About a month ago, I switched my only credit card from my Sunoco Mastercard which I have had since college to the Chase Freedom card. Why? Because I was leaving money on the table since I wasn’t taking advantage of the new breed of cash back cards that have come out in the last few years. Using my spending history I was able to quickly see how my Sunoco Card matched up to my other options. My Sunoco card offered 4% cash back on all Sunoco purchases and 0.5% up to $7,500 then 1% on everything else. It should be [...]
Read MoreMarch 2008
Or maybe how large a car payment can I handle? Every were you turn online calculators and salesman are always telling us the maximum we can spend on any given purchase. It’s the wrong question! So you can afford a $200,000 house that has the extra big yard that, but it is 50% of your take home pay. Or maybe you can afford the next size SUV that gets 15 – 18 miles per gallon for a mere $450 a month. What the salesman and free online calculator from a site that is is trying to lend you money forgot [...]
Read MoreAPR and APY. I know that I have had to look up the difference more than once in my life. It is one of those facts that is easy to understand, but they easy to forget. The numbers are usually similar, but the subtle difference can cost you a lot of money. So, what do they mean and what is the difference. Annual Percentage Rate(APR) is the rate that a company assigns to the financial product. If a credit card has a 12% APR that means that will mostly like charge 1% a month for 12 months. If you carried [...]
Read MoreI have seen people on Slick Deals do things that skirt the line of honesty and legality in order to get a great deal. I can even relate to getting caught up in the hype of certain deal or the possibility of free stuff. I have even contemplated doing something that I wouldn’t have regretted in the midst self created frugality hysteria. But when I read about a Craigslist hoax gone wrong, I couldn’t even believe it without reading the original article. Robert Salisbury of Oregon came home one day to find 30 people rummaging through his house and filing [...]
Read MoreI have a small confession that I need to make. We spent almost $50 this month on Easter supplies and candy. That was just for our 2 year old, since the 2 month old isn’t old enough to partake. Some of you may laugh, saying “I spent way more”, but to me that is a large sum on items that have almost no lasting purpose. What happened? Two things, lack of planning and lack of communication. This is the first year that The Rockette and I were forced to mesh our individual preferences into our own special tradition. This normally [...]
Read MoreThink back. What are your fondest memories in life? One of my best was a 9 day white water rafting, hiking, and outdoor adventure down the Grand Canyon with my mom. A few other that come to mind are building snow forts with my Mom and friends, a little-league no-hitter, and the craziness that was my Freshman year at college. Take a few seconds and think about yours best memories… If you are like most people the things that came to mind had little to do with stuff and a lot to do with people and experiences. We often go [...]
Read MoreThis past Sunday I handed in my final paper for my MBA degree(Marketing concentration) at Drexel University’s Lebow College of Business. The finality is so fresh that the end of my long two and half year journey hasn’t sunk in. It is starting though…Tuesday is my normal class night and I got to stay home with my family! The first question most people will ask is “was getting an MBA worth”? On a personal level, it was a truly great experience. One that has given my a lot of confidence, motivation, purpose, and energy. On a business and pure learning [...]
Read MoreSomewhere while I was digging out from $70,000 in debt, I learned that you had to be able to save and actually pay cash for purchases in order to avoid debt. Growing up this was not something that had been instilled into my thinking about money. It is something that doesn’t get much attention, but it is a needed tool in order to achieve financial success. So, let’s talk about it. The whole system starts by extending your financial vision past the current day and thinking about purchases and bills that will be due months down the road. Then you [...]
Read MoreI mentioned previously how doing my own taxes last year almost cost me $350 in penalties and interest. Luckily I was able to get that down to around $90. This year I decided to shell out the big bucks and buy top notch tax advice and preparation, even though it goes against my frugal disposition. Why would I do it then? Because I think it will more than pay for itself. It is one of those short term financial pain for long term benefits. FMF at Free Money Finance was the person that really got me thinking about using a [...]
Read MoreThe Frugal Tool Chest is a recurring series covering practical tips and tools that will arm you to save even more money on your online purchases. I The first frugal tips involves a website that will notify you when the price drops on any of your recent purchases. How does this help? Well, most stores have a price protection policy that allow you to receive a refund if the price of the item you purchased dropped before X number of days post purchase. For example Amazon’s policy is currently this : Post-Order Price Guarantee Amazon.com’s prices for released items will [...]
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