As the end of December comes around and the beginning of January nears, people in general start re-evaluating their budget.  A popular new years resolution is “saving money”.  So if this is a common goal why is it so hard to accomplish?

Due to the economic recession many households are making less then before, making it hard to bank extra money.  We also live in a society that thrives on promoting or advertising what you must have!  The line between need and want often become crossed and we end up overspending for the month.

So how can we save?  The answer lies in each one of us.   We don’t have to strive for the moon – to overshoot and miss all together.  If we take baby steps we can be successful, and if one month you fall down, don’t let it stop you!  Get up and start over again.  Here are a few money saving tips that can help you get started:

1. Set up a separate savings account and actually use it to save money.
2. Split your direct deposit so that $25.00 out of each paycheck goes into your savings account.  (out of sight out of mind)
3. Save any change that you receive after making a cash purchase. (you will be surprised how fast this adds up)
4. Plan a monthly budget, start with you needs first i.e. Rent/mortgage, electricity, car payments etc. and then budget in an allotted dollar amount for wants and stick to it.
5. Write out your grocery list before you go shopping and only get what is on the list

If you start implementing even a couple of these suggestion you will be surprised by what you can save!

Happy Savings!

When you hear the words “Payday Loan” what comes to your mind?

1. Do you think of an industry out there taking advantage of consumers?
2. Or, do you think about an industry providing people with relief and peace of mind during this financial crisis?

Most people would say answer a.  But is that true or do we need to educate ourselves regarding this part of the financial industry?  Who are the people that need these payday loans and do they have other options?

According to www.census.gov the official poverty rate in 2010 was 15.1 percent, which was up from 14.3 percent in 2009.  In 2010, 46.2 million people were in poverty, which was up from 43.6 million in 2009.

Those are staggering numbers.  People are having a hard time making ends meet. From 2009 to 2010 an additional 2.6 million people were at poverty level.  Where did they come from?  Middle Class families?  Low Income families?   Who is out there helping them get back on their feet?  The banks?  With the foreclosures on homes, the increased account fees, overdraft fees and high credit guidelines… what do you think?

What sort of monthly expenses do all of us face? Rent/Mortgage, utility bills, insurance, car payment, food allowance just to name a few.  If you are running out of money at the end of the month what would you sacrifice?  Your electric bill?  Your rent?  Your car loan?  Or just overdraft your bank account?  All of those choices involve late fees or overdraft fees and may incur being harassed by credit agencies or having your electricity turned off, being kicked out of your home or having your vehicle repossessed.  None of those sound like viable solutions to me.

According to www.wikipedia.org the definition for a payday loan is “a small, short-term loan that is intended to cover a borrower’s expenses until his or her next payday.”   That is truly what a payday loan is there for.  Many times you will hear payday opponents talk about high interest fees, but when you research these fees in comparison to bank charges and late fees of missing necessary payments and/or possible repossessions/foreclosures/losing electricity, going hungry etc. – which sounds better to you?

So before we judge the financial institutions giving payday loans or the people receiving such loans – let’s make sure that we look at the situation from all angles, and form an educated decision.

Do you feel like you’re paying too much each month on your energy bill? Follow these 12 steps in cutting costs.

1. Drafty Windows: Leaky window frames can account for 10-25% of your heating costs. Apply new latex to frame to decrease heat loss.
2. Mystifying Utility Bill: Most homeowners bill s down breakdown cost by category. You can hook up your appliances to smart plugs to monitor usage by type.
3. Damaged Fireplace: Up to 20% of warmed air can escape through your chimney flue. Hire a chimney sweep to clean and check the damper to seal.
4. “Phantom” appliance and electronics: Electronics that are always “on” can be adding up to 10% of your electric bill.
5. Old Water Heater: Old heaters are lined with fiberglass, not the foam used today. Some utility companies offer rebate on heater jackets, check yours today.
6. Under-the-door infiltration: Most homeowners neglect to weather strip under the door, see if you are missing this vital step.
7. Leaky Ductwork: Tape sealing your pipes joints can dry out over time. You can patch small holes or apply HVAC foil to re-seal joints.
8. Overworked Fridge: The door seal can build up dirt and lose its seal over the years. If you feel no resistance when opening the door then it’s time to clean the rubber gaskets.
9. Exterior Wall Openings: Holes for sewer, phone and exhaust vents are typically poorly or uninsulated. Fill gaps with silicone chalk or polyurethane foam.
10. Attic Hatch: A flimsy piece of plywood can suck out as much as an open fireplace chimney. Secure foam to the backside of the hatch to prevent leakage.
11. Uninsulated Switches: A thin metal plate will not prevent air leakage. Install a precut foam gasket to prevent air from escaping.
12. Outmoded furnace: Check the make date of your furnace, those made before 1992 are only up to 55-78% efficient.

Hopefully these tips will help you save money on your next Energy bill!

Stay tuned for Leadpile’s new Home Improvement offer when you can find local contractors to help you with these easy fixes.

Going to your favorite shopping website could become something that will become a little more “friendlier” user experience. With recent issues with companies that are partnering up with online retail shopping sites, there has been some complaints by consumers that don’t like what happens on their shopping sites. Many shopping sites in the past have partnered up with companies that privide offers to consumers throughout their shopping experience, however many of these offers are not very clear to the consumers. Because there is not alot of clarity to what the consumer is clicking on, many consumers click on offers that they had no understanding of what they were doing. Many consumers have complained to the online shopping sites, causing the shopping sites to discontinue these partnerships. Yahoo Finance points out some things to do to protect yourself online:

1. Use your credit card, not your debit card. There is better financial protection for you by the bank if you use a credit card versus the debt card.
2. Be careful what you are clicking on. If you are on an online shopping site, ignore and pop ups or offers that appear on your screen. Clicking on these offers could cost you even more money!
3. Watch you credit card bills. Banks mess up, just like we all mess up with accidentally clicking on things, so review your credit card bill each month to make sure every charge is legitimate. If not, contact your credit card company immediately to dispute the charge.

Leadpile works with partnerships where we potentially offer secondary offers to our consumers filling out our forms, however we never utilize any offers that are pre populated or are deceiving. There is a loose loose situation if companies are doing this negative sort of lead generation. So pay attention to what you are clicking on online!

Payday Lenders are in the business of taking care of consumers who are in need of a small amount of money to get them through until payday Many people have experienced being short n cash at some point in their lives. Lenders carefully determine who can qualify for a short-term loan, whether it be for an emergency or just a situation where the client is short on cash for any number of different reasons. Many customers believe that a payday loan is the fastest, most convenient option to help them with their financial need.

Payday loans, once only available through storefront operations, requiring clients to stand in line can now be applied for, and obtained through online lenders. Licensed Lenders have made applying for a payday loans over the Internet very fast and simple and it typically only requires a small amount of personal information and seldom is a credit check is necessary. Lenders approved funds are submitted directly into their client’s checking account, thus avoiding any unnecessary lengthy paperwork.

Most online payday lenders have a minimum required age of 18 and a necessary minimum monthly income for the borrower. Loan amounts range between $100- $1,500 depending on the lender and the needs of the borrower. A loan can often be received the same day, with repayment due 14 – 30 days after.

In a struggling economy where many people are in need of occasional help, a payday loan can help them through a tough time.

In NY there seems to be some interest with potentially passing a law that would allow check cashing stores to lend money. The bill, they would call the “Short-Term Financial Services Loan Act”, would potentially allow registered check-cashing stores to make loans between $300 and $2,000 for 90 to 180 days. The loans could not be more than 25 percent of a borrower’s gross monthly income; installment repayments must be 10 percent or less. This could certainly benefit those frequenting the check-cashing stores that are paycheck to paycheck. New Yorkers are in need of this sort of short term loan because there are about 825,000 un-banked adults in New York City, according to the Department of Consumer Affairs, and this is something I am sure is similar in some of our nation’s largest cities. Advocates of this new pending law are wanting it to be known that this is NOT a payday loan, but it is in fact a loan with a repayment schedule that has installment payments within two days of a borrower’s payday.
No matter what it would be “called” it seems that there could be some additional resources for New Yorkers that are paycheck to paycheck. If a law like this is passed in NY, then will other states follow? We shall see… Stay tuned!

For the first time in 18 months, the Dow Jones industrial average tipped the scale over 11,000 points on Friday and then closed at 10,997.35.  This is a 70 point improvement from yesterday’s trading and expectations are that it will close above 11,000 on Monday.

Housing prices seem to be stabilizing and mortgage rates are still low and with the Dow up nearly 68% since its closing low on March 9, 2009 and the NASDAQ up nearly 90%, it appears the fears of a double dip in the recession may be calming.

On the employment spectrum, unemployment is still at 9.7% and 33 states are out of money for unemployment insurance.  More than 200,000 Americans are waiting for the Senate to restore their extended unemployment insurance.  Approximately 11.2 million people are collecting unemployment insurance and the average length of collection time is 31.2 weeks.

A lot of things are still up in the air in regards to the economy, but overall, it seems things are looking up.  We’ll see how this 2nd quarter pans out with the stock markets, housing market and housing.

Leadpile works a lot in the payday loan industry, with regards to trying to connect those that are looking for a payday loan and those that can provide these short term loans to the consumers. However, if you are in the military you do not qualify for these types of loans, therefore there are alternatives that are offered to these consumers. Leadpile is excited to partner up with a lender that can help service these individuals. We are looking for publishers that can help us generate more of these leads.
This is what we are looking for in these leads:
Nationwide, “active duty” Military (no reserves or government employees) only, consumers must be looking for a $500+ loan, no daily caps and there is no restricted delivery schedules.

There are several ways to generate these leads:

* MicroClick Forms
* MicroClick iForms
* Banners
* Text Links
* “On Exit” Ads
* Open Market

If you are a publisher and looking to help provide these sorts of short term loans to members of our military, reach out to us!

It is once again that time of year to start thinking about getting your taxes done. Uncle Sam is ready to collect his money, unless you are one of the lucky ones and expecting a return. Whether or not you owe or are owed money, there are both pros and cons to filing your taxes early.
The IRS officially starts accepting returns as early January and gives you the choice to file as soon as your W2 and 1099s are received.

Advantages to filling early can be:
*Receiving your refund faster
*Getting it over with
*Avoiding crowds and long lines at the post office
*Avoiding the possibility of being late, and owing more
*Giving your self time incase you realize something is more complicated that originally though

Advantages to waiting to pay your taxes until they are due:
*Maximizing your interest by keeping the money you owe in an interest-bearing account until April
*Possibly decrease your chances of being audited. Some think that it’s best to put your taxes off until the very extreme, and this will lessen your chances of being audited
*Tax forms can sometimes be updated during the tax season, the changes might not be reflected yet if you file early

If you are receiving money back it may be hard to wait, lending out your money to the government interest free is very nice, but not something that we all want to do for extended periods of time. If you are going to have to pay, it might be worth the wait!

Facebook is saying goodbye to banner ads supplied by Microsoft, and HELLO to more targeted ads. Internews.com reports, “Facebook, which counts nearly 400 million users, said its own display ads feature interactive aspects and can target viewers based on their personal information, making them better suited to its social networking service than Microsoft’s standard Web banner ads. Ad formats that feature social actions perform better and provide a better user experience since they are more consistent with the look and feel of Facebook,” the company said in a statement. This combination of targeting and social relevance is the primary driver behind the shift in strategy.”
This change will probably not affect Microcsoft, but it brings up a good question on taking control over your page and what the user experiences. Facebook is obviously concerned with the experience the consumer goes through, versus a deal they have with Microsoft. Is this something of the future where companies really pay attention to the consumer experience versus making the most money on the ads they choose to display? Leadpile has an ability to supply banner ads for it’s publishers, however a website owner caring about the consumer experience is something we are very much concerned with also. Consumer experience or make more money????? What is the answer you believe is right?

Almost everyone goes to the ATM to take out cash on a regular basis. Most of the time we do not even think about the task because it has become second nature. But have you ever found yourself in a situation where you need cash and you can find every other banks ATM, but not yours? It is not a big deal going to an ATM other than your own until you see that they are going to charge you around $3.00 to complete your transaction. Then on top of that your bank sometime charges you additionally for banking elsewhere. Over time all those fees can really add up!
Is anything currently being done to lower the fees or get rid of them at all? Currently, the Federal Reserve is reviewing the matter of the rising fees. This all started to come to the service when Bankrate.com found that out of network bank fees rose 12.6% from last year. Where every dollar counts these days, it would be great if the bank fees were eliminated or at the least, decrease. It should not cost an individual $5.00 to take out $20.00.
Here are some useful tips of how to avoid these fees:
1. Only withdraw money from your OWN bank
2. Use your debit/credit card
3. Get cash back when you are at the store
Maybe we should all go back to the old school way of banking… use a piggy bank!

For many of you, it still might be a little early to do your holiday shopping. When you do start your shopping many people may ask which is better; to shop online or to go to stores? In several cases it can really depend on numerous factors. Many people think of Black Friday as a kick off to the holiday shopping season. Consumers will wake up at four in the morning (myself included) to go and get the incredible deals that are being offered. Many of them even have a certain route that they will go to hit up the stores in a certain order to make sure they can get the best deals before everyone else.
But what about everyone who wants to get the great deals, but can not justify getting up at four in the morning to save a few bucks – just hop out of bed and shop online. More times than not, a consumer will be able to get the same deals that they would online as they would when going to the store. According to adweek.com“…buying online saves on trips to the store and gas expenses (53 percent) and makes it easier to compare prices between retailers online than in the store (51 percent), the other top-cited reasons all came back to convenience. The No. 1 reason for shopping online (69 percent) was that “when I buy online I can shop whenever I’d like,” while 57 percent of respondents said it “allows me to avoid the holiday shopping crowds at stores.”
Even though the convenience factor of shopping online is huge, it can make it a little more difficult as well. Since most of the holiday season is spent shopping for other people, consumers want to make sure that the products they are buying are the right size, ensure quality, and ask questions about the product to a sales associate. At the end of the day it all comes down to the consumer and which method of shopping they like better. I know that I usually do a combo of the two. Hard to find items I will purchase online, but toys I will go to the store. Below are some useful tips for when you go shopping this season:
1. Do your research before buying – Compare prices online to make sure you are getting the best deal out there
2. Look for the holiday specials – everywhere is having discounts so paying for full price should not be an option
3. When ordering online, always check for free shipping
4. Use coupons/coupon codes – If you are going to be buying a certain item there is no reason not to get percentage off. A lot of product coupon code can be found online just by doing a simple search
5. Know the return policy of the store/items just in case your item is not a hit
6. Make a list and stick to it – this will help prevent going over budget and buying unnecessary items

I hope that you find these few tips helpful and save you some money. Have a wonderful shopping season!