A reader named Fred wrote in with this important question:
Can I get a mortgage if I do not have a job? There are so many factors to consider. Would you be kind enough as to give me some pointers as what to look for or avoid? Please help me. Thank you.
Fred, my short answer is not likely. The long answer is maybe, because getting a loan depends on many factors. Lenders look at your whole financial picture when deciding if you are a good risk, i.e., someone who is likely to pay them back.
Maybe you are a trust fund baby and has never worked a day but still has plenty of moolah to make good on a loan. If you are a regular working Joe, however, your chances are not as good because job stability is a factor lenders consider, so not having a job hurts you. Do you have any evidence of how soon you will get a job and how stable that job will be? How do you plan to pay your mortgage with no income?
Ultimately, the best way to answer your question is to prepare a loan application and submit it.
Start by figuring out what you can afford to buy using this calculator from the American Bankers Association, which recently shared tips to get a loan in this tight market.
Next, gather and organize your information, including pay stubs, tax returns, financial statements, and paperwork showing your monthly payments on your car, credit card, and student loans. Lenders will want recent statements going back three to 24 months.
To strength your application, include any additional information that proves additional income or wealth. Depending on your credit score and other factors, lenders will want to see that you have many months of PITI (principal, interest, taxes and insurance) on hand. Here’s a PITI calculator.
ABA also recommends you use a trusted institution, pay down other loans, read the fine print, and take into account the myriad costs of home ownership like insurance, maintenance, closing costs and taxes.
Good luck!
Junk mail and overzealous catalog companies create a lot of waste and tempt you to buy things you didn’t know you needed. Here are a few free and paid ways to opt out.
CatalogChoice.org is a free service that lets you chose which catalogs you want to receive. More than 1 million people and 1,000 merchants use CatalogChoice. Read more about how the site works.
ProQuo promises to reduce your junk mail by 90 percent by removing your name from marketing lists. The service costs $18 a year. ProQuo says their members have less clutter in their lives, are safer from identity theft and help the environment.
DMAChoice.org helps you cut back on credit card offers, catalogs, magazine offers, and other mail like donation requests, bank offers, and retail promotions. The free site connects you with company websites or customer service departments so you can opt out. Read more about DMAChoice.
OptOutPreScreen.com allows you to remove your name from lists used by the main credit card agencies, TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. This means you will not receive credit card offers for five years. The site says you can also opt-out permanently or opt-in.
DirectMail.com is another free opt-out or opt-in service for direct mail. They say they are the closest thing to a national Do Not Mail List (which doesn’t exist – yet). DirectMail.com is not a government-run agency and also sells mailing lists.
Related:
Thanks, PJ!
I did a story on Christiane Jory, author of the 99 Cents Only Stores Cookbook, back when I worked at the LA Daily News. Soon after, Christiane went on the Today Show.
Now she’s making cooking videos! Here’s one she did using three ingredients from the 99 Cents Only Stores, which she is not actually affiliated with. Her result looks quite tasty! Mini-pumpkin pies!
Christiane is fabulous on camera. Don’t you think she deserves her own cooking show?
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCL36ASVAzc
I’m considering going on a spending moratorium for one month, which means not buying anything except groceries and gasoline. The experiment would push me to find creative ways to get around purchasing things. What can I reuse or repurpose? What can I do without? I think forcing myself to not spend anything would increase the perceived value of certain items and decrease the value of others.
But there are three major loopholes that make me wonder if this experiment is worth conducting.
First, by turning on the lights I am buying electricity. By cooking I am buying gas. I’m not willing to give up electricity and gas for a month. Same thing goes for my rent, cell phone, and a few other built-in expenses. So really what I am proposing is going on a discretionary spending moratorium. I’ve done a good job paring down my discretionary spending with my forward-looking budget system. Is it useful to cut back further?
Second, there are ways to get things without spending, like when Hubby and I go to our weekly dance class. Afterward he takes me out for dinner, which I enjoy immensely. I’m not paying for the meal per se because he is using his own discretionary dollars, but the money comes out of our joint checking account. If I go on a spending moratorium, am I obligated to say no to items purchased on my behalf?
Lastly, the duration of the moratorium – one month – is short enough that I can basically hold my breath on a lot of purchases. Is one month long enough to really feel the effect of a spending moratorium? Or am I just practicing delayed gratification?
Well folks, I’ve practically talked myself out of this experiment. But before I make my final decision I’d really love your input.
[poll id="27"]
Here’s another option altogether. YOU go on a one-month spending moratorium and submit a blog post about the experience. The fame! The glory! The saved money! Email me if you are interested.
Borders has a slew of in-store coupons for members, including a free 12-ounce drink when you buy a pastry, $2 off any magazine, and $5 off a CD or DVD. Print the coupons here. Good through June 18, 2009.
Get $5 off a $25 purchase at Rite Aid with a coupon from Coupons.com (limited number available).
Get buy one get one free coupons for Pollo Loco and Taco Bueno at Coupon Cravings
Is it back to school season already? Not quite, but there are some great supplies at Staples for $1 each.
Please add links to other worthy coupons.
Thanks, Tina!
One of my favorite online TV “channels” is SpendLessTV, which currently has a great video interview with Pam Ruch, an editor at Organic Gardening Magazine. Pam shares a few tips on starting your own organic garden that I found helpful.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnQHZvsHUbU
Thanks, Hubby!
It’s easy to fall off the coupon clipping wagon. Heck! It’s hard to GET ON the coupon clipping wagon. Here are a few ways to make it a cinch.
- Turn coupon clipping into a game. Appeal to your competitive side by seeing who in your household or pool of frugal friends can save the most on their groceries.
- Set a time limit. Part of the reason I put off coupon clipping is that in my mind the task will take forEVER. Instead, set the kitchen time for 15 minutes and madly tear through the newspaper coupon inserts and websites to print coupons. I find it easier to focus and get started on a task if I have a firm deadline.
- Create a reward. Tell yourself that if you can save $10 on groceries by using coupons, you’ll get to spend $5 on a fancy latte or frozen yogurt. Save the other half. Sets appropriate dollar amounts for your situation and chose a reward that motivates you.
- Clip with buddies. Sounds ridiculously domestic, right? But I like to think of it as harnessing girl power. Gather your frugal friends for a coupon clipping gab-fest! Set out a dish for coupons folks want to swap.
How else do you motivate yourself to clip coupons?
UPDATE: One reader said she gets her kids involved! Whatever money she saves from the coupons they clip go toward whatever they are saving for (currently, a Nintendo Wii). Here’s her video about it.
Related:
Paying for coupons: two reader recommended web sites
My 20 best tips for saving at the grocery store
Are delivered groceries a deal?
This is a guest post by Louisa Maccan-Graves, who is a celebrity body parts model and writer of HollywoodBeautySecrets.com.
Everyone enjoys a beauty bargain! Even I use kitchen ingredients and budget-friendly products to keep my skin looking “picture perfect.” One of my beauty secrets is using coffee grounds, left from my morning cup of organic coffee. Coffee grounds keep my complexion looking more youthful and flawless. A cup of coffee contains well over 300 antioxidants and 100’s of polyphenols that can help provide many health benefits. But did you know that the grounds left from making your morning brew can help improve and protect your skin from aging?
So don’t throw away those precious “skin repair & rejuvenating” grounds. Use them to exfoliate skin, help prevent and diminish fine lines and wrinkles, balance the pH of skin (great for those with acne or blemish-prone skin), pull toxins from the skin, as a natural astringent, and help moisturize the skin.
Here’s my two-part Café Latte Facial Scrub & Mask Recipe:
STEP I:
Slightly warm the grounds in the microwave. Before bed, cleanse face. Then place a piece of newspaper or paper towel in the sink basin to prevent grounds from going down your drain. While standing over the basin, grab a handful of grounds and gently rub them in a circular motion on face and neck for about 60 seconds. Much of the grinds will fall off, but the antioxidant-rich residue will work it age-proofing magic when left on for10 to 15 minutes. Remove soiled newspaper from basin and rinse face with tepid water.
STEP II:
Pour 1 cup of milk in a large glass bowl and warm in the microwave for 30 seconds, until slightly warm. Use fat-free, 2% or whole milk – whatever is on hand. Wash your face with the warm milk to remove the residue. The lactic acid in the milk also helps further exfoliate and brighten skin tone. Then rinse face with warm water. If any brown residue is still remaining, dip a clean face cloth into the milk and rub face in a gentle circular motion until all residue is removed. Then rinse with tepid water.
Afterward, apply an antioxidant or peptide-rich moisturizer. And don’t forget to apply sun screen over moisturizer in the morning. Use a 30 SPF sun screen that contains either Parsol®, Titanium Dioxide or Zinc Oxide for best protection.
NOTE: Place the cooled grounds in a zip lock bag, or clean jar and leave in the fridge until you’re ready to use them. Be sure to discard any unused grounds after 48 hours. For recipes: Warm the used grounds in the microwave for 10 seconds to 15 seconds and check temperature before use.
UPDATE: A reader says many Starbucks give away their grounds, which you can also use in your garden. Just ask!
For more recipes, check out HollywoodBeautySecrets.com and Louisa’s book, Hollywood Beauty Secrets: Remedies to the Rescue.
Not to be outdone by Bank of America’s museum freebies, Target is sponsoring dozens of free and discounted events at museums across 17 states, including AZ, CA, CO, D.C., FL, IL, IN, MA, MI, MN, MO, NY, NC, OH, PA, TX, and WA. Check out the list here.
For a snazzy list of Target freebie programs in Los Angeles, check out this page.
Thanks, Karin!
EBay is old news. What’s new is penny auction sites. “Swoopo and GoBid are two of several new ‘penny auction’ sites where consumers can bid for flat-screen TVs, laptops, cameras and game consoles as well as jewelry and gift cards for prices that start as low as a penny,” says a story in the San Jose Mercury News.
The catch is there is a fee to place each bid, between $.60 and $1. Users buy packs of 10 to 700 bids at a time, then can dole them out on items they crave. The site highlights auctions that are in their final seconds.
But here’s another catch. On Swoopo, users can pre-program bids using a “BidButler,” which waits until the final 10 seconds to place your bid. But every time a bid is placed, the time left on the auction jumps up. So it can be quite exciting – and frustrating – to watch the an item’s price continue to climb as the countdown actually counts up.
Critics of penny auction sites say it is as addicting as gambling and dub them an “evil eBay.”
But…I may try it, just once. I swear I’ll be able to quit!
On the other hand, if paying $.34 for a $150 Nikon Coolpix digital camera, or snagging a $699 Apple 16GB iPhone for $8.06 is going to get you addicted, fogettaboutit!
Thanks, Mark!
I’m so pleased to introduce BargainBabe.com’s first intern, Alex! He is a bright young student from UC Davis who is working at BargainBabe.com this summer. He’ll be writing blog posts, creating promotional materials, and in general helping me help you save money!
Please join me in welcoming Alex into the BargainBabe.com community!
~Julia
aka Bargain Babe
This is a post by Alex, BargainBabe.com’s intern.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every couple was blessed with similar tastes and appetites? Even if you are, sometimes the game changes when it’s time to cut back. Maybe they just can’t live without those pudding cups, but money is tight. Nobody wants to have an argument that ends with “It’s me or the pudding!”
So here’s a few tips on how to manage a new – reduced – food budget with your loved ones.
1. Cook Together.
Cooking your meals instead of buying frozen foods will save you money first off, but cooking together can cut down on the extra time and stress that can stem from cooking alone. If you’re not the perfect chef, just take a back seat and help with the tedious stuff. So long as you avoid cutting yourself, your enthusiasm will be appreciated.
2. Track the Trash.
This gets easier or harder to do depending on how full you keep your fridge. Keep a notepad on your refrigerator and write down expiration dates for the milk, bread, etc. if it helps. Food thrown out is money wasted.
3. Find some common ground.
No matter what your favorite meals are, you can find some common ingredients with your housemates. The more food you can share, the more you can buy in bulk. If those Pizza Pockets are a solo experience, consider a new adventure.
4. Stretch the Jaw.
Some people love trying new foods. If you’re especially concerned with uncharted territory (I promise tofu is relatively flavorless), make the suggestion to try a new beer/wine as well.
B of A’s free museum program has returned! The first full weekend a month is free to folks who have a Bank of America card through the Museums on Us program.
More than 100 museums across 27 states are participating. From the Museums on Us page, click on “Locate a museum near you” to find which ones are participating near you.
Free weekends include July 4-5, August 1-2, September 5-6, October 3-4, November 7-8, December 5-6, January 2-3. Note, some museums are free just one day a month.
To get free admission you need a picture ID and any Bank of America card.
Here are a few compelling stories I’ve read in the past week:
Trent at The Simple Dollar reveals his email trick for getting deals. A tad unethical? You be the judge.
I’m going to Harvard. Will you sponsor me? NY Times story on alums who set up Harvard-only loan system. (Don’t let my eye rolling throw you off. I feel bad for poor Harvard students, I really do.)
Bargaineering weighs the pros and cons of making your own dog food, pictured above.
Free Money Finance has a financial stress test for you to take. (Guess what he scored? 100!)
Don’t have the cash to finance your personal growth? Recession Wire shares free education resources. (My addition: iTunes U!)
Frugal Dad asks if it is possible to save too much when you are young.
Gas prices are spiking, USA Today says. Yeah, I noticed when I filled up for $3.19/gal yesterday. $*%&#!
WalletPop has Father’s Day freebies!
Thanks, Tina!
Well folks, I’ve been outdone. No longer are my $5 Lincoln Lunches, named for the dead man on that bill, the gold standard for cheap eats.
Introducing…3 Buck Bites. The idea behind the site is as tasty as its appearance. Eaters share pictures of their cheap finds, write 60-100 words on the grub, and share details about where others can find the meal. If only I’d thought of that!
The pictures are truly one of the best things about 3 Buck Bites. If you are nearing lunchtime, consider yourself warned. You WILL lick your computer screen clean.
The featured “bites” are constantly changing and come from around the country: Philly, Orlando, Minneapolis. Here is the start of a review of a $3.95 cup (items up to $3.99 are allowed) of Banana Chocolate Chip Gelato from Twelve Pine in Peterborough, NH.
“Bananas make for such delicious dessert bed mates – banana sundaes, banana bread, bananas foster, and banana gelato, one of the more traditional flavors of this Italian sweet,” the reviewer writes. “To me, gelato versus ice cream is like cream versus milk in coffee – if there is no gelato around, I will have ice cream, but will always prefer the former.”
My stomach is already grumbling. Check out 3BuckBites for more!
