Budgets are Sexy.

Procrastination & Expedia.com: 2 of my very best friends.

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:47:00 +0000

I found a killer rate to St. Louis! And by killer, i mean "the best i can find these days with oil sky high and the economy going down in flames" kinda deal :)

Finding the bargain was nice, but what really piqued my interest was the process in which i got it. I really have no idea what i did, or didn't do, to grab them at the lowest price!

Here's a step by step breakdown of what i did:

3 weeks ago: Logged onto Expedia.com and found my flights for a total of $315. Checked out Orbitz and some others, but have always been a fan of Expedia from day one. Decided to wait and make up my mind first before snatching them up right away.
Yesterday 9:15 am: Logged back onto Expedia.com and found those specific flights for $585!!!! F that, I decided to look for cheaper flights with xfers and other flight times.
Yesterday 10:30 am: Logged back onto Expedia and found different flights totaling $317. Emailed my dad (who is also going - we have a wedding to attend) and asked if he could pick me up since i was now planning to take different flights. He said that was fine, and to just holler when i know the arrival times.
Yesterday 2:15 pm: Logged back onto Expedia to booke these new flights, and found that my ORIGINAL flights were now available for only $276!!!

WTF? Did i just randomly get lucky? Was the man upstairs throwing me a bone? I managed to find my original flight for $300 LESS than it was listed for only 5 hours earlier. And not only that, but it was $39 cheaper than it was 3 weeks ago when my dad booked it!

My co-worker says it's because the airlines and ticket broker sites lower their prices every Wednesday and Thursday each week. Have you ever heard of that? It seems like one of those myths to me, but then again yesterday WAS Thursday and i got a helluva break.

The sad part is that i used to work for the airlines (Continental) booking people's fares and checking them in and all, but 99% of what i learned has already oozed out. I don't recall any "secrets" from back then, and I'm pretty sure it all comes down to marketing and bunch of computer formulas anyways.

You never know what the person sitting next to you on the plane paid for his ticket, but more than likely it was a different price than you paid. One time i remember this guy telling me he paid $100 over what i did for the flight, so i had to just smile and play stupid cuz i didn't want to piss him off :) Although, i'm sure i was "that guy" plenty of times before too, so it all works out in the end. Ignorance is bliss baby!

Whether it was dumb luck or not though, my good friend Procrastination pulled through big time! He saved me a good $40 bucks and about 6 hours of flying/xfer time. Here's to you, big man! (and you're not so bad either, Expedia)

This week in carnivals: Jokey McJokester edition.

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:02:00 +0000

Let's start this Friday off with a joke, shall we?

"A beautiful woman enters a bar and sits next to a lawyer. "Listen honey," she
says, "For $50, I'll do absolutely anything you want." The lawyer looks around, pulls fifty dollars from his wallet and says, "Paint my house."

Ziiiiiiiing! Oh man, i crack myself up. And if you don't like it, sue me! hah! see what i did there? I played on the joke, that played on the....ahh you get the point. Perhaps you have a better one? In other random news, I've added a "Random Post Generator" link at the bottom of each post, and in the "Sexiest Posts" section there on the right. Click it and see what you get, it's all the rage these days. Do it. Dooooooo iiiiiiiiiiiit.

And now, with a horrible transition, I leave you with the 4 carnivals i participated in this week:

Carnival of Money Stories - "Olympic Hangover Edition" hosted by Not the Jet Set
Money Hacks Carnival - "Financial Dilemmas Edition" hosted by PF Buzz
Carnival of 20 Something Finances - "8-25-08 Edition" hosted by Living Almost Large
Carnival of Personal Finance - "Highlights from the Beijing 2008 Olympics" hosted by Broke Grad Student.

Layter Sk8ters.

If you've got $13,000 in bad credit card debt, ask for help!

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:54:00 +0000

Or at least stop adding to it :) One of my friend's bf had been going slowly under in credit card debt for years now, and finally decided to do something about it.

My friend (the same friend who thought she got $300 extra on her stimulus check) told him it was about time to clean it up so he can stop stressing and worrying about it. Smart!

At first he wasn't too happy about hearing that stuff from his girlfriend (who would?) but it eventually sunk in and he knew it was all in the spirit of love. I guess his family and friends were all in the same boat, so he considered it "the norm" and didn't realize how bad it actually was.

He was $13,000 in credit card debt, spread across 3 cards with interest rates at 22%, 28% and then another that i can't remember right now...but it was equally high. His payments were a good $500/month, and almost all of it went entirely to just INTEREST alone! It seriously made me want to vomit when i heard that...can you imagine? it's one thing to have a lot of debt, but it's entirely another to have a lot of debt with high a$$ interest rates.

My friend asked me for some advice, and i told her exactly what i'd do if i were him:

Call each company right away and ask to have your rates lowered. Play the loyalty card if you can, and say you're thinking of leaving if they say no right away. Throw in a sob story if you have to, i don't care as long as you get each one lowered. You can do 3 calls in less than 30 minutes and save hundreds, if not thousands, easy as that.
Consolidate! This won't work for everyone as your options depend on your credit and such, but I find it much easier to pay off one balance than 3 scattered about. You might even get lucky enough to stumble upon a 0% card offer for 12 months, or even a personal loan around 10% or so. Unfortunately it's a little hard to do these days, but it's worth asking around.
Talk with your bank or financial advisor. Especially if you can't consolidate on your own. They have a handful of ideas and plans they could line you up with, or at least offer you suggestions. Start with your own bank or advisor if you already have one, and then go from there.

She relayed them over ASAP and he surprisingly worked on them right away! WOOHOO! Unfortunately i celebrated a bit too early though. His credit wasn't low in the dumps, but it wasn't up to par either - more in the lower middle range, thus making consolidation and 0% interest cards harder to come by.

He did, however, get a cple of the cards' rates lowered (by 5% on one, and 6ish on the other) so that helped, but he still needed a better plan. Somehow in his research he came across one of those shady "fix it all" companies who said they'd get rid of it all for him, and even increase his credit! They said all he had to do was stop paying his payments on all cards, and pay this company $400+ each month which, over time, would pay off the entire balances over 3 years....plus the credit help, of course. The alarms were ringing when i heard this, but he went for it anyways.

Long story short, the creditors were on to the game and started calling non-stop for 2 months straight. He started getting worried and eventually cut the company (losing only $150 in the process), and started making the payments again. Whew!

This time, he decided to confront his parents and explained the whole situation to them. Not only were they not upset, but they loaned him enough money to pay it all off in one huge swoop! Awesome! He probably should have done that sooner...but i don't blame him, us guys like to handle things ourselves. But now all c/c debt is paid off, and he now makes the payments to his parents each month with a minimal interest rate (i think like 5% or maybe even 0%, i can't really remember). Not too shabby.

So the moral of the story, besides don't go in debt? When you find yourself going deeper in the whole, commit yourself to a gameplan and actually DO SOMETHING about it. That, and always listen to your girlfriend ;)

Getting Your Credit Reports and Credit Scores for Free!

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:57:00 +0000

You know what's more satisfying than knowing your credit history? Getting it for free :) I already had a rough idea of where i stood, but checking it out every now and then helps to make me feel better, not to mention SURE that no one else is trying to be J. Money!

There's a whole gaggle of places to get your credit report, score, monitoring, and 100 other related services, but I usually just use AnnualCreditReport.com. It's 100% free, and can be used every year to pull your report from all 3 major agencies: Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. It's also important to know that it's the ONLY site authorized by the Federal Trade Commission. (so watch out for shady imitators)

I pulled my report for the first time in 2 years last night (i'm lazy), and interestingly enough i had over 27 accounts on there! haha...i knew i had a handful, buy my damn i have to close out a cple old credit cards. Although, in my defense it does show history back from the college days when i got those stupid free t-shirts that i mentioned in yesterday's post. I'm a little more watchful these days :)

Also, for whatever reason I can usually only pull the report online from just 1 of the 3 agencies from that site. It always tells me to call the other two and go that route...but, once again, just too lazy to do it. Does that happen to you guys? I've only been able to get it smoothly from Experian.

A couple of notes if it's your first time doing this too - You usually have to prove a looooooooot of stuff to make sure you are who you say you are. Think old addresses, old credit cards, mortgage amounts, you name it. 2 years ago it took me quite a bit of time in researching it all, but if you're more on top of it than i was it should be easier. Especially when you come back year after year (which is a great idea).

So that's the best place i've found to get your report, but what about your actual SCORE? Yeah, i always forget this isn't included in the whole "Free" part. But don't worry, they give you the opportunity to get it quick as hell for *just* $5.99 ;) And you know what? I fall for it every time. But it's totally worth it cuz i can do it right then and there, and i know for SURE i wont' be coming back anytime soon.

There are different kinds of scores out there, like Vantage and FICO, so just keep that in mind when comparing and all. The top VantageScore is 990, in contrast to the top FICO score of 850. So my 876 looks extremely good *if only* it were a FICO score and not a Vantage score ... although it's still pretty good ;) According to Bankrate, you could multiply your VantageScore by 0.86 (850/990) to get a rough approximation of your FICO score. So a good estimate of my FICO score would be 753 (876x.86).

Ooooooh also, before i forget, i read in this month's Money Mag that some lawsuit got slapped on TransUnion, and they're now giving away a $60 service for FREE until Sept 24th - you get your credit report and unlimited credit SCORE checks for 6 months straight. As long as you have had a credit card in the last 20 years you qualify! Just don't forget to cancel it afterwards, eh? More info is at listclassaction.com or by calling 866-416-3470.

Before i go, i wanna leave you with 3 myths that i read while printing off my report on Experian. I fell for the first one!

Myth #1: Checking my own credit report will lower my score.
"Personal inquiries, also known as "soft inquiries" or "below the line inquiries," are not visible to lenders and therefore are not part of your credit score calculation. So you can rest easy—checking your own credit report or score does NOT negatively impact your score."
Myth #2: Applying for new credit will actually lower my score.
"This depends on the type of credit you're applying for. If you apply for several credit cards within a short period of time, the number of inquiries will go up, which could drop your score. But if you're applying for a mortgage or auto loan, multiple inquiries from these lenders are generally treated as a "single inquiry" and will have little impact on your credit score."
Myth #3: My score is the only thing that matters to a lender.
"In addition to your credit score, credit grantors may consider a number of other factors such as your income, assets, length at current residence and employment history when determining whether to extend credit. The criteria used may differ from one creditor to another."

Alrighty, i'm all credited out now....man, that was a lot of info i just pumped out in 30 minutes! Hopefully this helps anyone who didn't alread know. And remember, knowledge is power! Just ask G.I. Joe.

Have you ever signed up to a credit card to get a Free T-Shirt?

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:30:00 +0000

While I hate to admit it, I certainly have! Of course, those were in the ol' college days when i was pretty naive about things. But man, i shiver just thinking about it! Thank goodness i'm a bit older and wiser now...or at least older ;)

Anyways, I was reminded of it when I got a press release from someone over at TrueCredit.com. They commissioned Zogby International to do a survey of college graduates and came out with a pretty interesting list of stats regarding credit card usage.

Here was the most interesting quote i saw:

"The TrueCredit.com survey also revealed that four in 10 people have signed up for a credit card to receive a free gift or special offer. More than half of those respondents (52 percent) left college with credit card debt. "

FOUR in TEN! I knew giving away free stuff worked, but my damn that's some good marketing. I always fell for the shirts that had our school logo or something similar on it - it beat spending $35 on one from the bookstore anyday! haha...

I wish I could remember all the card details, but sadly it's been too long. There was ONE, however, that started charging me monthly for it!!! I was smart enough to cut up the card, but sadly forgot to call and cancel it right away - after i got the free gift of course. I think i had like $40 on it that I "owed" but i called and bitched and got them to wave it AND cancel it...although looking back it was totally my own fault. i never read anything! ha ha, how many times have we heard that one before :)

The survey also said that 1 in 4 students leave with more than $5,000 in credit card debt! That makes me sad :( I seriously doubt this is all because of a few free t-shirts, but it certiainly helps.

When will middle and high schools start teaching about personal finance?! Maybe they've started already, i'm not sure, but even just ONE class can go a loooooooooong way. The kids won't remember everything because sometimes you have to learn on your own, but i gaurantee they'd pick out at least 1 or 2 things that struck them.

I'm just glad i'm over the free t-shirt thing...and it turns out i can get shirts basically free from TJ MAXX, Rugged Wearhouse, thrift stores, you name it! Yeah it may be a few more dollars, but no way in hell you're getting me to sign up to any more funky credit cards again. Now, if they start handing out Saucony running shoes or gift cards to Amazon, i might be in trouble ;)

----
ps: Funny enough TrueCredit.com offered me a free tee just for posting about this survey! haha...I turned it down, but i still wanted to share it with you because i thought it was pretty cool. just thought I'd throw that out there in case you were wondering if this was a sponsored post or anything, which just so you know i never do. Here's the entire article if you'd like to read more about it: Experts at TrueCredit.com Examine College Debt and the “Cost of Free”

The Jerk Store called...They don't want your checks anymore.

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:02:00 +0000

If you're a check writer, you may not want to read further ;) I'm sooooooooo tired of them holding up the lines at the registers! Why does it seem to take hours to write a simple check?

And even more importantly, don't they know checks are obsolete? haha...okay, so maybe i'm a little biased since being a hardcore credit card fan and all, but i just don't get why people still use them at stores.

Yes, using them to pay your mortgage and such makes sense - i have no beef with that - (i used to do this until mastering the art of online checks through the bank) BUT at the dollar store? or the grocery store?? Arghhhhhhhh...

If i have to wait another 5 whole minutes for someone to whip it out, ask whom to make it out too, and then fill out the register part ONE MORE TIME, i swear i might loose it....or worse, accidently walk out of the store w/out having paid for my items! I almost did that once, until the beeper thing went off and i realized i was still holding the things i meant to buy. i almost got in a lot of trouble, as i look pretty "punky" anyways. yikes.

Everyone has their own method of payment, and if it works for you that's awesome. But please, for the love of money, at least learn how to cut a check faster and be cognizant that you're in the 10 items or less lane and that the point is to get through it quickly. Maybe go early in the morning or late at night? haha.... or learn what a debit card is!

I feel a little bad saying all of this, especially cuz i know most of these people are grandmas and/or busy mothers, but i must admit if feels good getting it out of my system. And to be honest, i'll even take part of the blame since i only add to the impatience with society these days.

But perhaps we could strike a deal? If you, the check writer, can speed up the process a bit on your end, I will promise to be more understanding and nicer about it. Maybe you could even throw in a "sorry to hold up the line" every now and then? hehe...either way, i think checks are the devil. I'll leave it at that ;)

We just became members of the Pay it Forward club! (holler)

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:02:00 +0000

We have received a hefty check to help pay our grad school and mortgage costs!

And the timing couldn't be better. The Mrs. starts school on Monday! As in, 3 days from now. As in, WOOHOO for her, and BOOHOO for our money ;)

Unfortunately I have to remain pretty vague here, but we're talking about more than just a few hundred dollars. AND, better yet, we don't have to pay it back! ..... at least yet.

The person who gave it to us had been helped by a similar action years ago herself, and she's always wanted to "pay it forward" when financially able to do so. And now, lucky for us, that time has come :) Not only was it totally unexpected, but it really does go to show that my brother's crazy saying really DOES work. I better start paying even closer attention!

What this means to us is that we can push off taking out loans to make up for our loss of $50k in salary for now. I'm just thankful Mrs. Budgetsaresexy accepted the college who gave her a full ride!!! Or else we'd be out a good $100k PER YEAR at least. *shiver*

So this "paid forward" contribution will be saved into our money market account with USAA, where our Emergency Fund is (no point in opening up another, right?), and will be drawn upon monthly for $1225 - the amount the Mrs. usually sends over each month to help pay for all house related items. Per my calculations, this will keep us going nicely for a bit before loaning it up. (I almost slipped and said for how many months, but then you'd be able to figure out exactly how much we got! haha...sneaky sneaky).

This paying it forward idea is really damn cool, not to mention healthy for society. One person's sincere and loving gesture years ago, now affects our future together and will be continued for more years to come! It actually works out perfectly because we weren't going to accept any money from ANYONE without paying each penny back in full anyways. So this is even better.

NOW we get to pay it back on our own time frame, AND help out another great cause down the road. If that's not sexy, i don't know what is. Well, i do, but that's for another time and place ;) I gotta go out and watch that movie "Pay it Forward" all over again and start getting some pointers!

Carnivis for the Rest of us! (Seinfeld anybody?)

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:13:00 +0000

It's friday...you ain't got no job...and you ain't got $hit to do! Remember that oldie but goody? It seems I'm on a tv quoting binge right now. So i'll stop and just get to it:

Finance Fiesta: "Baseball Edition" - hosted by Living Almost Large. Someone not afraid to post about both the Red Sox AND the Yankees all on one page! i love it...and yes, i'm a yankee's fan - don't hate!
Money Hacks Carnival: "Old Money Edition" - hosted by Our Fourpence Worth. Now this is an edition i like to see! I should have submitted my silver certificate/dollar post cuz it would have fit in nicely ;) There's something that old school money that gets my blood flowing.
Festival of Frugality: "Michale Phelps Edition" - hosted by Our Fourpence Worth. Man, that girl is on fire with hosting carnivals lately! Good thing she likes my posts...
Carnival of Money Stories: "Best in Show Edition" - hosted by Living Almost Large - another chick pumping out the carnivals these days...is there something i should be aware of here? I must not be cool any more :(
Carnival of Debt Reduction: "Olympic Medals Edition" - hosted by Carnival of Debt Reduction. i got a silver!
Carnival of Personal Finance: "Around the World of Commodities Edition" - hosted by Everyday Finance. Yeah um....this theme was a bit over my head...but it looks technically advanced! I recognized the word "cocoa"! haha...

There ya have it. Another Friday's worth of carnival updates, and another time to hit the road! Where am i off to this weekend you might ask? Ohhh, a little place called "Assspen"! Sorry, couldn't resist another one liner...

I'm actually off to Philadelphia for yet another bachelor party! Must be the "it" place to have them these days...I'll be in a group of 12 routy as hell boys all weekend long - wish me luck!

The gov't gave my friend $300 more on her stimulus check!

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:01:00 +0000

Holy hot dogs. Would you cash it in if it happened to you?

I told her to be veryyyyy careful here, the last thing she wants to do is cash it and then later owe the Gov't back the $300 + interest at 17%!

But is it possible that it's correct? I don't think so. My friend is single, has no kids, and has no extreme circumstances. I can't imagine any other reason she'd get more than her alotted $600, so what gives?

That's exactly what she's trying to figure out. Apparently she got a note with it stating that they will be providing her with more information on WHY she's receiving what she did via mail shortly. But even that is strange to me. What's funny is that the letter also states if it is incorrect, she better notify them as soon as possible! haha... doubt much?

It's now been 2 days since she received it, so it's very safely collecting dust on her desk until she gets it all figured out. Have any of you come across this in '08? Unfortunately she hasn't shown it to me, and since she really doesn't know i'm posting about this cuz of the whole anonymous stuff, i don't feel comfortable asking to make this post better ;)

She's got my attention, though, that's for sure. And she promises to keep me updated, so that's the best we can do at this point. As soon as I get word, you know i'll be hollering as fast as my fingers can type!

***Update @ 3:02pm***

So yeah....um...turns out my friend isn't all that detailed oriented. Apparently 3 MORE "stimulus" checks just came in, when it hit her that they aren't in fact stimulus checks! Yeah they all looked the same, but it wasn't until they started piling in that she realized what was going on. D'oh.

The $900 one, actually a few dollars and cents over $900, was this year's Federal tax re-imbursement. The 2nd one, for $500 and some change, was from her State's taxes. The 3rd check, for $1400 something, was from 2006's taxes where something was awry (she told me, but i can't remember it exactly....something about estimating her returns, but then re-doing them?), and the last $600 one was finally for, drum roll please... her STIMULUS CHECK! he he.

So yes, I, J. Money, was a bad blogger journalist (slaps his hands for not doing his homework), and yes, my friend now has over $3,000 that she wasn't expecting. At least it ended up better than expected! What a mix up though...aye.

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- The 411 on Bush's stimulus checks
- Rebate checks hit stands on Monday!

I just paid $4.02 for a Starbucks, and it tasted awesome!

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:04:00 +0000

I am also a liar. It tasted just the same, except this time my wallet hurt. For the first time in a long while, i actually paid for it with my own dollars today! Imagine that ;) It sounds silly, but it really sucked.

As many of you know, our company is pretty bad a$$ and pays for our addictions through a refillable Starbucks gift card that we can all use FOR FREE! (to help boost productivity and company morale...and it works!)

So every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we all get our specialty drinks on the company's dime. Not a bad perk, right?!

Well today's card was out of dollars, and so it was either wait for it be filled up, or continue along with our daily routine....i chose the latter, and am now $4 bucks lighter. And the suckiest part? Those f'ers didn't hook me up with those sexy discounts like they usually do!!! Sure i used a credit card instead of a gift card to pay, but still - they know me pretty freakin' well over there...but i digress.

All I can tell you is that shelling out my own hard earned money REALLY gets you to stop and think about a few things. Like the first being, Damn we're f'ing lucky! How on earth did we, or I should really say I, convince our CEO to allow this? All i know is, time to stop complaining about things like bounced pay checks...unless it becomes a habit ;) Paying for this addiction myself gives me a better appreciation of this perk.

And secondly, Damn Starbucks is expensive! haha...I could have sworn i used to pay like $2 bucks for it back in the day. Although, i have started getting a latte instead of just straight coffee w/ hazelnut syrup in it. $4 bucks though??? W-O-W, they are good.

So yeah, today's experience was a pretty good eye opener of a place where I could easily blow a good $100/month without even realizing it. Now if only i could convince my boss to start treating for lunch every day ;) Holler.

(For more info on the discounts and savings over at Starbucks, check out my declared love for them)

Time for another "Would you rather" question! (a hard one)

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:35:00 +0000

So here it is. You're sitting in a room with all of your closest friends and family, and the mayor of your city singles you out and asks you to come up to the front. He/she tells you that the city has a proposal for you, and you MUST answer it no matter what. The question is:

"The city would like to offer you money, but the amount is up to you. We can give you $1 million dollars, but it can ONLY be dispersed between your friends and family - you cannot take any yourself, or use any bartering/trickery to get some back later after the "deal" has been completed. OR, we can give you $500,000, of which you can use all to yourself, but ONLY for yourself, no one else."

Which would you choose? Keep in mind that all your friends and family will hear both options and know the difference...HARD as hell, right? I mean, either way you or someone you love will be extremely better off so it's totally a GOOD thing, but do you have the heart (and balls) to give it ALL away? Half of me says yes, but the other half says nooooo way in hell! haha...I think I really got myself on this one as I can usually answer these would you rathers pretty confidently.

It wouldn't be fair though if I asked you what you'd pick w/out doing it myself though, so here goes...now keep in mind that it really depends on my mood at the time. Like many ADHD'ers, I get into spurts of excitement, sadness, craziness, hyper, sluggish, you name it on a flip of a switch (although I tend to be pretty positive). So if someone catches me in la la land right after I downed my morning hazelnut coffee - like right now for example - then i'm much more likely to sway one way over another.

But anyways, if i were to be asked that question RIGHT NOW, I'd have to go w/ giving $1 million dollars to my friends and family! I can't believe i just said that! haha...it's not like they really NEED the money all that much, well maybe my brother and sister and one of my friends do, but i think i'd sleep a lot better once things calmed down, ya know? I'm sure i'd second guess myself throughout my life, but at least i'd die knowing i've done a huge a$$ deed.

Now, ask me during a time like when my paycheck bounces and i'm freakin' out, and I'm 95% sure I'd take the $500k instead! I could always find non-financial ways to help my family, right? So yeah i kinda copped out on this answer a bit, but at least i'm honest!

What about you? Could you firmly answer one way or the other? I know we have some $500k takers out there ;)

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Here are some previous would you rathers:
- Would you rather default on ALL loans, or...
- George Bush gives you $2million, but...
- Would you rather take $500k now, or...

iPhones are for Coders, and Sidekicks are for Ballers ;)

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:45:00 +0000

Wouldn't you agree? haha...I don't think i'd ever pick up an iPhone to be honest with ya. And not so much because it rids me of a few benjamins, but because i'm afraid of getting "sucked in" to techno-land!

I already have a pretty bad habit of checking email, myspace, my stats on this blog, and everything else now built into our daily routines. So while it would be "cool" to have one, I just don't see it happening...plus, I REALLY love the sidekick!

That's a cooler, cheaper, phone in my opinion that still allows you to stay connected, but gets you excited to make a phone call or send a text :) Totally a matter of personal opinion of course, but I think it's more of a phone-phone than the iPhone. I guess it depends on what you think you need it for though. I'm more into texting and im'ing on a phone than searching on the web, so the sidekick seems like a better fit (plus, i think it's sexy as hell!). But if you were to ask my co-workers, they'd laugh in my face and say how superior the iPhone is - 50% of them own iPhones, but then again they're all techies and coders ;)

Unfortunately/Fortunately, however, my favorite carrier in the whole world - Verizon - supports neither phone so there's really no temptation whatsoever to upgrade here. So for now i'm stuck (and pretty much content) w/ my LG VX6000. It's a simple black flip phone, and I can still get online and do my texting and all anyways...it's just not as "fun" as I see it with Sidekick, but maybe Verizon will get hip one of these days?

So what's the point of this post then? I couldn't tell ya....i just decided to write this morning and for whatever reason the whole iPhone craze popped into my brain. Although I suppose I could wrap this up nicely and say something frugal like:

"If your cell works, don't upgrade! Save the money and invest the money you would have spent into your Emergency Fund". Oooooh, that's good! Yeah, let's go with that :)

Why fix it if it ain't broke, right? Do you really NEED that new phone/piece of techy goodness? Chances are you don't. I say today we appreciate what we HAVE, over what we WISH we had. A day of appreciation, if you will. So as I depart here, I happily wish you and yours a very merry Happy Appreciation Day! (didn't see that one coming when i started writing this! haha)

Avoid Overdraft Fees by Tying your Checking to your C/C.

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:15:00 +0000

This post comes off a pretty pissy experience I had yesterday after my paycheck bounced :(

Everything worked itself out and i'm no longer upset/worried/scared of our company going down the tubes, but I did wanna share my thoughts on overdraft protection as it has a lot of value!

First of all, did you know that you could even do that? Every bank differs, but I have yet to come across one that doesn't allow you to tie a credit card (especially one from the same bank) to your checking account for overdraft protection.

What this does is cover yourself in case your checking account takes a nose dive for whatever reason, and your balance goes under $0.00. You only have to do it once, and it literally takes 2 minutes to set up - either doing it yourself online, or just calling up the bank.

So let's say, for example, you write a check for $200 and your account only has $125 in there. Well, normallly, you're bank will pay that $200 to whomever you sent it too, and then charge you a crazy high fee of $30 and up for the inconvenience (if the check was for a larger amount, the bank may do it differently - like reject the payment of it), but not only that, you'd now have a negative $75.00 balance! Or actually -$105 with the fee included :(

Now, hopefully you'd catch this pretty soon and fill it back up and over the $0.00 mark so that your bank doesn't charge you for each day it's in the negatives, but you'd have to be pretty anal like me and check your account every morning to catch it so soon ;)

The Pros of doing this.
Consider tying it to your credit card now. In this case, as soon as your balance goes under $0.00, it triggers your credit card and fills your checking account back up to keep it over in the positives. So that $75 difference will be taking from your c/c and xfered into your checking account right away - although usually the bank will round it up to the nearest hundredth, in this case xfering over $100 - thus eliminating huge overdraft fees! Well, most of it anyways, you'll usually get a small fee attached for this called a "Chargeback Fee", but it's usually lower at only $5 or so depending on your bank.

What this also does is give you peace of mind knowning that should this ever takes place, your bank corrects it while you're sleeping, golfing, or doing who knows what besides checking your bank account ;)

The (possible) Cons of doing this.
I say "possible" becuase it really depends on your personal situation. If you're great at managing your checking and credit card accounts, then these may not affect you as much as those who aren't.

Con #1: If you have a high interest rate on your credit card, it may not be worth it - at least if you can't pay the amount off rather soon. Because remember, while your checking account now has money back in it, you will also have a charge on your credit card now. And not any old charge, but a "cash advance", meaning you will start accruing interest on day 1. Now, if you can pay this off no problemo especially if we're only talking about a few dollars here, then no harm no foul. But if you take a $500 hit at 17% and you can't pay it off anytime soon, then the whole thing might be more trouble than it's worth.

CON #2: If you have convenience checks out on that c/c with lower rates, you have to pay those off FIRST before you can touch this "cash advance" portion. This is where it BLOWS, and I should know as it literally just happend to me yesterday :(

Remember, I have two checks out right now on my personal credit card - one at $3,100 for my Caddy, and one for $4,300 for the difference of my Highlander car loan. So when this check bounced yesterday for $1,700, the overdraft feature kicked in and quickly xfered this amount onto my card. As it stood, I would have had to pay off $7,400 at my 3.4% conveneince check rate FIRST, before i could pay off that $1,700 overdraft amount at 5%!!! It's better than 15% or 18%, but it still sucks. This is because credit card companies always apply your payments to the lowest interest items first.

Now, being the frugal guy i am, i promptly called USAA and kissed enough a$$ until they reversed it for me so i could avoid it alltogether ;) I was still negative $1,700 in my checking account, but i just used my Emergency Fund (thang GOODNESS for that!) to fill it up until i can get it corrected here at work. I also switched the protection from my personal card to our other card to avoid any hassle in the future...something i should have caught from the beginning.

Overall I think connecting them are a good idea.
You get charged a small fee in exchange for the security and peace of mind knowing your checking will be okay :) Would you all agree? While dealing with all of this sucked for me yesterday, today i am back to being happy and thankful for being able to blog it all away! haha... After all, there's always something to learn when it comes to money, right?!

This week in blogland - A lot of Olympic related stuff :)

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:30:00 +0000

Another week, another dollar! And these bloggers put all the greatest articles together from the week past. My favorite this week being the Carnival of Money Stories, perhaps because i was an editor's pick? he he....

Carnival of Money Stories - "The Back to School" ed. hosted by Broke Grad Student. *Editor's pick for my toilet article! haha...true journalism at it's finest.
Carnival of Personal Finance - "The College Football" ed. by Kevin at No Debt Plan.Money Hacks Carnival - "The Olympic Edition" hosted by The Personal Financier.
Finance Fiesta - "The Olympic Edition" ed. hosted by Ashley from Wide Open Wallet.
Festival of Frugality - "The First Principles" ed. hosted by Money Ning.

Happy Friday everyone!!! Don't forget to drink some beers, and eat some candy!

I Did It! I Sold The Elusive SUV In Today's Market :)

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:15:00 +0000

$18,900 less in debt, and feelin' good! It wasn't the easiest thing to do, but it sure was fun reaching the finish line.

I put the Toyota Highlander on the market about a month ago, and this was the first hit i got! And to be honest, I almost just deleted it from the inbox because it sounded pretty "scammy".

The guy had emailed me 3 different times overnight, and from 2 different emails, requesting different times to come and see the car! If that wasn't enough to sound the fraud alerts, what he wrote in one of them was "...if I like the car I'm ready to make the payment on Monday or Tuesday wire transfer or cashier check." I was like hollllllllllllld up...

I've heard plenty of stories of people getting scammed over Craigslist, and i sure as hell wasn't going to be one of them. I also thought it was pretty interesting that CL had added to the top of these emails a warning stating explicitly "** Beware: cashier checks, money orders, escrow, shipping".

So needless to say i wasn't putting much thought into meeting the buy Saturday morning, and to make it worse i was hella sick with the flu :( But to make a long story short(er), i met w/ the guy and his "business partner" and we did the whole checking/test-driving/questioning routine - esp me, because i wanted to see if they were legit and if they were serious enough to drop cash (which i was adamant on in this case).

One of the guys started bartering w/ me right away - a sign that they wanted it - but wanted to offer between what KBB (Kelly Blue Book) considered a "trade in" and a "private party" value. Were they on crack? Yes my car wasn't in the excellent condition as KBB was showing at $19,900 (my advertised price), but it was a good starting point to bargain down. The trade in value was set around $15,000 ish....pshhhhh, did they know who they were dealing with ;)

We went back and forth, back and forth, and they ultimately wanted an answer from me right there on the spot. But i needed time to think about it, and for once in my life i said exactly that - I needed a few hours to think it over w/ my wife (wierd!) and I'll get back to them....it took saying it 3 or 4 times for it to sink in, but they finally agreed to it. Having read The Millionaire Next Door really helped me during this process!

To make the rest of the story short(er), we went back and forth on negotiations over 3 days, and came to a settlement. By this point, it was pretty evident they were serious buyers, and were pretty wealthy in there "side business", which i don't even WANT to know about! haha, and we agreed to the selling price of $18,900. It was $1k lower than i would have liked in a perfect world, but the tires needed to be replaced, it needed a new alignment, and there def. wasn't a line forming to check it out, so it worked.

The Financials
We met up on Tuesday morning, him with his $19k in cold hard cash (yikes)! And me w/ another Credit Card check to pay off the remainder of the $4,300 left on the loan. As I did w/ my Cadillac, I locked in a rate at 3.4% by calling USAA first, and it will last for 1 year until setting back to my normal rate of 5% (prime).

You might think it's pretty stupid to sell the car at a loss, which you'd be partly right, but for me it works. My ultimate goal is to have $0 car payments by driving an older car, and saving/investing the $450 i would normally be shelling out for the Highlander. So now, instead of paying $5,400 a year ($450x12), I could SAVE $5,400 a year! Of course, this first year will be used to pay off BOTH c/c xfers, but once complete i'll be smooth sailing :) Plus, I will get back a little over $1,000 when I cancel my extended warranty and the tire/wheel package, which always helps.

It was either this, or wait another few months till winter and put it on the market again, but it would still drop in value around the same, if not more, than what i pay off it each month. At least that's what i tell myself :)

So the long, and sickening (literally), weekend of bartering paid off. I am now back to having one car, a clearer mind, and a full on gameplan! I start paying off the $7,400 I now have in credit card debt next week - when my car payment used to be due - and Operation No Car Payment is in effect!

----------------
Here's how I got to this point:
- It's up for sale and everyone's hatin'
- I bought the Cady and slapped it on my credit card!
- I might by a new car!! I'm sexcited ;)
- Thinking about selling my SUV - should i do it?

I just found a strange, yet oddly alluring Dollar in my pocket.

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:57:00 +0000

How freakin' cool is this thing?

You might be saying to yourself, "yeah ... uhh ... cool man (wtf is that guy on?)".

But if you take a closer look my good friends, you'll notice quite a few peculiararities here. This ain't your regular dolla dolla bill, that's for sure.

First, the seal is BLUE! And so are the other normally green markings - pretty sexy if i do say so myself. And lucky for me it was the only thing that caught my attention enough to NOT spend it yesterday at a toll booth.

Secondly, check out that cool "one dollar" fading graphic above it - that's not normal at all. I do like it better though. There's also a big phat "1" on the left instead of that big ol' black circular thingie w/ a think letter normally inside of it.

And lastly, one of the coolest parts about it in my opinion, not only is it dated 1935!!!, but the lettering at the top states "Silver Certificate" with the words "In Silver Payable to the bearer on demand" at the bottom of the bill! WOAHHHH!!! So could i stroll right into a bank and demand my money in silver? Do you think anyone has ever tried that these days? haha...

So what, exactly, is this thing? According to Wikipedia,

"They were produced in response to silver agitation by citizens who were angered by the Fourth Coinage Act, which placed the United States on the gold standard. The certificate was matched to the same amount of value in silver coinage. For example, one fifty dollar Silver Certificate equals fifty silver dollars."

Verrrrrrrrrrry interesting, so my next question was naturally - How much is this worth?! A couple google searches later, and I had my answer: about $2.00. Woohoo - i'm rich bitch! If it were "out of circulation" and still pretty crisp, it could even fetch up to a cool $5.00, but it's all good...i'm happy w/ my find :)

Lucky for me I get pretty excited about the small things in life. It's just so cool that something produced over 70 years ago is still circulating around the country...ooooooh wait a tick...I wonder if it's been traced from wheresgeorge.com like that other dollar i found? (checking now...) Nope. Oh well, probably better off so it doesn't get marked w/ that aweful red stamp and all.

So there you have it, a new day, a new dollar ;) I'm not entirely sure what i'll be doing with it, but if i ever try turning it in for silver, you know i'll post about it! It won't go into my art project that's for sure. I think I'll just post it up on my wall for now w/ the other interesting dollars...like the $5 one i had Ben Stiller sign one time cuz i didn't have any paper around! haha...oops.

-------------
Some other dollar-friendly posts:
- The hunt is over, i found my George Washington!
- Care for some redesigned paper money?

Worrying about money never got me very far...so why bother?

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:02:00 +0000

My brother wrote up a pretty clever "life plan" for himself the other day (which is quite interesting in itself), and under his finances category, he jotted the following:

"Stop worrying about money— you’ll get it when you least expect it, and you’ll lose it when you least expect it."

My brother, getting philosophical about money?! I couldn't believe it! This is the same brother that needed to borrow money to help finance his condo, and whom needed help erasing his debt - i love it! The teacher is now learning from the student ;)

I really think there's something to that quote . DOING something about it instead of WORRYING is the ultimate way to go in my opinion, but on a general level (say, after you've already put a game plan in action), I believe he's got it right. Get ready for word vomit:

Last Friday I opened up my mailbox, and there was a lovely card from mom in there. Now, usually she sends me stuff for holidays, birthdays, etc in the mail, but i couldn't quite figure out what was coming up. I tear open the envelope, and out drops a check! WTF? She already gave me her wedding gift (for $1,000!) so I was confused. As always, i wanted to read the card first before seeing how much was written on that bad boy. This is hard to do, mind you, but it's always important to read it first ;)

It turns out it was a thank you note! A what? What have i done lately that didn't require anything selfish? haha....Wellllll, it turns out to be a thank you for helping her win a potential lawsuit! You see, my late grandpa had some pretty shotty care over at a nursing home last year, and the facility didn't seem to care. There was a lot of back and forth talk between my mom and the managers there, but ultimately they told her to just F off (they didn't put it that way, but they might as well have!)

All my mom wanted was a sincere thank you, and half off one month's rent there - about $1,200 I believe. I told her to basically say she'll sue (in hopes they meet her request), but they just shrugged it off. My mom was pissed off, but wasn't about to push harder as it was becoming too stressful. Well, I personally wasn't too happy with that.

It just so happened that Mrs. Budgetsaresexy worked directly FOR a lawyer, particularly one who manages unlawful injury cases, so we had her run it by her boss to see what he thought. And what do ya know, he thought we *might* have something here! He promised to draft a letter (which Mrs. Budgetsaresexy actually did for him), and said that the nursing home's legal representation could either throw it in the trash, OR they could rebuttle and try and settle this thing w/out going to court - something the letter mentioned, but something we def. weren't gonna do.

Well, with everything in life, you never know unless you try right? And that we did. And a few months later, after a few back and forths and a LOT of heavy researching by the Mrs., the "case" settled! Would you like to know how much my Mom/Grandma got out of the whole thing? $75,000! Can you believe that? All my mother had wanted was that sincere apology with a measely $1k credit, and they snubbed her. But look who got it now b*tches! haha...

So yeah, it was a thank you for the Mrs. and i doing all of that for her ;) I kinda went overboard w/ this post a bit here (at least i warned you), but it does have some points!

Ask for what you deserve. You may not always get it, but it sure doesn't hurt trying. And you might even get surprised every now and then!
Encourage your family members and friends. Even though your parents are your parents, they don't know everything out there, and sometimes we can help teach THEM ;)
"Stop worrying about money— you'll get it when you least expect it, and you'll lose it when you least expect it." That check my mom sent us? It was for $500 smackers!!! Woo-hoo FREEEEEEEEEEE Money! he he...we, of course, tried to refuse it, but you know how moms are...so here we are, $500.00 richer and another mark down for growing a pair and speaking up.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be posting this before i get off on another tangent....which is very bad considering i'm at work right now and couldn't tell you a thing that's been going on around me in the past 30 minutes. Yikes!

3 Things you should always keep in your wallet/purse/clip.

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:47:00 +0000

I've blogged before about the contents of my money clip (which i LOVE - so much easier to carry around than a wallet!) but every now and then i get on a rant about what I believe people should always keep on them.

Your wallet contents aren't that high on the "oh crap" meter, but it definitely matters. Especially if you're one who always says you have cash on hand, when in fact you're a big phat lier and you ask to split a cab ;)

I also make it a point to check out/clean up my clip every now and then to make sure i'm not carrying around any nonsense like my social security card, or bank statements. Luckily it's a lot easier than cleaning out a hamburger looking wallet, or even a purse I'd imagine.

But other than social security cards and banking info, I don't really care what people carry on them as long as they have the following three things - listed in no particular order:

1. Always have cash on hand.
The last person i wanna be like is that cab-sharer i mentioned above. Or even worse, "That Guy". The one who always borrows a few bucks and never pays it back, or the guy says he'll catch ya next time yet never does. Plus, it's always important for an emergency snack, or even an emergency period. (2 periods in a row, i love it) Not everyplace accepts plastic, and especially those handy vending machines carrying ice cold water in the middle of heat wave.

2. Always carry at least one credit card.
I know this contradicts my "emergency" situation i just discussed, but these are more along the lines of your car breaking down and you need to get it fixed ASAP kinda thing...and you're in the middle of la la land all by your self. Credit cards are life at times like these.

3. Always have your driver's license/ID.
I once missed a night out w/ the boys celebrating a 21st bday because i left my license at home and couldn't prove i was 21 :( And I was over 200 miles away, so I couldn't run back to get it.

While that really blew, carrying your license w/ you is more for security reasons than anything else. You'll never know when you'll actually need it, and if you get in the habit of carrying it with you every single day, you wont' ever have to worry about forgetting it. Airports, hospitals, police headquarters, clubs - they all require it ;)

I thought it would be cool to share the contents of my clip again, and compare it with what I had in there 5 months ago. Here's what used to be in there:

USAA Rewards MasterCard.....for personal spending
USAA Platinum Rewards MasterCard.....for all house related items
USAA Debit MasterCard.....only used to take out $ from atms (FREE by the way through USAA! any one, anywhere.)
Work swipe card thingie.....allows me to get into work...unfortunately.
Driver's License.....ALWAYS on me 100% of time cuz ya never know.
$28 buckaroos....

And here's what i have in there right now:

USAA Platinum Rewards Mastercard
USAA Debit Mastercard
Work swipe card thingie
Driver's license
$23 in cash (two 10's and three 1's)
... and a stray receipt from breakfast on Sunday...they sometimes get stuck in the money clip ;)

So, as you can see, i'm following my own advice pretty well here (for once). It took me years to find a method that works for me, but now that it's a daily habit I've been steadily on track. If i could only get my friends to start paying attention now!

Paying $1 to use public bathrooms is good. Paying 25¢ is bad.

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:34:00 +0000

This is what crossed my mind as i waited in line for lunch yesterday. (How else would i spend 10 minutes of boredom?)

I was in a Chipotle/McDonalds combo place here in DC, and I noticed there was only one bathroom. ONE bathroom, per sex, to share between hundreds of guests!

I then thought about how to limit it's use during the rush hour eating times, and the idea of charging for it popped into my head.

If you have to actually PAY to use it, how many people would drop out? If any? I then flashbacked to a restaurant I once visited in Korea (aww yeahhh, me a traveling man), and I remembered I had to pay once to use them! I can't recall the actual amount, but I wanna say it was around 25-35 cents in US dollars.

The problem here wasn't so much that i had to pay to use it though, it was that i didn't have any change on me!!! can you imagine? Standing in an empty row of 10+ toilets and having to go soooooo badly! Believe me, it sucked.

This is why I'd rather see toilets charging $1.00 over 25¢ - the odds you'll have a $1 bill are much higher in my opinion. Not many people have pockets full of quarters, unless perhaps later in the day after you've had a chance to purchase things. But in the morning? Good luck...

So how many people would NOT pay to play a rousing game of toilet? i'd guess around 40%. here's my take on it:

40% would either skip it because it's a rip off, or because they were out of change/dollars.
30% would cough it up because they REALLY have to go...esp. after eating and drinking.
20% would give in because they really don't care, and they're too lazy to go elsewhere.
10% would give in because they're not near work or home, and thus don't have anywhere else to go.

If i were a business man, this is exactly how I'd pitch it too. Just think how clean and empty the bathrooms would be! That alone is a perk. Now, throw in all that money from 60% of the people paying, and you got yourself an extra stream of income! (that's a free business tip for you American Airlines)

Lucky for us, I don't see toilets costing anything soon. And since i don't plan on being a business man in the near future, we're all safe ;) But hey, it was an interesting way to pass the time!

This week in Carnival news: Money is awesome.

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:12:00 +0000

It never really changes really, we all love talking about, thinking about, and learning about money :) If you don't believe me, just check out the 100+ articles from our fellow bloggers:

Carnival of Personal Finance - "City Slickers" ed. hosted by Squawk Fox.
Money Hacks Carnival - "The Dog Days of Summer " ed. hosted by Greener Pastures.
Carnival of Money Stories "Wander Around the World with Me" ed. hosted by Value for Your Life.
Carnival of Debt Reduction - "Credit Card Payment of $151" ed. hosted by Mighty Bargain Hunter.
Carnival of Financial Learning #10 - hosted by Financial Learn

Happy Friday...as i type this @ home on a sick day...bleh. Maybe the Montgomery County Fair this weekend will help cheer me up? holler.

The Half.com, Amazon, Overstock, College bookstore challenge

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:14:00 +0000

Is there a best place to pick up your college books from? That's what the Mrs. set out to discover just yesterday.

As many of you know, Mrs. Budgetsaresexy is starting grad school this month, and is thus trying to find the best bargains out there for her reading material. And I gotta tell you, a LOT has changed since my days at the old university!

One of my favorite things to do was to visit the bookstore and see the hundreds of students mingling around, all excited to be back in school and ready to party ;) In fact, i liked it so much that i even worked there! I tell you one thing, it's a helluva way to meet ~~girls~~ people. he he. Ahhh the good ol' days...*tear*

But anyways, back in the day we only had one real way of getting these books - the college bookstore. It was the #1 cash drainer for our pockets, or should I say some of our parent's pockets (i love you Mom! not that you know this site exists). But these days? Not anymore. There are a plethora of ways to get our hands on them now, and sometimes for much cheaper.

Mrs. Budgetsaresexy literally JUST emailed me a spreadsheet she put together to calculate the best bargains out there for her newest list of books needed. It was intended for MEO (My eyes only), but i got her to share it with us :) There's nothing graphic in there, so why not right? haha...

So, here's the email she sent me word for word which summarizes her findings, minus a few identifying details: (the spreadsheet can be found here, for all you visual people)

"Dear sexiest man alive (editor's note: i put that in...he he)
i compiled a spreadsheet of all the books i need, and their respective costs in 4 places: amazon, half.com, overstock, and the college bookstore.

if the edition or translation of the book was questionable in terms of what the professor wants, and/or if the cost difference wasn't significant enough to matter much (a few cents to a dollar or so), i went with the default college bookstore to make things easier. for all other books that were pretty much standard editions everywhere, OR where the price differentiation was HUGE (was for at least 3 books), i went with any of the other 3 online dealers.

to make a long story short, if i went ONLY with the college bookstore, my total spent on books thus far (not counting whatever i have to spend on my 3rd class), would have been : $254.50. my grand total for what i spent using the methods above? $145.99. i SAVED a total of $108.51!!!!

now, let's just hope that all the books i ordered online arrive on time, AND are the right version of what i need and all. but if they all are? well hot diggidy, i think i am a hefty little save-a-roo!!! :) "

As you can see, going with JUST the college bookstore in this case fails miserably. It seems the best route to take is to pick and choose from a combination of Half.com, Amazon, Overstock, AND the college bookstore. It's a little time consuming, but the $100+ we'll be saving is well worth it!

The Winner: Combination of all 4 places! (Anyone wanna guess what her major is?)

Starbucks now offering $2 Grande Iced Beverages after 2pm!

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:50:00 +0000

Hot dogs! (or coffees, in this case eh?)

This "discount" is a bit weirder than their permanent gift card ones, but it'll definitely help some people out.

Especially those hardcore double-visitor types...and for once, that doesn't include me ;)

It expires September 2nd, just keep that in mind as I'll forget to remind you. Here's what you have to do to get this half-off discount:

Buy something earlier in the day (before 2pm)
Come back to the same store (after 2pm)
Show your receipt from the first visit.
and save $2+ dollars!

Something tells me you'll have to actually explain this to the cashier at the time, but you may get lucky. Thanks BeCentsAble for the heads up!

R.I.P. Gift Cards - "You had so much potential. Now you rot"

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:30:00 +0000

Now that's an attention grabbing title! haha...I've been coming across a lot of hooplah lately surrounding the idea of gift cards lately, so I figured i'd drop my own 12 cents. (I don't know why people say "2" cents, i don't think there's any logic to it is there? I'm changing it to "12" cents)

Did you know that billions of dollars go UNUSED by not cashing in these cards? The numbers vary depending on where you're reading, but about 10% of them never make it out alive. It's not the worst thing in the world, but it IS basically throwing cash in the trash. Those poor Washingtons never stood a chance :(

"There is no way a $100 bill would sit in my drawer for a year," said Bob
Butler, founder of Cardavenue, a Web site for buying, selling and swapping gift
cards. "But people will let a $100 card do that. . . ." - blog.cleveland.com

SO TRUE! I don't think i've been that bad in the past, but I've definitely slipped and let a couple expire over the years. I just forget, but at least i'm not the only one ;) When it comes down to it though, "they" say it's better to spend it sooner than later. Especially now a days when a handful of companies are going under (The Sharper Image, Bombay Company, etc) where the plastic is worth as much as a pile of turds.

But what if you can't stand the store? Or it's too far a drive, or you really don't need anything?

Don't like your card? Trade it in!
According to good ol' Butler quoted above, "If you don't want this money, go get other money. ... I think our biggest issue is, people don't realize there are alternatives." I couldn't have said it better there Bob.

I, personally, had not idea there were places online where you can trade them in! And sometimes even for cash! Freakin' genius if you ask me. Here are a few places offering such services, courtesy of the same business blog over at cleveland.com:

Cardavenue.com: Fee: 50 cents plus 3.95% from sellers and traders and shipping.
Leveragecard.com: No fees. Users pay shipping and subject to marketing efforts.
Plasticjungle.com: Fee: 10% for buyers and sellers; 35% to 45% if selling for cash.
Swapagift.com: Fee: $1.99; 30% to 40% of value.

I haven't tried any of them myself, but i'd love to hear if anyone else has!

Don't want to trade it in? Re-gift it (*gasp!*)
I really hate to admit this, and i came close to leaving this part out, but it IS an idea :) If you're not one to buy things just for the sake of it, why not re-gift it? Or even more, what if your budget is tight and you're about to attend 5 weddings?

Well, for the first time ever, I used a gift card last night to buy gifts for someone else. We had $200+ in Bed Bath and Beyond credit, and we really don't need anything else since we got so much from our wedding. The Mrs. has been dying to use it for the handful of weddings we have coming up, so I finally just gave in...and I feel great about it! Our budget is still in tact, and we didn't let the money just dry up.

Yes it would be better to use it on yourself since the giver of it probably wanted you to do so, but if it makes you happier using it for others I say go for it. If the giver ever asks what you picked up on their behalf, just tell them "financial peace of mind". haha...

The point is, you should really just DO SOMETHING with them and not let them rot away (as I so elegantly put it). Someone wanted you to enjoy life a little, and it's about time to make their wishes come true...or at least someone else's ;)

Net Worth: JULY - Flying solo and w/ a new Caddy :)

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:40:00 +0000

We still haven't combined finances as yet, but we ARE getting closer ;)

It's just really hard to break this 28 years of personal finance! Now that i've finally got my gameplan up and running, the thought of revising it all gives me a touch of the heebie jeebies. haha....

BUT, as Obama likes to say, "It's time for a change!" That, and i love my wife ;) So right now the goal is to combine forces by the end of the month, or at least start tracking the pot as "ours" and not "mine". But don't hold me to it, gotta take those baby steps one at a time.

In other news, we spent a bit more this month on sprucing up the house a little, and we now have an extra car - all things that make the budget cringe. Luckily it's become a bit flexible w/ the interest rates still being low and all, so we've been saving and cutting corners where we can to make up for these changes.

Here's how it breaks down this month:

CASH SAVINGS: Yeah, we've been spending a bit this month. But most of it has been going towards our house, which i like to clarify to make myself feel better ;) This includes things like saws and fix'er uppers when i was Mr. HandyMan, painting supplies (our newest house adventure), car stuff to get my highlander ready for sale, and a bunch of other things i can't remember...as always.

ROTH IRA: A whole ONE DOLLAR and FIFTY-THREE cents increase! All for doing nothing...now that's the good life!

401(k): Blah. Although it looks like i did well this month, I really didn't considering I contributed $3,895.00 + got another $258.14 in dividends. Losing $1,503.12 sucks, but I guess i can pat myself on the back for at least putting in so much. A big part of that was when i sucked it up and confronted my boss about my missing 401k from last year - that helped a shite load!

SAVINGS BONDS: I'll put that change in my pocket any day! haha...yikes.

CONDO INVESTMENT: That was the last of the loaning! My brother is now on his feet, and should be paying it back shortly. I guess this should really be in the "liability" section since I haven't actually SEEN the money yet, but i'm too lazy to change it now...plus i'm 100% sure i'll get it back, I gotta trust the bro!

HOME EQUITY: Same old, same old. Nothing paid off this month as we keep building our emergency fund up. Once we hit our goal of $10k total, we'll revisit paying some off each month, but i don't foresee that anytime in the near future since grad school is coming up for the Mrs.

AUTOS WORTH (kbb): This used to be just for my SUV (valued at $19,945 now), but now it also includes my new Caddy (valued at $3,590). So although this category gained in value, be sure to look 2 categories down for an increase in liabilities now.

CREDIT CARDS: While I technically have a nice chunk on there again, my actual c/c purchases are still at ZERO! That's because I'm using my personal credit card as a car loan :) It surprisingly beat out all other rates at 3.4% (because USAA rocks), and since I don't plan on keeping the balance on it for too long, it made logistic and financial sense for me. Now i just gotta sell my damn SUV.

AUTO LOAN: This is what's left on my SUV. I paid off $300 plus, but it also dropped in value about that much so it's basically a wash this month.

That about wraps it up this month. Here's to another beautiful month! May all your financial dreams come true, and all your net worths flourish.

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*I have updated my sweeet & sassy side bars - always a good time.
*And here are the past Net Worth updates.

Brangelina gets paid $14 MILLION for pictures of their twins.

noreply@blogger.com (J. Money) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:18:00 +0000

How insane is that? I can't even fathom $1 million, nevermind $14, and it's apparently the most expensive celebrity pictures ever sold. W-O-W, I guess that's pop culture for you - it's not like i'd turn it down ;) What's pretty bad a$$, though, is that they're donating the $ to a foundation they created that focuses on helping children around the world. I tip my hat to you good sir and madam.