It’s that time of year again: Summer’s almost over and school’s back in full swing…

And as happy as many of you parents are that the kids are back in school, I bet you’re still worrying about the cost of school supplies. But, thanks to eight tips from ReadersDigest.com, I found some great ways to save money on back to school shopping!

Following are eight tips to save money on school supplies:

1. Buy school supplies in bulk and share the cost with friends and family.
2. Go shopping without your kids. They may convince you to buy more than you need.
3. Shop online for expensive items, such as computers, by bidding from auction sites.
4. Use coupons (for items you regularly buy).
5. Borrow or rent textbooks online.
6. Make a budget and stick with it.
7. Buy the basics now and wait until after school starts to buy the rest. Prices usually drop after the school year has started.
8. Shop in your home. You may have extra school supplies in your drawers, closets, etc., that are in perfect shape.

For more money saving tips, continue checking AccuQuote’s blog, become a fan of AccuQuote on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter. And remember, to save money on term life insurance, go to AcuQuote.com to get free term life insurance quotes. You may be able to save up to 70% on your term life coverage!

I often get asked if we can give term life insurance quotes to people who can’t speak English. Because we’re passionate about insuring people’s lives, we feel that it is important to try and overcome this obstacle. If you know someone who is a U.S. citizen but cannot speak English, we will do our best to work through the language barrier to help them provide their loved ones with financial protection.

We typically face two significant issues when trying to provide life insurance coverage to a person who can’t speak English.

1. First, the person applying for life insurance can’t respond to application and exam questions directly, unless the life insurance agent speaks the language of the applicant. However, experienced agents are able to work through family members or translators who speak English to complete the application.
2. Second, signing a contract in a language you cannot read is against public policy. Even with a translator, it could be argued that the contract is not valid. For this reason, many life insurance carriers require that the applicant be able to read the contract. However, some carriers offer life insurance applications in alternative languages.

If you or someone you know is in the market for term life insurance, check out AccuQuote.com. Our licensed life insurance agents will do their best to help you overcome any language obstacle and provide you with the best term life insurance for your individual circumstances.

August 26, 2009

Recession and Unemployment Rate Indicate Reason to Increase Life Insurance Coverage

Description:

As economic conditions change, it’s important to evaluate your financial situation. A life insurance and annuity industry expert, Byron Udell, talks about why the recession and rising unemployment rate should signal people to purchase or increase existing life insurance coverage.

Size: 4.84 MB

Length: 5:17

Click here to download

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We’re in the business of helping you protect your family’s financial future with term life insurance, which is why we’ve partnered with TrustedID, the nation’s leading provider of identity theft prevention solutions, to provide you a new suite of services to expand the protection for your financial lives.

One of the most important parts of protecting your financial future is helping you secure your assets from theft and fraud. By partnering with TrustedID, we believe we can help reduce the millions of American families that are victims of identity theft each year.

TrustedID’s IDFreeze effectively helps combat this growing problem by offering AccuQuote customers a complete circle of protection against identity theft. Backed by a $1,000,000 service warranty and supported by 24/7 on-call specialists, IDFreeze is designed to stop identity theft before it occurs. Its features set, encompassing more than a dozen specific services, include:

• Financial identity protection – Active monitoring of key information (credit cards, bank accounts and more) in public databases and on Internet black market sites.  Users have the option to place fraud alerts on credit reports if their identity is at risk.  Among other benefits, junk mail is reduced.
• Medical benefits protection – Ensures that no one is using your health insurance information to obtain medical services—one of the newest and most dangerous forms of identity theft.
• Social Security benefits protection – Determines if anyone is stealing your social security benefits or filing taxes in your name, and stops it.
• Online security – Protects you against spyware and removes spyware off your computer with advanced software.
• Lost wallet protection – Helps you cancel accounts and replace cards if you lose your wallet, whether you’re at home or while traveling.
• Family protection – Delivers the same suite of protective services for your children and any family members living with you.
• CreditLock – Offers the option of a complete lockdown of your credit, preventing credit bureaus from sending out your credit report.

Your identity is one of your most valuable possessions, which is why we’re happy to offer you, as an AccuQuote customer, financial protection and peace-of-mind.

For more information about TrustedID, check out www.trustedid.com/accuquote.

And remember, for affordable term life insurance quotes, go to Accuquote.com. We can compare life insurance rates with top-rated life insurance companies to make sure you get you a rate that allows you to live within your means and protect your family’s finances.

If you’re anything like me, you enjoy the smell of a clean house, but not the price that comes with buying expensive, name-brand cleaning products. But, I’ve discovered a way to save money on the cost of cleaning by using items I already have in my kitchen, such as vinegar and baking soda, thanks to a few tips from The Omaha-World Herald.

Following are ways to clean with everyday, household items:

Baking Soda – This non-toxic, eco-friendly ingredient is cheap and multi-purposeful. It can be used to clean carpets and rugs, laundry, sinks and bathtubs, and grease stains.

Vinegar – White, distilled vinegar has the power to remove mold, bacteria, and germs. Use it to clean hard water stains, grout, drains, and your microwave.

Lemons – The natural, acidic juice in lemons is a great alternative to bleach. They have the ability to remove stains from countertops and white t-shirts. Lemons can also be used to eliminate the foul smell from your garbage disposal.

For more information, read the article here.

If you’re interested in saving money on term life insurance, get free term life insurance quotes online from AccuQuote.com. Our experienced life insurance agents can help you compare life insurance rates with top-rated life insurance companies.

For more money saving tips, become a fan on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

According to InformationWeek, a federal grand jury has indicted an alleged hacker for hacking into computers belonging to retail and financial companies and stealing more than 130 million credit and debit cards.

Albert Gonzales and two unidentified co-conspirators located in or near Russia, have been charged with attacking corporate computer networks, which resulted in the largest data breach indictment ever brought in the United States.

“This investigation marks the continued success of law enforcement in tracking down cutting edge hacking schemes committed by hackers working together across the globe,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph J. Marra, Jr.

The companies hit by the alleged hackers include: Heartland Payment Systems, 7-Eleven, and Hannaford Brothers.

The indictment says the hackers used sophisticated techniques to avoid detection, like connecting to corporate computers through proxy servers, testing approximately 20 different antivirus programs to determine whether their malware might be detected, and using malware that attempted to erase signs of its presence.

I’m passionate about being in the business of insuring people’s lives, which is why at AccuQuote we try our hardest to make sure your term life insurance needs are met. Unfortunately, there are some pre-existing conditions that are generally uninsurable according to various standards of life insurance carriers.

Following are pre-existing conditions that are generally uninsurable:

• AIDS or HIV positive status
• Alcoholism treatment within two years
• Aneurysm present
• Coronary disease where applicant has not returned to work since the occurrence or where there has been recent congestive heart failure
• Drug addiction
• Certain types of cancer, especially if the proposed insured is applying within one year of diagnosis or cessation of treatment, or if cancer is metastatic or recurrent
• Kidney dialysis treatment
• Certain psychotic disorders (some disorders will be accepted if they are in remission)
• Recent or multiple suicide attempts
• Defibrillator implanted to shock the heart back into rhythm. This is different from a Pacemaker to maintain rhythm.
• Huntington Disease.
• ALS (Lou Gehrig Disease)-10% survival rate at 10 years
• Cystic Fibrosis

If you’re affected by any of these pre-existing conditions, be sure to contact a licensed life insurance agent to discuss your options. You may still be able to qualify for an accidental death policy. In addition, if you have other health issues, agents at multi-carrier brokerage firms know the various underwriting guidelines at the best life insurance companies they represent, and will be able to give you term life insurance quotes based on your individual circumstances.

If your term life insurance application is in the underwriting process, be sure to obtain temporary coverage while you wait. This will ensure that your loved ones are financially protected if you die before your policy is issued.

Most life insurance companies offer this option and it’s easy to get by submitting your first premium payment with your application. We strongly encourage you to obtain this coverage if someone is financially dependent on you or a major life event has triggered the immediate need for life insurance, such as marriage or the birth of a new child.

Unfortunately, there have been situations where people that were in the process of applying for term life insurance died before the policy was issued. If they didn’t have temporary coverage by submitting the first premium payment, their families were unable to collect a death benefit.

Keep in mind that obtaining temporary term life insurance coverage is not a requirement by life insurance companies, but highly recommended to give your loved ones financial security if something devastating were to happen.

Also, you’re guaranteed a full refund of your first premium payment up to 10 days after receiving you term life insurance policy. So, there’s nothing risky about opting for temporary coverage. It may be a bigger risk to leave your family unprotected during the underwriting process.

If you have not yet applied for term life insurance, get free term life insurance quotes online. An experienced life insurance agent can compare life insurance rates with top-rated companies to get you the best term life insurance for your situation.

I’m writing this to help you understand what happens from the time you submit your application to the time you receive your term life insurance policy in hand.

Once you’ve requested your term life insurance quote, determined how much to buy, taken your medical exam and submitted your application and other pertinent documents, the term life insurance underwriting process can begin.

Underwriting begins after your signed application has been returned to the life insurance company. At this time, an insurance underwriter evaluates your case. This includes evaluating the answers to certain questions on your application, health and lifestyle habits, results from your medical exam, and other factors based on your individual case. The insurance underwriter will then determine if you qualify for the coverage applied for and establish an appropriate rate.

This process takes an average of 3 to 8 weeks to complete, depending on the needs of the life insurance company. In order to help keep this processing time to a minimum, be sure to submit all of the required information, such as medical records and employment verification, in a timely manner. The life insurance company will call you if they’re missing any important documents that are valuable in underwriting your case.

In the meantime, you should consider binding your term life insurance policy. This means taking out a temporary life insurance policy for the time it takes to underwrite your case. This will ensure that you’re protected if something happens to you while your case is being evaluated. Ask your life insurance agent about this coverage option.

For more information on term life insurance check out AccuQuote.com and get free term life insurance quotes online.

With gas prices on the rise again, filling up your tank is bound to be one of your most pricey weekly expenses. However, the Federal Trade Commission has released several ways to save money at the gas pump.

Following are money saving tips originally from the FTC:

• Remove unnecessary items from your trunk – The extra weight can reduce your fuel economy by 2%.
• Run errands in a single trip – Taking several trips starting from a cold engine can use almost twice as much gas as covering the same distance in one trip while the engine is still warm.
• Carpool – Save money by sharing the cost of gas.
• Use public transportation, bike, or walk – Since you’re not paying for the cost of filling up your gas tank, these forms of travel can save you a lot of money.
• Maintain the speed limit – High speeds greatly reduce your gas mileage.
• Don’t leave the engine on – If you think you’ll be sitting in your car for while, turn off the engine to avoid wasting gas.
• Be gentle on the gas – Your car gets better gas mileage when you start and stop “gently.”
• Use cruise control – By maintaining your speed, you improve your gas mileage.
• Tune-up your engine – By properly tuning your engine, you can improve your gas mileage by 4%.
• Change your oil on a regular basis – Fresh oil improves fuel economy by removing harmful materials from the engine.
• Replace air filters regularly – This can save you up to 10% on your gas mileage.
• Take care of your tires – Properly inflated and aligned tired can improve your gas mileage by 3%.
• Use the right octane for your vehicle – Most vehicles only recommend using regular octane, which is the cheapest gas at the pump. Only use an octane higher than regular if your car requires it.
• Avoid gas-saving gadgets – Many of these gadgets on the market are scams and may even end up doing more damage to your engine than good. Do your homework before purchasing these items.

For more information on how to improve fuel economy, check out the Federal Trade Commission.

And, if you’re interested in saving money on term life insurance, compare life insurance rates online. You can save up to 70 percent on term life insurance by letting AccuQuote.com help you find the best term life insurance for your needs.