My auto policy renewal information showed up a few days ago, so I dug in looking for ways to reduce my cost. MA has fixed auto insurance rates and places like GEICO and Progressive don't insure here so shopping around doesn't net me much, but there are still ways to save.
Background
My 2000 VW Jetta came standard with safety and anti-theft equipment that qualify me for a 25% air bag/automatic seatbelt discount and a 20% anti-theft discount. (Those percentages apply only to certain line items). I also discovered last year that I qualify for an 8% group discount because I got a degree at Northeastern University.
For the past two years, I have had no trouble qualifying for the lesser of the two annual mileage discounts, but it was not applied to my new policy and there was no form included with my paperwork to submit for it.
As far as my driving record, I used to be a step 9 (the best) but for three years I have been a step 12 due to a single speeding infraction. I rarely speed, but I was caught up in enjoying an absolutely beautiful warm early June day in '02...sunroof was open, club music was thumping and life was good. So good, I didn't notice I was going 40+ ...and sped right into a well known area where the limit drops from 35 to 20 in a hot Brookline second. I even tried to appeal and lost (he showed up! man!). In my 21+ years of driving that is my only ticket...ever. And it's been costing me every year since. Ouch.
My policy would cost me $1816 over the next year. Time to shave.
Deductibles
It's a pretty well known tip to up your deductibles if you can cover that large a repair. The past few years have been really tight money-wise and we probably couldn't have even afforded the $500 deductible at the time...anything would have had to go on the credit card for a while.
But this year is different. I changed the collision and comprehensive deductibles to $1000 and saved $273.
Limits
I wanted to make sure I am covered properly here, but my $100k limit for damage to someone else's property seemed high. Unfortunately, dropping to $50k only reduces my annual cost by $3. So I left that as is.
Low Mileage Discount
There are two tiers of this discount which applies to certain portions of the policy. 10% is given for annual mileage under 5000 miles, while 5% is given for mileage between 5001 and 7500. Our car was only driven between 6000 and 7000 miles last year, so once the paperwork is accepted, this saves me $66 and my new policy total will be $1477.
Multi-Car Discount
We thought we could add LaLa's truck to my policy and qualify for an additional (and partial) 5% discount which would amount to about $50. Turns out we'd have to be "married" to take advantage of that (any of the following qualifies: same-sex marriage, civil union, or registered domestic partnership). We're not up for marriage when it could be taken away at any time, I don't think MA has civil unions, and it would cost me $50 to register with the City of Boston as domestic Partners (power of attorney is a steal at $10!). This option was a bust for us.
SDIP Credits
My current step is 12 (15 + 2 for speeding - 5 for each incident free year in the last 6 years) but there is something called the "Credit point for single incident more than three years old" so according to my records, that would drop me to a step 11. I dunno...this part is voodoo-ish. My insurance company will follow up with the board that keeps these records to see if I am correct. A single point could still save me some good money, but I could be reading this wrong. Net savings TBD.
Net Savings: $339
Changing my deductibles gave me my largest reduction in cost and the low mileage discount helped a bit as well. Overall I saved nearly $30 a month over the coming year. If I can pay it all at once I can also save the 10-12 $1 per ETF fees (it's $3 for a paper bill).
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Katrina Bumps Gas Cost
I was able to get gas for about $2.55 a gallon about a week ago, but as of today gas at the "cheap" Hess station is up to $2.99 a gallon for regular as a result of Katrina. I even had a hard time posting the price on BostonGasPrices because the server was too busy.
There's some interesting food for thought I found via the Freakonomics blog: that $3.20 a gallon only represents a cost of 20c a cup and we pay relatively little for energy compared to other consumables. I guess I like that perspective.
I don't enjoy paying more to run my car, but maybe motivating Americans via the pocketbook will finally bring about some serious advances in renewable energy and major reductions in consumption. Ah, a girl can dream.
Update: We're up in VT visiting family and friends this weekend. Prices seem to be about 15c+ more per gallon (as of Thursday). While driving through Waterbury VT yesterday we were able to fill our tank at the lone (cheap!) $3.09 station around mid-day. On our way back after 9pm, that station had raised it's prices to $3.29 (like it's nearby competitors). Twenty cents in half a day. I shake my head in amazement.
There's some interesting food for thought I found via the Freakonomics blog: that $3.20 a gallon only represents a cost of 20c a cup and we pay relatively little for energy compared to other consumables. I guess I like that perspective.
I don't enjoy paying more to run my car, but maybe motivating Americans via the pocketbook will finally bring about some serious advances in renewable energy and major reductions in consumption. Ah, a girl can dream.
Update: We're up in VT visiting family and friends this weekend. Prices seem to be about 15c+ more per gallon (as of Thursday). While driving through Waterbury VT yesterday we were able to fill our tank at the lone (cheap!) $3.09 station around mid-day. On our way back after 9pm, that station had raised it's prices to $3.29 (like it's nearby competitors). Twenty cents in half a day. I shake my head in amazement.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
The Frugal Eggplant
No, it's not a new blog ;) This is the post wherein I relate fresh eggplant to personal finances and frugality.
I turned 38 a week ago and a couple of dear friends gave me a basket of fresh vegetables from the local farmer's market. It was a wonderfully fitting gift and visually stunning but I am sorry to say that I started snacking on the carrots before I thought to snap a pic for posterity. But I digress.
We don't cook a lot of eggplant, but I was inspired to do something special with the two in the basket. LaLa and I live around the corner from an Albanian restaurant that has a "roasted eggplant puree" appetizer they sell for $7 that rocks our world. I went on the hunt for a recipe similar to that.
This dish is similar to baba ganoush, but with some vinegar and definitely no tahini so I went googling based on ingredients (roasted eggplant garlic vinegar) and I finally decided to go with this non-dairy version of the Turkish recipe for Hunkar Begendi (sultan's delight) due to it's simplicity.
Success! Now we can make our own eggplant crack thank-you-very-much. And for much less than $7 (though I wish the restaurant much success). Due to some creative gift giving, google, and some kitchen experimentation (charring eggplant is the adult way to play with fire!) we have taken a something out of the pricey "treat" category and learned how to make it ourselves...inexpensively!
I turned 38 a week ago and a couple of dear friends gave me a basket of fresh vegetables from the local farmer's market. It was a wonderfully fitting gift and visually stunning but I am sorry to say that I started snacking on the carrots before I thought to snap a pic for posterity. But I digress.
We don't cook a lot of eggplant, but I was inspired to do something special with the two in the basket. LaLa and I live around the corner from an Albanian restaurant that has a "roasted eggplant puree" appetizer they sell for $7 that rocks our world. I went on the hunt for a recipe similar to that.
This dish is similar to baba ganoush, but with some vinegar and definitely no tahini so I went googling based on ingredients (roasted eggplant garlic vinegar) and I finally decided to go with this non-dairy version of the Turkish recipe for Hunkar Begendi (sultan's delight) due to it's simplicity.
Success! Now we can make our own eggplant crack thank-you-very-much. And for much less than $7 (though I wish the restaurant much success). Due to some creative gift giving, google, and some kitchen experimentation (charring eggplant is the adult way to play with fire!) we have taken a something out of the pricey "treat" category and learned how to make it ourselves...inexpensively!
Monday, August 29, 2005
Comment Spam-a-Lot
I'm sure it's nothing compared to what the more trafficked blogs get but 12 anonymous comments within the hour all saying versions of the same thing ("nice blog, come see my penile enhancement site!") lead me to finally turn on blogger's word verification.
I apologize to all the real people out there who now have to type more ;)
I apologize to all the real people out there who now have to type more ;)
11th Carnival of Personal Finances Up
I meant to get this up this morning but better late than never...
JLP has the 11th Carnival of Personal Finances up at the new home of AllThingsFinancial. It's a whopper this week so kudos to him for all that post wrangling.
Enjoy!
JLP has the 11th Carnival of Personal Finances up at the new home of AllThingsFinancial. It's a whopper this week so kudos to him for all that post wrangling.
Enjoy!
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Opening an Individual 401(k)
PFBlog is writing a series of posts regarding Tax Strategy for Self-Employment now that he and his wife will both have side income. We didn't go through anything as elaborate as his thought process, but we did do some research and decided to open an individual (aka "solo" or "self-employed") 401(k) this year for LaLa.
Background
For the past two years LaLa chose to contribute the maximum to a Traditional IRA and take the tax-deferral route. This was due to our desire to maximize cash on hand at the time by deferring taxes despite the potentially more lucrative longer term gains of chosing a Roth IRA instead.
Basically, in 2004, we used her income as a self-employed web and graphic designer to pay down our existing debt and engage in some "deferred purchasing" (admittedly not all necessary) while our household and daily expenses (as well as my 401k contributions) came solely out of my income. Hindsight is 20/20, but this year we finally got serious about using her income to help her "catch up" in her retirement savings.
The Individual 401(k)
I recalled reading an article at Bankrate about a year and a half ago on "individual 401(k)s" and given our goal of maximizing her contributions, this seemed the solution for her. With this type of account, she can defer up to $14,000 of her income as well as contribute up to 25% of her net profits (the profit sharing piece). The potential deterrents to this type of account are things like administration fees and "paperwork". Some custodians charge a fee to maintain this type of account and there is a fair amount of forms involved in establishing one since you are basically a company creating a 401(k).
Finding Fidelity
After shopping around at the usual discount brokers (Vanguard didn't offer it, T.RowePrice charged an under $5k per fund maintenance fee) LaLa decided on Fidelity's Self-Employed 401(k) since it had no setup or maintenance fees and the funds she wanted to buy did not incur transaction fees. We also really like their online interface and have experienced great customer service in the past.
They did a good job of helping us navigate the forms required to establish this account however it was quite a hassle to transfer in funds from a USAA Rollover IRA (short answer: disburse as a check and deposit within the 60 day limit). The other small niggle is that contributions must be made by check via snail mail unlike the ACH transfers available in our Roth and Rollover IRA accounts. But the small irritations greatly outweigh the benefits of the higher maximium contributions allowed, so we're all good.
The Future?
LaLa is happy with her choice of Fidelity for now since it allowed her quickly and inexpensively get to the point where she was socking away retirement savings. But ultimately we're interested in exploring some options not offered by Fidelity et al. For the future, we are interested in pursuing more self-directed IRA options such as investing in real estate, but we have a lot to learn and do before we're ready for that.
Background
For the past two years LaLa chose to contribute the maximum to a Traditional IRA and take the tax-deferral route. This was due to our desire to maximize cash on hand at the time by deferring taxes despite the potentially more lucrative longer term gains of chosing a Roth IRA instead.
Basically, in 2004, we used her income as a self-employed web and graphic designer to pay down our existing debt and engage in some "deferred purchasing" (admittedly not all necessary) while our household and daily expenses (as well as my 401k contributions) came solely out of my income. Hindsight is 20/20, but this year we finally got serious about using her income to help her "catch up" in her retirement savings.
The Individual 401(k)
I recalled reading an article at Bankrate about a year and a half ago on "individual 401(k)s" and given our goal of maximizing her contributions, this seemed the solution for her. With this type of account, she can defer up to $14,000 of her income as well as contribute up to 25% of her net profits (the profit sharing piece). The potential deterrents to this type of account are things like administration fees and "paperwork". Some custodians charge a fee to maintain this type of account and there is a fair amount of forms involved in establishing one since you are basically a company creating a 401(k).
Finding Fidelity
After shopping around at the usual discount brokers (Vanguard didn't offer it, T.RowePrice charged an under $5k per fund maintenance fee) LaLa decided on Fidelity's Self-Employed 401(k) since it had no setup or maintenance fees and the funds she wanted to buy did not incur transaction fees. We also really like their online interface and have experienced great customer service in the past.
They did a good job of helping us navigate the forms required to establish this account however it was quite a hassle to transfer in funds from a USAA Rollover IRA (short answer: disburse as a check and deposit within the 60 day limit). The other small niggle is that contributions must be made by check via snail mail unlike the ACH transfers available in our Roth and Rollover IRA accounts. But the small irritations greatly outweigh the benefits of the higher maximium contributions allowed, so we're all good.
The Future?
LaLa is happy with her choice of Fidelity for now since it allowed her quickly and inexpensively get to the point where she was socking away retirement savings. But ultimately we're interested in exploring some options not offered by Fidelity et al. For the future, we are interested in pursuing more self-directed IRA options such as investing in real estate, but we have a lot to learn and do before we're ready for that.
Flying Blind
My iMac is being held hostage at the Apple store.
A week ago Friday, my iMac G5 started having power problems. As in...it would just lose power while it was running and ultimately the power wouldn't even last through the boot-up process. I spent a good deal of time on Saturday troubleshooting via phone with a product specialist (shout out to Joe Murphy from Apple) and we thought the problem was the UPS and not my iMac. By Sunday morning we were proven wrong. Due to some miscommunication and some poor timing, my iMac didn't get to the Apple store for repair until Wednesday. They estimated 7-10 days total to replace the logic board and the internal power supply.
Not only does this mean I will be without my computer essentially for two consecutive weekends, but also my first few days of vacation next week which will be spent at home. After returning from the rest of my vacation, I will have to immediately travel for business for the remainder of that week.
All this is to say that I will have been without access to the bulk of my financial data for three weeks by the time this odyssey is all over and it's making me crazy. My plans to use some of my vacation time to further hone our financial plans are in disarray. I could go on about what I am prevented from doing by the loss of time with my computer, but I've already exhausted this topic with my friends and family ;)
I am sure there are lessons to be learned here about how i can make my financial data more "mobile" etc, but I'll ponder those at another time. The fact of the matter is that the way I use the computer (via Quicken and spreadsheets basically) greatly helps me achieve what I want to with my personal finance goals. It's not for everyone, but it IS what works for me. And it's interesting to be plunged into near "darkness" and I gotta tell you...it sucks.
But to quote an overly used catchphrase that my coworkers and I are currently mocking: "It is what it is"
A week ago Friday, my iMac G5 started having power problems. As in...it would just lose power while it was running and ultimately the power wouldn't even last through the boot-up process. I spent a good deal of time on Saturday troubleshooting via phone with a product specialist (shout out to Joe Murphy from Apple) and we thought the problem was the UPS and not my iMac. By Sunday morning we were proven wrong. Due to some miscommunication and some poor timing, my iMac didn't get to the Apple store for repair until Wednesday. They estimated 7-10 days total to replace the logic board and the internal power supply.
Not only does this mean I will be without my computer essentially for two consecutive weekends, but also my first few days of vacation next week which will be spent at home. After returning from the rest of my vacation, I will have to immediately travel for business for the remainder of that week.
All this is to say that I will have been without access to the bulk of my financial data for three weeks by the time this odyssey is all over and it's making me crazy. My plans to use some of my vacation time to further hone our financial plans are in disarray. I could go on about what I am prevented from doing by the loss of time with my computer, but I've already exhausted this topic with my friends and family ;)
I am sure there are lessons to be learned here about how i can make my financial data more "mobile" etc, but I'll ponder those at another time. The fact of the matter is that the way I use the computer (via Quicken and spreadsheets basically) greatly helps me achieve what I want to with my personal finance goals. It's not for everyone, but it IS what works for me. And it's interesting to be plunged into near "darkness" and I gotta tell you...it sucks.
But to quote an overly used catchphrase that my coworkers and I are currently mocking: "It is what it is"
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Returning Crummy Products
Our purchase of a front-loading washing machine apparently requires "high efficiency" laundry soap. A trip to our "formerly favorite but very close grocery store" turned up no fragrance free options, so being fans of the usual (former?) Tide smell, we decided to try Tide High Efficiency laundry liquid.
Holy crap. This stuff stunk to high heaven. We don't have chemical sensitivities but being bowled over when you open your drawer and feeling like you need to sneeze because you've just put on a bra was beyond the pale. It was so bad we couldn't even just suck it up and deal. And this stuff is more expensive than regular laundry soap! Back to the grocery store it went and we received the full refund. We also expressed a strong desire for a fragrance free option (which are never truly fragrance free, but are always in the realm of "not offensive").
It turns out Sears has it's own brand of dye and fragrance free high efficiency compatible soap that looks cheaper too. So we'll be trying that next.
The moral of the story is if you try a product and don't like it...demand your money back.
Incidentally, the refund was in cash but we purchased the item using our new Citi Dividend card, so I think we netted 35c ;)
Holy crap. This stuff stunk to high heaven. We don't have chemical sensitivities but being bowled over when you open your drawer and feeling like you need to sneeze because you've just put on a bra was beyond the pale. It was so bad we couldn't even just suck it up and deal. And this stuff is more expensive than regular laundry soap! Back to the grocery store it went and we received the full refund. We also expressed a strong desire for a fragrance free option (which are never truly fragrance free, but are always in the realm of "not offensive").
It turns out Sears has it's own brand of dye and fragrance free high efficiency compatible soap that looks cheaper too. So we'll be trying that next.
The moral of the story is if you try a product and don't like it...demand your money back.
Incidentally, the refund was in cash but we purchased the item using our new Citi Dividend card, so I think we netted 35c ;)
Wells Fargo HELOC Fee Challenge
A year ago, we refinanced the house and rolled our $34k Home Equity Line of Credit (that had allowed us to avoid PMI and refinance our auto loan during our "uber lean year") into our new principle amount. During the refi process we were told that Wells Fargo would charge us $500 to close the account, but WF informed us we could "keep the account open" even if we paid off the balance and there would be no $500 charge for that. So that's what we did.
A couple of weeks ago we received our first Wells Fargo bill in about a year with no line items detailed and a balance of $75. Upon further investigation it turns out this was an "annual fee" that was detailed in our agreement (the rep said snottily) that is apparently "waived" if you carry a balance of $20k or more (soooo it's a $75 "inactivity" fee, right guys?)
So. Even though I've send them about $3k in interest over two years, it will cost me either $500 to close the line or $75 a year to keep it open but with less than a $20k balance. ::: boggle ::: I know they have to make money but dammmmmmmmmn that's obnoxious.
LaLa the Household Hero put on her "crazy lady" knickers and gave them a piece of her mind. IMO "crazy lady" is really just "pointed" with a dash (pinch? hint?) of "outrage" and either way it resulted in her getting transferred to someone with fee reversal powers. She posed the question "Why would I pay $75 a year to keep this account open in the chance that I *might* need it someday when I get offers every few days for lower rates and fees from your competitors?" And with that, the fee was reversed...until next year most likely ;)
Crazy Lady: 1, Wells Fargo: 0
A couple of weeks ago we received our first Wells Fargo bill in about a year with no line items detailed and a balance of $75. Upon further investigation it turns out this was an "annual fee" that was detailed in our agreement (the rep said snottily) that is apparently "waived" if you carry a balance of $20k or more (soooo it's a $75 "inactivity" fee, right guys?)
So. Even though I've send them about $3k in interest over two years, it will cost me either $500 to close the line or $75 a year to keep it open but with less than a $20k balance. ::: boggle ::: I know they have to make money but dammmmmmmmmn that's obnoxious.
LaLa the Household Hero put on her "crazy lady" knickers and gave them a piece of her mind. IMO "crazy lady" is really just "pointed" with a dash (pinch? hint?) of "outrage" and either way it resulted in her getting transferred to someone with fee reversal powers. She posed the question "Why would I pay $75 a year to keep this account open in the chance that I *might* need it someday when I get offers every few days for lower rates and fees from your competitors?" And with that, the fee was reversed...until next year most likely ;)
Crazy Lady: 1, Wells Fargo: 0
Reducing Long Distance Expenses
Working Assets Long Distance vs. Sprint 50 At Home
Even though we spend an average of only $15/mo on long distance, I've been looking for ways to reduce our cost even further. LaLa has her own business and pays for her cellphone out of her funds so she always uses that for all long distance. My cellphone is paid for by work, so I don't feel comfortable using my "limited" minutes for personal LD calls, so I make the bulk, if not all, of LD calls on our land line.
I have had Working Assets Long Distance service for the bulk of my 15+ years as a bill paying adult. I believe in what the company is trying to do, and up until recently I felt good about supporting their work by using their service. But in this competitive market, I could no longer justify paying a monthly fee of $4.95 just to carry their service in addition to 7c a minute for calls. A couple of months ago we called and asked if they had an alternative to paying a monthly fee and when told they did not, we made the decision to pursue alternatives:
Pre-Paid Phone Card - I purchased a $10 phone card at my grocery store that was worth 444 minutes if used with a local access number. This card was branded with my grocery store's name, but offered through a company called RNK Telecom. Essentially under 3c a minute, this looked promising. The card expires 6 months after first use, but at an average of under 150 minutes a month, it would take me an average of 3 months to use the card. This would drop my estimated long distance cost from approx $180/yr to $40/yr. But I've had problems using the card- the PIN number just went invalid for no discernable reason. Customer service was prompt and efficient but the hassle was annoying. Still a resource, but not a favorite.
Skype - If you have a broadband connection and you spend a lot of money on long distance, you really must check out Skype. It uses a peer to peer protocol to send voice over IP. Because the service becomes more efficient and robust with more "peers", skype to skype "calls" are completely FREE to entice more users to use it. The interface is very similar to instant messaging applications and you can use built in speakers and microphones (most often found on laptops) but a headset (easily under $20) will give you the best sound quality. We have been using this service through work for about a year, especially to communicate with our coworker who lives in the UK - it has saved us hundreds of dollars. Skype offers a service called SkypeOut which allows you to use your Skype application to "phone" land lines for about 2.9c a minute (US calls) using 10EU pre-paid increments. The downside for me, is that I like to wander when I am making personal calls and the wired headset tethers me to the computer (fine while working) and the bluetooth headset had horrible sound once I started down the stairs. Still a good price...
Vonage - I calculated that switching local and long distance over to Vonage's VoIP service would save me a net total of about $30/month. I like this idea for the future but I do use 911 a fair amount (they make us use that for noise and nuisance complaints and my neighborhood is...a handful at times) and I've heard mixed feedback on quality. Eventually a "yes" but I'm not ready to make the technology leap quite yet.
Sprint 50 At Home - I use Sprint PCS for my mobile phone and last month I received a bill insert offering 50 free minutes of Sprint long distance for PCS customers. The first 50 minutes (non international) are free, 7c a minute after that and no monthly fee (taxes and fees not included of course). I figured I'd be saving on average $8.50 a month (more than 50%) and still enjoy the convenience of just picking up my phone and dialing a single number.
So I switched.
WALD Comes from Behind! - A few days later we got a "please don't leave us" call from Working Assets. They have a new long distance plan, primarily marketed at mobile phone owners who use very little long distance on their land line. There is no monthly fee (yay!) but it's 10c a minute (yawn!). The kicker is that to promote the new plan, they will give you a credit of $100 after three months on the plan. Due to taxes and fees it will be *less* than 1000 free minutes of course, but will still last me 6 months give or take. So this is a groovy company that I can get my hippie self behind that is also offering a sweet deal...for the next 9 months at least. I also plan on limiting my long distance calls over the next three months (and beyond) to maximize the time line of this deal.
Even though we spend an average of only $15/mo on long distance, I've been looking for ways to reduce our cost even further. LaLa has her own business and pays for her cellphone out of her funds so she always uses that for all long distance. My cellphone is paid for by work, so I don't feel comfortable using my "limited" minutes for personal LD calls, so I make the bulk, if not all, of LD calls on our land line.
I have had Working Assets Long Distance service for the bulk of my 15+ years as a bill paying adult. I believe in what the company is trying to do, and up until recently I felt good about supporting their work by using their service. But in this competitive market, I could no longer justify paying a monthly fee of $4.95 just to carry their service in addition to 7c a minute for calls. A couple of months ago we called and asked if they had an alternative to paying a monthly fee and when told they did not, we made the decision to pursue alternatives:
Pre-Paid Phone Card - I purchased a $10 phone card at my grocery store that was worth 444 minutes if used with a local access number. This card was branded with my grocery store's name, but offered through a company called RNK Telecom. Essentially under 3c a minute, this looked promising. The card expires 6 months after first use, but at an average of under 150 minutes a month, it would take me an average of 3 months to use the card. This would drop my estimated long distance cost from approx $180/yr to $40/yr. But I've had problems using the card- the PIN number just went invalid for no discernable reason. Customer service was prompt and efficient but the hassle was annoying. Still a resource, but not a favorite.
Skype - If you have a broadband connection and you spend a lot of money on long distance, you really must check out Skype. It uses a peer to peer protocol to send voice over IP. Because the service becomes more efficient and robust with more "peers", skype to skype "calls" are completely FREE to entice more users to use it. The interface is very similar to instant messaging applications and you can use built in speakers and microphones (most often found on laptops) but a headset (easily under $20) will give you the best sound quality. We have been using this service through work for about a year, especially to communicate with our coworker who lives in the UK - it has saved us hundreds of dollars. Skype offers a service called SkypeOut which allows you to use your Skype application to "phone" land lines for about 2.9c a minute (US calls) using 10EU pre-paid increments. The downside for me, is that I like to wander when I am making personal calls and the wired headset tethers me to the computer (fine while working) and the bluetooth headset had horrible sound once I started down the stairs. Still a good price...
Vonage - I calculated that switching local and long distance over to Vonage's VoIP service would save me a net total of about $30/month. I like this idea for the future but I do use 911 a fair amount (they make us use that for noise and nuisance complaints and my neighborhood is...a handful at times) and I've heard mixed feedback on quality. Eventually a "yes" but I'm not ready to make the technology leap quite yet.
Sprint 50 At Home - I use Sprint PCS for my mobile phone and last month I received a bill insert offering 50 free minutes of Sprint long distance for PCS customers. The first 50 minutes (non international) are free, 7c a minute after that and no monthly fee (taxes and fees not included of course). I figured I'd be saving on average $8.50 a month (more than 50%) and still enjoy the convenience of just picking up my phone and dialing a single number.
So I switched.
WALD Comes from Behind! - A few days later we got a "please don't leave us" call from Working Assets. They have a new long distance plan, primarily marketed at mobile phone owners who use very little long distance on their land line. There is no monthly fee (yay!) but it's 10c a minute (yawn!). The kicker is that to promote the new plan, they will give you a credit of $100 after three months on the plan. Due to taxes and fees it will be *less* than 1000 free minutes of course, but will still last me 6 months give or take. So this is a groovy company that I can get my hippie self behind that is also offering a sweet deal...for the next 9 months at least. I also plan on limiting my long distance calls over the next three months (and beyond) to maximize the time line of this deal.
10% off Next Gap Purchase...
In a follow up to my post about getting free iTunes while shopping at the Gap on tax free weekend...
I noted that our receipt stated that we'd receive 10% off our next Gap purchase in exchange for filling out an online survey. The survey must be filled out within 5 days of the original purchase and the discount is good for 3 months from the date of the survey.
LaLa reported that the survey was looooong and contained all those "hidden agenda marketing to our lizard brains" type questions such as: On a scale of 1 to 10 do you feel the Gap "gets you"? She started to resent the survey due to 1) it's length and 2) it's agenda but was determined to get our potential future 10% off. So...she started lying to get through it faster and clicked her way to our discount.
I realized that some people will actually take their time and answer a long survey as honestly as possible, but doesn't the Gap realize they will be getting a lot of "bad" data given the design of their survey? Maybe it's just me, but someone has to give me a lot more than 10% off a purchase i *might* make within three months in exchange for access to the secrets of how and why my lizard brain will drive me to buy when the rest of my brain is shouting "NO!" If they want accurate data they need to pony up like three pairs of jeans or $100 AT LEAST ;)
I noted that our receipt stated that we'd receive 10% off our next Gap purchase in exchange for filling out an online survey. The survey must be filled out within 5 days of the original purchase and the discount is good for 3 months from the date of the survey.
LaLa reported that the survey was looooong and contained all those "hidden agenda marketing to our lizard brains" type questions such as: On a scale of 1 to 10 do you feel the Gap "gets you"? She started to resent the survey due to 1) it's length and 2) it's agenda but was determined to get our potential future 10% off. So...she started lying to get through it faster and clicked her way to our discount.
I realized that some people will actually take their time and answer a long survey as honestly as possible, but doesn't the Gap realize they will be getting a lot of "bad" data given the design of their survey? Maybe it's just me, but someone has to give me a lot more than 10% off a purchase i *might* make within three months in exchange for access to the secrets of how and why my lizard brain will drive me to buy when the rest of my brain is shouting "NO!" If they want accurate data they need to pony up like three pairs of jeans or $100 AT LEAST ;)
Free iTunes @ Gap: Still time!
Forgot to mention that on "tax free weekend" the LaLa and I made sure to stop at the Gap and try on jeans for a free iTunes song each. You take a pair of jeans into the dressing room and when you come out and tell an employee they give you a scratch-off car. The promotion runs until 8/31 so there is still time.
I actually bought a pair of jeans while there (I only had one -snug- pair). Since they only carry my size online (28 inseam, I'm a bit short) I ordered it in store, over the phone, paid for it as part of my total order and shipping was free. The jeans arrived within a few business days. This is good for me to remember as I do a fair amount of clothes shopping online from stores that have this policy. Free shipping rocks.
LaLa snagged another iTunes card when she exchanged an item last week. woohoo!
I actually bought a pair of jeans while there (I only had one -snug- pair). Since they only carry my size online (28 inseam, I'm a bit short) I ordered it in store, over the phone, paid for it as part of my total order and shipping was free. The jeans arrived within a few business days. This is good for me to remember as I do a fair amount of clothes shopping online from stores that have this policy. Free shipping rocks.
LaLa snagged another iTunes card when she exchanged an item last week. woohoo!
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
2 More Cents on Surviving Unemployment
Nicole over at The Budgeting Babe has a great post about coping with sudden job loss. This got me thinking about how we got through our extra lean year. I found myself nodding my head as I read her post...all good stuff.
The week before we closed on our house, LaLa was laid off from our company cutting our total income by about 40%. A year later the company folded leaving me without a job. LaLa had been unable to find web design work in that market all year and had taken a $12/hr halftime job (which was a horrible job, but it helped make ends meet). Suddenly we were faced with having to get by on my unemployment and LaLa's meager salary.
So within two years we went from earning a total of $140k (with no mortgage and cheap rent) to a total income of about $36k (and a mortgage). We had no emergency funds having spent all of our savings during our house purchase. We weren't able to save or reduce our debt during that time, but we came out about even which felt like an accomplishment.
With more tips like Nicole's and slightly different priorities I might be able to shave even more off if I had to do it all over again, but here are some of the ways we minimized expenses:
Now I simply have to try Nicole's tip about asking for the promo rate from my cable company....
What other things have you done to get by in a tight financial crunch? Bring it!
The week before we closed on our house, LaLa was laid off from our company cutting our total income by about 40%. A year later the company folded leaving me without a job. LaLa had been unable to find web design work in that market all year and had taken a $12/hr halftime job (which was a horrible job, but it helped make ends meet). Suddenly we were faced with having to get by on my unemployment and LaLa's meager salary.
So within two years we went from earning a total of $140k (with no mortgage and cheap rent) to a total income of about $36k (and a mortgage). We had no emergency funds having spent all of our savings during our house purchase. We weren't able to save or reduce our debt during that time, but we came out about even which felt like an accomplishment.
With more tips like Nicole's and slightly different priorities I might be able to shave even more off if I had to do it all over again, but here are some of the ways we minimized expenses:
- "Refinanced" my auto loan: my car loan was at 7% and had a balance of about 5k. I "moved" that to my home equity line of credit (HELOC) that was an interest only loan at just over 4%. My payments had been over $400/mo until then.
- Reduced HELOC payment: Interest was running me about $150/mo give or take, so I paid $200/mo to make sure I was paying down the principal a little. It made me feel better.
- Less expensive health plan: since I had no access to COBRA, we had to purchase two individual plans. The least expensive plan had higher deductibles and copays but the monthly cost was quite a bit lower.
- Dropped unecessary telecomm expenses: we changed our bundle to a more a la carte one and added back only what we really used, dropping things like call waiting, voicemail (we used an old answering machine instead), and all premium channels.
- Moved credit card balances: I took advantage of low promotional rates to consolidate existing credit card balances and minimize finance charges.
- Movies on the cheap: we dropped to the least expensive Netflix subscription and only went to occasional matinees that were about two thirds the cost of normal tickets.
- Learned to love the library: I stopped buying my books at Amazon and was able to find a lot of great things at my library, including graphic novels. The online interface and request feature made this very easy and the only "cost" was having to sometimes wait a few days to start a new book. I also started borrowing books a lot from friends.
- Bartered for services: LaLa bartered her web design services in exchange for our haircuts over the course of several months.
- Deferred income taxes: I opted to not have taxes witheld from my unemployment. The first April, I owed a small amount of taxes. By the second April, I was gainfully employed and had been paying catch up taxes for a few months. I believe I owed a few dollars in penalties because I didn't realize I should have paid quarterly, but this was much cheaper than paying credit card interest.
- BYOB and "the new austerity": in our close circle of 8 friends, 4 of us were un- or under-employed at the time but we got together a lot that year and shared the burden of feeding the crowd. Dinners were always bring your own (usually alcoholic) beverage, and no one was ashamed or offended when we all took our beverage leftovers home. One friend nicknamed this "the new austerity".
- Vacation with family and friends nearby: Since we didn't have money for airfares and the usual vacation expenses, we used this time to visit with relatives that were within driving distance. In our case, we fell in love with Vermont and became closer to some of my relatives. We also swapped vacation pet-care with our other unemployed friends.
Now I simply have to try Nicole's tip about asking for the promo rate from my cable company....
What other things have you done to get by in a tight financial crunch? Bring it!
Monday, August 15, 2005
Points and Miles, Oh My!
I'm traveling every week this month and next on business and it is putting a dent in my ability to post and keep up with my favorite PF blogs. ...But the upside is the points and miles I'm earning...woohoo! I've joined a double miles promotion for this and next month that will help me accrue Delta miles and as a silver member, I earn hotel miles at a 120% rate.
Since we're planning on taking a few short trips over the rest of the year, I am hoping to use these perks to keep my costs as low as possible. I saved quite a bit on our summer vacation by using airline miles for tickets and hotel points for a free night. Our 10 day trip cost just over $1600 and included a rental car. That was well below my original $2000 budget (thank goodness).
The other bonus is that our grocery bill is a lot lower when I travel this much. The gal pal does a lot of grazing and not so much meal making when she's on her own so I'm hoping the overall food expenditures will be quite low for August and September.
Since we're planning on taking a few short trips over the rest of the year, I am hoping to use these perks to keep my costs as low as possible. I saved quite a bit on our summer vacation by using airline miles for tickets and hotel points for a free night. Our 10 day trip cost just over $1600 and included a rental car. That was well below my original $2000 budget (thank goodness).
The other bonus is that our grocery bill is a lot lower when I travel this much. The gal pal does a lot of grazing and not so much meal making when she's on her own so I'm hoping the overall food expenditures will be quite low for August and September.
The Washing Machine Purchase
We finally bought the washing machine during the MA state "tax holiday" this weekend. I was a bit disappointed that we could no longer order the model we wanted for $939 since it was discontinued. The replacement model was $999 (um. ouch.) but we've been waiting so long, and had already purchased the base for this model at costco months (and months) ago that we pushed ahead.
With $15 each for delivery and haul away, the total came to $1029 and I did not have to pay 5% sales tax. I used the Citi Dividend card, so eventually I will get about $10 back and Whirlpool has a deal with Upromise that should net my account $35. My mother also gifted us $600 last fall to use toward a washing machine, so our net cost wasn't too high (thanks Mom!)
All in all a pretty expensive washing machine, but one that will use a lot less water and energy (it's a front loader), won't tear up our clothing, and I will be able to reach inside and help with the laundry (the current one is up to high and it's a sad sight to see me reaching for socks). This family of machines was very highly rated in Consumer Reports and apparently got clothes the cleanest.
If I had it to do all over again, I'd definitely go for a less expensive, smaller front loading model that maybe got slightly lower marks, but I am really excited for the day this washer gets delivered. Erin at SavvySaver has her fridge, I have my washer ;)
Update 8/19: The washer arrived on Wednesday and it turns out that putting the washer on that drawer base cost us an extra $20 (argh...but was so complicated it was probably worth it). Went in to pick up the receipt today and they gave us a $50 mail-in rebate from our energy company. I had known about that rebate and completely forgotten about it. Yay, fitty dollah!
With $15 each for delivery and haul away, the total came to $1029 and I did not have to pay 5% sales tax. I used the Citi Dividend card, so eventually I will get about $10 back and Whirlpool has a deal with Upromise that should net my account $35. My mother also gifted us $600 last fall to use toward a washing machine, so our net cost wasn't too high (thanks Mom!)
All in all a pretty expensive washing machine, but one that will use a lot less water and energy (it's a front loader), won't tear up our clothing, and I will be able to reach inside and help with the laundry (the current one is up to high and it's a sad sight to see me reaching for socks). This family of machines was very highly rated in Consumer Reports and apparently got clothes the cleanest.
If I had it to do all over again, I'd definitely go for a less expensive, smaller front loading model that maybe got slightly lower marks, but I am really excited for the day this washer gets delivered. Erin at SavvySaver has her fridge, I have my washer ;)
Update 8/19: The washer arrived on Wednesday and it turns out that putting the washer on that drawer base cost us an extra $20 (argh...but was so complicated it was probably worth it). Went in to pick up the receipt today and they gave us a $50 mail-in rebate from our energy company. I had known about that rebate and completely forgotten about it. Yay, fitty dollah!
Joined the Citi Dividend Card Bandwagon
We finally signed up for the Citi Platinum Dividend Card in the Gal Pal's name and it arrived last week. We've decided to use this as our main card and not limit it to groceries, gas and pharmacy. The 1% cash back we will get on other purchases is better than the 1% return in Amazon certificates...I'd rather have cash these days.
Within a week, the balance is already a bit plump due to the Mass "tax holiday" purchases (the planned washer purchase and some work clothes mostly) but I plan on paying this card off twice a month in line with my paydays to keep an eye on balances.
Oddly though, our gas and grocery purchases didn't seem to be accruing the dividend at the 5% rate yet. Anyone have insight?
Within a week, the balance is already a bit plump due to the Mass "tax holiday" purchases (the planned washer purchase and some work clothes mostly) but I plan on paying this card off twice a month in line with my paydays to keep an eye on balances.
Oddly though, our gas and grocery purchases didn't seem to be accruing the dividend at the 5% rate yet. Anyone have insight?
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