How To Cheaply Repair Auto Window Glass With Used Junkyard Parts

By MoneyBlueBook

A few years ago I had the misfortune of living in the ghetto inner city of Baltimore. I had no choice - that was where the geniuses at the state of Maryland chose to locate their state run graduate schools. Why they chose to place the school building in a dangerous area surrounded by homeless people and drug hangouts still baffles me. The city is saturated with a population comprised of drug addicts, violent thugs, and opportunistic car thieves.

Along with two other roommates, I lived in a quaint row house near the law school in an area primarily occupied by students. Here, I thought my roommates and I would be safely shielded from the neighboring slums and criminal activity. I was wrong. Within the span of two years, a classmate friend of mine was robbed in person and a neighbor who lived across from our row house had her home burglarized (canned food was stolen, of all things). Furthermore, both of my roommates' street parked cars were broken into. My old red Toyota Corolla survived the criminal onslaught valiantly for while, but it too finally succumbed to the inevitable break in.

I usually parked my car along the street where our row house was located. One day I came home from class only to discover that the small rear side window panel on the passenger end had been smashed to pieces. Auto glass shards were strewn across the back seat, but nothing was taken. Everyone in Baltimore City knows that you must never leave any personal

By MoneyBlueBook

I used to sell products on eBay as a money making hobby and even once attempted to make a side business out of it. It wasn't easy trying to make profit while at the same time avoiding all the internet fraud and scams out there. While I eventually decided to pursue other ventures, I had a friend who continued to dabble in eBay auctions. Soon enough, he had successfully turned what started out as a one room operation to an impressive one man eBay business machine that engulfed his entire basement. Everytime I stopped by his house I was always startled at the sheer number of brand new Dell laptop and ThinkPad boxes stacked in piles throughout his basement that overflowed into his unoccupied garage.

Through his closely guarded network of online connections (he never disclosed them to me), he was able to secure excellent wholesale deals on hot electronics like laptops, desktop computers, and handheld PDA's for sale on eBay. His racket continued for several years to my continued amazement as I wondered how he managed to stay so consistently profitable despite rising eBay fees and heavy online competition. One day I finally turned to him and asked him if he was reporting his eBay earnings as taxable income on his federal income tax. He simply smiled and changed the subject. Obviously, the answer was no, thus exposing the secret to his profitable eBay success - tax evasion!

Frankly I don't really blame him for withholding his eBay profits from the

By MoneyBlueBook

When I went downstairs to the mailboxes to check my mail today, I discovered a letter in my slot with the ominous letters "IRS" and the trademark federal eagle logo stamped on it. My heart immediately skipped a beat. Was I being audited? But then I thought again - that wouldn't make any sense - I hadn't even filed my 2007 federal tax return yet.

I looked at the envelope more closely - the red lettering advertised the contents of the envelope as an important message from the IRS on the economics stimulus act of 2008 and implored me not to throw it away. Looks like I finally received one of those notorious notice letters that the IRS spent $42 million to issue. For $42 million you'd think the federal government would have been able to design a more conspicuously colored envelope rather than sticking with the traditional white junk mail design. If I hadn't examined the lettering closer I may have chucked it into the trash can like I instinctively do with most spammy mail pieces I receive.

If you want to know what the letter said, I've transcribed the entire content message below. It was a typical boiler plate form message. They didn't even bother to address the letter recipient by name. I'm simply referred to using the standard moniker - "Taxpayer".

Why the federal government and the IRS chose to spend so much money to send us this information is beyond me. Is this part of the economic stimulus plan - injecting precious taxpayer money

By MoneyBlueBook

Updated List Of The Best Supermarket and Grocery Credit Cards To Save Money On Groceries (And Offset Higher Food Prices)

With rising gas energy prices and increased food demand from developing countries comes an unfortunate result - higher food prices. Common grocery staples like milk, eggs, and wheat products have seen a noticeable rise in prices lately. Higher prices at the supermarket is leading to an increase in grocery spending for many. Those with large families and children are finding their food budgets being stretched to the limit. However, there are alternative and supplemental ways to save money on groceries beyond the usual reliance on price comparison shopping and clipping grocery store coupons. There's nothing wrong with relying on coupons and price comparison, however, the regularity of those money saving deals are often unpredictable. They are not dependent on what you or your family need at the time, but rather on the supply and demand assessments of supermarket chains.

Benefits Of Using Grocery Store Credit Card Rewards To Save Money On Supermarket Food Prices

If you are a responsible credit user, have you considered the usage of dedicated grocery credit cards to save money at the supermarket? Most major credit card issuers have tagged grocery stores as a major promotional focus of their credit card reward programs. To encourage consumers to use grocery store credit cards, card issuers are offering a wide array of high cash back rewards and rebates for supermarket related purchases. In fact, along with gas stations and drug stores, grocery stores are often

By MoneyBlueBook

When I bought my new 2004 Honda Accord a few years ago, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it came with a free 3 month trial subscription to XM Satellite Radio. Back then, the premium service was considered quite a must-have premium car feature. At the time there was nothing quite like having more than a hundred radio stations at my listening disposal whenever I drove my car. The great benefit and advantage that satellite radio had over conventional radio was that no matter where you were in the country, so long as your receiver-equipped vehicle had an unobstructed view of the sky, you were ensured a guaranteed selection of listening stations at all times. Not only did I have access to the usual radio music choices, but I could also listen to a wide variety of talk radio and television news programs such as CNN and CNBC. One of the best technical features with on board satellite radio was also the ability to know the names of artists and songs currently being played. All of the song information was digitally displayed on the XM radio player dashboard. This function was great because it complimented my hobby of downloading MP3 music from the internet. Every time I heard a song I liked, I could look to see the name of the song and download it later when I got home.

Cost and Lack Of Use Are The Reasons Why I Don' t Think Paid Satellite Radio Service Is Worth It

Back when I had the complimentary

By MoneyBlueBook

This is not really a blog about my religious beliefs but what is Easter Sunday without writing a post about money and God?

Many Christians may have spent the morning waking up early to attend Easter Sunday service. Although I did not attend this year, my church chose to celebrate the early morning occasion by holding special holiday services in the great outdoors at a lakeside location in Columbia, Maryland where the whole congregation could worship together with the tranquility of nature.

For non Christians and those unfamiliar with the religious concept of Easter, allow me to explain why the holiday is so important to Christians. Well for starters, it doesn't revolve around the Easter bunny and her basket of Easter eggs. I have no idea how a cuddly rabbit and her loot became the commercialized focus of the Easter holiday, in the same way I am unclear as to how Santa Claus became the figurehead of Christmas, the other major Christian holiday. But the reason why Easter is important to Christian church goers is because it commemorates and observes the third day that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and became resurrected after His crucifixion by the masses. While the day is not filled with presents and celebrated with as much shopping related hype as Christmas, Easter is actually the most important Christian holiday because it remembers the day in history that Christ fulfilled His destiny to become the living sacrifice for the sins of all mankind.

Many ordinary folks tend to overlook the significance of this