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….
Mary Mac’s Tea Room (Restaurant)
February 23, 2006
From time to time I travel for business and I love to check out great restaurants. I'm currently in Atlanta attending a Neighborworks conference and I have frequented some of my favorite local restuarants including Mary Mac's Tea Room. Mary Mac's is a venerable Atlanta institution. If you want good down home southern style cooking then look no further. The service is impeccable, the dress is very casual but a suit and tie can work as well. They feature all of your Southern favorites like Sweet Tea "the table wine of the South," Pot Licker (if you don't know what this is ask your Grandmother or an older relative), Fish and Chicken, and last but not least Homemade Peach Cobbler with vanilla ice cream. Tonight I had an outstanding Blackened Grouper with Cheese Grits, Fried Okra, and Cole Slaw. Everything was PERFECT! I topped this meal off with a peach cobbler.
If you are ever in Atlanta and you want some authentic southern food check out Mary Mac's Tea Room. The restaurant is located near midtown Atlanta at 224 Ponce de Leon Ave, NE, Atlanta, GA 30308. The phone number is 404-876-1800.
Healthcare for the Self Employed
February 21, 2006
Last year my wife left her job with our church due to the birth of our son. At the time she had healthcare coverage but once she left the church for full time motherhood we had to figure out another option for healthcare coverage. As an entrepreneur I am always dealing with ways to cut corners and save money but unfortunately you cannot do that with your health. I had to do some research to figure out what our options were. I needed to obtain healthcare coverage for my family and I needed to make sure we were not going to be paying huge premiums or deductibles.
I did the normal "Googaling" around to see what was available and I stumbled on a company that offers a large number of business services to entrepreneurs. Northeast Business Trust acts as a kind of association of small businesses that is able to harness the buying power of these companies to solicit significant savings that are usually only reserved for larger corporations. Northeast Business Trust offers Health Insurance, Dental Insurance, Disability Insurance, and Long Term Care Insurance.
You can reach them at http://www.nbtgroup.com/nbtWebApps/default.htm
I dealt with a very helpful agent there, Paul Yoffe, (pyoffe@nbtgroup.com), who was very knowledgable about the options available to my family. We finally ended up with a great program with Neighborhood Health Plan and things have been perfect since. Most importantly, we got to keep our primary care physician.
Check out NBT or drop Paul a line if you are looking for healthcare coverage. Also, I've run across a great prescription card that is absolutely free but can save you up to 75% off the purchase of certain prescription drugs. Visit my site at www.Parableofthetalents.org and click on the links page and look up "Drug Card."
Happy hunting and drop me a line if this information is helpful to you or you've stumbled upon something else that I should share with our audience.
Green Homes (Water)
February 21, 2006
From time to time I will be providing information with regards to developing a community of Greener Homes. Given that Boston has some of the oldest housing stock in the country we don't have the luxury of building from scratch as much as other parts of the country. A lot of times developers, investors, landlords, and real estate agents have to make recommendations for the retrofit and rehabilitation of our current housing stock to a more efficient product. I will be providing information and links to sites that may be helpful during a rehab project or just figuring out ways to save money.
This is the first of many installments. I learned of a great site that focuses on water efficiency and it outlines the big water wasters in a home, (The toilet is one of the biggest culprits in case you were wondering), as well as offering an online assessment of your current water situation with your personal property, clients property, or investment property.
Check out the site at http://www.h2ouse.org/ . Let me know what you think….
Welcome to Parable Of The Talents
February 14, 2006
Thank you for visiting the Parable of The Talents Blog. This blog is in conjunction with the Parable of The Talents website (www.Parableofthetalents.org) which focuses on helping you be a better Steward over the things God has blessed you with. There are tons of sites in the web universe that give you information about being a smart consumer we have just taken it to another level by infusing the Word of God into our advice because nothing good ever comes from trying to seperate our relationship with God with our finances etc. There are over 2500 verses in scripture dealing with finances and stewardship. Clearly finances and stewardship are topics that are very important to God. The information that we provide on this blog will come out on a regular basis and it will be a complement to our website. Please feel free to post to this blog with any questions that you may have and we will respond to you in a timely manner.
"If you have not been found faithful with the use of Worldly wealth who will entrust the true riches to you."
Luke 16:11
