 in loans while the parents had about $10,000 dollars more in loans. It is getting to be loans on top of loans for some families, and this simply is not a cycle that will be able to sustain itself. We are going to take a look at what the problem truly is and why is it getting worse.
As a student, it is easier to get a student loan than a five dollar foot long from Subway. The way the legal system is set up there aren’t many options to get out of student loans at all. One of the only ways to do so is through bankruptcy and case is not for the common man. In fact, one thing that people often tend to remember is that there is no statute of limitation on student loans. A statute of limitations is something that is sets in place the maximum amount of time after an event that legal action concerning that event may take place. When you look at this from a student loans perspective, this means that lenders, loan sharks, and creditors can come after you for all of eternity.
With birth rates getting higher and higher, and the system staying the way it is, this is a recipe for disaster.
Contrary to popular belief, students who take out the higher dollar loans have a much lower percentage of students that take out smaller loans. That is probably due to the fact that higher cost institutions wield higher paying jobs. The bad part about it all is that the average amount of student loan debt that was mentioned prior is up 5% from the year prior, and that year is up 5% from the previous year. How long will it truly be before our economy truly implodes? With the Bill of Rights being tampered with like a children’s toy, who’s to say that our properties and liberties aren’t next?
If China were to call the massive debt that America owes it, which is a very real situation mind you, who do you think America would call next? That’s right; they would call you and look to collect. With the way things are going in the world, nobody knows the extent to which they would go to collect.
Barrack Obama’s Plan – Cutting Back On Student Loan Payments
Towards the end of 2011, President Obama announced a new plan to help students (and borrowers alike) cut down on their debt. During this presentation, he revealed a recent report from College Board. The report showed that college/higher education is at an all-time high, becoming more expensive than ever.
From 2010 to 2011, in-state fees and tuition rose a whopping 8.3 percent. This number is based on the price of public colleges (4-year). For private colleges, these rates still rose 4%. During a recession and a failing economy, a rise of any kind is never good.
Obama plans to cut down federal loan payments down from 15% to 10% of a borrowers’ “discretionary income.” This also means dropping the availability of loan forgiveness from 25 years down to 20 years with the ability to reduce some of the interest payments that come with federal loans, among other small perks that could really add up to great savings.
The truth is, it could be a while until Obama’s plan is actually able to take effect. So until then, there are some practical ways to cut down on some potential expenses that you really don’t need. The first is to do your research and really know what kind of loan you are taking out. Taking out federal loans is a great way to keep payments low and manageable. However, private loans can get sticky, because you can essentially become a “slave” to your lender. Private loans do not come with forgiveness options or repayment plans.
Also, make sure you are “in the know” about your grace period. Most loans offer a six-month grade period once you finish school, and some offer a 12 month grace period if you choose to enter a not-for-profit work sector. For Perkins loans, you can get something in the middle, which is closer to 9 months.
Check to see if your lender offers automatic payments—by committing to this monthly plan, some lenders may offer a small interest rate reduction. Another popular option is consolidation, which is essentially refinancing for your student loans. Be careful, though, because even though the interest rate may be lowered (usually an average of the interest rates across all loans), it may extend the time period, adding life to your loans…thus, more interest is paid over time.
If you or your current college student is not sure about what kind of loans you have, you can check out www.nslds.ed.gov to see lenders, payment status and loan amounts. As a litmus test, if the loan is not listed, chances are it is probably a private loan.
A Look Inside Federal Student Loan Payments
It’s often daunting for a college student to think about what lies ahead of them—a fresh career, a new place to live, and that first real taste of “being on your own.” It can be even scarier when you are pulled in for your exit interview—the 30-minute mandatory meeting that most schools will hold to show you how much you’re “on the hook” for. Here’s a little look at the terms that go along with federal student loans.
It should be clear to you that paying loans includes all fees and accrued interest. The rates will vary from case-to-case, so make sure to check with your lender to see what yours will be. You are generally required to pay back loans within ten years, unless your loans are consolidated or you are able to update the terms of your payment plan to state otherwise.
It is possible to be eligible to pay back the loans under an income-sensitive or graduated schedule. You are also able to check into one or more repayment alternatives—this includes refinancing or consolidation of your loans. Don’t forget you can always prepay part of the loans without any sort of penalty. If you have month where you are ahead—maybe you’re a musician who picked up several gigs this month, or a journalist who got extra freelance work—then why not put that extra money towards your loans? Sure, you might not be able to see as many movies as you had planned next month, but chances are you’ll save even more down the road in interest payments.
In most cases, your payment plan will include a six-month grade period. This depends on the specific terms in your promissory note. However, you kind of get an extra month and a half—this is because your first payment is not due until 45 days of the repayment. For Federal Plus loans, the first payment will be due within 60 days of repayment. However, you can defer the loans during in-school periods—for example, if you area graduating senior and one of your loans begins in January and ends in March, you will not need to make a payment until you 60 days after you graduate.
A key to success in paying off your federal loans is to have open communication. If you changes your names, telephone number, address, Social Security Number, graduation date, personal references, employer, or your driver’s license number, make sure to notify your lender with 10 days. This will save you some hardship down the road.
The same goes for payments—if you cannot make a payment, you must let your lender know in due time. Serious consequences apply, so it’s better to be honest in advance.
Postponing Your Sallie Mae Student Loan Payments
It’s a common misconception that—if you can’t find work or quit school—that you don’t have to pay off your student loans. If that’s your mindset, you might want to think again. However, don’t be scared—there are ways to offset your costs and help you buy time. Let’s look at Sallie Mae—the most prominent private loan lender—and how, if you’re in a tough situation, you can take advantage of some of their resources.
There are some easy ways to reduce your monthly costs. How you live your day-to-day life can make a big difference. For starters, think about planning a new budget. A website called “College Answer” offers a free “Monthly Budget Calculator” so you can see exactly what’s coming in and what’s going out. Get the solid facts so you can make solid changes. Check about having smaller loan payments, and changing your payment plan. You can link your Sallie Mae loan account with your Sallie Mae “Upromise” account help off your loans while getting great rewards. Try to keep your debt on the floor level and be smart with your credit card. If you have cash or a debit card, use that whenever it’s possible.
And back to daily habits—try to cut out the impulse buy. For the movie lover, think about attending the matinee show for a cheaper price (and smaller crowd) or rent them when available. Check out coupons before you hit the store, and try to buy clothes you can machine wash…because dry cleaning charges can get expensive.
If you’re a college student, free entertainment is everywhere. Consider visiting museums, parks, school-sponsored events or outdoor shows. Although they might not be as exciting as the next big arena concert tour, you’ll still get the fun time out with your friends.
You can always apply for deferment with Sallie Mae, for instances such as unemployment, internship, military deployment, and other similar situations. Eligible loans include Stafford, Parent PLUS, Graduate PLUS, and Federal consolidation. Forbearance is another option, which can help you avoid falling into default. It will let you reduce or suspend your loan payments under certain, specific circumstances for up to one year. You will receive statements (quarterly) with the option to pay the interest, but you can always deny. Be advised that, if you do deny, the unpaid interest will be capitalized.