billeater.com - money saving tips and more.

Planning on starting a business soon? One of the first decisions you'll need to make is what type of entity your business is going to be. The most common choices are to form the company as an LLC, S-Corporation, C-Corporation, or as a Sole Proprietor.

Each one has advantages and disadvantages, and depending on the type of business you are starting, you could save yourself a significant amount of money by choosing the right one for your needs. Each entity varies, with some of them excelling at simplicity and flexibility, others with certain tax or legal benefits.  Other items of interest, like state filing costs, and protection of personal assets also vary across the different choices.

The chart below outlines some of the differences between an LLC, C-Corp, S-Corp, and a Sole Proprietorship:Read the rest...

Credit cards have recently gone up in terms of the interest rates on them. Recent news, however, as reported on the IndexCreditCards.com Web site, show that they are now higher than ever. The overall credit card rate, according to the Web site, says that it is now at 14.17%. This is, of course, more than what thinking people want to pay, and there is a way for you to avoid it.Read the rest...

Does it seem like every time you go grocery shopping your bill gets higher and higher? Does it seem like every time you go shopping, dutifully with budgeted list in hand, that you still come out spending more than you expected? Well, it's really not all in your head. Food prices are increasing and budgeting may not be enough to cut down your grocery bill.

The fact is that food manufacturers and retailers are corporations looking to make money, and they have developed quite a few tricks to get consumers to spend more. Here are 5 tips you can use to be a truly savvy shopper and save some of your hard earned cash:Read the rest...

Up to 60% of taxable property in the U.S. is assessed at a value that's higher than it should be, according to the National Taxpayer's Union, an advocacy group from Washington, D.C. with a goal to lower taxes. And that means the property is taxed at a higher rate as well

Additionally, the American Homeowner's Association references a Consumer's Report article that up to 40% of property appraisals have clerical errors in them.

So what can do about it if your property value has been overestimated, resulting in higher property taxes? You can appeal! Less than half of homeowners ever try to appeal. Many homeowners don't fight back because they either don't understand the process, or feel that the amount of research and paperwork won't be worth the time.

However, the process isn't really all that complicated once you break it down into steps:Read the rest...

The cost of life insurance has dropped in a huge way over the last 20 years. Increased competition, and the power of the web bringing information straight to consumers, among other factors, have driven this dramatic change in costs.Read the rest...

Private mortgage insurance is usually required by your lender if your mortgage amount totals more than 80 percent of the fair market value (FMV) of your home.

The simplest solution is to pay 20% down, right? Well, it is a simple answer, but often an unreasonable one for the average homebuyer. However, there other options available to you. One common option is an "80-10-10" loan, available from some lenders. Lenders are open to this because they don't profit much from the PMI payment, they only use the dollars to protect themselves from the risk of you defaulting.

Therefore, many lenders have no issues presenting alternatives that allow for the elimination of PMI. If you have the money for a ten percent down payment, 80% of your home's value can be placed in the first mortgage, allowing you to skip the PMI payment. The remaining ten percent comes from a second mortgage, usually financed from another lender. This second mortgage will be at a slightly higher interest rate, but if the terms are reasonable, you will save money.

This is the option I've used myself, for a home that was purchased in December of 2007.  So, don't let anyone tell you they don't exist...just find the right mortgage broker.   See our related article, "what is an 80-10-10 mortgage loan?"

A less common solution, but one that might save even more...Read the rest...

Credit card companies raising rates...

In these tough economic times, the big credit card issuers like Bank of America, HSBC, Chase, Citi, Capital One, and Discover, are all under tremendous pressure to bring in new revenue, and one of the ways they are doing that is to increase interest rates for their existing customers.

If your credit card company chooses to increase your interest rate, they do provide you a period during which you can reject the higher interest rate. If you do choose to opt out, they will probably close the account, but you will be able to repay the remaining balance at the existing interest rate.  You do have to act quickly, as the opt-out period is quite short...Read the rest...

WebEx™ is a great service, and you've probably either hosted a session with it yourself, or used it as a meeting participant. However, even the lowest cost plans are $39 to $59 monthly, or 33 cents a minute per meeting participant. The most common use of this kind of software is to share a presentation with a number of remote participants, with the meeting leader controlling the presentation.Read the rest...

Free money for bills? Looking for information on government grants or other sources of free money? If you found this article by searching Google, you are probably hoping to hear the pitch from a gentleman named Matthew Lesko. He's famous for selling a book titled "Free Money to Pay Your Bills", which claims there are "billions in hidden money" to be found.Read the rest...

Trying to raise your FICO credit score is like getting into good physical shape...it takes a bit of time and you won't see results immediately. But, a bit of time and work will pay off.   

An excellent FICO credit score will allow you to get the lowest interest rates on loans of all types, including auto loans and mortages.  And, likewise, a poor or low FICO credit score can cause you to either pay a high interest rate, or maybe not even qualify for a loan at all.

While there's no quick fix to raise your score, there are steps you can take that will improve your FICO score...we've listed 14 of the top tips here, in several categories:Read the rest...

Top Ways to Improve your FICO credit Score: 14 Tips