Inside Consumer United :: Aldo Haxhistasa

Aldo Haxhistasa works full time as a Consumer United advocate, helping the average person save money on basic services. Originally from Albania after moving to Philadelphia at 12-years-old, Haxhistasa graduated from Temple University in May 2009 with a business degree.

Working at Consumer United, Haxhistasa enjoys interacting with a group of intelligent and motivated young co-workers who believe in what they do, adding that he enjoys “the fact that I talk to different people on a daily basis and not knowing what you might hear next.”

How does Haxhistasa save money? “I usually just give it to my girlfriend to put aside for me,” he jokes.

As far as financial advice, Haxhistasa says it's important to keep an eye on expenses. “There are only a few ways to save money but a million ways to spend it,” he adds.

When he’s not helping Consumer United members save money, Haxhistasa spends his downtown watching sports and hitting the beach. “Soccer was my favorite before I learned the game of football, which has now taken the lead. Summertime is usually time for the beach so if i have any sort of free time during the summer is usually being spent there.”

Weekly Deals: Spring into fall savings

Deal Of The Week:
Best Buy: Score a hot deal on a new HDTV this football season. Best Buy has great values on TVs under $900, including name brands like Samsung, LG and Panasonic here until Saturday, Sept. 4. Plus, save big when they hook everything up with 5% - 15% off select home theater accessories here.

Other Weekly Deals:
CollegeBookRental.com: Heading back to college? Rent your books instead of buying them and save up to 85 percent on your textbooks using CollegeBookRenter.com
here.

Restaurant.com: Before heading back to school, take 80% off $25 gift certificates from Restaurant.com with Consumer United's special code CLEARANCE though Tuesday, Aug. 31 here.

GiftCards.com: With students heading back to school, save 25 percent on a slew of gift cards here.

Tips to hire the right solar panel installer

Installing solar panels is a smart, not to mention, eco-friendly way to heat your home. However, buying them may be too pricey for the average consumer. They cost roughly $25,000 ... and that includes a potential 30-percent tax credit.

Looking to turn up the heat, but don't want to get burned by the big investment? You're in luck.

It's important to do your homework and to make sure you hire the right solar installer before shelling out the cold, hard cash. Here are a few tips to help you navigate through the complexities of selecting the right installer.

1. Certification Make sure the solar panel installer is certified by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) before committing. The NABCEP maintains high standards and requires all of their installers to pass an exam before they're given the greenlight. Some legit installers aren't a part of the NABCEP, but make sure they have the proper training from panel-centric groups like the Solar Living Institute or Solar Energy International.

2. Subcontracting
While the installer may be certifed by the NABCEP, make sure that he or she isn't subcontracting the work to outside groups who aren't certified.

3. Insurance
Is the installer insured in case of an accident? Before you allow the installer to work on your home, make sure they have general liability insurance before signing up.

4. Shop around
It's important to request multiple bids before selecting an installer. Make sure the bids explicitly state how much you'll save on your energy bill after adding solar panels to your home. It may be worth the extra investment if the payback higher by using higher quality products or offers an extended warranty (it generally takes up to 10 years to finance a solar-panel system).

5. Location
Is the solar panel installer regional? Knowing the environment and typical weather patterns of your area is a must when selecting the right solar installer.

Click here for additional tips.

Report ranks best credit card issuers for 2010

Overall customer satisfaction with credit cards has improved slightly from a three-year low in 2009 while consumer loyalty continued to decline, according to a 2010 report recently released by J.D. Power and Associates.

The 2010 average is 714 on a 1,000-point satisfaction scale which is nine points higher compared to the 705 average in 2009.

Michael Beird, director of banking services at J.D. Power and Associates, says that confidence is on the upswing, but consumers continue to perceive card issuers as customer driven.

“Despite massive efforts by the credit card industry during the past year to educate customers about credit card terms as a part of the CARD Act, customers’ grasp of those terms continues to be elusive,” Baird says.

“Sixteen percent of card customers report that they did not receive CARD Act disclosures. Among those who did, only two-thirds state that the disclosures improved their understanding of how the act affects their individual circumstances. Furthermore, only one-third of cardholders say they ‘completely’ understand their credit card terms.”

American Express ranked No. 1 for the fourth consecutive year and continues to perform well on all six factors surveyed.

Here's the top 10 list from the J.D. Powers and Associates report:

• American Express
• Discover
• U.S. Bank
• Wells Fargo
• Chase
• Barclaycard
• Bank of America
• Capital One
• Citi Cards
• HSBC

Click here for the lowdown from J.D. Power and Associates.

How to put your food budget on a diet

Grocery shopping only a minor expense? Think again.

The average American family of four spends $9,200 a year on food, rounded to $10,000 when paper goods and personal-care products are added to the mix.

It's time to treat grocery shopping like the major expense that it is.

Stephanie Nelson serves up some valuable advice on how to cut costs at the supermarket. Expert shopper and author of "The Coupon Mom's Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half" offers tips on how to save on groceries.

"Your mortgage is set, your car payment is set and you have to pay your taxes. The biggest spending category where you have some wiggle room is groceries. People don't realize that by learning a few tricks, they could be saving a lot of money," she says.

Here are some planning tips from Nelson, depending on the time you're willing to commit:

Five minutes for great savings

Take five minutes at the store to go over strategy and save 20 to 25 percent off supermarket prices. Don't worry about the brand as long as the price is good. When buying food, use the five minute rule to avoid unnecessary precooked and pre-washed foods. If it takes more than five minutes to hunt down a deal, avoid the purchase.

"If you need to save money, being brand flexible is a pretty easy way to do it," Nelson says.

30 minutes for fantastic savings

Looking to spend 30 minutes of planning each week? You can save around 50 percent in savings. Rule number one- shop with a list. Check out the store's weekly flier and plan meals around the week's bargains. Match those sales to coupons from your local paper, and online such as CouponMom.com, CouponSurfer.com and Coupons.smartsource.com. Make sure to keep a price log to see if savings for the week are legitimate. Tip from Nelson? Weigh lettuce heads. Lettuce heads are sold buy head, not by weight, so get the most lettuce for your dollar using nearby scales.

An hour for unbelievable savings

Willing to put in an hour or more a week for grocery planning? You'll earn 60 to 70 percent off the full price of groceries. Shop around for the best deals. This means checking out discount stores, warehouse clubs and drugstores for the best bargains. Look into store policies regarding rain checks, internet coupons, competitors, and guarantees on store brand. The trick is to buy in bulk when on sale and freeze the extras until needed.

Meanwhile, first-time shoppers with our service partner, Peapod, will instantly save $15 on their online grocery order. Use the Consumer United promotional code, WEBSURF15, and click on the promotional link here to start saving!

Save money by renting college textbooks

Don't judge a book by its cover. Instead, save the criticism for the hefty sticker price traditional campus books stores charge for required texts.

On a budget? No problem.

With college students shelling out hundreds--sometimes thousands--of dollars on textbooks each year, the latest back-to-school savings rage is renting required texts. In fact. the college bookseller branch of Barnes & Noble recently announced that it expanded its multi-channel textbook rental program to hundreds of colleges and universities.

The program, which is offered through campus bookstores managed by Barnes & Noble, has already resulted in thousands of students renting their fall textbooks and, by the end of the back-to-school season, will provide millions of higher education students, and their families, significant savings off the high cost of college textbooks.

Along with delivering savings of more than 50 percent over the cost of purchasing a new, printed textbook, Barnes & Noble’s rental program contains the features higher education students want most, including:

* The convenience of renting their books either in the campus bookstore or from the bookstore’s Web site, eliminating the need to pay shipping costs or wait for their books to arrive in the mail
* The choice to return their rental textbooks to the campus bookstore or via mail using free return shipping
* The flexibility to use a wide variety of rental fee payment options, including financial aid and campus debit cards, as well as cash and credit cards
* The ability to highlight and take notes in their rented books
* The freedom to keep their books for up to ten days after the last day of finals
* The comfort of getting automated, reminder emails alerting them that the rental period is ending and to return their books to the bookstore

Also, Consumer United has teamed up with CollegeBookRenter.com, an online alternative where students can rent or sell college textbooks. Renting online can save you as much as 85 percent on your textbook costs.

Click here for the lowdown on CollegeBookRenter.com.

Weekly Deals: More back-to-school savings

Deal Of The Week:
Best Buy: Too cool for school? Best Buy has everything college students need to feel at home this fall. They've got a back-to-school package which includes a laptop, HDTV, printer, headphones, backpack and Blu-ray movie. It's a full-campus solution

Other Weekly Deals:
CollegeBookRental.com: Heading back to college? Rent your books instead of buying them and save up to 85 percent on your textbooks using CollegeBookRenter.com
here.

Restaurant.com: Before heading back to school, take 80% off $25 gift certificates from Restaurant.com with Consumer United's special code CLEARANCE though Tuesday, Aug. 31 here.

GiftCards.com: With students heading back to school, save 25 percent on a slew of gift cards here.

Twitter launches the user friendly Tweet Button

Popular microblogging site Twitter launched its Tweet Button, a user friendly tool to simplify the sharing of Web links using the platform for Web publishers and online visitors.

The news has the online world all in a flutter because the new button allows end users to share links on Twitter without leaving their sites.

In a blog post on Thursday, Aug. 12, the growing microblogging network says "the Tweet Button will help publishers grow traffic and increase their Twitter following." The button allows for customization where publishers can pre-configure the text displayed with each shortened URL.

Companies like TweetMeme have phased out their "retweet" service to accommodate the new button. "We have grown to more than 750 million daily retweet button impressions, which for a tiny team is an amazing achievement. That said the market requires an official solution that can accelerate this growth. So today Twitter is launching its own Tweet Button and we are very pleased to be partnering with them to continue to grow the overall Twitter ecosystem," reads a TweetMeme statement.

Twitter.com is a social network where users can send 140-character messages or "tweets" to friends, family, and followers. Twitter is being used to communicate about one's day, and to keep up to date with social relationships.

However, the benefits of Twitter don't stop there. The service is also used to find or promote deals, coupons and savings for consumers.

Consumer United is currently using Twitter to promote samples and coupons for consumers as soon as we come across them.

Follow Consumer United on Twitter for daily savings and updates.

Inside Consumer United :: Sean Chase

Sean Chase joined Consumer United in January of this year. Originally from the South Shore (Cohasset, MA), Chase attended college at the University of Colorado where he studied journalism, economics and video production.

When he's not busy saving our members money, Chase spends his free time on the ocean where he clocks in a lot of hours surfing, fishing and boating. During the winter, Chase enjoys skiing and hiking.

A strong believer in Consumer United, Chase says that he's motivated to save his clients money. “I enjoy helping people better understand there car insurance coverages and finding ways to help them save money,” he states.

When asked about his time spent at Consumer United, Chase says he likes the teamwork involved. “I enjoy the energy and youthful atmosphere at the office. I also enjoy the constant communication involved in my role,” he adds.

Tax-free weekends hit several states

Ready to shop to 'til you drop? Several states are offering tax-free weekends, with Massachusetts serving up a two-day summer sales tax holiday in effect for Saturday, Aug. 14 to Sunday, Aug. 15 in Massachusetts.

In the Commonwealth, the tax holiday will apply to items costing $2,500 or less. The exemption doesn't apply to all sales of motor vehicles, motorboats, meals, telecommunications services, gas, steam, electricity, tobacco products and any single item whose price is over $2500.

Other states participating in the holiday include Connecticut, extending the tax-free period from Aug. 15-21 on back-to-school items including clothing and footwear under $300. Of course, residents of Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon never pay sales taxes.

The folks over at WhiteFence are serving up a slew of tips for those lucky enough to live in a participating state. Here's the list:

• Get There Early – Tax-free weekend is an incredibly popular event, so shoppers may want to get to the stores before they open.
• Make a List – As basic as it may sound, bringing a list of required school supplies and clothing needs ensures no items are missed, maximizing the savings potential.
• Stick to the List – By buying items not on the list, it can be easy to get off track and spend hundreds more than was planned.
• Compare and Save – Consumers can compare offers on home phone, electricity, broadband, broadband, natural gas, television service and more at WhiteFence.
• Shop Alone – Kids can make shopping both more stressful and expensive.
• Don’t Skimp – While it can be tempting to hunt out the lowest prices on big-ticket items, there’s no point in buying an item that will need to be replaced in a few months.
• Shop Around – While it can be convenient to buy everything at one store, the biggest savings can usually be found by shopping at multiple stores.
• Bundle Up and Save – One of the easiest ways consumers can save on their monthly bills is to combine their broadband, cable or satellite and home phone services together. At WhiteFence, consumers can find the hottest bundle deals from all of the top providers.

Click here for more information.

Weekly Deals: Too cool for school?

Deal Of The Week:
Restaurant.com: Before heading back to school, take 80% off $25 gift certificates from Restaurant.com with Consumer United's special code BIG though Monday, Aug. 16 here.

Other Weekly Deals:
OnSale: Save $149 on HP Smart Buy Elitebook 2540p Intel Core i5-540M 2.53GHz Notebook - 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 12.1" WXGA, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11a/b/g/n, 6-cell Li-ion - ships with Windows XP Pro downgraded from Windows 7 Pro here for $929.99.

GiftCards.com: With students heading back to school, save 25 percent on a slew of gift cards here.

Fannie Mae launches foreclosure prevention site

Are you a homeowner struggling to pay your monthly mortgage? You're not alone.

Fannie Mae announced this week the launch of a new online resource called KnowYourOptions.com, a consumer education Web site geared toward homeowners trying to juggle mortgage payments in this post-recession economy. The site serves up tips and provides guidance on how to work with your mortgage company to find viable alternatives to foreclosure.

“Through foreclosure prevention programs, borrower outreach, underwriting guidelines and servicer engagement, Fannie Mae is taking a comprehensive approach to helping struggling borrowers,” says Jeff Hayward, Senior Vice President, Fannie Mae's National Servicing Organization. “Identifying accurate resources and finding the right answers can be a difficult challenge for borrowers facing hardship and a flurry of disparate, incomplete and sometimes fraudulent information."

Hayward continues, "Know Your Options is the company's newest effort to reach distressed homeowners and is designed to bring the best information and guidance together in one place so that struggling borrowers can focus on finding solutions that work for their particular circumstances.”

Key features of KnowYourOptions.com include:

• Interactive Options Finder to help homeowners identify options that might be right for their situation;
• Calculators to help borrowers understand how many of the options work, including refinance, repayment, forbearance, and modification;
• Videos featuring real homeowners discussing how they received help and housing counselors providing advice;
• A virtual assistant to walk homeowners through key areas of the site; and
• Next steps and helpful forms, including a financial checklist and contact log to help borrowers be prepared when contacting their mortgage company or housing counselor.

Click here for the lowdown.

Weekly Deals: More back-to-school savings

Deal Of The Week:
Best Buy: Create lasting college memories with a stylish new digital camera from Best Buy. Save big this week with 5-20 percent off select digital cameras, plus free shipping here until Saturday, Aug. 7.

Other Weekly Deals:
Restaurant.com: Before heading back to school, take 80% off $25 gift certificates from Restaurant.com with Consumer United's special code PLATE though Thursday, Aug. 5 here.

Best Deal Magazines: Heading back to school? Take an additional 15 percent off of magazine subscriptions using the Consumer United coupon code PXCJ88 during checkout here until Sunday, Aug. 8.

GiftCards.com: With students heading back to school, save 25 percent on a slew of gift cards here.

Tips to select the right life insurance policy

Choosing a life insurance policy can depend on a number of factors, including your age, health and number of dependents.

Between term and whole life policies, there are a lot of options that can be confusing. A simple online search can yield hundreds of head spinning results and it can be very difficult to understand what type of policy might be best to fit your needs.

Consumer United has compiled a few tips to help make shopping for life insurance a little easier.

1. Become familiar with the differences between term life policies and whole life policies. Term policies cover a designated period of time and the amount of coverage needed often varies depending on anticipated financial obligations such as a mortgage or tuition payments. Whole life policies, on the other hand, are often used to cover end of life expenses and are more likely to be utilized as a financial planning tool.


2. Understand what you're entitled to under the so-called "free look" laws in your state. Free look laws allow you to purchase an annuity or life insurance policy and change your mind within a limited period for a refund. The types of policies covered and the time allowed to reverse a decision vary widely by state, from zero to ten days in some states to sixty days in others. These laws allow for a comprehensive review of the policy before you're legally bound to its terms.


3. Make an informed decision when selecting your life insurance provider. For example, many employers offer life insurance, but the coverage may expire if you leave the company or retire, and that coverage could be hard to replace if you develop medical conditions. It's also very important to understand all of the terms and conditions of your policy, so make sure you trust your provider before you purchase a policy.

Click here to learn more about Consumer United's life insurance product.