It's DIY checkpoint season. Learn how to keep you and the other drivers on the road safe by avoiding junk driving. Having trouble viewing this email? Click here We love writing to you, but if you wish unsubscribe, click here to opt out of receiving future messages.

Friend's don't let friends drive junk. Don't get a DIY. Every year millions of American's drive junk. The statistics are staggering, with the cost junk driving rising due to back injuries, insurance hikes and a common consequence known only as "I didn't think this would take so long". College Hunks Hauling Junk® has always been on the front lines of the education campaigns designed to decrease the number of junk drivers on the roadways. We routinely setup DIY checkpoints and observe drivers to watch for common signs of junk driving. Signs that you may be at risk of junk driving: Don't Worry I'll Make it Fit Your friends and family are only looking out for your safety when they insist it would probably be safer to make two trips. Our clutter recovery team is professionally trained to eliminate clutter & prevent junk driving. I'll just tie it down with fishing line Really? Fishing line? Do you really think that's a good idea or are you just crossing your fingers and hoping everything works out? Instead call College Hunks Hauling Junk to haul away your junk and then you can go use that fishing line to catch some fish. That shouldn't fall off on the highway, right? Unless you have Wilson from the now defunct TV show Home Improvement as your neighbor, we don't think this is a decision you should trust the guy standing nearby saying "don't worry, you'll be fiiiine". Instead of driving junk, just call the HUNKS to haul it all away. Call us now at 1-800-586-5872 or Book Online & Save $10! Share: Valentine's Day Tip for Husbands:Hire College Hunks Hauling Junk® to clean out the garage for your wife Valentine's Day Tip for Wives: Forward this email to your husband!

Moving Day Meals

We all know that moving day is a challenge with planning, logistics and the physical (and emotional) strain. Planning meals is one thing that may slip through the cracks.

Finding their way

Be sure to identify restaurants in the area. This is particularly helpful if you’re  moving across country. Useful apps like yelp.com and urban spoon can make this easy. While you’re at it, look up the address of a local grocery store.

Open first box

You’ll want to pack a “first opened” box. It does not get packed into a moving van and is the first one moved to the kitchen where it is easy to find. Inside will be the essentials: first aid kit, medications, toiletries, trash bags and the items necessary to make the first meal in your new home. Don’t forget that utensils and plates to serve the first meal should be added to this box.

Keep it simple

The first meal at a new home should be easy to make and served without a lot of hassle. One of the easiest things to make is pasta. Sauce in the jar doesn’t have to be refrigerated. Dry pasta is easy to transport and store. The best thing is that it can be made in one pan.

For lunch or for summer days, you might suggest making sandwiches or hoagies, which do require a quick trip to the grocery store.

Having the first meal in the new home is one of the best ways to transition to a new area. Having a planned meal, with all the essentials to make and serve it, will help to ease the stress.

Mortgage Market Weekly provided by Gary Bussard

Gary Bussard VP Mortgage Banker Pulaski Bank Home Lending Phone: (314) 993-6690 Cell (314) 283-0098 License: Client Services Advisor gbussard@pulaskibank.com www.4stlloans.com

In This Issue Last Week in Review: There was a mix of good, bad, and ugly news. Forecast for the Week: The second half of the week features several important reports, including retail sales, consumer sentiment and more. View: Claim a home-office deduction on your taxes? The rules just got easier. See important details below. Last Week in Review "Bad news goes about in clogs, good news in stockinged feet." Welsh Proverb. And we certainly saw both good and bad news last week. Here are the details and what they mean for home loan rates. There was good news for the housing sector, as CoreLogic reported that home prices rose by 0.4% in December, from November, and was the tenth monthly gain. In the year ended in December, prices rose by 8.3%, the largest increase since May of 2006. But news from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) wasn't as pretty of a picture. The CBO said that growth in the U.S. will slow due to large government spending cuts coupled with new tax increases in 2013. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to rise by a meager 1.4% this year. This is clearly not enough to lower the Unemployment Rate, which is estimated to remain near 7.9% in 2013. The CBO went on to say that growth will likely rise in 2014, which would then lower the Unemployment Rate. However, this could result in inflation and rising interest rates. And the news out of Europe was just plain ugly. Greece is in a depression-like state with no prospect of meeting its third bailout terms. Spain has historically high unemployment and the second highest debt load in the region. Other countries continue to struggle as well. What does all of this mean for home loan rates? As the drama in Europe continues to unfold, the U.S. Dollar and our Bonds should benefit from safe haven buying. And since home loan rates are tied to Mortgage Bonds, as Bonds benefit, home loan rates should as well. In addition, the Fed's Bond purchase program (known as Quantitative Easing) continues, so it is tough to see Bonds (and therefore home loan rates) worsen significantly without the immediate threat of inflation. However, one thing to continue to monitor is the seesaw battle that has developed between the Stock and Bond markets. If Stocks continue to do well, this could temper any significant improvement in Bonds and home loan rates. The biggest take away is that now is a great time to consider a home purchase or refinance, as home loan rates remain near historic lows. Let me know if I can answer any questions at all for you or your clients. Forecast for the Week The beginning of the week is quiet, but look for several important reports in the second half of the week. On Wednesday, Retail Sales will be released and will gauge how consumer spending habits held up in January. Initial Jobless Claims will be reported on Thursday. Last week, claims fell by 5,000 in the latest week to 366,000, just above expectations. The four-week moving average, which evens out any seasonal abnormalities, fell to a five-year low of 350,500. New York State Empire Manufacturing and Consumer Sentiment will be released on Friday. Remember: Weak economic news normally causes money to flow out of Stocks and into Bonds, helping Bonds and home loan rates improve, while strong economic news normally has the opposite result. The chart below shows Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS), which are the type of Bond that home loan rates are based on. When you see these Bond prices moving higher, it means home loan rates are improving -- and when they are moving lower, home loan rates are getting worse. To go one step further -- a red "candle" means that MBS worsened during the day, while a green "candle" means MBS improved during the day. Depending on how dramatic the changes were on any given day, this can cause rate changes throughout the day, as well as on the rate sheets we start with each morning. As you can see in the chart below, Bonds attempted to rally last week. I'll continue to monitor their movement closely. Chart: Fannie Mae 3.0% Mortgage Bond (Friday Feb 08, 2013) The Mortgage Market Guide View... IRS Makes Claiming the Home-Office Deduction Easier A simplified option available for 2013 tax returns requires fewer calculations and will save taxpayers time. By Cameron Huddleston, Kiplinger.com If you work from home, deducting costs associated with your home office on your tax return can be a money saver. But claiming this write-off has been somewhat complicated -- until now, that is. The IRS recently announced a simplified option to make it easier for taxpayers to calculate and claim the home-office deduction. Although those who work at home won't be able to take advantage of the simplified option on their 2012 returns, it will be available for 2013 tax returns, which taxpayers will file in early 2014. The IRS estimates it will reduce the paperwork and record-keeping burden on small businesses by an estimated 1.6 million hours annually. Currently, to claim the home-office deduction you have to fill out the 43-line Form 8829, which involves substantiating actual expenses. With the new method, you don't deduct actual expenses. Instead, you determine the amount of deductible expenses by multiplying a prescribed rate ($5) by the square footage of the area of your residence that is used for business purposes, not to exceed 300 square feet. So that means the deduction is capped at $1,500. With the new option, you don't depreciate the portion of your home used for business, and you don't have to allocate deductions for mortgage interest, real estate taxes and casualty losses between personal and business use. You'll simply claim these expenses as itemized deductions on Schedule A. However, to claim the home-office deduction under the new option, you still must use the space regularly and exclusively for your business. For more information, see IRS Revenue Procedure 2013-13. Reprinted with permission. All Contents 2013 The Kiplinger Washington Editors. Kiplinger.com. Economic Calendar for the Week of February 11 - February 15 Date ET Economic Report For Estimate Actual Prior Impact Wed. February 13 08:30 Retail Sales Jan 0.1% 0.5% HIGH Wed. February 13 08:30 Retail Sales ex-auto Jan 0.1% 0.3% HIGH Thu. February 14 08:30 Jobless Claims (Initial) 2/09 365K 366K Moderate Fri. February 15 08:30 Empire State Index Feb 0.0 -7.8 Moderate Fri. February 15 10:00 Consumer Sentiment Index (UoM) Feb 73.5 73.8 Moderate We are now a branch of Pulaski Bank Home Lending! The material contained in this newsletter has been prepared by an independent third-party provider. The content is provided for use by real estate, financial services and other professionals only and is not intended for consumer distribution. The material provided is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment and/or mortgage advice. Although the material is deemed to be accurate and reliable, there is no guarantee it is without errors. As your mortgage professional, I am sending you the MMG WEEKLY because I am committed to keeping you updated on the economic events that impact interest rates and how they may affect you. Mortgage Market Guide, LLC is the copyright owner or licensee of the content and/or information in this email, unless otherwise indicated.   Mortgage Market Guide, LLC does not grant to you a license to any content, features or materials in this email.   You may not distribute, download, or save a copy of any of the content or screens except as otherwise provided in our Terms and Conditions of Membership, for any purpose. You received this email as a result of your ongoing business relationship with Gary Bussard. While beneficial to a wide audience, this information is also commercial in nature and it may contain advertising materials. UNSUBSCRIBE: If you would like to stop receiving emails from Gary Bussard, you can easily unsubscribe. Powered by DB Nurture. Copyright 2013. PlatinumPro Marketing.

3 Things You Really Want To Know About Your Light Bulbs

1. By 2014, it will be illegal to manufacture (not buy) standard 40-, 60-. 75- and 100-watt bulbs

The Department of Energy passed new energy efficiency standards for “everyday” light bulbs to meet. The new standards are expected to save American households hundreds of dollars on their energy bill every year.

For as long as you can find them — Amazon.com is a good place to start if you’re on the hunt and your local hardware store is already out of stock — you can buy as many standard incandescent light bulbs as you like.

2. Energy efficient bulb technology is improving every day

We have come a long way from the first over-sized, institutional-light shedding CFL (compact fluorescent light) bulb. CFLs are now available in smaller sizes, multiple light tones, 3-way and dimmable versions.

LED (light emitting diode) light bulbs are also making a big splash in the alternative light bulb space. They are easily dimmable and turn instantly, in contrast to CFLs, which often have a short delay before the light comes on — how dimmable “dimmable CFLs” really are has been a hot topic as well.

LEDs and CFLs still fall short in the tone of the light they give off — almost every review of these technologies notes that so far, the warm light of incandescence has not been matched by either LED or CFL, although they are getting better and better.

LED bulbs are leading the way in prettier bulbs and warmer light. The price for LED bulbs is higher than for CFLs, but that’s expected to drop rapidly over the next year and beyond as manufacturing technology improves. Even at $20 to $50 a bulb, one 60-watt LED replacement can save you more than $100 in energy costs  — and should last more than 20 years.

Check out these LED lights for replacements for your incandescent bulbs:

• Philips AmbientLED (available on  Amazon for about $22)


• Switch Frosted LED (available at BatteriesPlus for about $44)

3. Blown CFL bulbs shouldn’t go in the trash

(image from “Take the CFL recycling challenge” on Mother Nature Network)

Because CFLs contain mercury, it’s best not to include them with your everyday household trash. In fact, some states, such asCalifornia,Maine,New Hampshire,Minnesota,Vermontand Massachussetts prohibit disposing of mercury-containing lamps in landfills.

Almost every component of a CFL bulb can be reused, so recycling the old bulbs not only keeps mercury from being released into the environment, it creates less waste overall.

If you don’t throw them in the trash can, where can you dispose of them? Many retailers, such as Lowes, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, Orchard Supply and more will take blown CFLs off your hands. There are also mail-back programs from organizations like EcoLights, EverLights and BakPak Mail-Back Recycling.

For more information on — and resources for — disposing of your CFL bulbs, check out this page on the EPA site.

 

 

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		Gary Bussard VP Mortgage Banker Pulaski Bank Home Lending Phone: (314) 993-6690 Cell (314) 283-0098 Kelly Deven- Client Services Advisor gbussard@pulaskibank.com www.4stlloans.com

February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012

Fiscal Cliff The Saga Continues With the first of the year having come and gone, the headlines are suddenly devoid of mentions of the fiscal cliff, which begs the question: what happened? For such an enormous issue with such a dramatic narrative, the resolution was somewhat anti-climactic. Keep Reading »    Creme Brulee A Dessert for the Perfect Romantic Evening By Kirk Leins With Valentine's Day just two weeks away, raise your hand if you've yet to plan a romantic evening for you and your Valentine. While I can't see who's actually raising their hand, I think it's safe to assume many folks are still plan-less. If you're one of them, take a deep breath and relax. I've got you covered. Keep Reading »    Top 10 Scams of 2012 The Better Business Bureau releases its annual list of the worst schemes that aimed to steal people's money or identity. By Cameron Huddleston, Kiplinger.com Each year the Better Business Bureau investigates thousands of scams, from new schemes that take advantage of current events to old ploys used time and again to bilk people. The BBB uses its data, along with reports from federal agencies and other sources, to compile an annual list of the top scams -- not necessarily the biggest as far as the number of people affected or amount of money stolen but rather the most egregious, says Carrie Hurt, president and CEO of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. Keep Reading »    Kick Your New Year's Resolutions into High Gear MyFitnessPal Can Help Are you feeling like some of your New Year's resolutions have already fallen to the wayside...or are you worried they will? Well worry no more. There's a great tool that can help you stay on track--and it's free! Keep Reading »    Got Apps? Great Apps for Tablet PCs If you received a new tablet as a gift during the holidays or bought one during the after-holiday sales, you're not alone. Now that you're past the initial excitement of your new tablet device, you may start to wonder exactly what else you can do with it. Keep Reading »    Being Number One A Success Message From a Legend On Sunday February 3, either the Baltimore Ravens or the San Francisco 49ers will lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy as winners of the biggest single sporting event in the world: the Super Bowl. The trophy is named in honor of a man who inspired a losing team to become an unstoppable winning franchise. Keep Reading »