until I discovered LegalZoom.com. If you don't want to go through the motions with finding an attorney and paying a lot of money for someone to draw up a will, living trust, name change, incorporation, or several other legal forms, you may want to give this a try. LegalZoom was founded by Attorney Robert Shapiro, can you say O.J. Simpson, who decided to create a simple legal website were people can go to get basic online legal advice and legal forms inexspensively. The prices are reasonable and the site gives you plenty of options based on your needs whether simple or complex. Take a closer look at the site and give it a whirl….
New Carbon Monoxide laws in Massachusetts…
March 24, 2006
go into effect on March 31st, 2006. This law effects anyone who owns residential property in the State of Massachusetts with any type of fossil fuels (Gas, Oil, Coal, Wood, etc), or contains enclosed parking (i.e., attached or enclosed garage). The units need to be placed on every habitable level of the home including basement or attic living spaces. There are several different types of CO detectors on the market. The detectors are either battery operated, plug in, or hardwired. They also have combo CO/Smoke Detectors. These units can be fairly expensive but I found an online company, Resculite, out of New York that offers a wide variety of Massachusetts compliant CO detector at really good prices. For landlords that have to install several of these monitors buying in bulk may be a cost effective option for you.
Carbon Monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas that can be can kill you. A couple hundred people die each year in the U.S. due to Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Having these monitors installed in your home and any other property that you may own is not only smart but as of March 31st, 2006 in Massachusetts it will the the LAW.
Check out these links for additional information
I’ve stopped going to Blockbuster…
March 21, 2006
in favor of Netflix. My wife and I took the plunge a few months ago because we were tired of paying almost $4.50 per rental at our local Blockbuster. Since we have a young child we cannot get out to the movies as much as we'd like…any babysitters in the audience. 
Netflix is a pretty neat service that brings your favorite movies right to your doorstep on a regular basis. There are no late fees, you can keep movies for months on end if you'd like but it does count against the number of movies you can take out at a time. I personally have an unlimited two movies at a time package for $14.95 per month. They have another package for $17.95 that gives you an unlimited 3 movies at a time. Netflix has service centers around the country so chances are that when you mail your movie or receive it you are probably only a day or two away from the nearest service center.
You can try Netflix out for free for two weeks to see how the service works. Netflix has over 2 million customers, no late fees, no postage fees, and most importantly over 55,000 movie titles to choose from. Try it out and let us know what you think.
which is why you should beware of any type of communication from purported Government agencies like the IRS suggesting that you are eligible for some type of refund or requesting personal information in order to process your account. The IRS says that there are a number of phishing scams out there from around the world with fake websites set up to look like The IRS or Treasury Department websites. These phishing sites can dupe an unsuspecting individual to provide personal information in order to process so called "paperwork," to help speed up a refund or some other matter. The IRS says that they NEVER communicate with taxpayers via Email nor do they ask for personal information online. These scam sites look alot like the real thing but they are not.
These phishing scams look to get as much personal information as possible so that they can open fraudulent credit card accounts, apply for loans, or even file fraudulent tax forms. This can be a nightmare to clear up so you should be careful about the information that you share online and you should always make sure to verify and reverify any companies that you do business with online to make sure that everything is legitimate.
Taxpayers can check the status of their refund through the IRS Web site. That tool asks taxpayers for their Social Security number, filing status and the exact refund due.
Anyone who receives fraudulent IRS e-mail can contact the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1-800-366-4484.
On the Net:
Internal Revenue Service: http://www.irs.gov
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration: http://www.treas.gov/tigta
It’s getting easier to find cheap hotel deals…
March 11, 2006
I just discovered an all encompassing travel site that focuses on hotels. If you are like me, and you are always looking for a good deal you may want to give this site a try. I used to use Hotels.com exclusively until I found SearchParty.com (www.SearchParty.com).
SearchParty.com culls all of the major travel sites like Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, and Hotels.com to find the best possible hotel deals around the country. Whether you are going across country or just looking for a good deal at a local hotel you should give SearchParty.com a try. Let me know what you think.
Check out Zillow.com (http://www.zillow.com/) when you get a chance. The site is a great start for homeowners and homebuyers alike who are looking for helpful real estate information. In certain parts of the country home prices are flat and in other parts of the country they are still pretty strong.
In Boston we are struggling with a slower than usual market with a larger than usual number of homes on the market and buyers sitting on the fence waiting to see what the market will bring this Spring and Summer.
Zillow.com will give you a decent idea of what comparable home prices are in the area you are either selling in or looking to buy in. You can go to the site and put in an address to get specific information on a property. When it comes to accuracy certain parts of the country have better home information than others but the site is improving on a regular basis. While this site is not a substitute for a CMA prepared by a licensed Real Estate Agent it is a great start.
Who knows, in the future, Zillow may prove to be the first stop for anyone looking to buy or sell a home.
Free Drug Card really works…
March 7, 2006
I recently had a prescription filled, due to an athletic injury, at my local Walgreens. While I have health care coverage I opted not to purchase the prescription option due to the fact that my wife and I, on average, don't fill more than $300 per year in prescriptions. Based on this and the fact that we are pretty healthy and not taking any drug medications on a regular basis we decided not to go the prescription component of our healthcare coverage saving us almost $1300 per year.
In lieu of having prescription coverage we stumbled upon a great money saving prescription card that is absolutely FREE. Yes, you heard me, totally FREE! The card just saved me 50% off a bottle of NAPROXEN (which is basically the prescrption version of Aleve). Instead of paying $30 for a one month supply of pills with the card they only cost me $14.50. If I had to fill this prescription once a month for a year I would experience a $150 savings just from having the FREEUSDRUGCARD. The card is easy to get and all you have to do is go to my site (Click on link on the left) and go to the links page and scroll down to D and look for a link to the sign up page for the drug card (You will need a working email address in order to receive your card).
Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think.
A Penny Saved….
