Many financial experts recommend having a 3 to 6 emergency fund (of your typical living expenses) in the bank for unexpected events in your life such as a job loss. However, in today’s economy is a 3 to 6 months emergency fund enough?  Many unemployed people are having difficulty finding jobs within 6 months.  It’s now taking some people up to a year to find employment. So it maybe a good idea to have a 1 year emergency fund!

If you don’t have an emergency fund, the hardest part is how to get started.  You know you should have an emergency fund but how can you create one when money is already being tight.  As with most things, it’s all about creating a plan and sticking to the plan.

The first thing is tracking where all your money is spent each month.  If you were to track every dollar spent you’d be amazed how much of that money falls in the “I don’t really need this” category.  You also maybe surprised how much money you spend on small items that adds up to a decent amount of money over time.  That $5 coffee you purchase every morning at Starbucks in a month is costing you $100.  That’s over $1,000 in a year for coffee.  That’s money you could have put towards you emergency fund.

Another strategy is to reduce your 401K contributions temporarily to build you emergency fund.  However, if your company is matching you, you should put at least that amount in your 401K.  So for example if you are putting 10% of your gross salary in your 401K but your employer matches dollar for dollar 6%, your should reduce your contribution to 6% to still getting the matching dollars.  Why lose that money?

Also create a budget and look at each expense to determine what you can do to reduce that expense.  Do you really need to be paying $85 per month for cable TV?  Can you reduce it to $50 per month?  Do you need to spend $100 per month for cell phone?  Can you reduce it to $60 per month? Do you really need that gym membership that you almost never use, saving you $35 per month?  Can you shop around for cheaper car insurance and raising your deductible saving you a few hundred dollars per year?  Can you take your lunch to work instead of eating out everyday? If you look closely at your budget to determine how much money you can save by cutting expenses you will be surprised with how much money you can save!

So go ahead and get started.  Time is of essence.  Start today!

Related Articles:

• Surviving a Layoff
• MSNBC 10 Tips to Save on Your Cell Phone Bill
• Video: Dave Ramsey’s Advice on Financial Success
• Think and Act Like a Business Owner

I’m always looking to save money and am seriously considering getting rid of my land-line and instead using the Magic Jack.  Magic Jack was launched mid last year and I’ve heard nothing but good things about the service.  (See 2 videos below).

Magic Jack works by first purchasing a phone jack that you plug into your computer via the USB port.  You then plug your home phone into the jack to make your phone calls.  It’s that easy.  The service includes free local / long distance, free directory assistance, free phone number, free call waiting, free voicemail and free caller ID.  Additionally, you get a Magic Jack phone number that people will see on their Caller ID.

The phone jack costs $39.95 plus $6.95 for shipping and handling.  After the one year of free service, it’s $19.95 per year for the phone service.  That is a fantastic deal.

Visit MagicJack.com for more information.

Magic Jack infomercial

Magic Jack Review

The higher education law passed by Congress last year requires that all colleges have net price calculators on their websites by 2011 to determine out-of-pocket cost and financial aid packages available.

The calculators ask for a variety of information similar to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).  The calculators then use this information to deterrmine how much a student or family is expected to pay. 

Additionally, the calculators will highlight the cost to attend that specific school and financial aid package the school might offer to make up the different between the student/family out-of-pocket contribution and the total bill.

There are several universities that already have calculators which include:

• Williams College
• Princeton University
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Yale University
• Amherst College

WaMu Bank, who is being taken over by Chase, if offering $100 cash bonus when you open a WaMu free checking account and set up direct deposit or make five debit card purchases.  The offer expires 6/16/09.

There is no monthly service fee, free ATM cash withdrawals at any ATM, free checks, free online banking and bill pay and one overdraft fee refund annually.

To qualify for the reward, you must open a new checking account with a $100 minimum opening deposit of new money (money not currently held by WaMU). Also, within 60 calendar days of account opening, you must initiate a monthly direct deposit such as payroll, pension or Social Security, or have at least five debit card purchases (using your PIN or signature) posted to your account.

The reward will be deposited into your new account within 2 weeks after the initial direct deposit or the five debit card purchases have posted to your account. Limit one personal checking account-related reward/premium per customer, per calendar year.

Visit Bonus.WaMu.com to get your $100 Cash Bonus.

JetAmerica today started selling $9 non-stop one-way seats on its new flights between six U.S. cities. The first fights take-off on July 13. During a time of massive cutbacks in the airline industry, JetAmerica is about to spread its wings.

The new low-fare, big-jet air service kicks-off its “Let’s Get America Flying Again” campaign at a news conference today at Toledo Express Airport. JetAmerica is now offering some of the best-buys-in-the-skies above the U.S.A. Its inaugural roundtrip flights launch from Lansing, Michigan, Melbourne-Vero Beach, Florida, South Bend, Indiana and Toledo, Ohio to New York- Newark, New Jersey. Jet America is also flying roundtrip flights from Toledo and Lansing to Melbourne-Vero Beach. Starting August 14, Jet America will fly roundtrip from Toledo to Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Currently, passengers flying these routes are cramped into small turbo-prop planes and regional jets. They also must make connections, endure long layovers and pay expensive fares. JetAmerica will provide full size, fuel-efficient Next Generation Boeing 737-800 series non-stop jet flights at fares 50 to 70 percent less than major airlines traveling similar but indirect routes. JetAmerica expects to be profitable because it is serving secondary cities where there are few flight options and minimal competition. Furthermore, JetAmerica is stimulating markets with some of the lowest air fares in the nation that will encourage business travelers as well as people who fly occasionally or do not fly at all to start flying from their hometown rather than from larger out-of-of-town airports, which previously offered better deals.

If JetAmerican doesn’t fly to your city, the company has several cities under consideration for 2009.  They include Charleston, WV, Chicago/Rockford, IL, Cincinnati, OH, Columbus, OH, Dayton, OH, Greensboro/Winston-Salem/Highpoint, NC, Pittsburgh, PA, and St. Petersburg/Clearwater, FL.

To get your $9 seat visit JetAmerica.com.

Ann-Marie left a comment for the Article “Get Your Free Credit Score from Credit Karma” to check out Quizzle.com if you are shy about entering your Social Security Number to get your free credit score.  She stated that Quizzle.com gives you a free Experian credit report and future scores every six months. 

As a result, I decided to check it out. The first thing I noticed is that Quizzle.com is owned and powered by the reputable Quicken Loans.  The site is authenticated by VeriSign Trust Network.  The site also begins with https which ensures information is encrypted using SSL before transmission. So I felt Quizzle.com was a legitimate and secure Website.

Ann-Marie is correct that you don’t have to give your Social Security Number.  While signing up, you are asked to pick from a list of past phone numbers, past cities you lived in, past employers, etc.  I assume this is how Quizzle.com verifies that you are the right person.  However, if someone knows you very well they will be able to easily answer these questions and get your credit score. This may cause some privacy issue concerns.

Regardless, Quizzle.com did give me free credit score from Experian, as well as a grade for my home, my budget, my mortgage and my rainy day fund.  Overall I scored 86 out 100.  See screen shot below.

Credit Report
In addition to receiving a credit score, Quizzle.com gives you the credit report as well, highlighting open accounts, closed accounts, negative accounts, public records and credit inquiries, which in my case were mostly accurate.  I do have to find out why a collection company is listed under my negative accounts.

Home Value Report
The rating on my home value was based on comparable home sales in my neighborhood.  The four homes listed were recently sold in my neighborhood were all foreclosures which were deeply discounted compared to when I purchased my home.  According to Quizzle.com, my home has depreciated by 6.6% on average each year since purchase and was rated a F.  Ouch!

Mortgage Report
My mortgage grade is a B (82%). Because of my home value, Quizzle.com was unable to provide me with online mortgage recommendations.  I’m certain this is where Quicken Loan would have played an important part.  However, I can adjust the numbers and recalculate or check back later to see if they have new options to offer.

Budget and Rainy Day Fund Reports
Quizzle.com also rated my budget and rainy day fund where I received a score of B and A, respectively.

Overall I like Quizzle.com and recommend using it.  My only concern is the privacy issue where someone that has your background information can easily look up your credit report without your social security number.

To get your free report visit Quizzle.com.

Per the Fair Credit Reporting Act you are eligible for a free copy for your credit report every 12 months from each of the three reporting agencies (Equifax, Transunion and Experian).  However, getting your credit score will cost you until now.

Credit Karma now offers a free credit score from TransUnion.  I just signed up and got my credit score of 748.  See screen show below.  Besides the credit score, Credit Karma also offers some statistics on how your credit score compares to others.

Per the screen shot below, 17% of people scored in my range of 700 to 749.  My score places me in the top 78 percentile when compared against all US consumers and is considered good.

Screenshot of Credit Karma

I’m currently in the process of refinancing my mortgage and received a copy of my credit score ordered 4/15/09.  The report showed by credit score is 808 with Transunion.  So there is some discreprency with Credit Karma unless my score dropped 59 points in a little over one month.

Since Credit Karma only offers 1 credit score (from Transunion), you will have to consider a fee based service such as equifax.com which gives you all 3 scores.

To get your free credit score visit CreditKarma.com.  To get your free annual credit report visit AnnualCreditReport.com.

Related Articles:

• How is Your Credit Score Determined?
• What is a Credit Report?
• Why Do Companies Offer Free Credit Reports?
• Monitor Your Personal Information
• Top 4 Credit Reporting Services