1 More Thing You Can Do Today

 Add $1000 Or More To Your income This Month

If you’re thinking it’s impossible to get your income and expenses back in line, think again. Many people can add $1,000 or more to their monthly income with minimal sacrifice.

1. Take a second job and send those teenagers out to work. It seems like an obvious move, but many people under severe money stress freeze up like a deer caught in headlights and get mowed down financially.  The pay may be modest, but the added income could prove invaluable to your financial survival.

2. Adjust your payroll-tax withholding to account for an increased mortgage payment. If your payment jumps $600 a month due to an interest-rate hike, that’s all deductible and will give you an additional $7,200 tax write-off for a full year. That’s a roughly $1,800 to $3,000 annual tax break — depending on your bracket and state and local income taxes — which means you could safely reduce your withholding $150 to $250 a month and boost your take-home pay that amount.  The IRS reported in April that refunds issued for the tax year 2006 averaged $2,394. So taxpayers on average give the feds an interest-free loan of $200 cash a month. Since your tax exposure changes from year to year, I recommend consulting your CPA to determine how to bring your withholding in line with your anticipated liability.

3. Sell your late-model car and buy a reliable older one. If you have an auto loan costing $350 a month (or worse yet, two loans), you could apply the difference in the price you get for your car and the balance you owe to the purchase of an older vehicle, many of which now still look good and perform well with 100,000-plus miles. Not only will you eliminate the monthly payment , you also could drop collision and comprehensive insurance required by auto lenders if you can bear that risk, saving perhaps $50 a month more. If you own your late-model car outright, bank the money you raise after buying an older one and draw off it to drive through your cash-flow squeeze.

4. Get rid of your cell phones, high-speed Internet access and cable or satellite TV service. There was a time when we lived without these pricey nonessentials, for which many Americans pay $350 a month or more. If you’re locked into a cell-phone contract, don’t renew if it’s soon to expire. You can use one of the services on the web to swap out of your cell phone contract or just rid yourself of the bugger altogether. Cell Swapper and Cell Trade are two great sites. If not, bite the bullet and pay the early-termination penalties. As for an Internet connection, default to a $9.95 a month dial-up plan until your fortunes improve.

5. Increase your insurance deductibles. Many auto lenders allow borrowers to maintain collision and comp deductibles of up to $1,000. And many mortgage lenders permit deductibles of $3,000 to $5,000 on homeowners insurance. You assume greater out-of-pocket risk, but you could save $100 a month or more by raising your deductibles.

Debt Collector Addresses Notice To “SH**FACE”

Collection agency addresses collection notice to “SH** FACE.” The letter begins, “Dear SH**…” Below a line where the debtor is supposed to sign, the pejorative again appears. Best of all, the debt is only $16.39, for Columbia House (purveyors of fine 1cent for 624,215 CD offers)…. Unreal.

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