The Amazon Kindle

The Amazon Kindle is a portable e-book reader.  It is a software, hardware, and network platform with built-in wireless connectivity to enable users to browse and shop for e-books, magazines, newspapers, blogs and other digital media.  The Kindle’s features include a large screen for easy reading and a small keyboard to enable search and browsing, making it easier for people to take their reading material, with them anywhere.  Amazon has also developed a 3G network for the Kindle known as Whispernet, which allows users to access internet without a monthly fee or wireless subscription.

The Kindle has enjoyed great success.  When Amazon first released its e-reader on November 19, 2007, they were sold out within the first five and a half hours.  Although other companies have tried to create a similar product to take the spotlight from the Kindle, Amazon keeps coming up with new innovations to keep their creation on top.  In 2009, the Kindle became international reaching out to 100 other companies with help from the Sprint Network and AT&T.  The newest generation of Amazon’s e-reader, Kindle 3, includes Internet connectivity on both a 3G network and WiFi, new screen contrast to make it much easier to read, text to speech navigation and 4GB of internal memory.  If you enjoy reading or your job requires you to travel a lot, the Amazon Kindle is perfect for you because it allows you to take your whole library of favorites anywhere you go.

Joie Montoya

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Tax Day Nintendo Wii Giveaway contest ending soon!

With just a few more days before the end of our first contest, co-founders Rick and I created a video to let others know that they still have time to send their entries.

Admittedly, I haven’t edited a video in a few years, so please bear with me.

Francis M. Unson

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Before you buy anything that costs more than $20…

Ask yourself these four questions:

• Do I really need it?
• If yes, can I afford to pay for it with cash?
• If so, do I already own an equivalent item?
• If I don’t own any such item, have I shopped around for the lowest priced item?

If you have a satisfactory answer for all questions, give yourself another 24 hours before making the purchase.  You may end up not making the purchase at all and, thus, save yourself some money.  Try asking yourself these questions on your next shopping trip.  The more you can prevent instances of impulse shopping, the more money you will find in your wallet over time.

Francis M. Unson

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Rainy-Day Money: More Than Cash On-Hand

Why is having “Rainy-Day Money” important?  We may have to deal with the uncertainties of life: a job loss, sudden injury or illness, family issues abroad and the cost of travel, etc.  Three months is no longer adequate and a longer range of 9-12 months’ worth of living expenses in cash is recommended.  However, borrowing against other sources would allow more of your cash to earn more in interest.  There are four sources of emergency cash to consider:

Emergency cash fund

Obviously, this is cash on-hand, the most liquid, and the most easily accessible – without cost, delay, risk, or penalty.  Savings or money market accounts are the best places to hold this type of cash.

Home-equity line of credit

A home-equity line of credit is a form of revolving credit where a person’s home serves as collateral.  As such, equity credit lines should be reserved for major expenses such as education, home improvements, or medical bills and not for daily expenses.

Brokerage margin account

This option is not for the faint of heart unless you have an understanding, or are at peace with, the advantages of leverage and increased risk.

A margin account allows you to buy securities, at credit, with money borrowed from the broker, allowing you to buy stocks without having to pay the total price in cash.  The poor performance of some stocks in the market can help you.  How?  A technique called short selling can help.  It is the opposite of investing as people generally understand it: investors that engage in short selling makes money only when a shorted security falls in value.  If you have a number of securities that are not performing well when you need sudden access to your rainy-day money, you are in luck.

Cash-value life insurance

Cash-value life insurance combines term insurance with savings and are more expensive than term-life insurance.  Policyholders receive the cash surrender value when cashing in the policy and will not have to pay income taxes on it.  If you borrow against the policy, however, interest would be charged.

You can plan a number of things down the road such as tuition for college and retirement.  However, life’s uncertainties come out of nowhere, and the best that we can do, just in case, is set up rainy-day money and become better aware of the collateral, investments, and insurance policies that can serve as part of that temporary, emergency source of cash.

Francis M. Unson

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MagicJack: How to Call Internationally for Free

Why didn’t I call this blog,

“MagicJack: How to Make International Calls for Free”?

I consider making an international call the following: picking up the phone, dialing 011, and then the rest of the phone number.  I have some bad news: it is nigh impossible to make free international calls this way, with any telephone device.

However, there is a way to call internationally for free.  For example, if you’ve called customer service of, say, your cable or credit card company, some of those calls reached India, the Philippines, or even Argentina.  Even though your call to customer service started with a toll-free 800 number, the call to the call centers in different countries were, no doubt, international.

How do you call internationally for free?  First, a list of items you need:

• MagicJack
• Computer
• Internet Connection, preferably high-speed or broadband
• A regular phone

Here are the instructions for account setup:

1. Purchase a MagicJack.  They are available in many places such as department stores, office supply stores, and even gas station mini marts.  Trust me, I saw the MagicJack being sold side-by-side with cigarettes at 7-11.  They retail between US$20-$40 but are worth the initial investment.
2. Turn on your computer.  Install the MagicJack in an open USB port.  The device will connect to the company’s main server, download additional files and begin setup.  Do not install the regular phone into the MagicJack at this time.
3. If you are so inclined during setup, you may choose to register a second MagicJack, opt to start with a five-year contract immediately for additional savings, or order vanity phone numbers.  For the sake of these instructions, decline these offers.  You will also be offered pre-paid minutes for international calls.  Decline this offer.
4. When choosing a phone number, provide your city, state, and area code.  A phone number will be assigned and will become the phone number local to your area.
5. Once setup is complete, plug the phone into the MagicJack.  Incoming calls test: Call the new phone number from your landline or cell phone.  Outgoing calls test: Call your landline or cell phone from the phone connected to the MagicJack.
6. This is the most important step.  Mail the MagicJack and phone to your friend or family member overseas.  All they have to do is connect the MagicJack to a USB port in their computer.  Once the software is installed, they can make their own calls back home using the log in information you provided during setup, and all calls will appear local.

The MagicJack can save you a lot of money, especially if you call friends or relatives in different countries very frequently.  You must setup MagicJack correctly, however, so that you and your friends and relatives can call and receive calls internationally for free.  The MagicJack may even provide you with new ways to connect with parts of the world where the cost of telecommunications is very high.  Calling internationally for free with the MagicJack couldn’t be more simple.

Francis M. Unson

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Simplifying Your Financial Life

We have 168 hours in one week where we spend 56 hours sleeping and 40 hours working from Monday-Friday, leaving us with 72 hours of personal time.  However, if “personal” time includes commuting to and from work; shuttling the kids between daycare and karate, or baseball, soccer, and football practice; or running a home business, the amount of personal time you have is much less.  I won’t even go into the amount of time spent on Facebook or Twitter, or both.

With what little personal time you have left, how do you balance your family’s finances? Here are five ways you can simplify your financial life.

Reduce the number of brokerage accounts
If possible, reduce it to just one broker.  The fees from maintaining multiple accounts with multiple brokers, whether they are full-service or discount brokers, will cost you more in the long-run.  Consolidating your brokerage accounts will reduce maintenance fees and, because of the larger balance, garner more attention from your broker.

Set up a simple record-keeping system

• A folder or box for all incoming bills that need to be paid.
• A folder for items connected to and corroborating this year’s tax returns such as bank, brokerage, and mutual fund statements; life insurance, homeowner’s and car insurance records; and stubs and canceled checks proving you’ve paid your bills.
• A folder for all home-improvement records over the years, which will be useful when selling your home and offsetting the gains realized on the sale.
• Accordion folder for tax returns from the last four years, with supporting paperwork.
• A three-ring binder with an inventory of your household possessions in the event of a major loss such as theft or disaster, including photos, video, or CDs of the possessions.
  Store the binder in a safe-deposit box along with irreplaceable items such as birth, marriage, and stock certificates, and list your spouse and children as co-owners of the box.  Add safe-deposit box insurance to your homeowner’s policy if you store valuables such as jewelry or coins.

Invest your money automatically
Setup direct deposit with your employer so that part of your paycheck goes to your mutual fund or 401(k) plan.  Alternatively, setup automatic deposit with your bank so that a preset amount is transferred to your IRA.

Reduce the number of mutual funds
You need just four mutual funds:

• Growth fund
• Equity-income/growth-and-income fund that owns dividend-paying stocks
• Small-company fund
• International fund

Cut up all but two of your credit cards
Even though we may have multiple credit cards, spanning multiple credit card companies and retail stores, we can get by with two credit cards: a charge card such as American Express, and a low-interest MasterCard or Visa for everyday expenditures.  Less credit cards means dealing with just one or two bills per month.

With our busy lives, simplifying our financial lives tends to become a less pressing matter than going to the doctor or creating an efficient schedule for the extracurricular activities with which your children participate.  Organizing your financial documents should take place on a regular basis throughout the year and not just in the months leading up to April 15.  You will save yourself a lot of time and energy if you organize your supporting financial documents when you do not need them for now.

Francis M. Unson

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Brainstorming before writing

Sometimes, I must take a step back, take a pen and pad, and start mapping out what to write.  When my blog entries concern current events or topics I have considerable knowledge in, however, I can make do writing off the top of my head.  I am a techie at heart, so I can write about a wide arrange of tech-related topics, but based on my wide range of interests, I can write about any of those, as well.

The challenge I face with my clients, then, is writing quality blog entries about their businesses and discussing relevant topics about the business or industry.  I have turned to the trusty “spider diagram”, a brainstorming tool, and have found general topics I can expand upon.  Some industries are known by name alone by the public, and I hope I can unlock the air of mystery that surrounds them.

What brainstorming activities do you do prior to writing a blog, essay, or paper?

Francis M. Unson

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Tax Day Nintendo Wii Giveaway!

We at Flower Blossoms would like to thank the bloggers, Facebook fans, and Twitterers who have supported us on our endeavor to provide social media marketing services to the local businesses in our community since January 15, 2010.  To show our gratitude, we are having a “Tax Day Nintendo Wii Giveaway!“  We will pick one winner at the end of the contest run and announce it on our blog, Facebook, and Twitter!

How to enter the “Tax Day Nintendo Wii Giveaway!” contest on Facebook:

1. Become a Fan of Flower Blossoms by going to the Flower Blossoms’ Facebook Page.  Log in first if necessary.
2. Click on the Wall tab, then click on the “Become a Fan” button.
3. Once you are a Fan, write “Nintendo Wii Giveaway!” on the Wall.  This is your entry for the contest.  You may enter the contest once every 24 hours.

How to enter the “Tax Day Nintendo Wii Giveaway!” contest on Twitter:

1. Follow us on Twitter.  We will follow you back as soon as possible.
2. Send the following as your Tweet so we can track your entry:
   __@FlowerBlossoms >> Nintendo #WiiGiveaway Contest << Please RT to enter to win a Wii! http://bit.ly/bvqOSm

One more thing: If you write an entry in your own blog or website about our “Nintendo Wii Giveaway!” and post a link to that entry below as a reply, the total number of your contest entries from Facebook and Twitter will count for double!

Contest notes

• We will use the services of RANDOM.ORG to determine a winner.
• Only one Wall post and/or one Tweet contest entry per day.
• If you have an account on Facebook AND Twitter, you may submit one contest entry each on BOTH sites per day.  This is the only daily multiple entry allowed.
• We will contact the winner on Friday, April 9, via PM on Facebook or DM on Twitter.
• Contest ends on Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 11:59PM PDT!
• Due to popular demand, and the upcoming April 15 deadline on which tax returns are due here in the United States, we are extending the contest an extra week! That’s right, we’re ending the contest at exactly the same time as your tax returns are due!
• The contest now has a slightly longer name, too: Tax Day Nintendo Wii Giveaway!
• You now have until Thursday, April 15, 2010 at 11:59PM PDT to submit your contest entries to Facebook and Twitter!
• We will contact the winner on Friday, April 16, via PM on Facebook or DM on Twitter.  Good luck!

Francis M. Unson

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How NOT to use Twitter

Ever since Twitter’s arrived on the scene in 2006, its devoted users have come up with many ways to make use of the microblogging service: personal branding, feedback, and job hiring, among other ways.

However, Twitter has also attracted a group of users that use the medium for endless self-promotion and spamming, among other things.

What ways have you seen people use (abuse?) Twitter that annoy you?  Post in a comment below about how people have misused Twitter.  I will post in a follow-up blog the first 100 unique ways that people are NOT supposed to use Twitter.

Francis M. Unson

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To Tweet or Blog?

Before the rise of Twitter, bloggers wrote to their heart’s content, be it a short paragraph or longer, more elaborate entries with lots of detail and thought.  With Twitter’s arrival, people could tell the world within 140 characters what they were doing right now.  Does Twitter spell the end of blogging?

Not a chance.

Blogging, an evolutionary step from journal writing, cannot go away because of the character limitations inherent in Twitter’s design.  It comes as no surprise to me that people who write multiple Tweets complete their torrent by saying, “I probably should have written all this in a blog.”  A blog (a contraction of the term “web log”) allows us to write complete stories about anything we want.  Our limitation, therefore, rests in our ability to come up with what to write about.

How does Tweeting fit into the scheme of things?  While details are not immediately paramount to what we want to communicate through Twitter, the ability to catch peoples’ attention with our Tweets is.  In other words, a Tweet serves as an eye-catching headline.  Furthermore, Twitter developers and people who Tweet many times per day recommend that people should make their Tweets shorter than 140 characters for two reasons: to allow others to Re-Tweet a Tweet, and to allow for a link to a website that goes into further detail about the Tweet.

Bloggers have successfully communicated with others before Twitter’s arrival, and they will remain a presence the blogosphere.  On the other hand, people who have never written a single blog have embraced Twitter and have let the world know what is on their minds in 140-character increments.  The most ideal union, however, is a Tweeting blogger: a person that uses Twitter to generate interest for their blog.

Do you use Twitter, write a blog, or both?

Francis M. Unson

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