I will apologize right now, but I need to vent about this situation. Just the other day I went to the bank to make a very quick transaction. I needed to be somewhere at a particular time and so I decided to go through the drive through to speed up the process. WRONG! When I pulled up to the drive thru, one line had 2 cars and the second line had one car. Well, guess which line I pulled into; that’s right the one car line.

 The first thing I noticed was the (individual was on their cell phone) as they sat at the reception area. I continued to observe and what I witnessed was unbelievable. First the phone conversation was finished. They then took possession of the tube carrier and sent it to the teller. That’s right, nothing inside of the plastic tube. When it returned the best I could tell is they needed a deposit slip and a writing instrument.

 Car #1 in the other lane has finished and car #2 was pulling up to do their banking business. Finally, the person ahead of me completed their paper work, but before they could send to the teller, they took another cell phone call. Finally, once the call was finished, they sent the tube to the teller. Car #2 is now pulling away and #3 is taking its place in the other line!

 Next I notice the tube returning to the person ahead of me. Excitement soon diminished! Something was wrong and needed to be corrected. Once corrected the tube was sent back to the teller! Car #3 in the other line is now pulling away with all bank transactions completed! Car #4 pulls into position and prepares to do their banking business.

 Finally the tube arrives back at the car ahead of me. Obviously they got several thousand dollars in cash. Why? They continued to sit there!! The best I could figure was a marathon counting session. No, I believe I witnessed them taking another cell phone call. Car #4 is now finished and pulling away. Finally, the person ahead of me slowly pulls away! I take care of my banking business in less than 1 minute, but I’m still late to my meeting!

Look, before getting to the bank drive through, have your deposit slip filled out, your signature in all appropriate areas and your identification ready to go. Your transaction will usually go smoothly and the bank teller will like you a whole lot more. I promise, everyone behind you will appreciate your efforts.

 I have always said that I listen to my readers and I do!  Several people have commented about this one particular article and I believe it has something to do with my comments about two entities used in the car market and the car industry.  This is the KBB (Kelly Blue Book) and Edmunds.com. These two resources are the most well known by consumer, but there is another car value resource out there and this is the one used by the dealerships, auto brokers and auction houses. The car industry uses the NADA Blackbook for all of their appraisals.

 Why have I never heard of this before, you ask. Well, the only thing I can tell you is this. They don’t want you to know about this information. The NADA Blackbook is on the web for your investigation and use. It’s just that no one knows about it. Ok, you’re the one in a thousand that know this book exists, but I promise, if you’re fixing to trade in your vehicle or sell it outright, you will be the first to go to KBB or Edmunds, not NADA Black! The reason for this is the true market values of vehicles.  NADA Blackbook gives the true market value for every vehicle out there and it is usually LESS than the other two resources!

 NADA— National Automobile Dealers Association. Do you understand now why this is the industry standard?  All I ask is for you to take a minute and throw each resource to the test. Using the same exact vehicle and the same zip code, key it into each of these vehicle resources. KBB and Edmunds will vary somewhat, but compared to NADA Black; You will be amazed at the difference in values!

 My point here is for my readers and followers to be educated. I want to provide for each of you an insight into the auto sales industry! There is no reason today for an individual to be taken advantage of by a car dealership!!! PERIOD!!!!!!! Those days are over with askthecarbuyguy.com and thank the good Lord they are!!!

 Be prepared for your car buying experience through research and understanding! “A wise person is never taken advantage of”.

 Since Tuesday 13/Dec/2010 I have been fighting a sever computer virus. I have installed on my computer, a very good anti-viral software. All I’ll say is it’s not Norton or McAfee because these in my estimation are worthless as far as protection goes. But, this “New” virus being sent around still got past my fort! Just so you will know, it throws an icon on your desk top in the shape of a combination lock and titled “system tool 2011” and it comes across the hard drive as a “Java Script” down load. If you have downloaded this new virus, bless your heart”. This thing is evil and its network fingers run deep into the hard drive system with many parasites. My software people are writing a defense program to cure now and block this in the future. They even admitted it slipped under their radar. I so far have the virus somewhat contained. To do this took a good bit of computer knowledge and running 5 different full scans with my software. My computer still has a little cough from the virus, but I should have this fixed in the next 48 hours. The best thing here is, I’ve done this without losing any files or data!! Of course I had 99.9% backed up on disc!

 My question here is – - WHY!? Why do people out there write these malicious programs? Are they GEEKS without a life and they do this out of boredom? Is it a scheme of all these computer repair shops to keep profits up and bring in more work? Is it software companies doing this to sell their malware and spyware protection programs? The writers of these virus programs can’t possibly get a kick just knowing someone out there “might” just get their virus! If this is the case, they are some sick puppies!! I’m so mad right now that I may not be thinking rationally, but it seems there should be some way to halt this misuse of the web. Through some research several years back I found websites that gave step by step instructions on how to program a virus and send them out over the web. For everyones information the easiest way is through an email attachment.

Just be careful and by all means  have a good antivirus program on your computer.

 Are you planning on buying another car anytime soon? If you are, then you will more than likely need to obtain an auto loan. Let’s just say you have good credit scores and have no trouble obtaining a loan.

 You’ve seen and heard the commercials on TV, radio and every magazine published about the 0.9 percent interest auto loan! Manufactures and dealers are offering some very tempting offers to purchase your vehicle. Are these for real?

 They might not be! Congress blew a chance to beef up consumer protections last summer when the embattled auto industry won an exemption from the new financial reform law. So although mortgage brokers will be subject to new rules, car dealers-who brokered about 80 percent of U.S. consumers’ $850 billion in auto loans- may keep on gouging us. If you must borrow (it’s better to pay cash for a depreciating asset), don’t assume dealerships will give you the best loan. There are simply too many ways for them to rip you off or seduce you with easy payments on a longer term loan!

 Your best move is to obtain a preapproved loan from a local bank or credit union before setting foot on the car lot. This will help you set a realistic budget. If at all possible it would be wise to put down 20 percent, choose a loan of 4 years or less and make sure your monthly payment is no more than 10 percent of your gross income. A big down payment helps ensure you’ll never owe more on the car than it’s worth. Limiting your loan also makes room for the cost of insurance, maintenance and fuel.

 Look, going into a car deal with outside financing will give you the upper hand on the dealership. If the dealership offers you a better term than your bank, then you can always drop your bank finance for the better rate.

 No matter what, you will walk into the dealership knowing that you already have finance terms you can work with. The only thing you have to do now is get the price right.

At this time of year we are being asked to help those less fortunate! We are being contacted by phone, mail, personally, and with numerous email blasts!

I knew some of this information, but have had my eyes opened to some facts. I don’t usually cut and paste my blog, but I had to with all this information. If you have any doubts of these facts, do your own research and you will be amazed! All these figures are as of 2009. Several of the people mentioned have since stepped down from their positions. I believe it important to know what your charity dollars are actually doing to help others who are truly in need of our help. When I read these facts, it gives me a lump in my throat and a very sick feeling in my stomach!! I truly believe something needs to be done. Tell me what you think. Here’s the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!!

The worst offender was yet again for the 11th year in a row is, UNICEF – CEO, receives $1,200,000 per year, (plus use of a Royal Royce for his exclusive use where ever he goes, and an expense account that is rumored to be well over $150,000.) Only pennies from the actual donations goes to the UNICEF cause (less than $0.14 per dollar of income).

The second worst offender this year is Marsha J. Evans, President and CEO of the American Red Cross…for her salary for the year ending in 2009 was $651,957 plus expenses. Enjoys 6 weeks – fully paid holidays including all related expenses during the holiday trip for her and her husband and kids. including 100% fully paid health & dental plan for her and her family, for life. This means out of every dollar they bring in, about $0.39 goes to related charity causes.

The third worst offender was again for the 7th time was, Brian Gallagher, President of the United Way receives a $375,000 base salary (U.S. funds), plus so many numerous expense benefits it’s hard to keep track as to what it is all worth, including a fully paid lifetime membership for 2 golf courses (1 in Canada, and 1 in the U.S.A.), 2 luxury vehicles, a yacht club membership, 3 major company gold credit cards for his personal expenses…and so on. This equates to about $0.51 per dollar of income goes to charity causes.

Fourth worst offender who was also again in the fourth spot, for every year since this information has been made available from the start 1998 is amazingly yet again, World Vision President (Canada) receives $300,000 base salary, (plus supplied – a home valued in the $700,000 – $800,000 dollar value range, completely furnished, completely paid all housing expenses, including taxes, water/sewer, telephone/fax, HD/high speed cable, weekly maid service and pool/yard maintenance, fully paid private schooling for his children, upscale automobile and an $55,000 personal expense account for clothing/food, with a $125,000 business expense account). Get this, because it is a “religious based” charity, it pays, little to no taxes, can receive government assistance and does not have to declare where the money goes. Only about $0.52 of earned income per dollar is available for charity causes.

Of the sixty some odd “charities” we looked at, the lowest paid (President/C.E.O/Commissioner) was heading up a charity group right here in Canada. We found, believe it or not, it was……

Ready for this…

I think you might be surprised…

It is, none other than…

The Salvation Army’s Commissioner Todd Bassett receives a salary of only $13,000 per year (plus housing) for managing this $2 Billion dollar organization. Which means about $0.93 per dollar earned, is readily available and goes back out to local charity causes…truly amazing

No further comment is necessary…”Think Twice” before you give to your Charity of choice. Find out who is doing the most with your donation. Decide whether they are actually helping people in need or are they just helping themselves.  

The problem is it doesn’t stop here. These CEO’s have complete staffs under them that actually run the everday business. You know they are not paid minimum wage! I can’t help but wonder what the true dollar figure that is available for those in need. Once all these salaries are deducted it can’t be much!

The last time you were at a restaurant, I’ll bet you JUST handed over your credit or debit card to an individual to pay your bill!! RIGHT?  Did you ever once think what that person could do with your credit card? Here’s the deal! With today’s cell phones, all anyone has to do is make a picture of the front and back of your card. BAM!!!! They got ‘cha. This has become very big business with millions being paid to individuals for this type of information.

 The criminal is not exactly stupid. They will wait for about two months before making the first transaction with your card information. WHY? It makes it so much more difficult to trace back to when this information was obtained. Rarely are transactions done even in the same state the card is in. So many times this information is being sold to overseas criminals, with you seeing a purchase let’s say in France!  All that is needed when making a purchase on the internet is the 16 digit card number and the 3 digit code number on the reverse side of the card and the name on the card. Think about it!!!

 You can be in any department store making a purchase and the person behind you is on their cell phone. As your banking card is being processed they can be taking photos of it without your knowledge. How do you go about putting your four number PIN into the machine. Do you cover your transaction from prying eyes? Hell, so called security cameras can pick this up for anyone’s later use! I’m sorry I have gotten to where I may have the appearance of person with an affliction when doing card transactions. I cover my card and I cover my machine transaction from prying eyes and cameras.

 Christmas time is usually the time these criminals STRIKE! Why? People are making numerous transactions and this makes things more difficult to follow by the individual and by the bank. What can you do to NOT become a statistic? Please see the list below!

1. Never allow your credit card out of your possession. Pay your bill in person!!!!
2. Do your best to conceal your card transactions.
3. Every 12 months obtain a new credit card from the issuer and change your pin number.
4. When making online purchases, make sure it is a secure site! This is tricky because sites can put anything on the page. Do extensive research of the particular site prior to purchase.
5. Stop all automatic  credit card transactions you may have ( monthly or yearly transactions)
6. Monitor your banking and credit card transactions online DAILY!
7. If this should happen to you, assist those that are investigating, be a part of the solution to the problem!!!!
8. NEVER say this will never happen to me!!!!

Can we put a stop to these criminals? Probably not, but we can damn sure put a damper on their gravy train!