Category — bumblefucked wisdom

If you are using ING Direct’s high yield savings account you may have seen people mentioning having sub-accounts setup in their ING account. This can be helpful if you have one savings account but you want to allocated it for different things like a vacation fund, a Christmas fund or a new car fund.

Setting up sub-accounts on ING is actually a pretty simple process.

Just log into your ING account. Click on the button to open a new account and select “savings account.” Give it a name, like “new car fund,” and fund the account using your existing ING account or linked checking account. Once the account is funded, you will be able to see it under “My Accounts.”

If you want to change the name of the sub-account just click “change nickname” while viewing the ING sub-account.

ING Direct is the main bank used by the Bumblefucked household. I think yo ucan’t go wrong with high yield savings and a checking account that also earns interest. Of course, these days the interest rate is laughable. But anyways, if you have an ING Direct account that you want to be able to manage with Quicken you can set that up real quick like.

You will need to open up Quicken on your computer and create a new account called ING (or whatever you want to call it) for your ING account. Be sure to select ING Direct from the list of banks.

Go through the New Account Assistant screens to get everything setup.

Once your account is created you want to click on “Lists” and the select the new account you just created so that you can edit it.

This is when you will need your ING login info to connect to the website and log into your account.

Click on the download button and key in the dates of the transactions that you want to download into Quicken.

Then you need to click on the Quicken button and select that you wanna download into an existing Quicken account. Clicking Continue enables the ING Web Connect and starts the download. And now, you will be all set for Quicken to connect with ING Direct each time you are in Quicken.

Getting your contributions out of a Roth IRA is easy and there are no nasty tax complications to worry about. I have my Roth IRA with Vanguard. Here is what I had to do.

1. Call Vanguard at 800-805-0614.
2. Verify your identity with the person that answers the phone.

3. Tell them you are calling to withdraw some of your contributions from your Roth IRA. They will then transfer you to a retirement withdrawl specialist.

4. You will be told that there may be tax implications, etc. They HAVE to say this regardless of whether or not your situation has any tax implications.

5. They ask if you want the money deposited into your attached checking account or if you want it in a different one.

6. They verify your request and tell you when to expect the sale and transfer of funds. It only takes 2 business days to get the money in your checking account.

Here in the Bumblefucked household we use Verizon Wireless. And ever since our 2 year contract expired in March we have been getting what seems like daily calls from an 866 number that turns out to be Verizon Wireless trying to get you into a new contract. Wankers!

After doing a bit of research on how to block a number on your Verizon Wireless cell phone I have this to say to the Verizon Contract Renewal department – you are SO PWND!!

For those of you interested, here is how to block a specific number from calling your Verizon cell phone:

1. Log into your Verizon Wireless account on www.verizonwireless.com

2. Go to My Verizon

3. Go to My Services

4. Go to My Cell Phone

5. Go to Verizon Safeguards (its on the left sidebar)

6. Go to Spam Controls.

You can enter up to 10 5 numbers to block for free!!! The block is only temporary though – 3 months. But it is still a victory!

Fruits & veggies can be expensive if you buy them out of season. Here is handy guide of which fruits and veggies are cheapest by month.

January
papayas, cauliflower, oranges, broccoli, grapefruit, leeks, tangerines, lemons, tangelos,  cabbages

February
papayas, broccoli, oranges,  grapefruit, lemons,  cauliflower, tangelos,

March
broccoli, pineapples, lettuce, mangoes

April
asparagus, pineapples, lettuce, mangoes,  rhubarb,broccoli, artichokes,  spring peas,  zucchini

May
lettuce, cherries, broccoli, pineapples, spring peas, apricots, asparagus, okra, rhubarb,  zucchini, artichokes

June
lettuce, watermelon, corn, strawberries, apricots, cantaloupe, blueberries, cherries, peaches

July
lettuce, watermelon, green beans, strawberries, corn, cantaloupe, summer squash, blueberries, tomatoes, peaches, cucumbers, apricots, kiwi, plums, raspberries

August
lettuce, watermelon, green beans, strawberries, summer squash, cantaloupe, tomatoes, blueberries, eggplant, peaches, corn, apricots, cucumbers, kiwi, plums, raspberries

September
lettuce, grapes, spinach, pomegranates, tomatoes, persimmons, pumpkins, eggplants

October
lettuce, cranberries, spinach, apples, broccoli, pomegranates, winter squash, grapes, pumpkins, sweet potatoes

November
spinach, cranberries, mushrooms, oranges, broccoli, tangerines, sweet potatoes, pears, winter squash, pomegranates, pumpkins, persimmons

December
papayas, cauliflower, pears, broccoli, oranges, mushrooms, tangelos, sweet potatoes, grape fruit, pomegranates, tangerines

Easter, like most holidays, can be pretty expensive if you aren’t careful. If you don’t believe me just pop into a store to check out the prices of those pre-made Easter baskets. Fortunately, Easter does not have to be expensive. Here are a few tips to keep your Easter spending on a budget.

1 – Skip those expensive pre-made Easter baskets. Sure, it is a heck of a lot easier to buy a basket all wrapped in plastic with loads of goodies but you are paying through the nose for that convenience. And in my experience there is at least one thing in that basket that no one will want.  Instead, make your own goodie-filled basket! Get a cheap basket at a dollar store and fill it yourself.

2 – Skip the expensive individually wrapped mini candies. Instead of filling loads of little plastic eggs with mini candy bars and the like  – go large! You can get a full size candy bar for a lot less than those bags of mini candy bars. Plus the larger ones will look like more. To save even more money, look for those packs of 10 smaller sized bars at the grocery store. I regulary see those for around $1.25 a pack. You could also watch for sales on candy at your local stores.

3 – Instead of filling a basket with a lot of toys and treats, get some of those cheap plastic eggs and use them for an egg hunt/ scavenger hunt that results in one toy for each child. They will have so much fun in the hunt that they won’t even notice that they only got one toy.

4 – Color your easter eggs with items from your kitchen. Instead of spending money on dye, use stuff at home. You’ll save money and it will be safer for your kids and the enviroment.

5 – Re-use those colored eggs! I know a family that keeps the colored eggs in the fridge most of the time and at the end of the day those colored eggs are used as food! You can peel and eat them as hard boiled eggs or make something with hard boiled eggs in it.

6 – Skip the new Easter outfits. When I was growing up my mom always bought me a new outfit on Easter. And it was usually worn only once. Don’t fall into this wasteful trap! If you feel as if you must buy something new for your kids for Easter get something practical and try out a thrift or second-hand store for lower prices.

7 – Have a potluck. If you plan on celebrating Easter with your extended family or friends then why not save money and turn it into a potluck! Just remember that it is cheaper to make food from scratch than to buy something out. So, make something for your Easter potluck!

8 – Have an Easter picnic. If you live where the weather is pretty nice this time of year your family could have an Easter picnic. This is a great way to make the day special, especially if you are not able to provide as many treats or gifts this year.

9 – You don’t have to buy stuff in Easter packaging. If you see something that you want to buy for your kid or someone else for Easter do not be fooled into thinking you have to buy something in Easter packaging. You will notice a special Easter candy aisle at your local stores but you can buy candy from the regular aisle if you like. And it is likely going to be cheaper over there!

Do you have a car that you are thinking about donating to charity? In most instances charities will take your car whether it runs or not! And as you may know you can get a tax break for donating a car to charity, however there are steps you need to take to make sure that you get that tax donation.

Before donating a car to charity you should check out the charity; check the value of your car; and see what your responsibilities are as a donor. You can get some guidance from IRS publication 4303 or keep reading.

Select your charity

In order claim a tax deduction for donating your car to charity to be sure to that the charity is a qualified organization. Otherwise, your donation will not be tax deductible. The most common types of qualified organizations are section 501(c)(3) organizations, such as charitable, educational, or religious organizations. To verify an organization’s status call the IRS Customer Account Services division for Tax Exempt and Government Entities at (877) 829-5500 (toll-free). Have the charity’s correct name and address when you call.

Tax Deduction Qualifying

You must itemize deductions on your Schedule A of Form 1040 in order to get your charitable tax deduction. Some limitations may apply to your individual tax situation, such as your deduction cannot exceed 50% of your adjusted gross income.

Determine the Value of Your Car

You can only deduct the fair market value of your car on your taxes. This is not the same as the blue book value. The fair market value is the price a willing buyer would pay and a willing seller would accept for the car, when neither party is compelled to buy or sell. Note that you will need to obtain written acknowledgment from the charity if the total deduction you are claiming for a donated car is $250 or more. And if If the deduction you are claiming is greater than $5,000 you must get a written appraisal of your car.

Other requirements

You will need to transfer the title of your car to the charity. If you do not have your car title, do not worry. Most charities can assist you in obtaining the title for the car you are donating.

A lot of charities can also pick up or tow your car if necessary. This is typical of local charities at least. Of course, if you want to maximize the amount of money that goes to the charity then you should get the car to them yourself.

Charities take items other than just vehicles for donations. You can donate your boat, your trailer, your RV and even your motorized wheelchair or scooter.

These tips should help steer you in the right direction to donate your car to charity!

Until this past week, I have used Dreamhost for my website and blog hosting. In fact, I had been with Dreamhost for three years and was set to renew for a fourth year on Saturday. However, I have known since early November that I would not be staying with Dreamhost. In the past, I would have recommended them to anyone. However, over the past year I experienced loads of downtime that cost me money.

So, I did some looking around and saw that Lunarpages Web Hosting had some good reviews and was WAY cheaper than Dreamhost! In fact, they are running a special (the same one I got) where you can get hosting for $4.95 a month if you sign a year contract – and you get a free domain registration!

I had a lot of WordPress blogs to migrate over and I was worried about that. However, it was a fairly easy migration. If you need to move your WordPress blog from Dreamhost to Lunarpages Web Hosting here are the steps that I took:

1. Upgrade your WordPress if you are not using the most up-to-date version

2. Back up your wp-content folder (I just used my FTP program to copy that folder to my desktop)

3. On your Dreamhost Panel, go to Goodies -> ManageMySQL

4. From there, back up your database for your blog using phpMyAdmin (additional info here)

• Log into phpMyAdmin
• Select the appropriate database
• Export
• All of the files should be in the ‘export’ box
• Make sure “SQL” is selected
• In the SQL section, put a tick in ‘Structure,’ ‘Add DROP TABLE,’ ‘Add AUTO INCREMENT,’ and ‘Enclose table & field names with backquotes.’
• In the Data section, tick ‘Data header’ and leave the inside boxes without ticks
• Tick ‘Save As’ and leave the template name as is
• Select ‘zipped’ and click ‘go’

5. Now, go to the LunarPages Cpanel and add the domain

6. Change the nameservers for your domain with your domain registrar

7. Install WordPress on your domain at the new host (Lunarpages) from the cPanel through Fantastico. (remember to enter your original user name and password for your blog!)

8. Once WordPress is installed, go to ‘MySQL Databases‘ in the cPanel and then scroll all the way down to click on phpMyAdmin.

9. Click on the new database that was created when you installed WordPress.

10. Then go to ‘Import’ to import the database zip file making sure to uncheck ‘partial import’ and click ‘go.’

11. Once that is done, use your FTP program to copy over your wp-content folder from your desktop to Lunarpages.

That’s it! It should work after that.

TROUBLESHOOTING

I did have some problems with two of my blogs. Apparently when I had upgraded the WordPress on Dreamhost the database did not get fully updated but it thought it did. As a result, when I tried to log into the blog I got an error when I tried to login to the blog. For instance, when I was in phpMyAdmin my database tables would look like ‘wp-0013nfne3-content’ instead of wp-content. The fix was that some of the tables could just be renamed but others could not. It was a trial and error process.

I also had the problem of none of my categories or blog posts working when you clicked on them. Instead you got a 404 error. Of course when looking at the blog it all looked okay till you clicked on it. I did some searhcing online and discovered that it was a permalink problem. So, I changed the permalink structure and it worked fine. Then I changed it back to the way I wanted it and it still worked.

The final problem I had is that a couple of the blogs were displaying weird characters in some of the blog posts where there were symbols like: &, ‘, “, %, $.

If you are looking for a new web hosting company I recommend Lunarpages Web Hosting. Their support has been stellar and I have experienced zero down time. And hey, the price is right!

Good news for those of you that save the max in your 401k at work – this year’s contribution maximum is increasing.

In 2008, the maximum contribution for those under age 50 was $15,500. Anyone who turned 50 years old in 2008 could do a catch-up contribution of up to $5,000 extra. So if you were age 50, your max for 2008 was $20,500.

In 2009, the basic maximum for 401k contributions is $16,500. Those age 50 and older get a catch-up of an additional $5,500, for a total of $22,000.

The total contribution limit for IRAs is the same as 2008.

The maximum you can contribute to your IRAs is $5,000. Remember that if you become 50 years old this year the maximum is higher at $6,000.

**You can contribute to a Roth IRA if your income falls below the Roth limits. You’re allowed a prorated contribution if your income falls within the “phase-out” range. If your income exceeds the income range you won’t qualify for a Roth IRA contribution.