star-telegram.com: Teresa McUsic

It's time to close the door on that garage-sale plan

Mon, 12 May 2008 10:44 CDT

By TERESA McUSIC

Editor's note: A previous version of this column failed to clarify that only working refrigerators and freezers are eligible for Oncor's Great Texas Refrigerator Roundup program.

Before you throw your unwanted stuff out on the driveway for a garage sale this spring -- often taking pennies on the dollar -- you may want to see what you can get for it elsewhere.

Everything from old cars, refrigerators and cellphones to iPods, Nintendo games and consoles, CDs and DVDs can be sold for pretty good cash these days, if you know where to go.

Even old clothes and toys often can be worth more if you donate them and use software like ItsDeductible or DeductionPro, which provide tested market values that you can use to deduct donated items from your federal taxes.

So get out of the garage and hit the road. Here are six ways that will get rid of your old stuff and give you some serious dough:

Refrigerators and freezers

Oncor, the electric-transmission company in North Texas, has partnered with Appliance Recycling Centers of America to give consumers $50 for working old refrigerators and freezers in its Great Texas Refrigerator Roundup. Consumers in the Oncor service area who want to participate will need the ESI ID number from their electric bills when calling 866-472-9376 or visiting www.oncorrecycle.com to schedule a collection appointment.

This week, former Arlington Mayor Elzie Odom had his garage refrigerator picked up. "I called around to try to get rid of it before I found this program," he said. "One company didn't want to pick it up and another charged to pick it up." Now, he'll get $50, and he'll know that his old refrigerator won't end up in a landfill.

Cars and trucks

If your vehicle fails the state's emissions test or is at least 10 years old, you may get a $3,000 voucher for a newer model or $3,500 for a hybrid in a state program upgraded this year. More than 3,000 vehicles have been bought by the state so far this year in North Texas, but there is still money available in the program, with an additional $22 million coming in September, said Jason Brown, air-quality operations coordinator for the North Central Texas Council of Governments. There are 450 auto dealers in the area participating in the program. Income qualifications have been raised this year to $63,600 after taxes for a family of four. Vehicles must be drivable. Check out the program at www.driveacleanmachine.org or call 800-913-3321.

Electronics

Have an old Xbox, iPod, video games, CDs or DVDs you're trying to get rid of? Try Entertainmart, a new electronics buyer and seller at 3415 S. Cooper St., Arlington. The retailer, based in Springfield, Mo., has another outlet in Colorado Springs and will be opening a store in Dallas this summer. Because of the size of the store -- 41,000 square feet -- Entertainmart pays "a lot" more than smaller stores, said Aaron Gregg, general manager of the Arlington store. A 2007 80-gigabyte iPod video will get you $150, while the store will pay $350 for a 60-gigabyte PlayStation 3 and $200 for a used Wii. New-release DVDs will bring you $10 apiece, while a video game like Grand Theft Auto IV will put $45 in your pocket. For prices of some items, go to the Web site at www.entertainmart.net or stop by the store.

Cellphones

There's a pretty good market for old cellphones, but most of us just stick them in drawers. Studies estimate that less than 10 percent of all cellphones are sold or recycled. If you don't want to sell at an auction site like eBay, there are several Web sites that will buy your phone for cash, including www.cellforcash.com. This Web site lists thousands of phones by manufacturer and type and will give you a price from $5 to more than $200, depending on the model. If you don't see your phone listed, the Ocala, Fla.-based company will still send you a postage-paid box to collect the phone for free recycling. Another site, which claims to have the best prices on the Web, is www.phoneiscash.com. Check several sites for the best price for your model.

Books, magazines, software and records

Half Price Books is the leader in buying this type of material. Now in its 36th year, the Dallas-based chain has 100 outlets in 15 states, according to spokeswoman M.A. Hancook. "You get more for bestsellers than something out two years ago," she advised, "but we'll make you an offer on everything written or recorded, and donate what we can't sell."

The store also will tell you if you have a collectable. "Someone came in recently with a legal folder that had the medical examination of Jack Ruby," she said. "We bought it and are donating it to the Sixth Floor Museum in two weeks."

Consider donations

Finally, if you itemize on your federal taxes, remember that you will probably get much better values for your old stuff by donating it and deducting it from your taxes than selling it in a garage sale. There are two software companies that track current prices for used clothes, toys and virtually all other household items: Intuit, with ItsDeductible, which is now part of the TurboTax software, and H&R Block, with DeductionPro, which is part of the company's TaxCut software. A reviewer of both products in PC World found DeductionPro's values of his household items were less than those of ItsDeductible. DeductionPro's values come from thrift shops, while ItsDeductible gets its values from prices at eBay auctions. Both products will track your donations through the year for an easier time filing during tax season.

Gas-wary Americans scale back on summer vacations

Fri, 02 May 2008 04:37 CDT

By TERESA McUSIC

Summer travel is right around the corner, but with high gas prices, a weak dollar and an airline industry in turmoil, few Americans will get through the season without digging deeper into their wallets.

According to a survey released this week from AOL Travel and Zogby International, nearly 60 percent of Americans feel they have less money to spend this year on summer vacations than they did in 2007 and they are looking at ways to save on their travel costs.

To save money, one-third of those surveyed said they are planning to stay with friends or family for lodging, while 37 percent plan to drive instead of fly. Twenty percent of those surveyed are planning a vacation rental instead of a hotel this summer.

To sidestep some of the problems and costs associated with summer travel this year, here are 11 money-saving tips to consider:

1 Save up to 5 percent on gas

While this might not sound like a lot, with today's gasoline prices, a 5 percent discount is as much as 18 cents off a gallon, said Curtis Arnold, founder of the U.S. Citizens for Fair Credit Card Terms and author of the recently released book, How to Profit From Credit Cards. Arnold's Web site, www.cardratings.com, shows that Discover's Open Road credit card and Citi Dividend Platinum Select both give the 5 percent discount, as do some gas cards like Shell and British Petroleum.

2 Figure gas costs before you go

AAA will tell you what gas costs throughout the country and will estimate your total gas costs by car make and trip at www.FuelCostCalculator.com. Although the number may not be pretty with gas costs already up nearly 22 percent over last year ahead of traditionally rising summer prices, at least you'll know what you're in for. Then be sure to use cruise control at the highway speed limits and keep tires properly inflated and the engine tuned for maximum mileage efficiency. And go ahead and use the air conditioner; studies show that it has minimal effect on mileage.

3 Fly midweek

The forecasters at Farecast.com say that flying on Tuesday or Wednesday will save on average $55 a ticket. With summer airfares up 12 percent domestically and 10 percent internationally, such savings add up. Farecast takes flight-cost information from a large number of sources and not only gives current prices but offers predictions on where the flight costs will be headed in the next seven days.

4 Pack light for flights

American Airlines announced this week a $25 fee for checking a second bag for most domestic passengers, but they were one of the last airlines to implement such a policy. For a complete listing of baggage policies and fees for all major airlines, go to www.bestfares.com/news.php?newsID=195. It also may be worth a call to the airline.

5 Make the most of getting bumped

A new rule by the U.S. Department of Transportation goes into effect this month that requires passengers involuntarily bumped from a flight and who arrive more than two hours after their original time now will be paid up to $800, double the original rule. Bumped passengers who arrive under two hours will now get up to $400. The new rule applies to all planes that can carry 30 or more passengers.

6 Get help with canceled flights

Arnold reminds air travelers that their credit-card company can help with disputes with airlines in the event of a canceled flight or bankruptcy, he said. If you can't resolve the problem with the airline, he recommends the "merchant dispute procedure" by calling or going online with your credit-card company. "They'll go to bat for you," he said. "Some companies will credit your account instantly while they work on resolving the dispute."

7 Consider trip insurance

Americans are increasingly turning to trip insurance as well for such problems. Most plans cost 4 percent to 8 percent of the cost of the trip, but the coverage can cost more. To compare plans and costs, go to www.InsureMyTrip.com or www.TotalTravelInsurance.com.

8 Maneuver for best exchange rates

Although there's not much that can be done about the low exchange rate of the dollar against virtually all other foreign currencies, you can get more bang out of your buck using a credit card or automatic-teller machine. Banks and credit-card companies get better exchange rates than you can on the street, according to Arnold. Be sure to check whether your card has a foreign-transaction fee, however. Visa and MasterCard have a 1 percent FT fee, and the card's issuing bank usually tacks on an additional 2 percent fee. Discover and Capitol One cards have no foreign-transaction fees, Arnold said.

Texas high school students still lack dollar sense, study says

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 06:25 CDT

By TERESA McUSIC

Texas high-school students scored the highest in the nation in a financial-literacy test -- but they still failed the test.

"Somehow, somewhere, we're missing the boat," said Beth Woehler, executive director of the Institute of Financial Literacy in Houston.

And even though a new state law went into effect two years ago to require high-school students to take personal finance before graduation, Texas high-school seniors still answered only 49 percent of the questions correctly on the test sponsored by the JumpStart Coalition, a group of more than 200 personal-finance partners focused on financial literacy for children.

This is the first time that individual state results were sliced out of the test, which has been given nationally to nearly 7,000 students every other year.

Nationally, students fared slightly worse, scoring 48 percent on the 31-question test, which covers issues such as credit-card fees, mortgages, taxes, insurance and paychecks.

The national score was the lowest since the test began in 2004, said Laura Levine, executive director of JumpStart.

"We attribute it to the economic condition of the country," Levine said. "Students are very influenced by what's going on around them."

For example, one question discussed the best place to invest your money over the next six years, with the stock market the correct answer, she said.

"But students are aware that the stock market is not doing well," she said. "Their perception is, that couldn't be the right answer."

Looking to parents

Many states including Texas are taking action to fight personal-finance illiteracy through laws that promote such education in the public schools, Levine said. Three states require at least one high-school semester dedicated to personal finance, and 15 states, including Texas, require personal-finance instruction in high-school subject matter.

Texas legislation passed in 2005 required high-school students to take personal finance before graduation, beginning in 2006. A personal-financial component is now incorporated into the economics credit of public high schools.

But parents shouldn't rely on school curriculum to teach their children important points of personal finance, said Cynthia Nevels, executive director of Jr. Finance, a Dallas-based financial-literacy provider that offers classes and summer camps to children.

"Research will tell you that the primary means for kids to learn to manage money is in the home," she said. "They learn what they see."

But few parents today teach money skills to their children, Nevels said.

"All kids learn to do is spend," she said.

College level still dismal

Personal-finance knowledge apparently doesn't get much better with college students, according to the JumpStart test. This year, for the first time, college students across the country took the test.

Their scores weren't much better, but they did increase as the student grew older. College freshmen received a 59 percent score, while college seniors correctly answered 65 percent of the questions.

At both high-school and college levels, Anglo students tended to fare slightly better than Hispanic and African-American students on the test.

The Savvy Consumer: Cable subscribers could face more change than expected when TV airwaves go digital

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 06:07 CDT

By TERESA McUSIC

Americans are starting to catch on to the fact that the national conversion to digital programming, now 10 months away, will force those with analog televisions and over-the-air programming to get a conversion box -- or face snow on their sets.

But some cable subscribers will be affected by the change as well. Whether those changes could also come with higher fees for subscribers is still up in the air, but digital service now costs more than basic cable programming.

Cable companies have the option of going to an all-digital format now or in the future, according to a ruling by the Federal Communications Commission last fall. The ruling doesn't clearly address who would bear the cost of the conversion.

Although Charter Communications and Time Warner local representatives say they have no plans to make that conversion at this time, OneSource Communication in Keller made the switch to all-digital in October.

"Analog channels consume a lot of capacity," said Andy Slote, general manager for OneSource. "If you can remove analog and replace it with digital, you can increase capacity."

By removing the analog channels, OneSource was able to add more programming, including 63 high-definition channels, Slote said.

"One of the big advantages to going digital was being able to add those channels," he said. "We know HD is important to people. It's certainly the wave of the future."

OneSource is the cable-television provider for Keller, Southlake, Haslet, Westlake, Watauga and parts of Fort Worth. In some places it is a competitor to Charter, while other cities carry it alone, Slote said.

Going from an analog option to digital required all of the company's customers to get a set-top box, Slote said. The cost of the standard box is an additional $3.95 a month per television. OneSource gave the first box to its customers at no additional charge, and most customers picked up the boxes at the office and installed them themselves, Slote said.

"We did not get a large negative reaction to the change," he said. "We're a small company, and customers could get to me fairly easily. There was very little push-back."

Other plans

Charter, which serves most communities in Tarrant County, does not plan to move to an all-digital format during the national digital switch Feb. 17, 2009, said Kevin Allen, director of government relations for the company. Charter will convert the digital-television programming back to analog for its analog customers, he said.

"The vast majority of our customers have digital already," he said. Options like digital video recorders, high-definition and music programming, pay-per-view and video on demand have attracted customers to the digital format, he said.

"The direction the industry as a whole is moving is toward higher video/audio quality and advanced services," Allen said.

Likewise, Time Warner, which provides cable service to Arlington and parts of Northeast Tarrant County, will not be converting to all-digital anytime soon, said spokesman Gary Underwood.

"About 60 percent of our customers [nationally] are digital, but we're not going to arbitrarily make a switch," Underwood said. "We're not going to leave any customers behind."

Higher costs

Both companies are actively pitching bundles of digital cable television, Internet and telephone services to their customers.

For those households in Charter's territory who want to upgrade to digital, the cost for the set-top box is an additional $5 a month, Allen said.

Right now, Charter is offering its Digital Home service, which includes basic and expanded basic programming, a standard digital receiver and digital music channels for $57.99 per month. There is a $35 charge for professional installation, or customers can pick up the box at one of their retail locations.

Watch step as payday lenders spread

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 04:39 CDT

By Teresa McUsic

With the cost of food and gasoline soaring, the savings rate plummeting and the economy weakening, payday lenders are expanding, particularly in Fort Worth and across Texas.

Cash America, based in Fort Worth, said recently that it was expecting higher earnings this quarter as consumers turn to short-term lenders to avoid high fees from bounced checks, late credit-card payments and late electric bills, he said.

"We're seeing more customers due to the economy," said Thomas Bessant Jr., spokesman for Cash America, which owns 304 payday lending outlets, 139 check-cashing centers and 499 pawnshops throughout the country, as well as an online lending service in the U.S and U.K.

"One of the reasons we're seeing growth is, we're seeing customers make those economic decisions and seeing this is the cheaper alternative."

Some recent studies, however, suggest that payday loans -- so named because the borrower usually guarantees repayment on the next payday -- are an expensive debt trap that some have difficulty escaping, with interest rates that average 417 percent per year.

Other studies show that eliminating payday lenders by limiting the interest rates can cause an increase in hot checks and overdraft fees, as well as more complaints to the Federal Trade Commission about third-party collection agencies.

The concerns haven't stemmed the growth. In Fort Worth and several other Texas cities, including El Paso and San Antonio, payday lenders, check cashers and pawnshops now exceed the number of bank and credit-union locations, according to a new study by the Brookings Institution.

The preponderance of payday lenders in Fort Worth goes against the national trend found in the study, said Mia Mabanta, co-author of the study.

"One of the overall findings of the study was that banks and credit unions -- mainstream, low-cost financial institutions -- are more widely distributed than payday lenders and other high-cost alternatives," she said. "In places where that is not the case, it's bucking a national trend."

Dallas, Austin and Houston are still ahead in the number of bank and credit-union locations over payday lenders.

And Texas ranks fourth behind California, Louisiana and Missouri in the total cost of payday lending, according to a report by the Center for Responsible Lending. The report, titled "Financial Quicksand," showed that Texas had 1,513 payday-store locations that collected $287 million in fees in 2005.

'Lack of action'

One reason for the growth in payday lenders in Texas is lack of state regulation, according to Don Baylor, policy analyst for the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin.

"We have a law, but it's effectively nullified by the lack of action by our attorney general and the broad nature of the customer service organizations," he said.

In 2003, much of the payday lending industry in the state converted to CSOs to avoid regulation, Baylor said. There are 317 CSOs registered with the secretary of state and just 22 active payday lenders licensed under the Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner, according to the state agencies.

"It's a ridiculous loophole that's become exploited by lax oversight," said Uriah King, co-author of the report. "The CSO was just intended for credit-repair organizations, not small loan lenders. It's an absurd abuse for what the statute was intended for."

Clamping down

With the Texas Legislature fairly quiet on the topic, Baylor said, several communities have begun their own initiatives to stop the growth.

Richardson and Mesquite have adopted zoning laws to keep the lenders away from residential areas and highway service roads and to prevent clustering. (A cluster of payday lenders would allow customers to borrow from one to pay off another, Baylor said.)

"These cities saw this as a blight issue," he said.

Giving tax the ax

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 04:37 CDT

By TERESA McUSIC

For those 52 million Americans who haven't filed their 2007 income taxes, there's likely a simple reason -- they owe money.

But with tax laws changing almost yearly, it's hard for most taxpayers to keep up with those valuable deductions and credits.

Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson estimated in her report to Congress this year that taxpayers made 1.4 million fewer claims for tax benefits in 2006 than in 2005.

The reason? Last-minute changes in the tax laws were not included in the Form 1040 package or the shrink-wrapped software used by many Americans, the advocate said.

"When taxpayers do not claim tax benefits because they do not know about them, Congress' intent in providing the tax benefits is undermined and taxpayers understandably question the fairness of the tax system," Olson said in her report. In December, Congress again made significant changes in the tax code with two laws affecting 11 IRS forms.

So if you're doing your own taxes in this 11th hour, or watching over the shoulder of someone you hired to do them, there are a number of deductions that may have changed that you shouldn't forget -- including sales-tax deductions, charitable contributions, retirement accounts and others.

Several key deductions have changed this year or may be easily forgotten in the crush of last-minute tax filings. Here's a rundown on some of the ones you should keep in mind.

Sales tax

This on-again, off-again deduction, which expires each year only to be reinstated at the last minute, is back on again for 2007 filers and can mean several hundred dollars in savings for Texans who itemize. The IRS table is just for state sales-tax estimates, so remember to add local sales tax using a separate worksheet in Form 1040. To find your local sales tax, go to the state comptroller's Web site, www.window.state.tx.us. Also, if you bought a car, boat, aircraft, mobile or prefabricated home, or home-building materials last year, the state sales taxes can be added to the IRS table, but not the local tax.

Retirement

Many taxpayers can make deposits into an Individual Retirement Account until April 15 and deduct it from their taxes, according to the American Institute of Certified Public Accounts. Generally, taxpayers can deduct up to $4,000 (or $5,000 if they were 50 or older last year), as long as they were not eligible to participate in a retirement plan at work. Those who participated in a work retirement plan can still contribute to an IRA, but the deduction phases out when adjusted gross income is more than $52,000 for a single filer or $83,000 for a married couple.

Education

You may qualify to deduct up to $4,000 in college tuition paid last year for yourself, spouse or dependent if your modified adjusted gross income is not more than $65,000 (or $130,000 if you are married filing jointly). This deduction can be claimed regardless of whether you itemize, but first find out whether you qualify for the hope or lifetime learning credit. Teachers and teacher aides can deduct up to $250 spent last year for classroom supplies. The deduction goes on line 23 of Form 1040.

Private mortgage insurance

For the first time, mortgage-insurance premiums paid in 2007 are deductible from federal taxes just like mortgage interest. The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, which extends the new deduction through 2010, phasing out the benefit for those with income of $100,000 or more. Be aware that the act also changed the status of income received from mortgage-debt forgiveness after a foreclosure or with a restructured loan -- that income is now not taxable from 2007 to 2009.

Charitable contributions

There are new requirements when claiming deductions for monetary donations to a charity in 2007. Even for contributions less than $250, taxpayers must now have a bank record or receipt from the organization that clearly shows the date, organization name and amount of each donation.

Other deductions

Several other credits and deductions are available for 2007 filers. For a complete list, go to www.kiplinger.com/taxcenter.

SKIP THE LOAN

IRS two-step: First, file a return, then get a rebate

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 04:40 CDT

By TERESA McUSIC

Along with a hot meal this week, the 1,800 clients of the local Meals on Wheels program got a tax packet to help them get their economic-stimulus rebates.

"We knew about the rebate and that our clients would be eligible for it," said Carla Jutson, executive director of Meals on Wheels of Tarrant County. "We wanted to encourage them to file."

The Meals on Wheels effort is part of a larger outreach by the IRS, AARP, Foundation Communities and others to encourage the estimated 1.5 million Texans who normally don't file tax returns to fill out a Form 1040A this year so they can get their stimulus checks.

In an event called Super Saturday, 320 IRS offices across the country, including offices in Fort Worth and Dallas, and hundreds of outreach locations run by the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program and AARP's Tax-Aide program will be open Saturday to help prepare 1040A returns for low-income workers, retirees, disabled veterans and others who typically don't file.

In addition, the IRS said field-assistance personnel will visit nursing homes and other locations to prepare returns.

"For millions of Americans, filing a tax return is not routine. Their income is either too low or not taxable," IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said in a statement. "But this year, filing a 2007 tax return is the only way to receive an economic-stimulus payment."

How much is it?

The stimulus checks will be a minimum of $300 for an individual or $600 for a couple with at least $3,000 in qualifying income. Households with dependents younger than 17 will get $300 per child. Checks will be mailed or the funds will be put in accounts electronically beginning in May.

The IRS defines qualifying income as any combination of:

earned income such as wages;

nontaxable combat pay;

certain benefits from Social Security, Veterans Affairs and railroad retirement.

Reaching out

Reaching the group of nonfilers is not easy.

This week, the IRS mailed 20.5 million Social Security and Veterans Affairs recipients 1040A-3 packages that contain all the information they need to file a return.

And AARP is one of many advocacy groups reaching beyond its membership, said Jim Dau, organization spokesman.

"We are talking to people not easy to get to," he said. "It's a complicated task."

The AARP Tax-Aide program, the largest volunteer tax-preparing program in the country, is normally designed to help about 1.2 million taxpayers file each year, Dau said. This year, the program is trying to reach the estimated 20 million nonfilers as well.

Beware of scams

There are several things nonfilers and filers alike should be aware of regarding the stimulus rebate:

TXTNG 4 A BUNDL

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 07:20 CDT

By TERESA McUSIC

OMG:(

Text messaging is getting more expensive.

This month AT&T and Verizon join Sprint in increasing their per-message rate to 20 cents, up 5 cents, for each incoming and outgoing message.

For those paying the phone bill each month, whether young adults or parents of fast-fingered teenagers, now may be the time to re-evaluate your cellphone plan.

The per-message price has jumped as carriers continue to press customers into signing up for bundles, which offer much lower costs per message, said Jeff Kagan, a telecom analyst in Marietta, Ga.

"The carriers want to drive bundles into having a number of services and a flat-rate plan," he said.

While offering tantalizingly lower costs -- message plans bring the per-message cost down to a penny or two -- bundles add one more layer to a cellphone plan, allowing less room for customers to squirm out of a deal and switch providers if they become unhappy with the service, consumer advocates say.

But if you do the math, anyone who sends more than 25 text messages a month is much better off in a bundle.

Starting cheap

All four major carriers, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint, offer text-message bundles of various sizes that can be added to phone plans.

The cheapest cost about $5 and vary in the number of messages allowed. AT&T offers just 200 messages at that price, while Sprint offered 300 and T-Mobile 400. Verizon's cheapest a la carte plan is 500 messages for $10.

These bundles brings the per-message cost down to a penny or two. But be careful if you go over your allotted monthly limit: Costs then go back up to 20 cents per message (except for T-Mobile, for which it's 15 cents).

The companies offer other plans with more text messages for slightly higher costs, generally $10 or $15 a month for 1,000 to 1,500 text messages.

Dramatic increases

For those of you who have joined the text-messaging revolution -- and given that there were 240 billion text messages sent last year, I'd say that's a lot of you -- 1,000 messages a month may not be enough.

"We've found most teenagers use over 3,000 text messages a month, while most adults have under 1,000 text messages because they use e-mail," said Sheryl Sellaway, a Verizon spokeswoman. "It's become a lifestyle. There are people who primarily text-message as their form of communication."

Text messaging is indeed gaining huge momentum as a consumer habit. Nearly 45 billion text messages were sent on Verizon phones last quarter, Sellaway said, more than double the year before.

Nationally, text messaging has exploded in the past few years, said Bob Roche, vice president of research for the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association. In June 2000, when CTIA began surveying telecommunication companies about text messaging, just 12 million messages were counted, he said.

"In 2000 you didn't have interoperability," he said. "You could only send messages within the same network."

The carriers solved that problem in 2001, and there has been a dramatic increase in text messaging ever since, Roche said.

A degree of fiscal sanity

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 08:30 CDT

By Teresa McUsic

College costs are melting away at more universities in a trend that low- and middle-income families should keep an eye on when selecting a school for their college-bound students.

Last week, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology joined dozens of other universities across the country in announcing that it will waive its tuition bill this fall for all students whose families earn less than $75,000 a year -- 30 percent of the student body.

Tuition and fees this fall are an eye-popping $36,390. But school officials said most students will pay only a portion of that if they don't qualify to have their tuition waived completely.

"For those receiving an MIT scholarship, which is 6 out of every 10 MIT undergraduates, net tuition is $8,100 -- an amount that approximates the in-state cost of many public universities," said Daniel Hastings, dean for undergraduate education.

Who's in

The school joins a growing list of top private and public universities that are waiving tuition and other costs generally covered by student or parent loans, including Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania.

So far 45 colleges, including Rice University in Houston, have adopted a no-loan policy for either all students or low-income students, said Mark Kantrowitz, a college financial-aid and planning analyst in Cranberry Township, Pa., and founder of www.finaid.org.

More are likely to follow.

"There are at least 40 additional colleges that could afford to do this based on their endowment and student population," he said. "This is the year we'll see most of the remaining colleges adopt these policies."

The FinAid Web site offers an updated list of schools and their tuition policies for low- and middle-income families at www.finaid.org/questions/noloansforlowincome.phtml.

How they work

Kantrowitz said the new no-loan programs started in 1998, when Princeton replaced loans to low-income students with grants.

In 2001, the school eliminated loans for all those students who qualified for financial aid.

In the past two years, other schools have joined Princeton in an effort to both attract lower-income students and to ease growing pressure from Congress, alumni and parents for the schools to spend some of their multibillion-dollar endowments.

In most cases, the college endowment doles out money in the form of grants to cover any loans these students would have taken out to pay for the school.

Getting information

One place to check for generous financial-aid policies at schools nationwide is the Web site of the Project on Student Debt, www.projectonstudentdebt.org.

The site lists schools that have pledged to reduce student debt, said Srikanth Sivashankaran, research associate with The Institute for College Access and Success, which runs the project.

"These institutions have pledged to limit or eliminate student loans after the family contribution and student income from work/study programs," he said. "The rest of the cost from tuition, fees, room and board is covered in grants."

Parents and students thinking about college should be aware that the grant awards and tuition waivers are not handed to every student who applies. Before financial packages are awarded, the student must be accepted by the school, which generally takes good grades, high standardized-test scores and participation in extracurricular activities.

Playing the market

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 08:30 CDT

By TERESA McUSIC

Have you seen the price of eggs lately?

I've heard that question all over town in the past couple of weeks, and since I'm not one of those people who is good at keeping grocery prices in my head, I started digging around to find out if the price of eggs had gone up, and why.

I found the answers with Cheryl Abbot, a regional economist at the Southwest office of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which tracks food prices.

Sure enough, Abbot said eggs were up a whopping 34 percent over 12 months ago, at $2.17 a dozen, according to the latest figures in the consumer price index.

But grocery price increases didn't stop there, she said. Other items with double-digit cost increases included whole and skim milk, tomatoes, chicken, bread, and frozen fruit juice and drinks.

Why is everything so expensive?

Abbot pointed out one of the leading causes for this increase: unleaded regular gasoline is up almost 35 percent from last year, she said.

"If it's wrapped in plastic and transported from far away, like the West, you're going to see an increase in price because of the increase of crude oil," she said.

In addition, cereal and baked products are competing with ethanol and other energy uses for grain, causing a spike in demand that is affecting grain goods, she said.

Bottom line: Many of these grocery prices are here to stay or going to get higher. If you haven't already done so, now is the time to start cutting your costs by seriously playing the grocery game.

How can I save more?

With the right shopping strategies, a family can save $200 to $300 a month on groceries, said Stephanie Nelson, author of Advanced Grocery Shopping Strategies, an e-book that can be downloaded free from her Web site, www.couponmom.com.

Nelson offers a free service to her 300,000 members through her Web site, which aggregates weekly sales by local grocers with newspaper and online coupons to show shoppers how to maximize savings.

Consumers are suddenly taking grocery shopping seriously, Nelson said.

"My Web site has been going crazy since Jan. 1, and I know it's a reflection of the economy," she said. "New memberships doubled from December to January, and February is getting even bigger."

Nelson recommends shoppers track the prices of their most-bought items for four to six weeks to find the lowest price point and then start stocking up.

"Know the prices of your items," she said. "Some prices will fluctuate by 100 percent over a four- to six-week period."

Get organized

Donna Montaldo, who writes on bargains for About.com, suggests carrying a price book with you to track costs of the items you buy most. That way you know whether a sales price is the best deal.

"You don't have to be a coupon junky to save money," she said. "But when you really get involved with strategies, you can save two-thirds off your bill."