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Thursday, August 31, 2006
Actually doing a balance transfer
So things are set for me to do this 0% balance transfer thing - I just Really, Really Hate writing a check for SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS. See, it feels to me like I'm not actually getting anywhere with this debt, but I know that I am. This is partially because I paid off one of my school loans with a 3.9% check - and that was about $2200, on top of the $5100 or so I had on there already. This was only in May so I have only paid down about $500 since then. But I do seem to be making headway in interest charges - the student loan charged about $40 monthly in interest which is more than I pay in interest all month for the $7k credit card debt.
I am however cringing a little at the thought of paying $75 (the balance transfer fee) to put this debt on the 0% deal - which will only last till July 2007. But I'm doing it because at $25 a month in interest, that means that it'll be financially equivalent to leaving it on there and paying interest for three more months, and then for the next eight months or so I won't be paying any interest, saving about $200. Which is $200 more that is applied to principal, since I won't change the payment amount (actually I will be paying more on it.)
This is another one of those instances where people tend to get a little bit flippant about amounts of money that they would pull over to scoop up off the interstate. $200 is a LOT of money when it's in my checking account, but somehow it doesn't seem like very much money spread out over eleven months, and even less so when it's just money I'm NOT being charged, instead of money I'm being given. But it works out the same to be given money as to not have money taken away, I guess. It just feels better to get stuff.
So I bit the bullet and am doing the necessary shuffling (making sure the card is completely paid off before doing the transfer, raising my limit, etc) in order to do this balance transfer, and when July approaches next year, I will do the necessary steps to transfer it back to the other card (hopefully also with a 0% deal.) Or, if necessary, even to open a new card that will give me a 0% deal. Although I have three cards, so eventually somebody's got to send me another deal - they do about every two months.
My actual net worth won't be changing as a result of this (other than the $75 fee) but hopefully the debt will be paid down $200 faster over the course of this year. If I stay on track with the $250 per month payment, I should be transferring back about half of what I transferred in. Maybe less if I throw more money at it. We'll see how things go - I think this is good progress.
I am however cringing a little at the thought of paying $75 (the balance transfer fee) to put this debt on the 0% deal - which will only last till July 2007. But I'm doing it because at $25 a month in interest, that means that it'll be financially equivalent to leaving it on there and paying interest for three more months, and then for the next eight months or so I won't be paying any interest, saving about $200. Which is $200 more that is applied to principal, since I won't change the payment amount (actually I will be paying more on it.)
This is another one of those instances where people tend to get a little bit flippant about amounts of money that they would pull over to scoop up off the interstate. $200 is a LOT of money when it's in my checking account, but somehow it doesn't seem like very much money spread out over eleven months, and even less so when it's just money I'm NOT being charged, instead of money I'm being given. But it works out the same to be given money as to not have money taken away, I guess. It just feels better to get stuff.
So I bit the bullet and am doing the necessary shuffling (making sure the card is completely paid off before doing the transfer, raising my limit, etc) in order to do this balance transfer, and when July approaches next year, I will do the necessary steps to transfer it back to the other card (hopefully also with a 0% deal.) Or, if necessary, even to open a new card that will give me a 0% deal. Although I have three cards, so eventually somebody's got to send me another deal - they do about every two months.
My actual net worth won't be changing as a result of this (other than the $75 fee) but hopefully the debt will be paid down $200 faster over the course of this year. If I stay on track with the $250 per month payment, I should be transferring back about half of what I transferred in. Maybe less if I throw more money at it. We'll see how things go - I think this is good progress.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
What's in Carleton Sheets' No Down Payment Real Estate Program kit?
I ordered this trial from DealBarbie and was morbidly curious to see what's inside. The kit is actually quite pretty, with three shiny black boxes (steps 1, 2, and 3) with metallic bands. The first "step" box has some DVDs I didn't watch, and a guide that presumably goes along with the DVD, which is actually not bad. It's basically a long list of all the things you should do when you are establishing credit, looking for properties, buying properties, various kinds of lease arrangements, landlord tips, selling properties, like-kind exchanges, etc etc. One loooong checklist, but I think a lot of this stuff is probably new to a lot of people for whom this is their first exposure to buying or owning real estate. So it's a pretty good little guide. This box also has a Helpline brochure with a rather scary smiling man on it.. makes me a little nervous. Step 1's title is The First 30 Days, but presumably one is not expected to do all of these steps in the booklet in 30 days. You could probably do a lot of it, though, especially if your credit is already good and you already have money.
Box 2 is the main program, and it comes with a fat pack of audio cd's - there is a little label on the front that says "easy listening". So presumably Sheets does not berate you. He seems like a friendly enough man, although it is a little odd that the same picture of him is used over and over. It also has three manuals included.
The first seems to be primarily to teach you to think like an investor - and to see real estate as the best investment there is. It talks about setting goals, time management, creativity - and also more mundane things like your credit (again) and how to work with other people in the real estate world. It's not any worse than any other self-help book, but I can't help thinking that people who are really great at setting goals, have good time management, and are very creative and driven probably already have a business of their own. I don't think being creative is something you can nurture, unless you have been unnaturally stifled. Some people are just boring.
Manual 2 covers a lot of mundane stuff - I bet many people who bought this kit hoping to get rich quickly are going to be very disappointed that one of the important skills you need in getting rich quickly is good telephone note-taking skills. It also covers valuation, getting financing (creative financing, that is), lease options, negotiation, and legalese you need to know. This manual seems a lot more useful for people who already feel comfortable in real estate - presumably you spent your first 30 days doing this.
Manual 3 is pretty technical. It starts out by telling you how to buy "distressed properties", but is somewhat light on how to find these. There is information other places though. A small piece on like-kind exchanges, then how to actually manage the property (presumably if you are holding it long-term), buying trailers (or "mobile homes"), working out a partnership, and a big section entitled "Harnessing The Power of the Internet" which seems to me like it could have its own manual. Seriously, who's going to write the next book on how to get rich quick on real estate you've never seen? That seems like the next step. The back has a continuing education quiz, which you can send in to Sheets' Professional Education Institute, whose CE credits may or may not matter to anybody at all. I wonder if he will come and take away your title of "real estate investor" if you don't do enough continuing ed?
Last is Box 3 - which I get to keep even after the 30 day trial, as Sheets' special gift to me. This box is a combination of useful and annoying. Useful includes: a neat mortgage amortization and payment estimation slidey-chart thing and a bunch of standard real-estate forms. Annoying includes two DVDs about distressed properties and getting cash out at closing (which is usually a terrible idea for long-term holders) as well as a CD from one of his students who made a bunch of money, and some more shiny promotional stuff.
All in all, I think that this kit (at least the first two boxes) is at least as useful, or perhaps more useful than buying a book on real estate investing, but this kit comes at it from the perspective of a completely new investor, which many of the books don't. However, I'm not sure what else they can really offer you beyond this point that simply having someone in your life to bounce ideas off of wouldn't. The helpline seems like you're basically paying to rent a friend who's knowledgeable in real estate - they can't go with you to see a property, or sympathize with you when a tenant trashes your house, but I guess they could help you on some matters. (Although probably not complicated legal ones, which is where a lot of people will get tangled.) The program does encourage you to check in with bank personnel, inspectors, brokers, anybody with experience, to help you out.
I'd say that the trial kit is worth the $10, but I doubt that's how much it would actually cost to KEEP this kit. So it'll be going back - I'm not that desperate for a paid-for telephone friend. (Actually, when I cancelled, the guy was really pretty nice and very cheerful..)
Box 2 is the main program, and it comes with a fat pack of audio cd's - there is a little label on the front that says "easy listening". So presumably Sheets does not berate you. He seems like a friendly enough man, although it is a little odd that the same picture of him is used over and over. It also has three manuals included.
The first seems to be primarily to teach you to think like an investor - and to see real estate as the best investment there is. It talks about setting goals, time management, creativity - and also more mundane things like your credit (again) and how to work with other people in the real estate world. It's not any worse than any other self-help book, but I can't help thinking that people who are really great at setting goals, have good time management, and are very creative and driven probably already have a business of their own. I don't think being creative is something you can nurture, unless you have been unnaturally stifled. Some people are just boring.
Manual 2 covers a lot of mundane stuff - I bet many people who bought this kit hoping to get rich quickly are going to be very disappointed that one of the important skills you need in getting rich quickly is good telephone note-taking skills. It also covers valuation, getting financing (creative financing, that is), lease options, negotiation, and legalese you need to know. This manual seems a lot more useful for people who already feel comfortable in real estate - presumably you spent your first 30 days doing this.
Manual 3 is pretty technical. It starts out by telling you how to buy "distressed properties", but is somewhat light on how to find these. There is information other places though. A small piece on like-kind exchanges, then how to actually manage the property (presumably if you are holding it long-term), buying trailers (or "mobile homes"), working out a partnership, and a big section entitled "Harnessing The Power of the Internet" which seems to me like it could have its own manual. Seriously, who's going to write the next book on how to get rich quick on real estate you've never seen? That seems like the next step. The back has a continuing education quiz, which you can send in to Sheets' Professional Education Institute, whose CE credits may or may not matter to anybody at all. I wonder if he will come and take away your title of "real estate investor" if you don't do enough continuing ed?
Last is Box 3 - which I get to keep even after the 30 day trial, as Sheets' special gift to me. This box is a combination of useful and annoying. Useful includes: a neat mortgage amortization and payment estimation slidey-chart thing and a bunch of standard real-estate forms. Annoying includes two DVDs about distressed properties and getting cash out at closing (which is usually a terrible idea for long-term holders) as well as a CD from one of his students who made a bunch of money, and some more shiny promotional stuff.
All in all, I think that this kit (at least the first two boxes) is at least as useful, or perhaps more useful than buying a book on real estate investing, but this kit comes at it from the perspective of a completely new investor, which many of the books don't. However, I'm not sure what else they can really offer you beyond this point that simply having someone in your life to bounce ideas off of wouldn't. The helpline seems like you're basically paying to rent a friend who's knowledgeable in real estate - they can't go with you to see a property, or sympathize with you when a tenant trashes your house, but I guess they could help you on some matters. (Although probably not complicated legal ones, which is where a lot of people will get tangled.) The program does encourage you to check in with bank personnel, inspectors, brokers, anybody with experience, to help you out.
I'd say that the trial kit is worth the $10, but I doubt that's how much it would actually cost to KEEP this kit. So it'll be going back - I'm not that desperate for a paid-for telephone friend. (Actually, when I cancelled, the guy was really pretty nice and very cheerful..)
Monday, August 28, 2006
Question of the Day up at Money and Values
Another Honor Roll blogger hosts today's Question - Money and Values. She asks: Do you involve your values in your money decisions? If so, what are some examples? If not, why not?
Anybody taken H&R Block's tax course?
I was thinking about taking H&R Block's income tax course (so I can do my own as they get more complicated, and possibly do seasonal work for them) but I wanted to know if you had taken one or worked for them. I think it sounds interesting, as I'm the sort of person who jumps at the chance to do their taxes, but I wanted to know what other people's experiences were.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
My retirement number.. wanna see?
I bet you do. It's a whopper. Of course, everybody's is a whopper. And it's really important to factor in what assumptions you make about the world. My extremely conservative (financial, not lifestyle) assumption is that I will not get married but will have at least one child. (Because you can't always count on somebody else's income.)
Desired income in 2006 dollars: $50,000 tax-free
Desired income in 2041, 38 years from now (when I will be 60): $150,000
This assumes about 3% inflation, which may or may not happen.
Assumed income from Social Security: $0
It seems to me to be cutting it too close to the wire to have to assume that you will get $8k or $10k a year in today's money from Social Security. I don't think that it will be totally kaput, but the amount is so small that I would rather assume that it will just be extra.
Amount that I will need if I intend to retire at 60 without touching principal (probably not, but I'd like to have the option): $3 million
Amount that I actually intend to shoot for (because I don't intend to leave anybody a huge amount): $2.5 million
How I plan to get there:
I am going to try like hell to keep as much money as I can in Roth IRAs. Now hopefully someday I will make enough money to be disqualified for these (ha! haha!) but I'll probably always be able to contribute. So taxes should not be a huge issue for me in retirement. I don't know what my situation will be 401(k)-wise in the future, but I will make funding a Roth each year a priority as much as possible.
I have no idea what's going to happen in my life in the next years. In my plans, I'm basically making the years between now and 30 a big black box. I am just getting started in my career, haven't settled on a place to live, bought a house, gotten married, had any children, or any of those big milestones. I don't make much now, but I hope that I will make more in the future, and so my financial goal for between now and then is basically "save as much damn money as possible". So I actually have two "retirement numbers" - one to get to by retirement itself, and one to get to by 30 to assure that I will have a much better shot at making the real number. Thus, my goal to have in retirement-only money by 30: $75,000
Why $75,000? Well, I've played with a LOT of calculators, and I've determined that if I have at least $75,000 by 30, and growth in my accounts is at least 8%, I can reduce retirement contributions to about $5,000 per year (which hopefully will all be in a Roth) and I will land pretty close to my goal. If my return is not doing so hot, I'll be able to bump it up and get closer to the goal. But the important thing is that if I DON'T take advantage of the time that I have, and contribute serious amounts of money before I get much older, I will NOT be able to simply add a few dollars when I get older and still reach my goal. If I DON'T start now, I will need to contribute some very serious amounts of cash in order to reach even a modest income in retirement. And I'd like to have a decent income - hopefully I'll still be hale and hearty, and most importantly I'll be able to retire at a young enough age that I can still go out and enjoy the money that I worked so much to save, instead of staying home and eating stew with my dentures.
But, you say, you have no money now! You're at your first job, making the least you (hopefully) will ever make, and yet you are saving like mad! Why not wait until you are older and have more money? Well, more money does overcome inflation and (with enough) even the potential returns I might make. But the thing is, right now I also have the lowest EXPENSES I will ever have. As said above, I don't have any children, a mortgage, or even a car. In the future, I will need that higher income to pay for all these things, and it's going to be a pinch if I'm trying to save money for retirement while trying to pay for all of the necessities of an ever-expanding life. By scrimping now, I'm freeing up money in the budget of my future self - so that having an extra child or a bigger house or a second car will be something that I can financially take in stride. I'm a big planner and I try to avoid as many expensive things as possible, financially speaking - and so if none of these expensive things happen, then I can save the money and have an even nicer retirement. But if expensive things do happen, I can cover my ass now and also cover my ass in retirement. No cat food needed.
Desired income in 2006 dollars: $50,000 tax-free
Desired income in 2041, 38 years from now (when I will be 60): $150,000
This assumes about 3% inflation, which may or may not happen.
Assumed income from Social Security: $0
It seems to me to be cutting it too close to the wire to have to assume that you will get $8k or $10k a year in today's money from Social Security. I don't think that it will be totally kaput, but the amount is so small that I would rather assume that it will just be extra.
Amount that I will need if I intend to retire at 60 without touching principal (probably not, but I'd like to have the option): $3 million
Amount that I actually intend to shoot for (because I don't intend to leave anybody a huge amount): $2.5 million
How I plan to get there:
I am going to try like hell to keep as much money as I can in Roth IRAs. Now hopefully someday I will make enough money to be disqualified for these (ha! haha!) but I'll probably always be able to contribute. So taxes should not be a huge issue for me in retirement. I don't know what my situation will be 401(k)-wise in the future, but I will make funding a Roth each year a priority as much as possible.
I have no idea what's going to happen in my life in the next years. In my plans, I'm basically making the years between now and 30 a big black box. I am just getting started in my career, haven't settled on a place to live, bought a house, gotten married, had any children, or any of those big milestones. I don't make much now, but I hope that I will make more in the future, and so my financial goal for between now and then is basically "save as much damn money as possible". So I actually have two "retirement numbers" - one to get to by retirement itself, and one to get to by 30 to assure that I will have a much better shot at making the real number. Thus, my goal to have in retirement-only money by 30: $75,000
Why $75,000? Well, I've played with a LOT of calculators, and I've determined that if I have at least $75,000 by 30, and growth in my accounts is at least 8%, I can reduce retirement contributions to about $5,000 per year (which hopefully will all be in a Roth) and I will land pretty close to my goal. If my return is not doing so hot, I'll be able to bump it up and get closer to the goal. But the important thing is that if I DON'T take advantage of the time that I have, and contribute serious amounts of money before I get much older, I will NOT be able to simply add a few dollars when I get older and still reach my goal. If I DON'T start now, I will need to contribute some very serious amounts of cash in order to reach even a modest income in retirement. And I'd like to have a decent income - hopefully I'll still be hale and hearty, and most importantly I'll be able to retire at a young enough age that I can still go out and enjoy the money that I worked so much to save, instead of staying home and eating stew with my dentures.
But, you say, you have no money now! You're at your first job, making the least you (hopefully) will ever make, and yet you are saving like mad! Why not wait until you are older and have more money? Well, more money does overcome inflation and (with enough) even the potential returns I might make. But the thing is, right now I also have the lowest EXPENSES I will ever have. As said above, I don't have any children, a mortgage, or even a car. In the future, I will need that higher income to pay for all these things, and it's going to be a pinch if I'm trying to save money for retirement while trying to pay for all of the necessities of an ever-expanding life. By scrimping now, I'm freeing up money in the budget of my future self - so that having an extra child or a bigger house or a second car will be something that I can financially take in stride. I'm a big planner and I try to avoid as many expensive things as possible, financially speaking - and so if none of these expensive things happen, then I can save the money and have an even nicer retirement. But if expensive things do happen, I can cover my ass now and also cover my ass in retirement. No cat food needed.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Getting a puppy = upgrading your lifestyle?
(A rerun of an article I wrote as a guest columnist at Five Cent Nickel a few months ago.)
My coworker brought in her brand new puppy for Monday and Tuesday, since temporarily there was no one at home to watch her, and I instantly had adorable-thing jealousy. She was a really sweet puppy, and when she went home Monday I was quite anxious for her to return on Tuesday. Getting to play with this tiny creature instantly reignited the I Want A Dog desire which had been relatively dormant since I left for college.
Right now I live in a two bedroom apartment with my boyfriend, two guinea pigs, and a cat. While we do have our own front door, we don't have a backyard or a deck or anything. When we were looking for a place to live, I really really really Really wanted something with a backyard, so that having a dog would be a possibility. (I'm more of a larger-dog person - so a shih tzu wouldn't really be up my alley.) We looked at a duplex with a wonderful fenced backyard, which was directly next to a large field, and I almost went for it because of the backyard. Never mind that the street was Very Scary - everyone else had pit bulls and long-unmowed lawns and I think there were rats in the field. Also, directly across the street was a teen-runaway center. The Craigslist ad had said it was in a "rapidly improving area." As we drove away, we passed a man painting the outside of his (concrete) building with a roller brush... Boyfriend commented, "See, it's rapidly improving!"
Nothing else with a backyard was in our price range, however... so the dream of having a dog had to die. But if I was really dedicated to getting a dog, what would it have cost me?
Well, I suppose we could keep a dog in our apartment. No one in our complex has one, but some people in the all 1 bedroom apartment complex kitty corner to ours have small dogs. But having a dog is in a small way like having a child - it's not the cost of actually feeding them, but the incremental costs of providing enough space for them. So realistically we would have had to get a bigger place, and in a high demand area like ours, that would have come at a price. Probably at least $200 more per month (right now we pay $695, which includes $10 a month for the cat.) And then the cost of the dog itself, which from the shelter would be about $75, and then its initial shots, probably another $75. Food and toys every month, let's say $25.
I think we could definitely swing the monthly cost of the food and toys, and vet bills, and the initial cost of the dog, And I'd need to build up the emergency fund since there is now another member of the family who may have an emergency. But what would really kill my budget would be the extra cost of the apartment. Because not only would Boyfriend and I be paying $900 a month for the place, but we'd have higher electricity and gas to heat and cool it (extra $50 a month, perhaps), and probably need to fight for a place to park, which Boyfriend would hate intensely. (Free off street parking is relatively rare in our area.) To get a place with a large enough backyard that was still in our price range, we'd definitely have to compromise on the distance to work - and right now, since I walk to work, I'd have to buy a car and drive to work. So another $300 a month there (conservatively.) Plus a parking pass for once I get to work, another $40 a month. I'd probably be taxed more since we might have to live outside the city, in one of the higher-tax-levels suburbs.
So all told, the direct cost of the dog over a year would be about $450. Indirect cost? More than $7,000. If I had an especially large dog that needed a larger backyard, even more. Looking into the future, I'd have to continue paying these higher expenses for the life of the dog - and if I decide to move to DC or San Francisco or something like that, probably more than $100k over the life of the dog since it would cost an arm and a leg to rent a place with a big backyard near the city. So if I had a large dog, I might not be able to accept future job offers in expensive cities, and thus limit the arc of my career. And you can't forget the opportunity cost of all this. Having to spend the money now means I won't save it - therefore I can't stick it in my IRA or spend it on a house. And having to wait five extra years to buy a house, or a significantly lower balance in my retirement accounts, is a huge drag on achieving my financial goals.
Keeping our living situation simple (and backyard-free) until I can afford to buy a house anyway is probably the best bet, I think. Maybe I'll just borrow my coworker's puppy....
(P.S. As I am writing this, because I generally compose entries and save them as Gmail email drafts, the ads on the side are for cute puppies for sale... Damn you AdSense, you tempting harlot!)
My coworker brought in her brand new puppy for Monday and Tuesday, since temporarily there was no one at home to watch her, and I instantly had adorable-thing jealousy. She was a really sweet puppy, and when she went home Monday I was quite anxious for her to return on Tuesday. Getting to play with this tiny creature instantly reignited the I Want A Dog desire which had been relatively dormant since I left for college.
Right now I live in a two bedroom apartment with my boyfriend, two guinea pigs, and a cat. While we do have our own front door, we don't have a backyard or a deck or anything. When we were looking for a place to live, I really really really Really wanted something with a backyard, so that having a dog would be a possibility. (I'm more of a larger-dog person - so a shih tzu wouldn't really be up my alley.) We looked at a duplex with a wonderful fenced backyard, which was directly next to a large field, and I almost went for it because of the backyard. Never mind that the street was Very Scary - everyone else had pit bulls and long-unmowed lawns and I think there were rats in the field. Also, directly across the street was a teen-runaway center. The Craigslist ad had said it was in a "rapidly improving area." As we drove away, we passed a man painting the outside of his (concrete) building with a roller brush... Boyfriend commented, "See, it's rapidly improving!"
Nothing else with a backyard was in our price range, however... so the dream of having a dog had to die. But if I was really dedicated to getting a dog, what would it have cost me?
Well, I suppose we could keep a dog in our apartment. No one in our complex has one, but some people in the all 1 bedroom apartment complex kitty corner to ours have small dogs. But having a dog is in a small way like having a child - it's not the cost of actually feeding them, but the incremental costs of providing enough space for them. So realistically we would have had to get a bigger place, and in a high demand area like ours, that would have come at a price. Probably at least $200 more per month (right now we pay $695, which includes $10 a month for the cat.) And then the cost of the dog itself, which from the shelter would be about $75, and then its initial shots, probably another $75. Food and toys every month, let's say $25.
I think we could definitely swing the monthly cost of the food and toys, and vet bills, and the initial cost of the dog, And I'd need to build up the emergency fund since there is now another member of the family who may have an emergency. But what would really kill my budget would be the extra cost of the apartment. Because not only would Boyfriend and I be paying $900 a month for the place, but we'd have higher electricity and gas to heat and cool it (extra $50 a month, perhaps), and probably need to fight for a place to park, which Boyfriend would hate intensely. (Free off street parking is relatively rare in our area.) To get a place with a large enough backyard that was still in our price range, we'd definitely have to compromise on the distance to work - and right now, since I walk to work, I'd have to buy a car and drive to work. So another $300 a month there (conservatively.) Plus a parking pass for once I get to work, another $40 a month. I'd probably be taxed more since we might have to live outside the city, in one of the higher-tax-levels suburbs.
So all told, the direct cost of the dog over a year would be about $450. Indirect cost? More than $7,000. If I had an especially large dog that needed a larger backyard, even more. Looking into the future, I'd have to continue paying these higher expenses for the life of the dog - and if I decide to move to DC or San Francisco or something like that, probably more than $100k over the life of the dog since it would cost an arm and a leg to rent a place with a big backyard near the city. So if I had a large dog, I might not be able to accept future job offers in expensive cities, and thus limit the arc of my career. And you can't forget the opportunity cost of all this. Having to spend the money now means I won't save it - therefore I can't stick it in my IRA or spend it on a house. And having to wait five extra years to buy a house, or a significantly lower balance in my retirement accounts, is a huge drag on achieving my financial goals.
Keeping our living situation simple (and backyard-free) until I can afford to buy a house anyway is probably the best bet, I think. Maybe I'll just borrow my coworker's puppy....
(P.S. As I am writing this, because I generally compose entries and save them as Gmail email drafts, the ads on the side are for cute puppies for sale... Damn you AdSense, you tempting harlot!)
Friday, August 25, 2006
Lowering my monthly expenses, or, I cancelled my Lingo account
As part of my overall attempt to get some structure into my spending, I went looking for ways to reduce my set monthly bills. I decided that I should cancel our Lingo account because both Boyfriend and I have cell phones with free long distance. We had originally gotten the Lingo account because I wanted to have a home phone (since I had friends who were cell phone only and it was terrible getting a hold of them when their phone was dead or under the couch...) but there was never an issue with getting a hold of Boyfriend and I during the whole last year. So I honestly couldn't tell you if the service was any good because we didn't use it more than two or three times.
So I pulled up my account page and called them. I got transferred to a rep in India (with terrible phone quality, which isn't a good thing for a phone company to cut costs on...) who didn't seem particularly motivated to keep me. Which is good, because I wasn't particularly motivated to keep paying them $10 per month for a service I don't use. I wonder if she handled only cancellations, as she sounded kind of like a tired parent arguing with a not-tired toddler about why he should go to bed, offering half-hearted attempts. I kind of felt bad for her. But it was cancelled nonetheless, and I got my last month's (prorated) charge on my card yesterday. And apparently my timing was good; because I was a customer for more than a year (13 months) I don't have to pay a cancellation charge or send back the equipment.
So that's one bill out of the way. I think I'm also going to pre-pay my newspaper subscription ($10 every 10 weeks for Sunday only) through March 2007, which is the farthest out I can pre-pay, so that will also be one less thing to worry about. I'm not going to change the amount of money I send to the bills account, though.. it'll leave a little buffer room.
So I pulled up my account page and called them. I got transferred to a rep in India (with terrible phone quality, which isn't a good thing for a phone company to cut costs on...) who didn't seem particularly motivated to keep me. Which is good, because I wasn't particularly motivated to keep paying them $10 per month for a service I don't use. I wonder if she handled only cancellations, as she sounded kind of like a tired parent arguing with a not-tired toddler about why he should go to bed, offering half-hearted attempts. I kind of felt bad for her. But it was cancelled nonetheless, and I got my last month's (prorated) charge on my card yesterday. And apparently my timing was good; because I was a customer for more than a year (13 months) I don't have to pay a cancellation charge or send back the equipment.
So that's one bill out of the way. I think I'm also going to pre-pay my newspaper subscription ($10 every 10 weeks for Sunday only) through March 2007, which is the farthest out I can pre-pay, so that will also be one less thing to worry about. I'm not going to change the amount of money I send to the bills account, though.. it'll leave a little buffer room.
Check it out! The Festival of Under 30 Finances at Pragmatic Finance
This week's edition of the Festival of Under 30 Finances is hosted by Pragmatic Finance. There were a lot of great submissions, go look at it! Now! Now!
And don't forget to submit an article for the next edition, hosted by NinjaPigeon.
And don't forget to submit an article for the next edition, hosted by NinjaPigeon.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Today's Question up at Chipping Away
Chipping Away asks, what would you do if you suddenly found yourself unemployed? What would your plan be? I've written before about how a coworker's sudden job termination made me rethink my emergency fund, but what if it happens to you?
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