• optoutprescreen.com - stop receiving pre-approvals in the mail

Clark was shopping recently for a new computer and he came across one that cost $339 with several rebates. He found one that was $30 more with the same features and only one rebate. That was at Staples. He ended up buying the more expensive one, he confesses, but that’s because rebates are much easier in some stores than others. Staples is one of those stores; Costco is another. But for the most part rebates re a huge hassle. Buy where you know you will get your rebate money or don’t buy there at all.

It’s important that you shut down credit card pre-approvals in general to prevent identity theft, but it’s even more important if you’re planning to move. That’s because the companies continue to send pre-approvals to your address even if you move. Identity thieves can simply grab those forms out of your old mailbox and fill them out, pretending to be you. They then rack up all kinds of charges on “your account.” So, be sure you OPT OUT of those pre-approvals now! When you do, you can either opt out permanently or for five years. You can either call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT or go to optoutprescreen.com. It won’t eliminate every pre-approval. Frequent flier cards and hotel points cards are not blocked, for example. But it will take care of most of the offers you would have received.

Clark sometimes gets calls from people who are “building” a new house. Usually that means he or she is buying a house in a new subdivision, but rarely people actually build their own houses. Clark talked to one of these people today on the show. The man whose name is Robert lives in the Seattle area, and he built a four-story home in roughly four years. He constructed the entire home, from the plumbing to the nailing to the roofing. He came up with plans for the house, but the building department came back with a stack of fixes. At that point, he thought about giving up. But he heard some sage advice, and that was to carry it out “one step at a time.” It sounds simple, but it’s so important to remember. So, if you’re thinking of really building your own home, heed Robert’s advice.

Parking garage owners are getting much smarter about how to make money. At the Jacksonville Airport parking garage, for example, signs let incoming drivers know how many spots are available and direct them to the nearest spot. What happens when you lose your parking ticket? In most airport parking lots, a digital picture is taken of each license plate in the lot. Originally, that was done because people were entering cheap parking lots and illegally moving over to the expensive lots while paying the cheap fee. That technology makes it possible to now pay a fair price if you lose your ticket. Boston-Logan Airport has taken this a step further. You can now pay for your parking inside the airport simply by giving your license tag. There is also the Web site, longtermparking.com. You can print out the coupons and save money on parking when you go to the airport. Also, make sure that you call ahead of time to ensure there is a parking spot for you.

A study done recently by Oppenheimer funds shows that people are one of four types of investors. First are the “Pensive Procrastinators.” These people are unprepared but they’re worried they haven’t done enough. The next group is the “Unrealistic Optimists.” They are not prepared and they don’t care. They’ve already been dipping into retirement accounts and spending most of what they have. “Nervous Nellys” are prepared for retirement, but they’re still worried. “Smooth Sailors” are prepared for retirement and they’re confident about their financial futures. So, of the four groups, which one has the most people? One out of three people are “Unrealistic Optimists,” which is a sobering statistic. Before you know it, it will be retirement age and you will have no money. Nervous Nellys represent about one-fourth of people and Smooth Sailors are one-fifth of the population. Clark hopes more people move into those two groups.

The soft drink industry appears to be fizzling out in certain areas. Regular Coke and Pepsi are slowly losing market share, while diet drinks are going like gangbusters. Water is also growing by leaps and bounds. That’s why Pepsi is making such a foray into the bottled water market. Soft drink sales represent about one-third of all sales in the country, according to the New York Times. That means that diet drinks are taking over the country. Pepsi is treating its diet drink as its flagship drink, and is reformulating Pepsi One to appeal to the men who don’t like to admit their drinking a diet drink. The money saving tip here is that when new flavors come out, existing drinks go on sale and become the bargain for the moment. So, buy the soft drinks then!