The term “triple plays” refers to the offers everyone is receiving these days to bundle services together in one bill. These services are telephone, television and broadband internet. The price is generally much less than the total of your individual purchases, plus many are offering free gifts and rebates in an attempt to entice the consumer.

If you are considering accepting one of these offers, go online to “Complaints Triple Play Deals” and learn of the experiences others have had with these services. Many are extremely happy; however, there are also many who complain about unexpected price increases and failure to receive promised gifts or rebates within a reasonable amount of time. Quad-play offers also exist and these combine all of the triple plays plus cell phone services. The following are suggestions as to questions that might help prevent you from purchasing services that will not meet your needs.

How long do the quoted rates last? Is this just an introductory rate for a specific period of time? If so, when does this rate expire and what will the new rate be?

You will generally have a specific contract period. Be sure to inquire what service changes will trigger a contract extension. This is important to know as you might be constantly extending your contract without knowing it.

What is the termination fee due if you decide to discontinue these services? You would want to know this as termination fees can be so high that you cannot afford to disconnect. Know in advance what your obligations will be.

If you have analog television, inquire as to what will happen during the shift to digital. Will you be charged for equipment rental or lose stations because of this change?

Verify the internet speed which you may expect when connected to their broadband. Frequently, introductory prices provide slow service. Also, speed is often determined by the number of people using the network at a specific time.

Inquire about privacy protection. It is very possible that your current anti-virus software, etc. may need to be reinstalled or updated to continue your current security protection.

Be certain to scrutinize the contract presented to you. Often, free installation may only be applicable if you sign up for automatic bill paying. Carefully read the FAQ section and be sure to review the terms of service. Also, be certain that your contract includes the amount of your payments after the promotion period ends.

Most banks are responding to the current housing market problems by changing their policies and offerings. For many years, financial institutions have been pushing home equity loans and lines of credit to homeowners. They encouraged people to borrow against their home equity for any reason whatsoever. Suddenly times have changed and banks are changing with them.

If you have a current line of credit on your home and plan to use it soon, you should first verify with your bank that it still exists. Many banks are freezing credit lines, reducing lending limits and, in some cases, refusing to give credit at all. Between the credit crunch and the real estate market problems, the banks feel these actions are necessary to protect their solvency.

Some other actions being taken today are reducing the availability of personal and small business loans. Credit card interest rates are rising even higher as a result of late payments. In order to receive a home loan, you must have a minimum down payment and a good credit report. To encourage deposits, banks are offering higher interest rates on Certificates of Deposit in the hope of bringing in new depositors

The banking industry is making many changes to how they do business and some of these will lead consumers to a different attitude towards spending money.

The tougher the economy becomes the more likely we are to say that we can’t afford to save. Most people have very little money saved and live day to day on all of their income. This is not the way to plan for the future. If you do not have an emergency fund, what will you do when an emergency occurs? Unfortunately, the answer is usually that you will turn to credit cards. This is a poor solution and will only lead to more problems. That’s why an emergency fund is a necessity.

Financial advisers suggest that an emergency fund be sufficient to pay your living expenses for at least three months. This is a large sum of money for the average person but there are ways to work towards this goal.

Open a separate account specifically for your emergency fund. Use the type of account available with the highest interest yield.

Begin a change jar. Everyday you should deposit all of your change into this jar. When making debit purchases, request small amounts of money back so you can add that to the jar, also. At the end of each month, deposit this savings into your emergency fund bank account.

After you have paid off a loan, continue to make the same payments, but this time they should go directly into your “fund” account.

Reinvest your money into higher-yield accounts at every opportunity.

It may take some time to reach your goal of three months living expenses, but think of how good you will feel knowing that you are providing a safety net for the future for you and your family.