Samsung urges consumers to stop using Galaxy Note 7

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics is urging consumers worldwide to stop using Galaxy Note 7 smartphones immediately and exchange them as soon as possible, as more reports of the phones catching fire emerged even after the company's global recall.The call from the South Korean company, the world's largest smartphone maker, comes after U.S. authorities urged users to switch the Galaxy Note 7 off and not to use or charge it during a flight. Several airlines around the [...]

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Deeds Done, Sunday, September 11, 2016

Deeds Done, Sunday, September 11, 2016

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Samsung urges consumers globally to stop using Galaxy Note 7

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics is urging consumers worldwide to stop using Galaxy Note 7 smartphones immediately and exchange them as soon as possible, as more reports of the phones catching fire emerged even after the company's global recall.The call from the South Korean company, the world's largest smartphone maker, comes after U.S. authorities urged users to switch the Galaxy Note 7 off and not to use or charge it during a flight. Several airlines around the [...]

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Delaware Water Gap BoroughBayview Loan Servicing LLC to Axis Self Storage, 2 Tracts, 1120 Foxtown Road, Route 611, $245,000Hamilton TownshipDouble D Management LLC to Cresson Point Properties LLC, Land, Township Route 465, 74 Parcels, 07/7A/2/2 through 07/7A/2/74, $815,000Jackson TownshipAlexander S. Kokos and Carlos R. Gruber (Release) to Edward Alan and Mary Elizabeth Ubbens, Lot 4, Gruber Lake, $240, [...]

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The Packet Drawer – and Fifteen Other Little Frugal Strategies from My Social Circle

I was visiting an old friend of mine who wanted me to sample a jar of pickled cucumbers. While he was opening the jar, he asked me to grab a couple of forks out of one of the drawers in his kitchen.

I opened the wrong one.

That drawer was stuffed with condiment packets. Salt. Ketchup. Pepper. Mustard. Hot sauce. Tons of them.

His explanation was simple. When he eats out anywhere, he asks for condiment packets and then pockets the ones they give him. He tosses them into that drawer when he gets home, then when he’s dining alone, he just uses those condiments. When he has guests, he’ll serve them condiments from the fridge… but he can’t see any reason to use those himself. Why not just use the free packets instead of paying?

It was a little quirky… but it also made a lot of sense. He didn’t advocate for grabbing packets by the fistful, but for simply pocketing whatever packets were given and using them at home.

This inspired me to tap some of my other friends for some of their little frugal strategies. These were among my favorites – some of them are quite smart, a few are pretty quirky, and some manage to be both at the same time.

Strategy #1 – Poach Eggs in the Microwave for a Very Quick and Tasty Breakfast

One of my friends does this literally every morning before he leaves for work. He pops a piece of toast (or an English muffin) in the toaster, pulls out a coffee mug, and fills it about halfway with water. He cracks an egg right into the water, covers it with a saucer, and microwaves it on high for about a minute and fifteen seconds (the exact time might vary a bit depending on the microwave – for his microwave, this is the point at which the yolk just gets hard). When the microwave dings, he pulls out the cup, pours off the water, then the toast pops up out of the toaster. He puts the poached egg on the toast and is out the door. The whole process takes less than two minutes from beginning to end.

It’s a breakfast that requires no silverware, one he can eat in the car on the way to work, and doesn’t leave behind any mess at all other than a toast crumb or two. It provides a big boost of protein in the morning, but doesn’t add up to too many calories. The best part? It costs him maybe a quarter in terms of ingredients. He’ll often take a banana or an apple with him to eat when the “sandwich” is finished, which costs perhaps another quarter.

It’s so efficient, so inexpensive, and gets his day started off right.

Strategy #2 – Don’t Turn Left

Another friend of mine basically avoids turning right whenever possible, even if it means going around the block. This saves her both time and money.

How does this work? Whenever you’re turning left onto a roadway, you have to wait for two lanes of traffic; turning light means you only have to worry about one lane, which means you get out on the road much quicker. Whenever you turn left at a stoplight, you’re usually stuck in the turn lane idling for quite a while before you turn, whereas when you turn right, you can usually turn very quickly, even on a red light in most jurisdictions.

In other words, turning left means that you spend a lot of time and a not-insignificant amount of fuel just idling and waiting to turn, while you spend far less fuel and time when you turn right.

Thus, my friend simply plans her travel so that she turns right as often as possible. She’ll think ahead about her route and plan things so that she turns right instead of left. She’ll even drive around an additional distance to avoid left turns on a busy street or intersection.

Strategy #3 – Use Gift Bags and Save Them

A couple that we’ve been friends with for many years always gives gifts in nice gift bags. If someone decides to use the bag to transport a gift, it’s not a problem, but if the bag is left behind or thrown away, they’ll keep it. They also keep every single gift bag that they’re given.

Why? They hold onto those bags. In one of their closets, they have an enormous pile of gift bags in great shape, ready to be reused. They use an end roll of blank newspaper (picked up for just a dollar or two from the local newspaper office) or newspaper comic pages as tissue paper for the gifts.

This almost entirely eliminates their expenses for wrapping gifts. Occasionally, they have to pick up a gift bag or two to replenish their supply, but that’s apparently a pretty rare occasion.

Strategy #4 – Dumpster Dive at Apartment Move-Out Times

One of our friends lives near a college campus that has many, many apartment buildings in the surrounding blocks. The landlords in that area usually offer annual leases that all expire on July 31st of each year.

Thus, from about July 29 to August 1 of each year, she’s on the hunt. She drives from complex to complex, watching the curbs and dumpster areas, to find what items the students are throwing away.

Sure, most of it is junk, but you’d be shocked at the high quality items some students just toss in the dumpster, particularly students that are about to leave the country and have no way to take items with them. She has collected huge amounts of new and nearly-new clothing and shoes, completely functional Bluray and DVD players, and many other items. Her favorite find? An in-shrink iPad Mini. Yes, some college student just tossed it.

Strategy #5 – Change Your Own Oil

I do this myself sometimes, but one of my best friends is absolutely adamant about changing his own oil. Not only is it far less expensive than using an oil change service, he’s convinced that they do a relatively poor job.

Why? What’s wrong with an oil change service? For one, they don’t let the oil drain for a long period of time. The best way to get all of the junk oil out of your car is to simply slide an oil pan under the car, open up the oil gasket, and let it drain for a long time – an hour at least. After the first minute or so, the flow of oil slows drastically, but what comes out at that point is the worst oil – the sludgy stuff that doesn’t flow well. Letting it drain for a long time lets a lot of that bad oil escape, which doesn’t happen with a quick oil change. This extends the life of the car.

For another, they’re almost always overcharging you on the oil compared to the price you can get on oil from an auto parts store. He usually buys oil in five quart containers, which is perfect for filling up his car, and changes his oil filter each time (which is also very easy if you have an oil filter wrench). A car’s manual explains each step and all of the oil and the filter can be bought for less than $20, which is a lot cheaper than an oil change place. Plus, you can go do something else at home while the oil drains.

Strategy #6 – Negotiate Hotel Room Rates on the Fly

If you’re willing to add a little bit of flexibility to your travel, you can skip reserving hotel rooms in advance and instead reserve them on the fly on your travel date.

Simply find several hotels near your destination and call each of them while you’re traveling to that destination (this is a good task for a passenger in the car, for example). Simply state that you’re staying in the area and that you’re calling several hotels for the best rate.

One good tactic to use here is to call the hotel that you suspect will offer you the lowest rate first, then use their quoted rate as a bargaining chip with the other hotels. For example, if you’re calling up a local Best Western, you might want to say that the local Super 8 offered you a room for $45 a night and you’ll stay at the Best Western instead if they can match that rate.

This might not be the best strategy if you have specific needs when traveling, but if you’re flexible about the hotel you use and don’t have any special needs, it can save you a bundle on the road.

Strategy #7 – Hone Your Disposable Razors to Get More Uses

Quite often, people toss disposable razors and disposable razor blades not because the blade isn’t sharp any more, but just because the blade is no longer honed. Imagine that the blade itself is just bent or curled a little but it still has a sharp edge that’s just curled out of the way. If you can simply un-curl it, you can get a lot more use out of the blade, right?

Well, a friend of mine showed me a great way to hone a disposable razor. Just get your forearm wet and soapy and then run the blade slowly backwards on your forearm, in the opposite direction of how you would shave.

This helps hone the sharp edge of the blade and can get you a lot more shaving before you have to toss the blade. I now do this as a matter of course after each shave, as it costs nothing, requires no extra equipment, and definitely has a strong positive impact on the life of the blade.

Strategy #8 – Make Your Own “Cold Press” Coffee

Rather than worrying about the expense and hassle of a coffee pot and a coffee filter each morning, one close friend of mine uses a somewhat different tactic. He buys whole bean or coarsely ground coffee, then puts a cup of the ground coffee into a Nalgene quart water bottle. He fills the bottle with water, shakes it up, then sticks it in his refrigerator where it sits for a couple of days.

When he wants the coffee, he simply pulls out a fine mesh metal strainer and pours the coffee through it, collecting the strained coffee on the other side in a cup. If there’s coffee left in the Nalgene bottle, he puts it back in the fridge; otherwise, everything goes in the sink or dishwasher. If he wants hot coffee, he just microwaves the strained coffee for a minute or two.

This saves a lot of expense from the coffee pot and makes mornings more convenient to boot. You can easily adjust the strength by either adding more coffee beans or by letting it sit for longer.

Strategy #9 – Use Old Toothbrushes as Household Cleaners

This is a great strategy that I’ve used faithfully for years, so I’m glad to hear that others use it, too.

Whenever you wear out a toothbrush – to me, that means whenever you go in for a new dental visit – just take the old one, clean it well, and put it in a junk drawer instead of throwing it away. It becomes a great little cleaning tool.

You can use such a toothbrush for all kinds of household tasks, from cleaning grout and other tight spaces to applying wood glue to tricky corners. When the toothbrush becomes too beat up for those tasks, you can just toss it, knowing you got plenty of use out of it. It also keeps you from buying brushes or other little tools for uses that an old toothbrush can easily fulfill.

Strategy #10 – Clean the Back of the Fridge Once a Year

A refrigerator works by taking advantage of some basic chemistry to use the relatively cool air in your kitchen to cool down some relatively warm coils, then reducing the pressure in those coils to make it even cooler, which cools down your fridge. It’s a neat trick, but it only works efficiently if the coils on the back of your fridge are exposed to air and not insulated.

Guess what? Over time, dust builds up back there and effectively insulates the coils. That means that your refrigerator has to run for a lot longer since the gas isn’t cooling down as fast on each cycle. That “dust insulation” makes your refrigerator run longer, which gobbles up a lot of electricity.

The solution is easy: every once in a while – say, once a year – pull out your fridge and dust off the coils on the back of it. Most refrigerators can slide out relatively easily and a thorough cleaning back there can not only make your refrigerator run more efficiently (saving you money on electricity), it also means less wear and tear on your refrigerator parts, saving you money on replacements since your fridge will last longer.

Strategy #11 – Check the Schedule of the Nearest University

Two or three times a week, a couple I’ve been friends with for a long while heads over to the campus of the local university. There, they go to speeches by well known authors or to free concerts by talented musicians. These types of events are going on constantly at the university and they’re virtually always open to the public.

There’s no harm in checking out the university calendar to see what kinds of speeches and presentations and art performances are coming up in the near future. Many are completely free and even if just one out of ten are of interest to you, that still means something interesting and free is probably happening two or three times a week or so.

During my post-graduation but pre-children years, I used to enjoy many such events at our local university. These days, I don’t quite get the same opportunities that I once did, but I still recognize the value of the local university.

Strategy #12 – Start a Podcast

One of my closest friends recognized how much loved sitting around with his buddies talking about sports, so he started a podcast that ran for almost four years. It actually built a pretty nice audience for a while and it gave my friends a chance to talk to each other about the sports they loved, tell jokes, and share it all with like-minded people.

What did it cost them? Nothing. What did it give them? It gave a lot of laughs, helped sustain friendships, and built a few new ones, too.

A podcast is a really great way to turn the joy of sitting around with friends talking about a passion you enjoy into something that can build new friendships, sustain your current friendships, and even possibly make a few bucks. All you really need to do is record those conversations and share them. My friends just recorded themselves chatting around a laptop, added some images of what they were talking about using a free movie making tool, and put the results on Youtube. It’s fun, it’s free, it can build friendships, and it can make you some ad revenue, too.

Strategy #13 – Have a Weekly Meal Menu

One of our busiest friends handles meal preparation for her family by having a rather strict meal plan that she just follows over and over. They have a certain meal each Monday, a different one on Tuesday, and so on.

Her meal plan does include a bit of variance in the meals – her “casserole” night has a fair amount of variation to it, as does her “soup” night and “grill” night – but each of those things follows the same general structure for the meal. Her soup recipe is the same with just substituted ingredients.

This saves her money in a number of ways. First, she can shop insanely quickly without distractions because she knows exactly what’s needed for the week. She can bulk buy ingredients if she discovers they’re on sale without skipping a beat. She can also prepare the meals incredibly quickly because they’re so familiar for her and her family.

Strategy #14 – Invert the Pantry

Another strategy for inexpensive meals from another friend is to spend an hour or two “inverting the pantry.” Basically, he just pulls everything out of his pantry and puts everything back in in reverse order. All of the stuff near the front goes to the back and vice versa.

This process usually gives him a ton of ideas for meals using what he has on hand. It also ensures that he uses ingredients that he has on hand before they go bad, converting something that might have become trash into something useful. It also usually cuts directly into his grocery shopping for the week.

If you find that your pantry or cupboards build up over time, just invert the whole thing. You might be surprised at the useful stuff hanging out in the back.

Strategy #15 – Buy Large Jugs of Store Brand Handsoap

Rather than just buying a new small soap dispenser each time you run out of hand soap in the bathroom, stick with one that works and just buy a large jug of handsoap to store under the sink. Better yet, make it store brand handsoap.

By cutting out the purchase of small soap dispensers or containers by simply reusing one of them (or using a long-lasting permanent one that matches your bathroom decor), you save money regularly on your bills. By buying the soap in a large jug and using that jug to fill a smaller container you already have, you save more by buying the soap in bulk instead of in smaller batches. By buying a store brand soap, you save even more due to the “store brand” discount.

Just keep the dispenser you like and start refilling it with store brand handsoap. Your hands will be clean, your dispenser will work like a champ, and you save money, too.

Final Thoughts

These techniques involve simple little life changes that take very little time or effort to pull off but can easily save you a few bucks. Choose the ones that work for you and toss the rest.

Remember, if you can make an effortless change that doesn’t degrade your life in any way, it’s pure savings. It’s money that stays right in your pocket, right where it belongs. That’s definitely a frugal win.

The post The Packet Drawer – and Fifteen Other Little Frugal Strategies from My Social Circle appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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How Much Does it Cost to Sell a House?

How much does it cost to sell a house? The truth is, how much you’ll pay to sell your home depends on a number of factors. For example, using a realtor to market and manage your home sale can be rather expensive — real estate agent commissions can total 5% to 6% of the sale price, all of which is generally paid for by the seller, not the buyer. But if you sell it on your own? Do things the right way, and your costs may be minimal.

Other factors that can affect the cost of selling a home include property taxes, neighborhood fees, repairs you need to make, and even the time of year. If you plan on selling any time soon, it’s crucial to factor these and other costs into the equation.

Common Costs Associated with Selling a Home

While every home sale is different, and laws and customs vary by state, most real estate transactions incur the same types of costs and fees just about everywhere. Generally speaking, pricier homes simply incur proportionally higher expenses across the board in each of these categories. Here are the most common expenses to plan for when selling your home:

Real Estate Agent Commissions

This is the biggie when it comes to selling your home. A seller can expect to fork over up to 6% of their home’s sale price in real estate commissions, according to Realtor.com. That percentage is typically split between the buyer’s and seller’s agents, then divvied up between their respective brokers.

That means that on the sale of a $300,000 home, real estate commissions alone can eat up as much as $18,000 of the sale.

Obviously, this is a fee you’ll want to negotiate down if you can — and more and more sellers are able to do just that. A recent study by online real estate brokerage Redfin found that 60% of people who sold a home in the past year received some kind of discount on their commissions, while 37% of buyers received a discount or other rebate of at least $500 on their agent’s portion of the commission.

There are a few possible reasons real estate agents are more likely to take a lower commission these days. For starters, available housing inventory is low across the country, and agents must compete fiercely for that dwindling business. Meanwhile, online brokerages such as Redfin and Owners.com, which offer high-powered web tools and the services of local agents at a discount to traditional realtors, have grown more popular.

With Redfin, sellers pay a lower 1.5% commission, while buyers also receive a rebate. With Owners.com, sellers can choose between a few different packages based on the level of service they want — there’s even a bare-bones free option — to save on the 2.5% to 3% they would typically owe a seller’s agent.

“In the traditional real estate model, a seller’s agent typically charges 5% to 6% commission on the asking price of a home, with half of the commission paid to the buyer’s agent,” says Steve Udelson, president of Owners.com. “Considering the average price of an existing home, according to the National Association of Realtors, is $244,100, a seller using Owners.com would keep more than $6,000 in their pocket,” Udelson says.

Alternatively, you can skip using an agent altogether and market your home on your own. In a popular area with lots of traffic, an old-fashioned yard sign may do the trick, and you can advertise your home on free sites such as Craigslist. Just remember, you’ll need to take on the responsibilities of a realtor when you sell your home by yourself, including some heavyweight tasks like hiring a lawyer to draw up the contract, negotiating with buyers or their agents, and arranging the title paperwork and transfer.

Home Repairs

If your home is in perfect shape and move-in ready, you may not need to complete any repairs before you sell. Chances are, however, you may need to take care of some basic updates to boost the home’s curb appeal and secure the best price. That might mean a fresh coat of paint throughout, repairing a crack in the ceiling, or finally fixing that loose railing on the stairs.

In addition to any repairs you make to improve the resale value of your home, you might be liable for even more repairs once a sale is underway. Your buyer will likely have a home inspection, and they can ask you to repair any major faults as a condition of the sale. While you can’t always predict these repairs or their costs, you should keep your mind – and your wallet – open to the possibility of some additional outlay.

• Related: What Common Home Repairs Cost (and How to Budget for Them)

Mortgage Payoff

When you sell your home, you’ll use the profits of the sale to pay off your old home loan first. While the concept is fairly cut and dry, the amount you’ll pay may not be the amount listed on your last mortgage statement. Because interest accrues daily, you’ll owe the principal of your loan plus the amount of prorated interest you’ve accrued until the day of your closing. If your mortgage has a prepayment penalty (it probably doesn’t, but always check), you’ll need factor it into the equation as well.

• Related: Best Mortgage Lenders of 2016

Neighborhood Fees and Additional Taxes

If your neighborhood has a homeowner’s association, expect to pay a prorated share of your annual or monthly HOA fees. On the flip side, if you have already prepaid your HOA fees for the year, you may be returned a portion of your payment at closing, or choose to allow that amount to carry over into the new buyer’s term.

Other fees can vary. In some states, you may also be charged a local transfer tax of 0.01% to 2% of your sales price to transfer your home’s title.

If you earn a considerable income on the sale of your home, you can also expect to pay capital gains taxes as well. If the profit from your home exceeds $250,000 for singles of $500,000 for married couples filing jointly, you’ll owe capital gains taxes on any amount over those caps per the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). But if your home sale nets a profit less than those amounts, you can keep those profits tax-free provided you lived in your home for two out of the previous five years before selling.

Property Taxes

This is where the time of year comes into play, and where things get tricky. First of all, the fact that property taxes are sometimes payed in arrears means you may need to pay extra to bring your property taxes up-to-date for your buyer.

In addition to that, you usually need to pay a prorated amount of property taxes until the day your home sale closes. If you just paid your taxes, you might owe next to nothing. If your next tax bill is far away, however, it could easily be thousands of dollars.

Title Insurance

Title insurance, which protects the buyer in case there are problems with the home’s title or ownership history, is often the buyer’s responsibility, but in some cases the seller may offer or be required to pay for it. Title insurance usually runs between $500 and $1,000. If a lien is discovered on your home before the closing date, you’ll also need to pay that off before you can sell.

Home Warranty

While a home warranty is usually optional, buying one for potential buyers can help you sell your home. While the terms of these warranties vary, they tend to cover the major components of your home and promise repair or replacement for new buyers. Most of the time, home warranties last one year but may be renewed for an additional cost.

The price of a home warranty can depend on the sales price of your home, but you should generally expect to pay about $300 to $500 for this benefit.

Buyer’s Closing Costs

In a buyer’s market, a seller could be asked to cover part or all of the buyer’s closing costs to sweeten the deal. Usually, these costs add up to around 2% to 5% of the cost of the home and can include mortgage fees, appraisal costs, and additional professional services.

The Bottom Line

Before you sell your home, you should know which fees to expect. By arming yourself with information, you can emerge from your home’s closing with an eye on the future – and hopefully, more money in your pocket.

Related Articles:

• How to Refinance Your Mortgage
• Is Building a New Home a Better Deal Than Buying an Existing One?
• Should You Pay Off Your Mortgage Early?
• The Best Home Insurance for 2016

Have you ever sold a home before? Were you surprised by the costs of selling?

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This Amazing Flow Chart Could Solve Your Student Loan Nightmare

Are you swimming in student loan debt — or drowning?

You’re not alone.

The average loan-holding college student graduating in 2016 owes a record-setting $37,172 in student loan debt, and the number is steadily climbing each year, the Wall Street Journal reported in May.

Many of us don’t even really understand the debt we’re in, until those monthly bills come knocking. Monthly payments can be upwards of $300… and why did anyone let 18-year-old me sign up for this?

If you’re stuck with confusing debt and an unfeasible repayment plan, this might help.

What is Student Loan Refinancing?

Refinancing would combine your various student loans, interest rates and payment plans into one new loan.

Depending on which rates you qualify for, this could help you get a lower monthly payment and interest rate, simplify your loan repayment and help you pay down your debt faster.

You’d be replacing some — or all — of your existing loans with a new private lender loan.

It also comes with new repayment terms, which give you a chance to start fresh with a new agreement and a potentially better interest rate to help you pay less in the long run.

Should You Refinance Your Student Loans?

Keep in mind that refinancing government loans with a private lender means giving up some borrower benefits, including access to income-driven repayment plans and the potential for loan forgiveness after 10, 20 or 25 years of payments.

But many borrowers decide the savings they can get through refinancing outweighs the value of those benefits.

It can be a tough decision to make, so we created this handy chart to help you out!

See which options are available to you at Credible.com, a marketplace that lets you see personalized rates from multiple refinancing lenders. Seeing your offers on Credible won’t affect your credit score or share your information with lenders before you’re ready to proceed with an offer.

See your offers here, and answer the questions below to determine whether refinancing is right for you.

Your Turn: Will you consider refinancing your student loans?

Sponsorship Disclosure: A huge thanks to Credible for working with us to bring you this content. It’s rare that we have the opportunity to share something so awesome and get paid for it!

Dana Sitar (@danasitar) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s written for Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, Writer’s Digest and more, attempting humor wherever it’s allowed (and sometimes where it’s not).

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