Logan Abbott

Recommendations:

This is the first of a series.   There’s no shortage of advice out there telling us how to save money.  However, much of it is along the lines of “give up your latte” or “don’t go out to eat”.  Great, I’m already depressed enough about the economy and now they want me to drink nasty coffee.

I received a letter from my mortgage company earlier in the week that contained a fascinating proposal. If I were to take my monthly mortgage payment and pay half of it every two weeks, I could pay off my mortgage six years early, and save tens of thousands of dollars in interest.

The Federal Reserve sharply cut the Fed Funds Rate by 0.75% earlier this week, leading to a corresponding decrease in the prime rate. Most credit card interest rates are tied to the prime rate, so carrying a balance on these cards just got a lot cheaper.

Unlimited cell phone rate plans have arrived! Here is a recap of the major carrier options (unlimited items in parentheses), along with our comments on these new plans:

A top 10 list of Valentine-colored cell phones for 2008:

Black Cherry Chocolate (Verizon): Part phone, part music player, this slider phone has touch-sensitive navigation keys, GPS, a megapixel camera and video capture.

Ilyce Glink, syndicated columnist of “Real Estate Matters” and best-selling author of several books for the prospective home buyer or sell

Cell phones are now available in a rainbow of colors; at this time of year red or pink seem like a good idea, and there are plenty of options to choose from.

Capital One has launched a series of “No Hassle” mileage cards that award bonus miles for various types of spending.    Instead of earning 1 mile for each dollar spent, you can earn multiple miles for each dollar spent.    There are bonus mileage cards for Gas Purchases, Travel & Entertainment, Travel & Gas, Electronic Stores, Dining & Travel, Retail Stores (including wholesale club

Save $240 ($20/month for 12 months) on most packages, plus get 30 premium movie channels free for 3 months.  This is probably one of the most attractive