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Auto insurance premiums vary widely from state to state and even within states. The same person may find swings of as much as $700 on the cost of an annual policy. Insurance agents are not legally bound to tell a perspective customer about discounts which may apply to his/her insurance. There are, however, things the consumer can do which may lower the price paid for auto insurance.

Higher deductibles

The single quickest and easiest way to lower your insurance premium is to raise your premium. Having a $1000 or even a $1500 deductible can lower premiums 15 to 20 percent. If you decide to go this route, consider putting the money saved the first year into an account earmarked to pay the deductible should you have any accident.

Investigate auto records

Your driving record may be unblemished but the record of the car model you own can also have an affect on your premiums. Insurance copies compile extensive reports on the way cars respond in accidents and how popular certain cars are with thieves. Cars with poor crash test ratings and cars that are frequently stolen cost more to insure. When buying a new car use an auto buyer’s guide to compare crash test and theft rankings.

Use the same insurance company

If you have more than one vehicle insure all of them with the same company. Almost all insurance companies offer multi-car discounts. Many companies offer further discounts if you use any other products they offer such as homeowners insurance and life insurance.

Getting many quotes and comparing them is the best way to check pricing, coverage and save money.

And, don’t forget, the best way to lower your car insurance premium is to drive safely.

Save money by applying with our recommended insurance company.

You’ve heard of the potential payoff from real estate investing.
The good news is, it’s true! The bad news is, it won’t happen
for most people. Why? They have unrealistic expectations. Real
estate investing isn’t a “get rich quick” endeavor, although it
sometimes happens. No real business is. So, prepare to make a
serious time commitment. Would you expect to become extremely
wealthy at anything in just a few months? Know that you’ll have
to keep learning, keep getting contracts, and keep putting time
into it.

Still in? Great, you’re a realist! Your first step is to choose
an area to focus on. Do you want to purchase run-down properties
and repair them to sell for profit (rehabilitate, or rehab
them)? Do you want to buy properties and turn them quickly
(flipping)? Maybe you want to buy properties, then lease them to
potential buyers with an option for them to purchase them later,
while you accumulate equity. There are pros and cons to each of
these, depending on your financial position, your location, your
available time, and other considerations. We’ll be going over
them all in future issues of the newsletter. You’ll find the
possibilities exciting.

Once you know what you’re looking at draft your plan IN WRITING.
People who do this get three times as much done in the same
amount of time. Set long-term goals for 3, 5 and 10 years out
for what you want your cash, equity, and cash flow to be. Then,
you can work backwards from there to set 1-year, 6-month, and
3-month goals. Without this, you’ll be driving without a map,
taking or skipping deals without regard to how they fit into
your big picture. Leaves lots of room for “Wish I’da’s….”
Don’t do it! You can always adjust your plan as you go along.

Keep your day job for as long as possible. If and when it seems
time to go, before you do, get some of those low- to no-interest
credit cards that are out there. It could really ease some cash
flow worries to be able to tap on a $10,000 line if you’re doing
a fixer-upper and run into an unforeseen problem with no
additional bank draw in sight.

Get an attorney who knows and understands the creative options
of real estate. Some banks just don’t understand simultaneous
closings, for example; you’ll want your lawyer to know how to
smooth things so that there aren’t any snags that cost you time
and money. Some even have their own title companies. A good
place to ask for a referral is to ask a mid- to large-sized
developer. This is one place not to haggle about price; he or
she will be worth their weight in gold when they can get your
deals done and you know that you can sleep at night because it’s
been done quickly and right.

As soon as you decide to get into real estate investing, begin
building your list of buyers. We’ll be covering more on this
later; but, when you meet them, learn as much as you can about
the kinds of deals they do, how long it takes them to conclude a
deal, and so on. Most people love to talk about how they became
successful, if you ask respectfully and don’t waste their time.

Warning, warning! Think very long and hard before taking on a
partner. If you do, it should be somebody who brings something
to the party that you don’t have, and it should be for one deal
only until you see how things go.

Which brings us to how to set up your company. You should set up
a separate corporate entity for each deal. An LLC is cheap and
easy to set up. Land trusts are even better, because your name
isn’t personally in the public records, inviting some chump to
sue you. The idea is to keep your personal assets off the table
if something goes wrong. Talk with your attorney about it; he
has forms that can have you done in a few minutes.

Finally, if you’ve made your plan, you have to work it to get
anywhere. If you’re not out there making any offers, you’re
never going to close any deals. No deals closed, no profits. If
you’re not making any profits, you’re not in business, you’re
dreaming. Set a number of deals you’re going to bid on per week
and per month, and then get out there. Make it happen!

Milling Lumber:

The sawyer is faced with several different options for the way the log is to be cut. Depending on the species of the log and the desired use for the lumber that get milled off. Two main choices are flat sawn and quarter sawn.

Flat sawn lumber can be identified by the arcing end grain and open, flame look on the face of the board. Flat sawn lumber is the most economical to produce and there for is most common.

Quarter sawn lumber is almost exclusively used for wood working. With quarter sawn lumber a log is milled into quarters, the quarters are then sawn perpendicular to the grain. This gives the lumber a unique characteristic with the end grain being vertical. The face of the boards show the growth rings as alternating light and dark grain lines.

The big advantage to quarter sawn lumber is it’s stability. Although it still moves it is a lot less prone to warping then flat sawn lumber because the grain isn’t subject to radial forces. Depending on what you are building you have the choice of what type of lumber you want to use.

Buying Wood:

Soft wood is common and is easy to find throughout North America. Almost every lumber retailer carries plenty of softwood in stock. When buying DO NOT let the attendant in the yard select which lumber you are going to buy. Go look through the lift and select which pieces you want because there tend to be more pieces in the lift that are rejects for wood working.

It is a good idea to restack all the boards that you rejected while looking through the stack. This keeps the rejects from warping and twisting beyond being useful and will keep the lumber attendant happy.

Keep your eye out for defects when buying wood. this means looking at all four side of the piece of lumber before selecting it. A board that looks good on one side may have wain on the other side, something you want to avoid.

Hardwoods are a bit trickier to find at a regular lumber yard, especially out here in the west. In British Columbia I can go to almost any private sawmill and find spruce, fir or cedar without a problem and pay a good price for it. Of course all these species are readily available, but try doing the same for oak of maple. Good Luck.

I have been lucky to find an independant hardware store in Kamloops that supplies a wide variety of domestic and foreign hardwoods. They allow me look through all their stock to choose the best pieces and even will cut a long board in half if that is all I need. Needless to say I value this relationship very high.

If you aren’t lucky enough to find a local supplier then the next best thing is to order it. I have ordered through a couple different companies when my local suppplier doesn’t have the stock I need. One is in Wisconsin and the other Minnisota. Of course you aren’t able to look through the stock and choose what you want but most places that provide this service gaurentee thier stock.

A few things to be aware of when ordering lumber. First make sure you specify whether you want rough or dressed stock. The main advantage with rough stock is it give you the flexiblity to dress the wood as you choose. You aren’t limited to standard dimensions. Rough stock will cost less up front, but will take some time in the shop to prepare. Plus if you don’t have all the proper tools for dressing lumber it may be more hassle then it is worth.

Dressed lumber is going to cost more but for the weekend wood worker this may be worth the cost. I have spent quite a bit of time dressing stock before starting a project. If you just want to get to work then this is probably the best option for you.

Bottom line… If you have access to a lumber yard that supplies good hardwood and will let you snoop through all the stock, then this is probably the best option. If not then you need to consider ordering it.

Before ordering or buying lumber it helps to be fluent on the terminology used. Hardwood is mostly sold by the “board foot”. 1 Board Foot is equal to 144 cubic inches. So, for example a 2″x6″x1′ board is equal to 1 board foot ( 2in x 6in x 12in = 144 cubic inches).

For your reference here are standard lumber sizes.

4/4 (four/quarter) rough = 1″ thick board
5/4 rough = 1.25″ thick board
6/4 rough = 1.5″ thick board
8/4 rough = 2″ thick board
10/4 rough = 2.5″ thick board

4/4 dressed = 3/4″ thick board
5/4 dressed = 1″ thick board
6/4 dressed = 1.25″ thick board
8/4 dressed = 1.75″ thick board

About the author:

Dave Markel is the author of “The All Wood Working Journal”. He has helped hundreds of individuals improve their wood working skills. Visit his site at
http://all-wood-working-plans.com

How Does Santa Make Out His List?

I’ll let you in on a secret: I know Santa Claus. And I received a letter from him with his Christmas list.

“Dear Kristin,

“Thank you for the homemade cookies last year. For some reason, people seem to forget that I’m not planning to lose weight, thank you very much. I don’t have a peanut allergy and I’m not lactose intolerant. Up here at the North Pole, we don’t get nonsense like that. But you wouldn’t believe some of the notes I get in lieu of cookies.

“‘Santa, you’re too fat, get real, love Dr. Phil…Dear Santa, you’re in violation of the no-fly zone, signed, the Coalition…Dear Santa, you’re using slave labor and oppressing our elf minorities, peace, the Rev. Jesse Jackson…Dear Santa, you’re cruel to reindeer, sincerely, PETA…Dear Infidel Santa, we shall eliminate you, signed al-Qa’eda.’

“I was never designed to be politically correct. Right jolly old elf and all that. I’m tired of all this nonsense from people who have forgotten what Christmas used to stand for.

“So, here’s my Christmas list. I won’t stop delivering toys, but I will start at least expecting a little something in return after all these years.

“1. Dear al-Qa’eda: I have nothing against Allah. Or Jesus Christ or Buddha or anybody’s God. I dislike murder in the name of religion. I deliver to all the children who you’re going to someday teach to blow themselves up. I deliver love. Your mullahs always say Islam is a religion of love and peace. And for the record, several of my elves are gay. Do I hate them? No.

“2. Dear television news media: Please stop saying ‘Christmas stress.’ You create Christmas stress. Thousands of miracles happen every day from babies being born to people being rescued to children deciding that someone else needs help. And yet you deliberately choose to talk about alcoholism, murder, sex, family quarrels, and above all, endless materialism. Not to mention celebrities. Who elevated these people to all-knowing status? Who cares what Christmas toy they buy or endorse? And please stop criticizing people for having religious beliefs. If the President of the United States can’t express faith in God, there is something wrong with this world. You are only helping those who use religion as an excuse for hatred and greed.

“3. Dear celebrities: Stop making movies where I am the bad guy. There is precious little wonder and innocence in children’s lives. And while you’re at it, stop taking your clothes off and blowing up people in your films. Give me more ‘Seabiscuit.’ Steven Spielberg is always on my nice list. I loved the ‘Shrek’ movies.

“4. Dear advertising executives: Stop using me to sell things that no one uses. We don’t need all this stuff. It’s getting in the way of our family time, our planet’s well-being, our faith and our happiness.

“5. Dear parents: Please stop telling children I don’t exist, that I’m evil, and that it’s not necessary to be good all year because you will buy them what they want. Whatever happened to kindness? To being good just because it makes someone happy? Because it’s the right thing? I can tell you right now that there are quite a few kids, and several of you, who are getting coal in their stockings. It’s tough love, which is what you do when someone’s headed down the wrong road. It’s called parenting and I’ve got millions of your children to help raise. Hey, at least I’m not the government. Or the television. By the way, turn off all those electronic devices and spend time with your families. I know that there are plenty of you out there who would give your right arm to be able to do just that. I love children. And I love all of you too.

“6. Dear Dr. Phil: I’m happy just the way I am. Thank you.

“7. Dear PETA: You’re getting too extreme. My reindeer have better working conditions than in industrialized nations.

“8. Dear Rev. Jesse Jackson: When my elves have the victim consciousness, high teen pregnancy rate, high arrest rate, high drug use rate, and lack of education that your followers have, then I’ll consider emancipating them.

“9. Dear Coalition: God and I were here first. I’m immune from no-fly zones and I don’t play politics. I do however support the military.

“10. Dear Jesus Christ, YHVH, Allah, Buddha, Great Spirit, et al.: Keep up the good work.

“Love, Santa.

“P.S. from Mrs. Claus: Will women please stop trying to be a size 2?”

You better watch out, you better not cry, better not pout…

Movie reviewer/screenwriter Kristin Johnson composes personalized poems, speeches, toasts, vows, and family memories. Visit http://www.poemsforyou.com to order your personalized memories. She is also co-author of the Midwest Book Review “enthusiastically recommended” pick Christmas Cookies Are For Giving: Stories, Recipes and Tips for Making Heartwarming Gifts (ISBN: 0-9723473-9-9). A downloadablemedia kit is available at our Web site, http://www.christmascookiesareforgiving.com, or e-mail the publisher (info@tyrpublishing.com) to receive a printed media kit and sample copy of the book. More articles available at http://www.bakingchristmascookies.com