In Brief

By Anamaria Wilson

YOU'VE GOT CASH Ever think spending your idle time reading e-mail could make you some extra money? Now, thanks to a new website called MoneyForMail.com spare change is but a click away. Sign up and type in your personal interests; the site decides which ads you'll like and sends them to you. If you read them, you get paid. Your profits can range from 20[cents] to $2.50 per ad. The company estimates that avid readers could make up to $300 a year. Where's the money from? Advertisers, who want to know you're there.

LOAN HOME Now you can get a home-mortgage loan for no money down and no mortgage insurance. Flagstar Bank charges 9.875% in interest on a 30-year fixed mortgage. (The national average is 8.47%.) If you take out a loan for $200,000, your monthly payments will be $1,737. HSH Associates surveyed other lenders who would match the no money down with an 8.92% rate. Monthly payments: $1,597, but you'd still have to pay an annual $200 mortgage-insurance bill. At least Flagstar lets you finance your closing costs.

Typical Down Payment, 1999

Less than 10% down 23% 20-29.9% down 41% 10-19.9% down 15% 30% or more down 21%

Source: Federal Housing Finance Board

GOLF GARB It's not just tee times you can get at TheGolfNetwork.com Click on its eGolfMall button for any sort of golf-related accoutrements you might need, from clubs to shoes--and soon even the requisite cigar. Limited offer: if you blow more than $150 on the site's goodies, you'll get free shipping. Not only can you plan your next golf vacation, but you can also outfit yourself with duds and sticks. Unfortunately, nobody but you can can do a thing about your handicap.

--By Anamaria Wilson