I’ve been doing alot of research lately on the prospects for the “online” insurance sales channel. 

I personally bought my first online insurance policy from esurance.com about 3 years ago.  The rates were OK, but I’ve since changed to a local insurance agent who represents several insurance companies.  I was able to get superior coverage and a cost about 4% less than esurance.  I was really surprised that a regular old company like Auto Owners Insurance would be able to beat the “online insurance giant”

I think the difference was, believe it or not, the Local Insurance Agent. 

I believe the savings that I was able to take advantage of was a direct result of a “real person” doing the hard work of comparing policy options and building me a insurance plan that was taylor fitted to my particiular circumstances. 

All that being said, I still believe that there is tremendous opportunity to sell insurance products online.  The trick is going to be a significant “service differentiators” to make a company stand above the rest of the online space.  The problem with esurance.com was that no one was truly servicing my account…so I had no one looking out for my best interests and annually analyzing my insurance coverage needs. 

Have any of you, my readers and friends, purchased an insurance product online?  Please let me know how it went, and if you plan to continue down that road for your insurance needs in the future.

Thanks in advance for the feedback!  I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, we sure did here in Michigan!

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So I was visiting one of my favorite blogs…GetMoneyEnergy and my eyes were immediately drawn to information on the site about GoldLine.  Once on the GoldLine site, I was able to pursue through amazing amounts of information on rare coins and precious metals investing. 

Most interesting to me was a chart that showed current Gold, Silver, Platinum, etc. prices today (at record highs) and then compare them to “inflation adjusted” 1980 prices.

What the chart leads you to believe is that when you take inflation into consideration, precious metals may still have significantly more upside potential, especially if you believe that the current economic environment is similar to the environment in 1980.

I’m extremely intrigued by precious metals…and rare coins for that matter.  I’ve written quite extensively about Silver Investing as you may know, and have recently invested a significant amount of money into Natural Gas when it was around $3 a MCF.

Anywho…please pipe in on Gold, your opinions do matter to me…as in the case of Natural Gas, your feedback helps direct my actions.  That is what this blog is all about!

And BTW, I still have not decided on a vehicle.  I’m leaning towards the Ford Taurus, but am waiting until they are available with about $2500 in rebates that I can take advantage of.  They currently DO offer $2500 in rebates, but you can only get access to $1500 of those dollars if you have a competitors lease.  Unfortunatly, I own competitior vehicles, but OWN them, don’t lease them at this time.  I will keep you posted.

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So, I need a new car, which would normally be an exciting time for me…but each of the three cars that I want are newer and really cool models…and thus are currently expensive and don’t come with any good financing incentives or rebates. 

I really do need a nice new car though, because I am, once again, getting tired of paying $2.75 a gallon for vehicles that only get 10-14 miles per gallon.  (Why do I buy big trucks all the time?)

Anyways, I’m looking at the 2010 Buick LaCross, the 2010 Ford Taurus, and the 2010 Lexus ES 350.  Each are beautiful vehicles with great Consumers Report ratings…but this comes at a price. 

I wish I liked the Chevy Impala…I believe you can get rebates and 72 month, interest free financing…BUT IT IS SO UGLY! 

Any of my blogging buddies bought a vehicle out there, I would love some advice and input on which vehicle you picked, why you picked it, and if it appears to be a good deal.  All input is greatly appreciated as always!  Believe it or not, I want my next car to be nice, but to actually be a decent long term investment…I realize that is a tough task to accomplish.

Peace and blessings to YOU, my online friends!

-TAM

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For reasons many of you may know, I’ve been following the NYMEX price of Natural Gas very closely for the past year or so.  I’ve seen multi-years highs that made little sense to me…and as recent as yesterday we are seeing 7 year lows in the price of this “clean” fuel.  SO WHAT IS THE DEAL, WHY THE BIG UPS AND DOWNS?

It seems like most commodities, the laws of supply and demand are determining the price of Natty Gas.  I’m currently reading that stockpiles are nearly 19% above their 5 year average, and that demand is down.  BUT WHY SUCH A DRAMATIC FALL?

That is where I see opportunity.  I believe that the stick has swung WAY too bearish on natural gas, and that these current depressed levels create a buying opportunity.  Yesterday I took a bit of IRA money and pumped it into the natural gas market, hoping that over the next 18 months we are able to see a much more historically normal spread between the price of oil and natural gas.  Oil traditionally and historically trades around 8 times the price of natural gas (give or take a bit).  CURRENTLY OIL IT IS TRADING AT 24 TIMES THE PRICE OF NATURAL GAS, and I don’t believe this will be sustained. 

With the current President being bent towards this idea of “cap & trade” I believe that more and more producers of electricity and going to turn to natural gas more and more as a way to offset their coal fired plants.  We will see though!

Just my two cents, I would love someone with some knowledge or a strong opinion on the subject to weigh in!  Hopefully soon, before I commit more hard dollars to my Natural Gas theories!

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If you owe a higher amount of money than what you make every month, it might be intimidating. However, there is a solution that can help you get out of this debt trap and relieve your stress. These cost-cutting steps can assist you to reduce your monthly expenditures which would offer you more money that you can utilize towards paying your debts. Patience is the key here and you would gradually get rid of all your debts. Just follow the simple steps given below that would help you know how to pay off bills and can show you the path towards debt independence.
 
Some Useful Techniques To Pay Off Bills And Get Rid Of Debt 
 
Work out the overall amount that you’re obliged to pay all your creditors. Then divide the overall amount due (taking interest into consideration) by the number of years you intend to take for paying all of your debts (for example, $200,000/10 years = $20,000 yearly/12 months = around $1667 monthly). This would provide you a clear idea about what you have to pay on a monthly basis besides your day to day living expenditures for the purpose of paying down your total debt by a stipulated date. Living expenditures incorporate items like utilities and fuel for your car. In the instance given above, the debtor intends to pay a debt amount of $200,000 in 10 years. He would require $1667 besides his day-to-day living expenditures and other various expenditures to attain his objective.
 
You should not make needless purchases such as boats, video games, shoes and garments. You should keep in mind that your objective is to become debt free and not to fall back into debt. Destroy your credit cards or discontinue them. If you can’t afford to make cash payments, don’t buy anything.
 
 
Devise a practical budget. Determine what is not essential for your daily living that would save money that can be used for paying down your debts. Stop going to watch movies every month. Cut off your coupons. Join a carpool and save on your fuel costs. Carry your lunch rather than eating out. Do your shopping at a departmental store to avoid numerous trips to save fuel. Fix and apply a programmable thermostat for air conditioning and centralized heating and this would help you save 10% on your utility bills. Have a water filter at your home to save the expenses of purchasing mineral water bottles.
 
The funds that you can save every month by lowering your leisure expenses or eating out and so on must be utilized for paying off your high-interest credit card debts and other debts faster. As soon as you pay off a debt, utilize that money for paying down another debt with a big interest rate. If you double the payment every month, it would allow you to repay that debt promptly. Continue with this plan till all your debts are repaid.
 
 
Contact your credit card companies and bargain with them for cutting down your interest rates and if you can, go for a balance transfer.
 
Look for fixed rate policies from your utility companies. Fixed rate policies offer savings on occasions when prices usually go up. This form of policy assures one rate for a particular time span. This offers you the sense of security that your utility bill would stay unchanged throughout that phase and this allows you to follow your budget.

Many Thanks to Jennifer Lohan for the above guest post.

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So it has been a couple of months since I’ve updated my friends, associates and readers about the income that TAM is generating.  So here you go.

Over the past two months I’ve averaged $350 (give or take a few bucks) of earnings from this blog (and a couple of other web properties that I don’t market at all that get little traffic.)

AdSense is pretty consistently earning about $140.00 per month.  I’m actually very pleased with the steady stream of revenue that this provides.

Private sales are accounting for the majority of blog earnings month in and month out.  I’m getting an advertising inquiry almost every other day.  Not everyone buys, but it is a consistent $150.00 or so per month…so I’m pretty pleased with that too. 

Affiliate advertising from hostgator is still picking up, but not converting all that often…but it did generate $75.00

Kontera advertising is slow and the payouts are small.  I’m only generating about $4.00 or so per month.

ALL THAT SAID, I’m still not generating enough income to make my entire Hummer H2 payment ($478.00 a month), but I’m getting darn close!  I’m still getting a ton of traffic from old posts especially the ones about General Motors and Why Capital One Sucks…so that is great.

Traffic has leveled off to between 1500 and 2000 unique visitors per month and between 5000 and 6000 page views per month.  I love the tracking capabilities of Analytics…very cool!  Also cool to know, 80% of my visitors are coming from the US, 10% from the UK, 5% from Canada, and the rest from all over God’s green earth. 

Thanks always for stopping by and for your comments.  They make this fun!

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Instant gratification is part of the world we live in today. Most communities offer drive through services for anything from fast food to pharmaceuticals. We can shop at 24 hour stores, pay at the pump and transfer funds electronically, from our cell phone, at midnight on a holiday weekend. OK- I’m not sure on the holiday weekend part, but I think you get the gist. We have become a people who like to wait for nothing, an attitude which can cause problems for those trying to achieve certain financial goals. With so many people still reeling from the fallout during the recession, the need to slow down and adopt a more conservative approach to finances has been brought to the forefront. This means for the most part, people are putting the brakes on excessive spending as they deal with the consequences of years of buying first and paying later. Fortunately as more people are forced to pay attention to the state of their finances, there appears to be a much needed renewal of interest in saving versus spending money. It is important for consumers “new” to saving money to understand that while the benefits may not be seen immediately, the end result is indeed worth the effort. Here are a few tips to remember when saving money for the future.

• Allow yourself time to change gears- If you have been on spending fast track for years, it will be difficult at first to adjust to a slower pace. Going back to the days before credit cards became popular, people were forced to save money before they made a purchase. Over the years, as credit became more readily available, this practice became almost obsolete. As you adjust to this change in your spending “mentality”, remember in some cases slow and steady does win the race.
• Start slow- If you are dealing with a financial hardship or trying to pay off debt, it may be difficult to find a lot of money to put toward your savings goals. It is important to remember that every little bit helps and even if you are only able to put a few dollars away each week, that amount will eventually add up.
• Build momentum as you go- As you eliminate your debt, you will be able to increase the amount of money you put in your savings. Do not feel tempted to absorb that money in your day-to-day spending. If you lived without it while paying your debt, you can live without it to build your savings.
• Different financial goals require different saving strategies- Once you feel comfortable saving money in general you will be able to fine tune your savings goals. This will include having both short and long term goals which will require different saving strategies to achieve.

In many cases the hardest thing about saving money is getting started. For many people living paycheck-to-paycheck trying to squeeze even a few extra dollars into the budget may seem impossible. In most situations it is possible to find the money to save, and once you get started you will see how quickly small contributions add up. Whenever possible automate your savings so you are not tempted to spend that money in other places. Reaching your financial goals is not something that happens overnight, in fact for most people it is a lifetime endeavor, one that is well worth the effort in the end.

Trisha Wagner is a freelance writer for DepositAccounts.com, where you can compare rates of checking accountsfrom dozens of banks in one place. Trisha writes regularly on the topics of personal finance and savings accounts.

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I’ve recently read about a crazy new government stimulus program that is offering good old folks like you and me something like $4500 for any old, piece of junk car, if we buy a new one.  Now I know that there are some rules and regulations about the gas mileage of the old and new vehicles (new one must get better mileage and such) but does anyone understand this program?

It seems to me like if you drive an old clunker, you probably put pretty little value on the “looks” of your vehicle.  And I’m guessing that you probably HATE the thought of spending a years salary on buying a new one when your old one is serving you just fine and is allowing you to keep putting food on the table. 

I could be missing something, but WHO CAN AFFORD a new car at today’s inflated prices, without job security, with the value of your home in the tanks, with taxes going up, and with your investments a fraction of their former selves.  Not to mention that wages are decreasing across the country and millions of people who do have jobs are having to take paycuts and are under employed. 

Is it stupid to think that a better plan may have been to incentivize WEALTHY AMERICANS to start buying more and newer cars.  They actually have the cash to do it…and they can give their old Cadillacs to their grand kids or something like that.  Give the rich people a tax break for once and see how they open up their pocketbooks and jump start consumer spending. 

Trickle down baby, trickle down!

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14.1%

Wow, the last few weeks have been awesome and crazy.  The launch of the new company is going WELL above my initial expectations.  We are extremely busy with good work.  For this I am thankful, but it has made it extremely difficult for me to find time to post here at TAM.  You all know my girls are my number one priority, so they have been getting any free time that I can muster.

This quick post is important as Michigan released unemployment data and we hit a staggering 14.1% unemployment rate here in this once great state of opportunity.  This is sad and sobering.  Basically 15 out of every 100 people that I know in Michigan are unable to find work. 

The situation here in Michigan is simply out of control.  Big government and a burdensome tax system here in the Great Lakes state has left our economy decimated.  We seem to tax EVERYTHING…even in hard times.  There is hardly an incentive to innovate here anymore.  The emails that I’m receiving from you readers who are looking to start business show a common theme.  Most would be entrepreneurs are held up by fear of the tax system, or not understanding the legal issues of owning a business.  THESE THINGS SHOULD BE CLEAR AND EASY, THIS WOULD PROMOTE INNOVATION AND RISK TAKING MORE THAN ANYTHING!  Couple that with some strategic, easy to access investment dollars for GREAT business plans…and we could turn this thing around. 

I’m praying for my state, but the sad fact is that Jesus did not come to save us from bad business decisions.  We must deal with those here and now!

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Friends, I’ve been away quite a while and miss hearing from everyone.  I’ve been launching a new company over the past month or so, and life has been CRAZY busy.  I’ve been working later than normal, and have been having trouble sticking to my 5:30 AM blogging routine. 

Anyways, I think it is important to open up a discussion with all you smart folks about HOW AND WHY the US stock market has been on suck a tear over the past couple of months.  If you made some good decisions 3 or 4 months ago, your investments are probably up 50% or more!

IF you believe that the US stock market is a “leading indicator” for the US economy, this run in the market would lead you to the conclusion that we are heading out of “The Great Recession” post haste…THE TROUBLE I have with this theory is that our home values are still falling, so the US consumer is feeling a negative “wealth effect”…also stunting our growth is the fundamental shift from consumption to savings.  I believe that most sensible people are going to save more and keep real tabs on their spending habits. 

I also fear that mutual fund managers have been chasing returns, and this is artificially pushing up stock prices ahead of the actual earnings growth of these companies.  (I hope I’m wrong though and that good companies were just SOOOO oversold that we are getting back to fair value)

All this to be said, I’m loving the run up in stock market values, but I’m worried that the market is getting ahead of its self and banking on a sharp uptick in the overall US economies growth and consumer spending. 

Do you guys really think that is going to be the case, or are we looking at a major pullback soon?  Will $3.00 gas pull us back down?  As always, any and all feedback and ideas are appreciated.  There is SO much knowledge left in the comments of this blog!

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