Thanks to everyone who entered the free gas giveaway. It's been a great 2 years here at SingleGuyMoney and I look forward to many more.

There was an awesome response to the Free Gas Giveaway and the contest closed with 103 comments.

Without further ado, the winners are:

SavingDiva - $50 Gas Card

and

Luvdaylillies - $50 Gas Card

Congratulations you two! Please contact me at singleguymoney (at) gmail.com so I get your gas cards in the mail. Please be sure to include the name of the gas station you would like a gift card from. In my area, I have Exxon, BP, Citgo, Conoco, QT, Racetrac and Shell.

Image Courtesy: Nate Steiner

It's time for another giveaway!!!! SingleGuyMoney will be 2 years old this month and to celebrate, I'm giving away gifts.

I sincerely appreciate everyone taking the time to subscribe, visit and read my blog. I enjoy sharing my financial story and I hope you enjoy reading.

The Gift:
I will be giving away 2 free gas cards worth $50 each. I am funding this out of my own pocket and not supplied by any gas company. I know the economy sucks right now and it's the summer traveling season. To thank you for visiting my blog, I want to make that next visit to the gas pump a little bit easier. I know I said in the last couple of giveaways I was going to give away a book but I think free gas can be put to better use.

The Rules:

• One entry per person, duplicate entries will be disqualified. - Let's make this fair.
• Contest applies to U.S. residents only.
• I have the final say on the contest.
• I will use a random online number generator to pick the winner.
• You will have your choice of a Racetrac or BP gas card. If you win and don't have either store in your area, we can discuss other options.
  
• Be sure you leave your email address so I can contact you if you win.
  

How to Enter:

• The contest starts Thursday June 11, 2009 and will end on Tuesday June 30, 2009 @ 11:59pm EST. I will announce the winner in a post on Wednesday July 1, 2009.
• All you need to do to enter is leave a comment on this post. I want to know - if you win, what are you plans, if any, for summer travel?
  
• If you have a blog or website, mention the giveaway for an additional chance to win. You can also Stumble, Tip, Digg, PFBuzz, etc for an additional chance to win.
  
• I would also hope that you will subscribe to SingleGuyMoney. This is not a requirement of the contest but it would be greatly appreciated.
  

If you are new or haven't done so already, please consider subscribing to SingleGuyMoney to be updated when there is a new post and to find out if you won!

Woo Hoo! I just got the signed lease back from my tenant indicating she will be with me another year. I'm happy and a little worried all at the same time.

I'm happy that I get to keep her because she has been an excellent tenant. If she stays through the end of the new lease, she will have been with me for four years! As a first time landlord, I've been extremely lucky to get such a good tenant on my first shot. I've never had any problems collecting the rent and she only calls me for repairs when something major goes wrong.

I'm a little worried though because while we were discussing whether or not she would renew the lease, she asked if I could possibly lower the rent. She said she had been looking around for something a little cheaper but she was not able to find anywhere she would be comfortable living. She currently has an adult child living with her and he helps out with the bills. He will be moving out soon so she is worried that she won't be able to keep up with the bills after he moves out.

As much as I wanted to help her, I told her that I couldn't afford to lower the rent but in order to keep her, I would be willing to leave the rent the same instead of increasing it. She was okay with this and agreed to the new lease.

I'm crossing my fingers that we will have another year of on-time rent payments.

Image Courtesy: SqueakyMarmot

If you have a credit card with a zero balance that has been laying around collecting dust for awhile, you may be receiving a letter from the credit card company soon.

Credit card issuers have been flipping the switch recently and closing unused or inactive credit cards. Unused accounts cost the company money and in a time where the bottom lines are overflowing with red ink, credit card companies are trying to cut costs wherever they can.

The credit card companies have lost so much money in the last few years, they are trying reduce risk wherever they can by closing unused accounts and reducing credit lines. According to the New York Times, credit card companies wrote off approximately $21 billion dollars in bad credit card debt in the first half of 2008.

It may not be fair, but the credit card company has every right to close your credit card whenever they see fit. You may not have read the small print in the little booklet that came with the card but it outlines all the "rules" that come with using your credit card.

How can you minimize the risk of your account being closed?

• Setup recurring billing. If you have a utility bill that accepts credit cards (and there's no extra for doing so), have your bill charged to your credit card and pay the bill in full each month.
  
• Small Purchases. Next time to fill up your tank, use your credit card instead of your debit card or cash. When the bill comes, pay on time and in full.
  
• Large Purchase. If you have a rewards credit card and have a large bill coming that you had previously planned to pay cash for, use your credit card and reap the rewards. Keep the money in a savings account until the bill comes from the credit card and pay it off in full. You'll earn a few bucks on your savings and reward points on your credit card. I do this for my auto insurance premiums. I save the money in my savings account and pay my bill with my credit card that offers 2% cash back. When the bill comes, I pull the cash from savings and pay off the credit card.
  

Have you recently had a credit card closed due to inactivity? Did you try to get the account reopened?

Image Courtesy: cliff1066

I went out to lunch yesterday with one of my married co-workers. We went to a relatively inexpensive cafe and ordered a couple of sandwich combos. My friend ordered first and her total came up to $4.49. She presented her debit card to pay for her lunch but her card was declined. She had the cashier try it again and again it was declined. She then tried to use her credit card but it was also declined.

Needless to say, she was very embarrassed and confused as to why the transactions wouldn't go through. Maybe the credit card machine was not working? I think we were all thinking that until the cashier tried my debit card for both of our meals and the transaction went through immediately.

As we sat down to eat, she began to apologize for me having to pay for her meal. I assured her it was no problem and reminded her that she had bought my lunch a few times in the past. I did ask if everything was okay financially because I know things were tight for them. They have 2 children (both in private school) and her husband was out of work for several months. Thankfully, he is now employed.

We've been friends for over 5 years so I didn't have a problem asking how things were going financially. Surprisingly, she had no clue and thinks things are probably okay. She said her husband handled all the finances and she doesn't even know how to access the bank account. She sort of laughed it off but I was thinking "How in the heck can you not know what's going on with your finances"?

Do you allow your spouse or partner to handle all of the finances? Are you involved in the process at all? Why or why not?

Image Credit: Wssst

My job requires me to travel around town a lot. The last few weeks, while driving around, I've been seeing a growing number of signs on the side of the road advertising credit repair services. Most of the signs are handwritten which for most folks would be a huge red flag. Someone who is in a bind and in need of a quick fix may actually think this is a way out for them.

I just hate to think about how many financially unsavvy people have fallen for this. Unfortunately, most of these services are a scam. You don't have to pay a company to "repair" your credit. These firms, sometimes known as "credit clinics", don't do anything more than you can do yourself for little to no cost. They have no more authority to have items removed from your report than you do. There is no legal way to have accurate information removed from your credit report.

Repairing Your Credit

The first step to repairing your credit is to check for errors in your credit report. You can pull your credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com (not an affiliate link) for free. Annual Credit Report allows you to get a free credit report once every 12 months from the big three credit bureaus - Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. You should be looking for inaccurate information such as accounts that don't belong to you, accounts reporting as past due that are actually current, or inaccurate balances. It is estimated that approximately one in every eight credit reports contain inaccurate information. Most people don't bother to keep tabs on their credit and don't know about an error until they are denied credit.

The second step to repair your credit is to make sure you keep current on all of your accounts. It doesn't matter whether it is a credit card or a electricity bill. Being over 30 days late on a credit card, loan or mortgage can send your credit score spiraling down like a lead balloon. One slip up can stay on your credit report for over 7 years!!!

Unfortunately, improving your credit does not happen overnight. It can take months for your credit score to improve. If you are in the market for a home loan or car loan within the next six months, the time to start repairing your credit is NOW!

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Financial Links:

Lending Club - P2P Personal Loans

Equifax Score Watch

Suze Orman Fico Kit

VistaPrint - 500 Business Cards for $1.99

If you haven't seen it yet, I'm giving away gas!!! Not that kind, the kind for your car. I'm giving away 2 free gas cards to celebrate two wonderful years of blogging. The time has gone by quickly and I look forward to several more years of blogging about personal finance. You can enter the contest here.

Before you run off to enter the contest, be sure to visit the following posts I enjoyed this week:

• Use The First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Now!
• Emergency Funds for Different Kinds of Emergencies
• My Escrow Account Made Me Happy This Year
• If I Buy A New Car...
• Tax Credit for First Time Homebuyers Improved
• Save Money By Concentrating on the Big Stuff

I also participated in several Carnivals recently such as:

• The 208th Carnival of Personal Finance
• Carnival of Money Stories 2

Thanks for visiting! Come back soon.....

I know the market is scary right now. Once day it's up a few points and the next day it's down a few hundred points. Granted, investing in the stock market is not for the faint at heart. One thing to remember though, if you are years from retirement, you have plenty of time to make up for those temporary losses in your 401k.

Most companies these days offer 401k retirement plans to help you save money tax-free for your retirement. If you are offered a 401k plan through your employer and you are not taking advantage of it, DO IT NOW.

If you haven't heard it already, stocks are currently at a deep discount. If you buy a stock at $10.00 per share now, it has the potential to be worth $20.00 per share years down the road.

If you currently have a 401k, don't make these common mistakes:

Using your 401k like an ATM. I've been guilty of this myself. There is no other (legal) way to get money so easily. With my plan, I can log in and go to the loan section and it will give me a preapproved loan amount and the interest rate. If I choose to borrow the money, I can have the money in my checking account in as little as 48-72 hours. By borrowing money from my 401k, I am losing the opportunity to have that money grow and compound in my account. Not only that, if you leave the company, your are required to pay the money back immediately or be subject to taxes on the money and pay a 10% penalty.

Not taking advantage of the company match. My company offers up to a 3% match when you contribute at least 5%. I've always been sure to contribute at least 5% to get the full 3% match. Not taking advantage of the matching funds is like leaving money on the table.

Too much company stock. It is certainly not a good idea to have too much company stock in your retirement account. If the company goes under, not only would do you lose your paycheck, you will lose your retirement money too. Remember ENRON!

Taking the money when you change jobs. There is nothing wrong with this if you plan to roll the money into a IRA. What you don't want to do is treat it like extra money. Remember, the IRS still won't let you have this money without hefty penalties for early withdrawal.

Not fully understanding your options. One of my coworkers has been with the company for 5 years. She did not understand how the 401k worked and only elected to contribute 1% of her pay. Not only that, she directed 100% of the money to a money market type fund. I actually spent a few hours after work explaining her 401k options and she's made some major changes. She is now contributing 5% in order to get the full company match and she has chosen a more diversified portfolio.

Image Courtesy: emilywjones

Welcome to the 1st Edition of Debt Free Friday.

Who is celebrating the joy of debt reduction this week?

** Lulu of How I Save Money has paid off over $6000!! She will apply the savings to her debt snowball to get rid of the rest of her credit card debt. Read her post here.

** Kacie of Sense to Save paid off the car loan!!! The $277 they are saving from no longer having a car loan will be applied to savings for a down payment on a home. They paid off the loan in 18 months instead of 4 years. That's awesome Kacie, keep up the good work!

Both of the above are great personal finance blogs so be sure to pay them a visit. Have you recently paid off debt? Let me know so you can be featured in the next edition of Debt Free Friday.

I heard back from my loan officer today. If you didn't see the post last week, I am currently in the process of trying to refinance my mortgage. The only thing causing a delay in the refinance is the home appraisal.

When I purchased my home in March 2006, I paid $189,140. One of the selling points the Realtor used was that I would have "instant equity". I was buying into a brand new subdivision and they were still building homes. My home was the last inventory home and the price for new homes with my same floor plan would be increased to $199,000 and above. For the first year and a half, it would be nice to pull into my subdivision and see the signs out front saying "New Homes - From the Low 200's". I'd smile and think of how I paid almost $10,000 less for my home; in just a couple of years, after making extra principal payments and the home appreciation, I'd have over $20,000 equity.

Fast forward three years to today. My neighborhood remains unfinished. I would probably say the builder finished about 75% of the planned homes. We aren't sure if the builder will finish the subdivision or sell the remaining empty lots to another builder. They closed the office/model home last week and the sign out front now says, "New Homes - From the $170's".

So how much did the mortgage lender say my home appraised for? How about the absolute highest value the appraiser could find was $175,000. Thanks to several foreclosures in my neighborhood and the crappy housing market, my home is now worth about 7.5% less than I bought it for. I know that some parts of the country have experienced double digit decreases so I can't complain too much but it is still frustrating as hell!!

The only positive thing is that I don't need to sell my house anytime soon. Hopefully, within the next 2-5 years, my home will be worth more than I originally paid.

Have you recently tried to refinance but couldn't because your home value has fallen?

Image Courtesy: glasswindow

I haven't updated the savings challenge in a few months but the challenge is still going strong.

How am I funding the savings challenge? Once monthly budget obligations are met, any additional income goes towards the savings challenge account.

My goal is to have $50,000 in my savings account by December 2010.

January 31, 2009
Beginning Balance...............$29,452.43

Image Credit: alancleaver

Deposits:

• Pinecone Surveys -- $18 (6 seperate surveys @ $3/each)
• Regular Contributions -- $2,940.00
• Misc Income -- $1,712.57
  

May 30, 2009
Ending Balance...............$34,123.00

Balance Change Amount...............$4670.57
Change Percentage........................13.7%

Amount Remaining towards $50,000 Goal = $15,877/18 months = $882.06 required amount to be saved each month in order to reach my goal.

The first three months of the year are usually good for me financially. It is easy to bulk up my savings accounts since I get my company bonuses at the beginning of the year and the end of the year. The beginning of the year is also when salary increases are awarded. I usually end up owing money to the federal government but I usually get a state refund large enough to cover my federal debt, plus some.

Follow along with me on my saving journey.

Image Courtesy: Pixelsebi

What is a slush fund? Wikipedia defines a slush fund as "a colloquial term which has come to mean an auxiliary monetary account or reserve fund."

For me, my slush fund is kind of like an emergency savings account but for the fun stuff. Some people set aside separate savings account for vacations, cars or other occasional expenses. I am a big technology geek and buying the latest electronic gadget was one of the ways I wound up with a mountain of credit card debt.

These days, I still buy the occasional electronic gadget on a whim. Although, now the guilt is not there because I've already set aside money to cover the purchase. I just pull the cash from my slush fund.

Each month, I set aside $100 a month for the slush fund. A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to take a last minute trip to the beach. The lodging was free and I only had to pay for food and drinks. I spent about $200 and I didn't have to pull the money from my regular budget and I didn't have to touch my emergency fund or regular savings. It was also nice to not have to worry about whether or not I could afford it. As long as I have money in the slush fund to cover the purchase, I can afford it. After all, that's what it's there for.

Do you have a slush fund? How much do you keep in the account?