Frugal Francis

With gas prices constantly on the rise, it isn’t to anyone’s surprise that car owners are trying anything to get the most mileage out of their fuel. But just because your gas tank is quick to dry up doesn’t mean your bank account has to too. Make sure your wallet doesn’t run on fumes with these five need-to-know tips on how to save money on gas.
1. Commute and Carpool
The best way to save on gas money is share the gas expenses with others. If you stick to a routine schedule every week, try arranging a carpool where school and officemates can all benefit from a shared ride. Commuting is also another handy option. Especially on days where the roads get clogged up, subways and trains become a cheaper, faster way of getting where you need to go.
2. Drive Smart, Not Fast
If you really have to drive, make sure that you drive smart, not fast. Pushing the pedal to the metal isn’t always the efficient way to get where you’re going. Acceleration burns up gas, so as soon as you get to comfortable speed, maintain it. On the flipside, avoiding hard stops will keep you from burning gas when you need to speed up again.
3. Buy Where It’s Cheap
Not all gas stations are created equal, so keep your eyes peeled for the cheapest ones.
However, gas prices change almost daily so what works for you one day, may not be true the next. There are a good number of smartphone applications to help you track down a good gas bargain. If you have an iphone or ipod touch or any droid phone
you can easily use applications like Bottle Rocket’s “Gas Buddy” combines GPS technology with regularly updated gas prices in your area to give you a bird’s eye view of where best to gas up. Gas Buddy should be easy to find in the top app section on iTunes
4. Maximize a Bargain
Although it’s great to find a gas station that gives you a few cents off the gallon, it doesn’t make sense to drive miles and miles out of your way to get there. If there’s a gas bargain in the area, fill up your tank to the brim. It will save you money in the long run, as well as the trouble of gasing up a few dollars everytime.
5. Tune Up Your Car
Taking care of your car means more than filling her up when the gas guage lights up. A well maintained car is a vehicle that runs quickly, and more efficiently. Take the time to tune up your car and you’ll be rewarded with more miles per gallon, and more dollars in your pocket.

The 1031 exchange program is a program that allows a real estate investor or property owner to defer paying capital gains tax by reinvesting all proceeds from the previous sale of the relinquished investment property into a replacement property of like-kind or greater value. This tax-deferred exchange takes its name from Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code.

For savvy real estate investors, the 1031 exchange program is regarded a wise strategy to reduce taxes. It is indeed popular among real estate investors since it allows more flexibility in their real estate investments. They are also able to retain as much capital as possible. The 1031 exchange program allows real estate investors to maximize the liquidity of their investments by selling properties when they have attained the maximum ROI without needing to wait to choose another property to buy in which they have additional ownership and management responsibilities.

Capital gains tax can be such a big tax bite that can significantly affect funds available for future real estate investments. The 1031 exchange option has become a successful estate planning tool for many real estate gurus.

Prior to 1984 legislation on the 1031 exchange, there were no time constraints applied on the exchange. There were many difficulties encountered when trying to select suitable replacement properties as well as in the transfer of titles and funds. The 1984 Section 1031(a) that Congress passed addressed such problems.

The Internal Revenue Service imposes strict requirements for real estate investors to avail of the 1031 exchange program and legally defer paying capital gains taxes.

The real estate investor must reinvest 100% of the proceeds from the previous sale of the investment property into a new replacement property that should be of like kind or greater value. This is one of the main qualifications for the 1031 exchange option.

Real estate property held for investment or business use qualifies for the exchange. The relinquished property and the replacement property should both be held for a productive purpose in a trade or a business. They should be like-kind properties.

There are also time requirements an investor must adhere to. The investor is required to identify three potential replacement properties within 45 days from the closing and transfer of the original investment property. The investor must also close on the exchange property within 180 days of this date. Deadlines are absolute and there are no exceptions. The time period includes weekends as well as holidays. If the investor is not able to comply with these deadlines, the 1031 option becomes unavailable.

The IRS mandates that real estate investors find a Qualified Intermediary (QI) to conduct the 1031 exchange transaction. The Qualified Intermediary must be an independent party. An investor’s accountant, broker, attorney or employee may not conduct the transaction.

These are the essential requirements of the 1031 exchange program. Its process and completion may become complex and it would be best to consult with a tax specialist or accountant regarding all of the tax implications and requirements of the 1031 exchange program.

How can you make your money grow? To learn tips on saving, earning and investing money, visit Frugal Francis on a regular basis. http://www.frugalfrancis.com/ .

Frugal Francis is a personal financial advice and money management site that is dedicated to my money-smart father whom my sisters and I fondly call Frugal Francis.

Growing up, I learned a lot of practical financial advice from my father. I have formed money-saving habits that have helped me throughout my life. My father was indeed right to teach us how to “Spend less, Earn more and Save as much as possible.”

The site will teach you different ways you can earn and save money. You can learn how you can fatten up your piggy banks and build wealth, a penny at a time.

Sources:
http://homebuying.about.com/od/realestateglossaryl/g/like_kind.htm
http://homebuying.about.com/od/investmentproperties/a/102008_1031Exch.htm
http://www.ehow.com/way_5412087_exchange-options.html
http://www.clearleadinc.com/site/1031-exchange-option.html

OK, I opened a Bank of America Keep the Change Savings account with $300 dollars. They automatically take the left over change on checkcard purchases, and put the change into your savings account. For example, a checkcard purchase of $10.01 would put .99 into your savings accent. In total your checking account would reflect -$11.00, and savings +$.99. The big incentive is that Bank of America will match some of your change… (restrictions below)

Started my account with $300, my change has added up to $329.16 and Bank of America is due to award me $128.41 on the anniversary of the creation of my keep the change checking account. (See Below)

Bank of America keep the change program

My $300 investment and $329.16 auto-invested change equals $629.16. YTD, it looks like the $128.41 yield I am expecting from Bank of America at the 1 year marker would be a 20% return on my own money.

The math: $300 + $329.16 = $629.16. $629.16 + $128.41 (matched from Bank of America) = $757.57. $757.57 divided by $629.16 = 1.20. 1.20 translates to the principal investment plus a new 20% in earnings!


Frugal

ps. As mentioned in first Bank of America keep the change blogpost: “The restrictions are 100% match to your first 3 months of savings up to $60.00, and 5% of the rest of your savings, up to $250.00. If you are using the program to its maximum potential you would be getting a free $310 ($60 + $250) for free from Bank of America.”

Back in October of ’09, I signed up for Lending Club for FREE. I had simply clicked a link from a blog I was reading and the next thing I knew I was given $25 to invest into Notes. With a free $25 to start the account and the referral credit I got of $25 bucks, my account started with $50. 11 months later, I am at $53.49.

Lending Club Update

Yes! You read correctly above, I have made $3.49 for FREE! Any new member gets a free $25 dollars, and additional money for referring people to Lending Club. In fact, when I referred someone I got $25 free but nowadays, I believe you can refer people and get a free $50. My free money of $50 has now turned into $53.49, which has grown 6.9% since Oct’ 09. Lending Club says my “Net Annualized return is 12+% but I don’t really understand how they compute that, nor do I care. I made almost 7% on FREE money that was given to me for clicking a simple link (below).





Give it a click, worst thing that happens is you just got a free $25 to loan to people and make money…

Frugal

Hello Readers,

I apologize for the delay since my last post.  I aim to start writing and sharing some thoughts on how to save money and will make a better effort in doing so for 2010.

Today I want to talk about Affiliate Advertising.  Basically you can earn a commission from transactions that are made on the internet.  A great example of this would be amazon.  Amazon allows their affiliates to earn a %, usually around 3% on any products that are purchased with a referral from you.

I am reviewing LinkShare today which I think is a good site that allows you to easily get started in the Affiliate world.

Well, first and foremost, Hello World!

Yes, I did it, I put together a custom installed WordPress blog and it was really freakin’ easy to do so.   In the past, I fiddled with installing WordPress by putting on an ftp server and running the install script, and while I was able to do it, I found it cumbersome and time-consuming.  I will be sure to follow up a bit more about how easy this is to do in my next posting…

Frugal Francis is the name I will use for the blog that entertains users on how to save and earn money through the Internet.  I plan on talking about a variety of topics on this blog, but all will reflect back to different ways to save money or ways to actually earn money on the Internet.

If you are looking for a get rich quick scheme and are in desperate need for money, then you came to the wrong site.  Trust me, I’ve been fooled into a number of offers over the years, and there are a only a few ways to get rich on the Internet, and they all come with hard work and dedication.

I live and die by a principle that you need to earn more than you spend and SAVE as much as possible.  I will be talking about crafty ways to save and earn money in this blog, so stay tuned!