After two weeks of very cold weather (for us), the temperatures have returned to “normal”.  It’s in the mid-50’s and perfect weather for doing a little yard work.

Back in April, I purchased a lawn mower.  I really, really like my lawn mower, and since it has mulching blades, I use it to mulch pine straw and leaves in the yard.  Unfortunately, when I opened my shed this morning, the left-rear tire of the lawn mower was flat.

I pumped the tire back up and pored some soapy water on it.  Noting the area where the soapy water “bubbled-up”, I located a small nail that was causing the tire to leak.  I removed the nail with a pair of pliers and then repaired the leak with a  simple tire plug.  The tire is holding pressure – and for less than 5 bucks (the cost of the tire plug repair kit) – it’s ready for some mowing.

While I was at it, I checked the owners manual, to see when the next oil change was scheduled.  Since I had the time – and the weather is so nice – I went ahead and changed the mower’s oil, a couple of hours ahead of schedule.

I also checked the air filter and inspected all of the mower’s nuts and bolts.  We had a relatively dry summer, so the mower didn’t get a lot of use.  I used it a couple of times in the fall, to mulch up leaves, and I’ll use it later today, just to give the engine some time to run and clean up the few leaves that are in the front yard.

Oh, I almost forgot.  I also had to put a charge on the battery.  Several years ago, I got a battery charger for Christmas.  It’s one of my all-time-favorite received-gifts.  I use it for the lawn mower – or my old truck – when their batteries need a boost.

One final note – I was able to quickly locate the owner’s manual for the mower because I keep all of my manuals in my handy-dandy Owners Manuals Binder.  Click to read how this idea can help you keep track of all of your owners manuals.

If we are going to save money – the money that we’ve worked so hard to make – it’s important to take care of the things that we buy.  It pays to spend a little more time (and a little more money) to keep something running, rather than a whole lot of time (and whole lot of money) trying to replace it.

Follow me via Twitter

Lawn Mower Maintenance

No Credit Needed reader, James, uses the You Need A Budget budgeting system to manage his household finances.  He recently sent me an awesome email and I’m happy to share it with you:

I don’t believe that I have ever taken the opportunity to thank you for mentioning YNAB on your blog. For it was here at No Credit Needed that I first heard of YNAB.  At that time my wife was pregnant with our first child and we were trying to decide if she was going to return to work or become a stay at home Mom.

To make a VERY long story short, YNAB afforded us the opportunity to not only allow her to stay at home with our child full time, but also allowed us to become completely debt free and financially worry free.  So while the folks at YNAB deserve tons of credit, it is really you who deserves the most. I can’t thank you enough.

Isn’t that awesome?  I’m super-proud of and for James and his wife, and happy to see that You Need A Budget is working for them.  My wife and I have been using YNAB to manage our finances for several years.  YNAB just announced version 3.0 and its pretty awesome.

James, thanks for letting me share your email – and congratulations on the new baby!  New babies rock!

You Need A Budget is my budgeting tool of choice.  I’ve been a YNAB affiliate for several years and I really dig their product.

Follow me via Twitter

You Need A Budget – Success Story From NCN Reader James – YNAB

As I mentioned in the previous post, I’m going through my financial documents and doing a little financial “spring” cleaning.  Granted, it’s the middle of winter, but it’s a great time to get my things in order.

Taking a break for a bit of lunch, I surfed over to Twitter (click to follow yours truly) and noticed that a couple of my fellow pf bloggers are also in the mood to organize and de-clutter.

Kevin, over at No Debt Plan has written a very cool looking post about How To Prepare Your Finances For A New Year.  My favorite portion of the article, Kevin suggests:

Hopefully you are already living on a budget… The new year is a great time to sit down with your family and review everything.  (Emphasis mine)

Mrs. Micah over at Finance for a Freelance Life has an excellent post, filled with spreadsheets and templates for organizing financial documents and information.  In fact, I just downloaded and printed out a copy of her Financial Life Worksheet, about which Mrs. Micah wrote:

In essence, it is a long document with places for all kinds of financial information on a wide variety of topics.

For those who have ADD or ADHD, check out John’s work over at Adult ADD and Money.  He’s created a 6 chapter Adult ADD/ADHD Money Guide.  Even for folks who do not have ADD, this is a smartly-designed guide.

Well, that’s it.  Time to head back to work.  I hope you guys take some time over the next few days to do a little “spring” cleaning.  Once all those files are nice, neat, and organized, you’ll feel super-awesome.  Rock on!

Follow me via Twitter

Financial “Spring” Cleaning Is In The Air

For those who are ready to get our of debt, here’s a list of debt reduction resources -

Debt Snowball Calculator over at What’s The Cost – This free online tool will help you quickly create a debt repayment plan.

iPhone and iPod Touch Debt Snowball Application – Created by Blunt Money, this application, which sells for $2.99, will help you create a debt snowball using your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Debt Reduction Guide – I created this step-by-step guide to show folks how my wife and I got out of debt.  The guide is available online – and you can also download a copy of it as a free E-Book.  It’s easy to read and free to share.

When Will You Be Debt Free? – This calculator from CNN Money is very simple to use.  Simply enter your current credit card balances, your interest rates, your minimum payments, and the date you want to be debt free.  The calculator will calculate how much extra you need to pay, each month, to achieve your goal.

Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice Calc Debt Reduction Calculator – If you prefer to work with Word or Open Office, here’s a free debt reduction spreadsheet.

Mortgage Payoff Calculator – I love all of the calculators over at DinkyTown.  This one will help you calculate the impact of extra mortgage payments.

Calculating Average Daily Balance Spreadsheet – I created this spreadsheet so that I could calculate how the timing of payments determines the amount of interest charged.  The spreadsheet works Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice Calc.

These are just a few of the debt reduction resources I’ve found (or created) over the past few years.  If you have a resource that you think would be of value to others, leave a comment and let me know about it.  (Obvious spam comments will be deleted.)

Follow me via Twitter

Debt Reduction Tools And Calculators

Two weeks ago, I had a procedure to remove a kidney stone.  After the procedure, my doctor gave me a prescription for an antibiotic.  I had my local pharmacist fill the prescription.  I am feeling much better and I am happy to be kidney stone-free.

The antibiotic that I was prescribed is covered by our health care plan and was available at our local pharmacy for a discounted price.  While I mentioned my prescription to a friend, he told me that he gets most of his prescriptions through Walmart’s discounted prescription program.  Interested, I did some searching, and found that Walmart, Target, and Kroger all offer discounted prescriptions.

Click here to view details about Walmart’s Discount Prescription Program.

Click here to view details about Kroger’s Discount Prescription Program.

Click here to view details about Target’s Discount Prescription Program.

My prescription was for the generic or brand name.  The above mentioned discounts apply to generic prescriptions.  I always ask my doctor if it is cool to substitute a generic for a brand name, and then I follow his / her advice.

Follow me via Twitter

$4 And $10 Generic Prescriptions From Walmart, Kroger, and Target

I am a big fan of Twitter.  It’s amazing how quickly information can flow, from tweet to tweet, and person to person.

If you haven’t done so, feel free to follow my tweets, and say Hello.

Today’s Twitter Finds And Friends -

Finds -

Do you like bean bag chairs?  Do you like personal finance forums?  Then, you’ll love Moolanomy’s current giveaway.  Register for the new Moolanomy Answers and you could win a Sumo Bean Bag Chair.  (Tweeted by @moolanomy)

We recently spent an entire week removing clutter from our home and organizing our stuff.  I’m totally digging Being Frugal’s post – Why The Minimalist Lifestyle Appeals To Me.  (Tweeted by @Zen_Habits)

Friends -

I am a big fan of @flexo from Consumerism Commentary.

I really enjoy @SunFinancial from The Sun’s Financial Diary.

I learn a lot from @mymoneyblog from My Money Blog.

Follow me via Twitter

Twitter Finds And Friends

When I started No Credit Needed four years ago, there were only a handful of personal finance blogs.  Now, there are thousands of them, with hundreds that update their content on a daily basis.  Keeping up with all of the available information can be daunting, so I’ve gathered a few links that make it easier to connect to the information you need – and the people who write about personal finance.

Social Bookmarking Sites – Connect With Content

Tip’d – Tip’s is an online community, designed specifically for sharing financial tips, ideas, and and news.  Users can submit and vote for articles related to personal finance, real estate, and stocks.  You can click here to view my Tip’d profile.  Tip’d has been around for a short time, but it is quickly becoming a go-to resource.

Digg – Digg users know that it’s a great place to find technology news, but it’s also a great resource for financial news.  I have bookmarked the Digg Business and Finance section, so that I can click straight through to the information that interests me.  This is where most of the information related to personal finances can be found.  I recently created a new Digg profile, specifically for personal finance-related links.

PFBlogs – PFBlogs is a blog aggregator.  The freshest content from around the personal finance blogging community can always be found at PFBlogs.  The site breaks content down into three major categories – real estate, personal finance, and investing.  If you are looking for the very latest from the personal finance blogging community, PFBlogs is the place to look.

PFBuzz – PFBuzz is a social bookmarking site designed for users to share interesting articles about personal finance.  You can click here to view my PFBuzz profile.  PFBuzz allows users to share articles and vote to promote their favorite articles.

Twitter – Connect With Writers

Twitter – Twitter is a social networking, micro-blogging site where you can connect with, and share resources with, your favorite personal finance writers.  In some ways still in its infancy, Twitter has caught on with major media outlets, and is becoming a major source for breaking news and information.  Twitter allows for the rapid sharing of information, opinion, and resource links.  Please click here to follow me on Twitter.  I’d love to hear from you – and if you are new to Twitter – you will be amazed at how quickly you learn to love it.

A couple of my fellow personal finance bloggers have put together lists of ‘must-follow’ personal finance Twitter users.

Bible Money Matters has a list of ten people all personal finance junkies should follow on Twitter.  I’m humbled to note that I made his list.  Click to follow @MoneyMatters

Mighty Bargain Hunter has a massive list of Twitter users who write about personal finance.  Follow these people, and comb through the people they follow, and you’ll soon have your own list of influential personal finance writers.  Click to follow @MBHunter.

Click here to view the people that I follow and here to view the people that follow me.

(Thanks to PoorerThanYou for helping correct the above links.)

StumbleUpon – Connect With Surfers

StumbleUpon – StumbleUpon is an amazing tool that allows users to share links and surf friends’ favorites.  This tool helps users discover content that they might otherwise miss.  Click here to view my StumbleUpon profile… and if you are a current user, feel free to stumble this very post!

Forums – Connect With Readers

If you have ideas of your own that you would like to share, or questions to ask, the personal finance community has some wonderful forums.

Get Rich Slowly Forums – My favorite feature on the GRS Forums is the section allotted to Fiscal Fitness Journals.

Bargaineering Forums – A relatively new place for connecting with other readers, this forumn has sections dedicated to personal finance, frugality, investing, and for those interested in their own personal finance blogs, blogging.

Wise Bread Forums – The Wise Bread Forums go beyond personal finance, and branch out into discussions about personal development and life-hacks.

Feeds – Direct Connection

Social media sites are great.  They’re wonderful tools for connecting you with fresh content, interesting writers, and your fellow readers.  However, there are times when you want a direct connection to content.  You want it delivered directly to your desktop or your email.  That’s where feeds come in.

I’ll bet that your favorite personal finance writer offers a blog feed.  This is a direct link to a sites most recently published articles.  All you need to read a blog feed is a feed reader – like the free Google Reader.  Once you have signed up for a free Google Reader account, visit the site of your choice and click “subscribe to feed” or “subscribe via rss” button.  Your browser will ask you how you want to subscribe, and you can then choose your preferred feed reader.  You can see an example of this type of button on the top right-hand side of this page.  Click it, or here, to subscribe to the No Credit Needed rss feed.

Alternatively, if you prefer a daily email of a sites content, many of your favorite writers will have a “subscribe by email” or “subscribe vis email” option.  You can see an example of this type of button on the top of this page.  Click it, or here, to subscribe to No Credit Needed via daily email.  I have subscribed to several of my favorite sites via their daily email option, and this is my preferred option for keeping up with their content.

Blogrolls – Connect With Links

If you look at the bottom right-hand side of this page, you will see a long list of links, labeled PF Blogs.  These are just a few of my favorite personal finance blogs.  When reading your favorite sites, it’s always a good idea to check out that site’s blogroll.  I have found some very interesting sites by simply checking out the sites to which a particular author has linked.  This method is a little old-school (say 2005!), but it still works.

Follow me via Twitter

Social Media Sites That Help You Manage Your Finances

U.S. News has launched a new personal finance section, entitled Your Money.  Kimberly from the U.S. News Alpha Consumer blog announced the launch of the new section Tuesday, and I’ve just spent some time checking it out.

On the left-hand side of the page, the site lists the U.S. News money-related blogs.  On the right-hand side, users can click to view money-related videos and click to listen to the Alpha Consumer podcast (an online radio program).  The middle of the page features, among other things, comments from readers and a personal finance poll.

I really like the direction that U.S. News is headed – and it will be interesting to see how the site evolves, over time.  As a blogger, I’m always impressed when old media embraces new media, and that certainly looks like what U.S. News is doing with this new section of its site.

Follow me via Twitter

U.S. News Launches Your Money Personal Finance Page

President Obama announced the implementation of  the  Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan, which will allow some homeowners to refinance mortgages via a streamlined process.  The plan is also known as the Making Home Affordable program, and it will allow between 7 and 9 million people to refinance their mortgages, at today’s lower rates, and provides incentives for lenders and those home buyers who refinance their loans.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Obama Administration have announced the details of the new Making Home Affordable program.  According to the Department of the Treasury website -

Making Home Affordable will offer assistance to as many as 7 to 9 million homeowners, making their mortgages more affordable and helping to prevent the destructive impact of foreclosures on families, communities and the national economy.

The Home Affordable Refinance program will be available to 4 to 5 million homeowners who have a solid payment history on an existing mortgage owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac…  Under the Home Affordable Refinance program, many of them will now be eligible to refinance their loan to take advantage of today’s lower mortgage rates or to refinance an adjustable-rate mortgage into a more stable mortgage, such as a 30-year fixed rate loan.

The Home Affordable Modification program will help up to 3 to 4 million at-risk homeowners avoid foreclosure by reducing monthly mortgage payments.

The Department of the Treasury has created a dedicated website – FinancialStability.gov – with more information about the Making Home Affordable program.  If you think that you might qualify for this government program, visit the FinancialStability.gov website, and use the provided self-assessment tool.  Also, you might want to read this summary of guidelines, just to get an idea of what some of the qualifications for loan modification are.

If you are struggling to make your mortgage payments, you might want to take a look and see if you could benefit from this program.  Also, as the FinancialStability.gov site reminds, please be aware of foreclosure rescue scams.  Information about the Making Home Affordable program is free, as is counseling from a HUD-approved housing counselor.

I would be interested to know if any of you are thinking about utilizing this program.

Follow me via Twitter

Details About The New Making Home Affordable Program

As I mentioned a few months ago, I recently sent a letter to Upromise, requesting a withdrawal from my account. I am proud to say, I received a check from Upromise last week, and I’ve now deposited that check into my savings account.

I have been using Upromise to earn reward dollars for more than five years.  Instead of investing my reward dollars with a 529 Plan, I withdraw my reward dollars, once a year, and deposit them into my savings account. Please click here to read more about how to request a withdrawal from Upromise, and here to sign up while UPromise is giving away 500,000 for College.

For someone like me, who doesn’t use credit cards, Upromise is a great way to earn a few extra dollars.  I like the fact that I can register my grocery cards (those little things that hang on my keychain), scan those cards at the grocery store, and even when I pay cash, I’m still earning rewards.

Follow me via Twitter

My Check From Upromise Arrived