MERRY EFFIN' CHRISTMAS!!!!

 Or whatever you celebrate...

 Because I like MOST of you, I'm here to give you some knowledge about finance, computers, cars and a few things in between so YOU can have a net worth of $1 MILLION DOLLARS like me! HA!!!!!! KIDDING OR AM I!?!??!!? You decide..........

The majority of stuff I am about to give you is FREE and info that I think will help you out! WOO HOO!!!

FINANCE:

• www.mint.com/ It's a great way to MANAGE your finances. It downloads all of your bank and loan accounts. 

• www.everydollar.com Dave Ramsey's team has one as well, BUT you have to pay to have your bank download your transactions. Until it's FREE, I will not use that feature BUT I used it to set up a budget. FYI- BUDGET is NOT a foul word and setting up one is NOT rocket science.

• www.feex.com/ So with ANY investment you have, 401K and stuff like that, there is a FEE the company running it charges you. This site runs the #'s for you and tells you what the total fee will be when you retire! Sure it asks you for the log in to your investment BUT IT IS TOTALLY LEGIT!!!! KRIPES if Clark Howard mentioned it then I am soooooooooo cool with it!

• www.irs.gov/uac/Free-File:-Do-Your-Federal-Taxes-for-Free  I can't speak for you BUT, I hate paying taxes! If I have to do it, why not for FREE!!! That's right kids, you can file your taxes for FREE instead of paying for Turbo Tax or something.

• www.creditkarma.com/ https://secure.creditsesame.com/signup1 These give your credit score ###### NOW IT'S NOT YOUR TRUE FICO SCORE BUT IT'S CLOSE AND GIVES YOU A 'BALL PARK' FIGURE!##### 

• www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action Why go do this?????? BECAUSE!!

• www.clarkhoward.com/ and www.daveramsey.com/home/ -THESE two are my 'GO TO GUYS' when I have ANY financial question, WORDS can't describe what I have learned from them!!!!!! They rock like KISS at the Thomas and Mack Center at Las Vegas in 88!!!! I KNOW BECAUSE I WAS THERE AND 'Rock 'N' Rolled All Night and Partied Every Day'!!!!!!
• https://clark.com/personal-finance-credit/credit-freeze-and-thaw-guide/- THIS is one of the only ways you can protect yourself if your ID is stolen. It's not 'STEEL CLAD' but it's worth doing because if someone that has stolen your I.D tries to apply for more credit then they will get rejected because your 'credit' has been frozen and only YOU have the codes to thaw it....So in conclusion, DON'T believe all the crap companies like LifeLock and others try to sell ya (they work like this, they monitor your credit AFTER it's been stolen! This is the ONLY way to protect yourself!!!! BE PROACTIVE!!!   
• https://investor.vanguard.com/ -OH AND THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL STATEMENT so settle down! More than likely WE, anyone under 50, will NOT have social security or it will look completely different when it's our time to retire. IT'S SIMPLE MATH!!! This is a good way to prevent being on the 'Alpo retirement plan' (That is when you can't afford 'people food' and you have to eat dog food to survive. They make it as easy as a prom date to set up an I.R.A and their customer services reps are knowledgeable and NOT a freakin' call center in India! They can also help you set up a 529 plan. Watch out because I am about to get on my soap box!!!!! Being an expert on MY opinion, I think it's YOUR duty as a parent to save for your child's education. You need to start right when you find out you're 'knocked up'!!! Don't be that mom/dad that has to expose your child to student loans because YOU weren't prepared and you have to look your child in the eye and say 'I'm sorry' when they are 23 and have over $30+ in student loans they have to pay back.
  
•  Speaking of kids, If you have a 'special needs' one then you can do this!! It's basically a 529 plan but instead of using for higher education, you can use the money for future needs.... http://blog.aarp.org/2014/12/22/new-529-plan-created-for-people-with-disabilities/
•  www.missingmoney.com/Main/StateSites.cfm, http://unclaimed.org/ Almost ALL 50 states participate in this... Any $ that is owned to YOU has to be given back to YOU! Use these site to find any $ that MIGHT be owed to you and the state HAS to give it to you. 

COMPUTER:

• http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage -This is a FREE anti-virus program for your home computer. It's all you need TRUST ME ON THIS! I have been using it for YEARS and I have had no problems ever!!!

• www.newegg.com/ - NOT FREE but D@MN good to have so you are NOT 'up a creek' if your computer dies..... You'll be glad you backed up your pictures from your 'experience' at Mardi Gras 99!!!! 

• www.openoffice.org/ -So you're all set to pay a lot of $ for Microsoft Office? WELL!!!! This looks a little different BUT is basically the same thing and it's A LOT cheaper then Microsoft Office!!! IT'S FREE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, and Google Docs is cool too! Happy now Karen? 
• www.iobit.com/advancedsystemcareper.html -This FREE program scans your computer and fixes 'issues' that are making your computer run slow.....

NOT A HIPPY but energy stuff is ALWAYS on my mind:

• http://www.arcadiapower.com/how_it_works -Not 100% sure how it all works BUT I think it's worth it for you to at least check it out. so you can do your little part in being a earth loving HIPPY!
  

AUTO:

• www.recalls.gov/ Don't be that guy/gal that has possible 'issues' with your car because you weren't aware of a recall that was issued by your auto maker months ago! Register your email and they will send you a notice if there is a recall on your car!

• www.scangauge.com/products/scangaugee/ Sure it costs money BUT it's worth it!!!! You will recoup it by driving smarter...... I have had it for almost ten years and it ROCKS!!!! It plugs into your OBDII connection (the computer on your car). KRIPES! It's all they do when you take your car to a mechanic.... They plug in to it to see what's wrong with it.  

MISC (STICKING IT TO 'DA MAN'!!):

• www.antennaweb.org/ It's ALL good if you think of me as a NERD, I'm cool with it, but I know about TV and radio stuff (HELLO! I'm a 'TV and radio production' degree holder from ASU, YEAP I went to college, SHOCKER HUH? ALL stations in the USA are mandated by the FCC to broadcast in HDTV! I know the reason they did this but I will spare you that info, all you need to know is that you can get a 'CRAZY' amount of channels (network TV, NOT ESPN and stuff) just with an antenna! ********** AGAIN! NETWORK TV NOT CABLE STATIONS************* BUT don't fret because you can ask Shonteea, a former coworker of mine, about some reality show and she will give you detailed events of each episode (THANK GOD FOR MY iTouch! But seriously, Almost all of the network (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX) plus all the cable channels, ESPN, CNN, BRAVO, ALL have the shows on their web sites so you can download and watch them and this will help you put it on your TV instead of the screen on your computer.

• www.republicwireless.com- One of those contracts that most companies make you sign are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO '20th century'. Republic is a contract FREE phone service that RULES. It runs off of WIFI but if there isn't WIFI then it runs off the Sprint network. I, ANDY McBRIDE, HAVE NEVER HAD 'ISSUES' WITH NOT GETTING OR SENDING A CALL!! I pay $10 bucks a month for it and I am not sure what their business model is BUT I do love saving money and their customer service is 2nd to NONE!!!! I am one happy camper!!!!

There are other sites but I can't think of them right now but I hoped these helped ya out a little. MERRY CHRISTMAS KIDS and I hope Santa gave you everything you asked for this year.

 OH and if this is not enough info for ya, check out this guy's links CLICK HERE 

 P.S. I wrote this to all of my coworkers AFTER 'THE MAN' laid off most of the people in our department AKA 'BLACK WEDNESDAY'(Feb. 2016). AHHHHH The JOY of working for corporate America: "OKIE DOKIE! The past week has REALLY put things in 'perspective' so I decided to write, as my former co worker Shonteea would say, the little 'ANDY BEEEEEEEEEOTCHIN' investment guide'. I want to get this out because I want y'all to know this if they decide that we are not needed anymore. This will be short and sweet but I think you'll get the gist of it so you are NOT on the 'Alpo retirement plan' (You are soooooooooo broke when you retire that you have to eat dog food because you can't afford 'people food'). FIRST OFF, I think it's pretty cool that you ask me for financial advice, contrary to popular belief, I like helping people BUT I DO have my limits! Just ask my former cube mate!!!! ALRIGHT, enough of the warm and fuzzy cr@p, let's get down to business. 

- ALWAYS remember that the turtle beats the rabbit EVERY TIME. Apply this phrase to your investing. You are NOT looking to make the 'quick buck' in the next week, month or year because there is a really good chance you will loose it just as quick.

- K.I.S (keep it simple and yes DULL! Boring mutual funds= less risk. Single stocks= A LOT of
  RISK. Look at mutual funds that have been around for at least 10 or more years and average a
  good track record.

- DO NOT use the news as your financial adviser, the news is all about DOOM and GLOOM!
  KRIPES, their motto is 'IF IT BLEEDS, IT LEADS'!  

- Look at what your 401k is in once in a while, I'll be the first to tell ya that I am bad at this. I just
  looked at mine today and when I was helping some other people out a few months ago, for the
  first time in years. BAD ME!!!

     1. You can adjust your funds that you are in manually or you can keep them in one of the
         'target market' funds (just figure out when you want to retire, the year, and put your money
         in that. It's like 'auto pilot' for your money. It's personal choice....).
     2. Well Fargo matches up to 6%, so set your contribution to at least that and ALWAYS add to
          it no matter what. 'Catholic Kate' AKA my mom (NO I don't call her that to her face) instilled
          in me to ALWAYS contribute to it. She also did a fabulous job with the whole 'Catholic guilt'
          thing!!!
     3. There are some GREAT references that they offer us that explain the 401k
         plan A LOT better than I do. Just log in to your account and on the top of the page
         there is a tab called 'Planning and Education' then click 'Education Resources Center' and
         read to your little heart's content . Also just search '401k' on the internet.  

 I could go on and on about this but I won't because I know you will roll your eyes at me and say "OK!
 I get it old man!' "

OH and I worked on another section of the ditch.

 Have a great 2019 and remember "always forgive BUT NEVER forget" Wil Zues ! FYI! I have been blogging since 2005, this will be my 14th freakin' year! GOOD LORD!