Tag Archives: spending

I’m Addicted to Soda (and Spending Lots of Money On It)

Hello, my name is Adam and I am addicted to soda. Believe it or not, that was hard for me to type. Although, as I write this, I have gone 3 days without a drop of soda (or caffeine for that matter) and the headaches have begun. Wish me luck on this tough task!

Where It All Began

I have been drinking soda for as long as I can remember. Both of my grandfathers drank it and I think that is where my addiction began. When I was younger, my one grandfather used to take me to the local distributor once a week to return his empty Pepsi bottles (they refilled them back then). While there, he allowed me to get a whole bottle of Pepsi and some Munchos (does anyone still eat those?) for the ride home. I used to drink Pepsi at both of my grandparents on a daily basis.

This trend continued throughout my life until Monday May 18, 2009. Since that date, I have pledged to stop drinking soda for my health and my wallet.

How Much Did This Addiction Cost Me?

I have never really thought about how much this addiction has cost me over the years, so I figured now was a good time to find out.

Past 5 Years

I would say that I have been paying for my own soda for that past 5 years. Now, let’s assume that the average price over those 5 years was $1.10 per 20 ounce bottle (that is usually what I drink) and I had 1 bottle per day for the entire year. That means I spent $2099 on soda over that time period! Sounds a bit ridiculous right?

Over a Lifetime

How much would I spend if I keep drinking soda over my lifetime? This requires a little time value of money but I will skip all of that and just give you the number. For this example I assumed that the average price of a 20 ounce soda is $1.25 now and it will increase by 3% (inflation) each year. I also assumed that I would continue to drink soda until age 75 (50 more years). Want to know what the final number is? I would spend just over $51,000 on soda alone!

Technically, I didn’t quit drinking soda because of money. I did it because I am starting to focus more on my health. As many of you know, soda is loaded with sugar and all of the caffeine cannot be good for you.  All I know is that this is going to be VERY HARD as I have not gone more than 3 days without soda in over 15 years. 

Anyone else have a costly “addiction”?

Credit Cards vs Debit Cards: Liability for Fraudulent Charges

This will probably be a short post but I still wanted to address this important topic. With many individuals now becoming victims of identity theft, it’s important to know the amounts that you may be liable for if your credit/debit card is stolen.

Debit Cards

As many of you already know, debit cards are typically linked to your checking account and give you instant access to the funds that you have in your account. It is different from a credit card because you are using your available funds to pay for the item and are not borrowing money. However, you should be careful of the unlimited overdrafts because those banks will just let you keep buying! That makes it possible to rack up hundreds of dollars in overdraft fees in one day.

Even though debit cards are typically praised for their ability to control spending, they can be rather costly if they are ever stolen. With a debit card, if you neglect to notify the bank within two days of it being stolen, you can be held liable for as much as $500! You may even have UNLIMITED liablity  if you fail to report an unauthorized transfer with sixty days of when the bank sent you the statement with the unauthorized transfer shown on it. Another bad thing about debit cards is that if your card is fraudulently used by someone that you previously gave your PIN to, you may be held responsible for all of their fraudulent charges. For example, if you gave your card to your nephew to use (and gave him your PIN) several months ago for $20 at the ATM and he later steals your card and wipes out $3000 in your checking, you will be held responsible for those charges.

My advice would be to contact your bank as soon as you notice that you debit card is gone. Even if you think you accidentally just left it at the grocery store, call them right away. It’s better to be safe than sorry and it might save you quite a few bucks. Both VISA and MasterCard have “zero liability” policies that limit fraudulent purchases used as a credit transaction (not using your PIN). However, they do not apply  when you use your debit card at an ATM and for many PIN purchases.

Credit Cards

Credit cards allow you to borrow money to pay for items. If you do not pay off the balance due at the end of the month, you will be charged interest on that borrowed money. While this can be risky (just ask the millions of Americans in credit card debt), the credit card does offer you better protection against fraudulent charges.

Thanks to the Truth in Lending Act, a credit card holders liability for a lost or stolen credit card is limited. If you notify the card issuer within two days of a lost or stolen card, you are not legally held responsible for any fraudulent charges. If you notify the card issuer after two days the most you can be held liable for is $50. Many credit card companies will waive this $50 charge as a good gesture.

Although you liability is more limited with credit cards, it’s still crucial that you contact the issuer as soon as you think your card has been misplaced.

Does anyone have card fraud experiences that would like to share? How much were you held liable for?

Saturday Sneak-Peak: PFfirewall.com

Welcome to this weeks edition of Saturday Sneak-Peak! Every week I explore a personal finance blog and give a brief review of the site. My major intent of the adventure is to expose everyone to new and/or obscure blogs. Up this week is PF Firewall.

Firstly, I want to congratulate Jesse. He and his wife added a new bundle of joy this past week! If you don’t click on any of the links, at least leave a comment and congratulate him on this great blessing (they had a girl). 🙂

Jesse has been blogging since February and has been know to have lengthy, well-thought out posts. He averages about 15 posts a month so those of you who do not like to be bombarded with posts, he is your guy!

Here are some of my favorite posts from him:

Selling Oil Changes Door-to-Door?

Shopping Out of Season

The Real Reason for Lehman Brothers’ Downfall

Now off to the questions!

YMR: Why did you want to start a personal finance blog and what blogs did you read before you started?

Jesse: I started my blog for several reasons. I am actually really new to the blog scene, I hadn’t even read any blogs previous to late 08 aside from The Consumerist, which I didn’t realize was a blog.

When reading The Consumerist, I read about a girl that paid off around $14k in debt by following some Consumerist tips. This led me to think about my debt which I was completely ignoring. One of the tips was to call credit card companies and ask for rates to be lowered, and if they didn’t lower the rate, transfer the balance to another credit card. While searching for credit cards with better rates, I happened on MyMoneyBlog.com, which led me to a few other personal finance blogs including GetRichSlowly.com, BudgetsAreSexy.com and BrokeAsASpoke.com and I was hooked on Personal Finance blogs. I started following blog networks and finding more and more blogs about personal finance to read.

So I decided to start a personal finance blog to track my finances. I also thought if my finances were out there in the open, I would be more accountable and wouldn’t be able to ignore my financial incompetencies.

A second reason, I have always felt like teaching is the best way to learn. By researching what I want to write about, I learn so much about finance from those out there that know more about it than I do, then I can share the information with my readers knowing it is accurate.

Yet another reason was that I am a pretty big geek, and having my own website is one of those things that I wanted to do, coded completely from scratch of course. I had started several websites from scratch but none of them really had a purpose so I would code them, put them up and never update them. I felt like this was holding me back from learning more about web development, so I thought if I started a blog that was really easy to update, using a blog engine like WordPress instead of coding from scratch, I could get the content rolling, get motivated, then be able to spend time coding and modding the blog. I am happy to say this is working. I recently released a new custom theme for my blog, I have been doing a ton of design work in photoshop such as logos, banners and icons, and I have even been hired to redesign someone elses blog.

I even started another site coded from scratch with a purpose/idea that I found while writing my blog. This new site hasn’t really gone public yet as I am still designing it but it fills my geeky void 😉

YMR: Which post (on your site) has been your favorite and why?

Jesse: I think my favorite post was The Most Important Part Is Starting: Debt Recovery and the reason is I felt like the post, massive as it was, was really going to help people. The post was spurred by a friend that was having trouble getting started on the road to debt recovery. I realized there may be more people out there like her that have no clue on how to get started repaying debt so I was really happy to be able to help a friend out as well as anyone else that may read the post.

YMR: How would you describe your writing style?

Jesse: Another reason I started my blog that I left for this section is that I wanted to use my blog to start a writing portfolio. I have always loved to write and thought of doing some freelance writing but I have no public writing experience.

So my writing style reflects this desire. I write as if I am writing for a newspaper. Factual, informative and to the point. I try to hold myself to professional standards. I am known to be long winded but I want to make sure I cover all the facts and leave nothing out that may be important. On that same note I try and make the information more understandable as if I am talking to my readers versus writing to them.

YMR: Tell us something about yourself that some may not know.

Jesse: I am much geekier than I let on in my blog. I am a Linux user..I worked on the Geek Squad when I was younger..and even my TV is running on Linux. I even switched keyboard layouts to be more efficient when typing. I use the Dvorak instead of QWERTY layout and now type a few dozen words per minute faster than I used to. It took about a year to fully switch.

I am much geekier than I let on in my blog. I am a Linux user..I worked on the Geek Squad when I was younger..and even my TV is running on Linux. I even switched keyboard layouts to be more efficient when typing. I use the Dvorak instead of QWERTY layout and now type a few dozen words per minute faster than I used to. It took about a year to fully switch.

YMR: Tell me a little bit more about this financial highway adoption you got going on.

Jesse: Well, I started my blog to be more financially responsible yet I spent about a hundred dollars on hosting. I knew it was necessary especially on the commitment and motivation side but I felt bad about it. Even before I started trying to get my finances in order, I had a real hard time spending money on myself for any reason. Even my play sites that I mentioned before were hosted on my home computer, making them unbearably slow. I couldn’t bring myself to ask for donations in the traditional way because I felt like a hypocrite, telling people to save money yet asking them to give me money. So I started thinking of ways I could reduce the cost of my blog without asking for a hand out.

My adoption system does just that. When someone adopts my blog, they pay a small piece of my costs, roughly the cost of hosting per year divided on a weekly basis, and in return get recognition from my readers for doing so. They get a banner in every post of their week and a banner on a dedicated page, forever.

I also want my readers to feel like they are a part of the little community my blog creates. Through the people that have adopted so far I have made some great contacts and friends, and gotten to know some of the bloggers that read my blog much better.

Thanks Jesse! Have a great weekend everyone! I am heading off to PA so limited posting this weekend.

9 Quick and Easy Tips to Prevent Identity Theft

Identity theft occurs when another individual uses your personal information, like your Social Security number and drivers license, to commit fraud or other crimes. In general, the FTC estimates that as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year. With a majority of things now done electronically, consumers should be extra cautious when doing even the most basic of tasks.

In order to help you fend off identity theft, I have compiled this list of 9 easy tips for you to follow. They are very easy to implement and can be completed with ease.

1. Clean Out Your Wallet

Many people do not realize how much information is in their wallet. Typical Americans carry several credit/debit cards, a driver’s license, insurance cards, etc. Some people even carry their Social Security card with them. If your wallet is stolen, the thief will have all of the information that they need. They would have your name, address, Social Security number and major credit card number. They can do a lot of damage with just that info.

It’s recommended that you take as much personal information out of your wallet as possible. You should only be carrying one major credit and debit card, your drivers license, insurance cards and other discount cards. You should NEVER carry your Social Security card in your wallet. Only carrying one credit card will help you keep track of them better. If you are carrying 7 credit cards, you may not notice if one were to go missing. That’s just what the thief wants to happen.

2. Keep an Eye on Your Statements

Keeping a close watch on your bank and credit card statements will allow you to notice problems before them become to large to handle. If you notice an inconsistency, let your bank or credit card company know as soon as possible. The sooner you let them know, the better chance you have of getting the charges removed. Credit cards and debit cards have different limits for liablity in cases like these.

3. Buy Yourself a Paper Shredder

This is one of the most important steps because many identity thieves are dumpster divers. In other words, they rummage through your garbage in search of documents with your personal information on them. Shredding all of these documents stops them dead in their tracks. I recommend getting a middle of the line shredder from Staples. The larger ones can handle more pages and have larger baskets so you do not have to empty them as much. However, if you cannot afford a more expensive one, a basic one from a discount store will do the trick. It’s better to have a cheap one than none at all.

You can also guard against dumpster divers by decreasing your junk mail. Head over to the three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, Transunion) and have them take you off the pre-approved credit marketing lists. That will eliminate half of your shredding! You can also go to www.optoutprescreen.com to complete the task faster.

4. Check Your Credit Report Often and For Free

Your credit report contains your Social Security number, present and prior employees, account numbers from creditors, etc. Monitoring this will help you spot inconsistencies quickly. If you find one, make sure you contact the credit bureaus to dispute the charge, late fee, new account, etc. If something doesn’t look right, it probably isn’t.

I recommend checking your credit report every three months at www.annualcreditreport.com.This is a free service offered by the three credit bureaus. Avoid companies such as freecreditreport.com because you must first sign up for the credit monitoring program (which costs $) before getting the report.

5. Secure Your Security Passwords

Do not place all of your security passwords on a piece of paper and carry it around with you. That’s like giving the keys of your car to a car thief and saying “take it”. Try as hard as you can to memorize all of your passwords but be sure to omit personal information from them. Do not make your bank account password your date of birth, anniversary, pets name, etc. They are what thieves will try first. If you must write down passwords, place them in a fireproof safe in your home and have it bolted to the concrete floor. Yes, your passwords are that important!

6. Don’t Give Out Personal Information to People You Don’t Know

Sounds ridiculous right? Well, many individuals do just that on a daily basis. Whether it’s people giving their Social Security number to a Saudi Prince that contacted them from Gmail or a “creditor” that called them at 9PM, it happens often. Whatever you do, do not give out your personal information to anyone unless you initiated the call and know who you are talking to. If someone calls your home and asks you to verify your account by giving your Social Security number, do not do it. Ask if you can call the company directly and solve the matter. If they agree, do not call the number that they give you. Make sure you look up the number for the company yourself. If they do not agree and insist that you give them your personal information, hang up. The same goes with online emails. If the email says that it is urgent that you sign on and verify information, chances are it is a Phishing email. They (identity thieves) are trying to get you to go to a fake website where you enter in your info so they can copy it.

7. Wipe Your Computer Data Clean

Selling or donating a computer? Make sure you delete all information off of it beforehand. Deleting a file, partitioning a disk, or formatting your hard drive will not erase hard drive data. I repeat, just reformatting your hard drive will not erase personal information from your hard drive. Because of this, many identity thieves have been targeting used and donated computers. Shield yourself from this by doing a complete hard drive erase using a program such as WipeDrive.

8. Skip the Mailbox

If you have something to mail, take it straight to the post office (or one of the blue USPS boxes). Placing mail in your mailbox invites thieves to take your mail (and your personal information). Don’t have time to make it to the post office? Is the post office too far? If so, invest in a mail box that locks. That way, your mail will always be safe and sound inside the box where no one can get it. They can run a little pricey but it does not compare to the amount of money you may lose if your identity is stolen.

Going on vacation? Have the post office hold your mail until you return. This way you do not have a stockpile of mail in your box.

9. Know Who to Call If You Suspect Fraud

If something looks strange on your credit report, chances are you are a victim of credit fraud. Having copies of all of your account numbers and customer service numbers (in a locked safe of course), will make the process of reporting fraud much easier. It also pays to call them ASAP because it will help limit your liability in the matter.

There are also services out their such as LifeLock that will handle much of these problems for you. They have a program called WalletLock that will assist you in contacting your creditors in the event your wallet is stolen. They also have a generous $1,000,000 guarantee . They state that if your identity is stolen while a member of LifeLock, they are willing to spend up to $1,000,000 to help you get your good name back. Click here to get a 10% discount on LifeLock.

As mentioned before, identity theft is no laughing matter. Just ask the estimated 9 million individuals that have had their identity stolen over the past year. Follow these steps and stop identity theft in its tracks. It’s always better to be safe than sorry!

Car Wash Costs May Make You Think Twice

This is a guest post from the future Mrs Adam. As you will see, her writing style is quite different from mine and hopefully it will give you a break from my mundane babble. Hopefully, I can get her to post some more things in the future.

car wash @ new york cityWith summer time right around the corner, I felt it necessary to give some insight on the grand task of washing the car. Most of us lead very busy lives with hectic schedules, many places to go and people to see. This type of schedule often leads to slacking in certain areas like washing our vehicles. Since we spend a good penny on our automobiles and should want to keep them clean, most of us probably find ourselves saying, “Thank God for the car wash”! Right? After all, some of us do not want to go through the hassle of reeling out the hose and filling up the sudsy bucket to spend an hour scrubbing away on the car. Especially when in 5 quick minutes you can be through a car wash with a spick and span ride. I say, to everyone that is thinking they are very guilty of being sucked into the car wash all too often, wait a minute and at least listen to what I have to say. Keep in mind that I am in no means discrediting the local car wash because after all, it has been there for me when I needed it most.

As far as costs go, it should be very obvious to us that it is expensive to go to a car wash (I am mostly referring to the kind that has all the wishy-washy scrubbers that you drive through and has an air dry at the end). For instance, to go to the car wash you can pay anywhere from $5-$8 depending on the type of “wash” you get. The more expensive washes claim to wash extra areas and sometimes even include a clear coat rinse. We may never know if these items, worth more money, are truly worth it. Anyway, if you were to purchase one of these car washes twice a month for a year, and let’s say you purchase the most expensive one because you are easily persuaded by all the extras, it comes to a total cost of $208 dollars. $16 dollars a month may not seem like a lot, but I know I would rather have it in my wallet to use for other items like milk, eggs, and bread at the grocery store. Some of us would probably never use the car wash that frequently, but there are some out there that may even go as far as once a week to the car wash…which is $32 dollars a month (perhaps those of us more obsessed about having a nice looking ride all of the time). With things like rain and dirt appearing all too often, I would say it’s not worth going that often.

Let’s list some benefits of going to the car wash:

1) It’s a place to go for those who do not have a place to wash

2) It’s quick

3) It’s convenient for people who do not have patience or interest in washing their own car.

Some pitfalls to going to the car wash are:

1) It is expensive!

2) It does not clean all the nooks and crannies of your car. There are always spots that still need cleaned after paying at the car wash

3) You have no control over what is being used on your car (soap, scrubbers, etc)

4) The drying process. If you have gone to one of those car washes that offer the “blow dry” feature at the end, then you already know that it never really gets your car dry. What ends up happening is an $8 car wash that should have made your car look awesome leaves it looking mediocre because either dust clings to your wet car when driving away or you ended up with water spots all over your car.

Now let’s take a closer look at washing the car yourself. You can go out and purchase all the items needed to wash a car for under $20. Once these items are purchased, you are as good as gold for a while, perhaps months, as long as you have access to a hose and a place to wash. This could end up saving you a lot of cash in the long run. Other than saving money, there are many other benefits to washing the car yourself.

The benefits of washing your car yourself are:

1) It gets you good exercise! Getting out and scrubbing the car is a great way to burn calories

2) During the nicer times of year it is a nice way to get outside to get some fresh air and sun. Even if it’s hot outside, just give yourself a mist with the hose. It actually feels pretty good!

3) You will get a much more detailed wash. Washing your car by hand gives you the ability to clean everything properly down to removing those pesky bugs that get plastered on the front bumper in the summertime. As mentioned before, the car wash will never remove all the dirt and grime, especially bug guts!

4) You have total control over the products used to clean your car. It is important to use decent car wash soap as well as a soft scrubber. Avoid scrubbers loaded with dirt and grime because the small particles could scratch the paint on your car. Ever wonder what kind of build up is in the scrubbers at the car wash?

5) The drying process. At home you can use a shammy to properly dry your vehicle to avoid water spots from appearing on your newly cleaned car

6) Pride. It is always nice to take a step back and look at a job well done after washing the car. There is nothing more satisfying than a nice shiny car

The pitfalls to washing your own car are:

1) You hate to wash the car

2) You do not have a sufficient place to wash the car

Now, I know that there are some of you out there that have read this, but still insist on using the local car wash for most of your washes and you have your reasons. But hopefully some of you that have been falling into the car wash routine will see the benefits to washing yourself and try it more often. I personally LOVE washing my car. It is a good stress reliever, I feel like I am getting some exercise, and I know that since I am paying a lot of my money for my car, I should be the one taking care of it.

Here are some tips for washing the car:

Many people may not know this, but DISH SOAP is VERY BAD for the paint on your car. Avoid using it at all costs. You can purchase soap specifically made to wash the car at any auto store and places like Walmart, Target, Sears, etc. I use soap by Turtle Wax that claims to put a waxy finish on your car. It’s nice.

If you truly want to keep your car in good shape, then taking care of the finish is important. Waxing the vehicle is essential in keeping the finish like new. Wax blocks harmful things from eating away at the paint on your car. You should wax your car AT LEAST once a year, but I would suggest every 6 months especially right after winter when your paint finish has been exposed to things like salt and calcium from the roads.

Lastly, Tires. To make your car have a complete clean look, cleaning your tires is important. Nothing compliments a clean shiny car more than a set of black shiny tires. Use a spray on foam from brands like Armor All after you are finished washing to make the tires look slick.

Any suggestions from other car washers out there on products that work for you would be great!

After reading this article are you more inspired to wash the car yourself, or will you continue to use the car wash despite of costs?

Creative Commons License photo credit: pixel0908

How to Choose Credit Cards With Rewards to Save Money – Part 2

This is the 2nd part of Mr Credit Card’s guest post. In the previous post, he focused primarily on how to choose a cash back card to save money. In this post, he is going to discuss more about reward cards that let you earn points. His site has lots of information and you can apply for a credit card there.

In this post, I am going to give a few tips on how to choose a credit card to earn reward points. The decision you have to make is what rewards you want to earn with your points. There are a few broad categories of rewards that are available with most credit cards.

Travel Rewards – These include airline tickets, hotel stays, car rentals, cruises etc.

Merchandise – Most credit card reward programs have partnered up with various retailers and brands to offer their products to their card holders who exchange them for reward points. For example, you may exchange a certain amount of points to get, say, a Nikon Digital Camera.

Gift Cards – You can also exchange points for gift cards. A typical example would be to exchange 10,000 points for a $100 Best Buy Gift Card.

Charity – Most reward programs also allow you to donate points (for cash) to charities (though I doubt that is the intention of most reward card holders).

Travel Rewards

Most people looking for a reward credit card want to redeem points for airline tickets. The decision they would have to make us whether to get an airline credit card or a credit card with reward programs.

This dilemma is probably the toughest to resolve in any credit card decision because it involves so many factors. You have to ask yourself the following :

1. How Often Do You Fly?

2. Do You Fly with Just One Airline or Many?

3. Do You Spend A Lot on Your Card?

If You Just Fly on One Airline

If you just fly on one airline, then it make sense just to get a frequent flyer credit card.

If You Have Fly on a Few Airlines

If you fly on a few airlines and are a member of a few frequent flier programs, there are a couple of alternatives. For example, the American Express Membership Rewards allows you to transfer points you earn on Amex charge cards to 17 frequent flier miles. This is very valuable and is the reason why Amex is so popular.

The starwood preferred guest program allows you to convert Starwood points to air miles on a one for one ratio for most frequent flyer programs and you even get a bonus 5,000 miles if you transfer 20,000 points. Many frequent travelers carry the Starwood credit card.

If You Are Not a Frequent Flier But Want to Use Points for Airline Tickets

For those do not travel but want to earn points for an airline ticket for a family vacation, most regular reward credit cards should work. These days, most programs allow you to book your own tickets and use points t0 cover for them. That is the advantage they have over frequent flier programs because there are fewer restrictions like blackout dates, etc. that come with regular frequent flyer programs.

Merchandise

Choosing a reward credit card for merchandise redemption is a little tough because it is very difficult to compare the breadth of products available in their catalogs as they are always changing. Furthermore, some programs require less points for certain items but more for others. But generally speaking, after much research, I’ve found the Membership Rewards from AMEX to have the best selection of merchandise in their catalog.

Gift Cards

For those who want to use points for gift cards, the best card to get is probably the Discover Card as it has over 100 partners. The Discover Cards allow you to earn cash rebates and if you redeem them for gift cards instead, you double the value of the gift cards you redeem for certain merchants.

Donating to Charity

If you are a charitable person and would like to donate to charities by your credit, most reward programs allow you to do that. Some have many partners while others have just a few. The better ones like American Express allow you to set up your card such that you automatically donate to charities every month.

Shopping With Your Credit Card

Most credit cards today have their own shopping site and partnerships with online retailers so that you can actually earn more points or get discounts when you use your card.

For example, Discover has this feature called shopdiscover.com. The way it works is that you can shop at say bestbuy.com (but going through the discover website) and you can earn 5% rebates when you use your Discover card to shop at their site. American Express has a shopping comparison site called shopamex.com, which lets you compare many items with different retailers. You can then shop at the cheapest online store and even use your reward points to shop.

Most card holders do not use this feature. But you should, since you can save quite a bit by doing so.

Other Considerations

When you are researching credit cards, other things to consider are:

1. Do reward points expire

2. Is there a cap to how many points you can earn?

3. How many points you do earn for every dollar that you spend on the card? For most, it will be one point, but many cards lets you earn more points for certain category in spending.

Final Note – While savvy frequent travelers have always used reward cards to their advantage, most credit card holders don’t. To fully take advantage of credit cards (rather than let them take advantage of you), make sure you pay in full, get a card with rewards (whether it be cash back or reward points). You will enjoy savings and perks in many interesting ways.