The Library Isn’t Free When You Pay $17 In Fees
Posted on May 8, 2008
Just got back from getting another round of books for The Pebble, but I had to pay $16.95 in back fines/fees just to checkout. Being a couple days late when you have 2-3 books out isn’t too bad, but ever since The Pebble hit reading age we have been getting out 10 books at a time. Leave for one vacation without returning books, and be a couple days late a few times and you are paying $17 to rent books rather than utilizing a free public service. We still probably got great value despite the fees, but it could have been FREE!!! Children’s books + library + inadequate return planning = the potential for some financial leakage.
Anyone with children have a great system for using the library efficiently and free?
» Filed Under Money Savers
Just Ordered My $15 Entertainment Book
Posted on April 14, 2008
Just $15 for a plethora of great coupons. For those that don’t know, the Entertainment book is a local book of coupons for everything from fast food to casual dining to theme parks and golf courses. It is $35 dollars when it first comes out, but gradually drops throughout the year. The current $15 and free shipping deal is set to expire on 4/30/2008. We normally buy the book early in the year, but figured we don’t really need it in the winter and would get better value later.
The book contains more than enough great coupons to be well worth it, but only if you remember to use the coupons and you don’t spend more money because of the coupons. We have bought the book for the last few years, and gotten more than our share of great discounts from it. Here are a few of the highlights for the South Jersey book. Our local mechanic has a 20% up to $25 coupon that usually covers the price of the book. Buy one get one free(BOGO) Papa John’s, Cold Stone Creamery, and Rita’s Water Ice. $2.00 off coupons for the Camden Adventure Aquarium and $4.00 Six Flags Great Adventure. That is about $75 in coupons I know I will use for $15, plus a handful of others that will get used as needed. You can search on their website to makes sure there are some good local deals before you buy.
One little tip that The Happy Rockette has done the last few years is to buy a small inexpensive photo album. Cut out the coupons of interest, fill the photo album, and throw the coupon album in the car. It helps serve as a great reminder and provide quick access to help us extract even more value out of the book.
Anyone have other good tips, or great experiences with the Entertainment Book?
» Filed Under Favorite Books, Frugality, Money Savers
Don’t Let Verizon Wireless Take Your Money When Canceling Service
Posted on April 11, 2008
I have never had any love for Verizon Wireless, and I was quite relieved when my two year contract was up. They hadn’t done anything really bad, but they certainly didn’t ever do anything earn my respect. Nothing had really been post worthy until the last stunt they tried to pull as I closed my account.
I had already activated my $60 a year Virgin Mobile service, when I called to cancel my Verizon account. Everything was fine, until the last thing the agent mentioned as I was about to hang up.
Verizon Agent: You’re account is set to close on the 25th of April.
The Happy Rock: But, it is the 8th.
Verizon Agent: Our policy is that accounts close on the last day of the billing cycle.
I was a little caught off guard, so I just ended the conversation. It bothered me, so I mentioned it to my cube mate Ray @ TMABB. He helped verify my feelings and I decided to take action.
First, I checked my customer agreement and I didn’t see any mention of such a right for Verizon, so I quickly emailed them and asked them to produce documentation showing that they had to right to charge me for service I had wanted canceled or they should cancel immediately and refund the money that was owed.
The stalled for a few days and then finally an agent called to reiterate that closing on the last day of the billing cycle was their policy. I demanded that they produce some kind of proof. They then relented and canceled the account immediately, although they used todays date rather then that of my original call even after I asked. They also kindly informed me that the $17 check would take 6-8 weeks to process. I knew there was a reason I couldn’t wait to get away from Verizon Wireless.
Finally today, they left a message saying that they had worked out a special deal for me. The Rockette deleted it long before I got home…teamwork. I gave Verizon plenty of opportunities to provide me with more reasonable service and price options, but they refused. Now I shouldn’t ever have to deal with them again.
» Filed Under Cell Phones, Money Savers
Professional Tax Preperation Saved Me Over $5,000
Posted on April 7, 2008
Well, the results are in from the CPA vs. Turbo Tax and other DYI tax programs fight. The winner is………quality professional tax preparation by a landslide.
Here is the break down:
My CPA isn’t responsible for all of the savings, but the service was definitely worth the cost. First, we tuck away 40% of The Happy Rockette’s paycheck, so we knew we had more than enough for our 2007 taxes. We were expecting a bill of around $4,000 dollars between federal and state.
One big difference was that we made about $6,000 less than 2006. I didn’t work any overtime and had $3,000 of gambling winnings to claim in 2006. We also donated $1,500 more in 2007. That accounts for some of the shift, but almost all of the rest came from the great tax advice.
I was going to do my own taxes to compare, but looking through the return I can see where most of the savings and deductions came from. The highlights are:
- $750 dollars in mileage and expenses for the Rockette’s consulting that I wouldn’t have filed.
- $1,000 of extra itemized deductions.
- Plethora of savings for The Happy Rock including a percentage of my home depreciation and utility costs, equipment depreciation, and expenses that I wouldn’t have known to claim.
- Proper handling of child care expenses.
That is a great list for the measly cost of $400, but I now also know what receipts and expenses that I should track to claim in 2008 which will save me thousands going forward. The only part I regret is that I didn’t pay for professional services years earlier! More money back in my pocket with a lot less stress, you can’t beat that.
» Filed Under Money Savers, Taxes
Virgin Mobile Deal: $60 For One Year Of Prepaid Virgin Mobile Service
Posted on April 2, 2008
Our two year Verizon cell phone contract finally ran out on the 25th of March! It feels great to break free from the chains of a long contract. I haven’t yet canceled the phone, but I did order and activate a new Virgin Mobile prepaid phone for the Rockette. She is s a low minute user like me.
Previously I had talked about how much I would save with Virgin Mobile and how to set up a Virgin Mobile account, so I thought it would be helpful to revisit my decision. It has been about 6 months, and I have been nothing but pleased with the service and the savings. The free phone is fine, so is the call quality, and the billing. I haven’t been using all of the $20 top up every 90 days, so money does roll over each top up period. Either way I won’t be paying more than $80 for the whole year.
We opted for a semi-updated LG Flare for $30 as the Rockette’s new Virgin Mobile phone, although there are currently three phones that are free. The phone was at our door in about two days, and we received a nice little surprise limited time offer when we signed up. Virgin is offering service for a whole year if you top-up $60 in three days. Since you agree to buy $80 for the whole year, I was sold. I bought the $60 worth of minutes, and won’t have to top up for a whole year. We actually have $67.50 in the account, because we got a free $5 for singing up for automatic top up, and $2.50 for being referred. Considering that the referrer was me on our other account, and I got $10 for it, we really got about a 30% bonus after everything is said and done.
6 months ago we were paying about $400 for one cell phone through Verizon, now we have two cell phones for $140 per year. A solid $260 yearly savings all possible because of our low usage. If you use around 150 or less minutes a month, Virgin Mobile will probably save you money. Let me know if you are interested, and we both can get a free $2.50 if I refer you.
Note : The Virgin Mobile straight minute plan is now $0.20 a minute rather then the $0.18 that I got 6 months ago.
» Filed Under Cell Phones, Money Savers
The Happy Rock Spends The Big Money For Tax Prepation
Posted on March 15, 2008
I 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 CPA. Below is a list that expands on some of his great reasoning:
Time is Money. It would take me probably 10-30 hours to really do my taxes well and do enough research to feel like I wasn’t missing anything big. If my time was worth $20 an hour, that would about equal the price of a good CPA.
Our Taxes Are Somewhat Complicated. Some of the abnormal items are a self employed spouse, home based business(The Happy Rock), and an in-home babysitter(Nanny Tax). Professional advice on just those three items will more than pay for the increased fee.
Tax Knowledge Has Long Term Benefits. Any knowledge gained now will save us money on taxes for years to come.
“Peace of Mind”. No stress!!! No fear of audits. I won’t make common mistakes. Even more than lack of problems and stress, if I connect with a high quality professional I can be assured to get as much of my money back from the government as possible.
With that said, connecting with a high quality professional is the key to most of the benefits. I tried a tax service, Liberty Tax, which is just like H&R Block and other outfits a few year ago and felt like it was a total waste of money. Basically I was just paying for someone to enter my taxes, not for any real tax advice.
So, how did I connect with a high quality CPA? There happened to be a regular commenter on The Happy Rock named Thecpa. I was able to get a very good recommendations from a co-worker and made the leap last week. Thecpa works for Zarin and Associates in Pennsville, NJ and the cost of the accounting advice will be around $400. From just two emails I am confident that I will save more than I will pay just this year. A good accountant only needed to find an extra $1000 or so in deductions to directly make the fees worth it. For me, a properly done home office deduction were I can write off a percentage of my utilities and depreciate my house will be a huge tax break for years to come.
I may even get spunky and try to do my own taxes online and see what the difference is.
» Filed Under Money Savers, Taxes
Frugal Tool Chest Tip #1: Get Money Back On Your Purchases With Price Protectr
Posted on March 15, 2008
The 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 change from time to time based on a variety of factors. If Amazon.com’s price for an already-released item decreases within 30 days after we ship the item to you, we’ll be glad to refund the difference in price if you contact us. Please click the Customer Service button on the right side of this page, and be sure to have your order number handy so we can assist you.
So how do you protect your purchases. Going back to the item listing for the next 30 days is just not feasible, so you let a site like Price Protectr do it for you. Here is my review…
All you do is supply the link to the item you purchased, verify the when you purchased it, verify the purchase price, supply your email, and click submit. That’s it! Price Protectr will snotify you that the item is being protected and then send another email if the price drops before the price protection policy expires for the site. It really is that easy. The have a large list of sellers that they support, but they don’t support every site.
Since I was reminded of the site a week ago by a co-worker, Ray of Taco Man and Burrito Boy fame, I have saved about$5. One item dropped on Amazon twice for a total of about $4.35.
A sample Price Protectr alert email looks like this :
Price Protectr saw a price drop on the Pinzon 400-Thread-Count 100% Egyptian Cotton Hemstitch Queen Sheet Set, Sand you submitted for price protection at www.priceprotectr.com.
You purchased the item for $42.34 and it’s now $39.99! The item URL is:
Pinzon 400-Thread-Count 100% Egyptian Cotton Hemstitch Queen Sheet Set, Sand
Please verify the item and price, and review the retailer’s price protection policy before requesting a refund.
To claim your refund: Visit their contact page, click the ‘e-mail’ tab, and choose ‘Refund Inquiry’ from the dropdown list. Or contact their customer service department at 1-800-201-7575. Hitting 7 should get you to a customer service rep right away.
If you collect your refund (or try to), don’t forget to log into your My Stuff account and leave a retailer review!
To change your notification settings, go to the account setting of your My Stuff account.
Thanks for using Price Protectr!
Following the instructions in the email, I sent a brief two sentence email to Amazon and had a refund back on my card in about 24-48 hours. The email doesn’t have to be anything special either…here is what I put in the email contact page :
The price of the sheets i recently purchased dropped a $2.35 cents since I bought them, I would like a refund for the difference as the price protection policy states.
Thank you for the great service and products.
Done! It is really quite gratifying to receive a Price Protectr alert! Give a try, you bank account will probably notice.
» Filed Under Frugal Tool Chest, Frugality, Money Savers, Personal Finance Systems, Spending
Cheaper Than Cheap Tip Of The Week #4 : Earn Free Money By Resuing Bags At Grocery Stores
Posted on March 5, 2008
“Cheaper Than Cheap” is a recurring tip series about frugality. The idea is to provide helpful frugality tips that border on fanatical to the point of being humorous. Love them or hate them, let’s hear what you think. Tip #3 was on seperate your two ply toilet paper.
Cheaper Than Cheap Tip Of The Week #4 : Earn Free Money By Resuing Bags At Grocery Stores
That’s right as the title suggests you can earn more than 10 times your investment with this one green earth friendly frugal tip. Bring your own bags to the grocery store. Most grocery stores will provide a refund that comes directly off your bill for each bag that reuse. I have seen the refund amount vary from 2 to 5 cents a bag. My regular grocery stores offer 5 cents a bag. Over the years we have built up quite a collection of canvas bags, so at this point all the refund money is pure profit.
Usually you can get decent quality bags for 1.00, so every trip after the first twenty would actually earn you free money!! It is a little more hassle and a behavioral change to remember the bags each time you go, but the idea of free money is definitely worth. If you by 5 bags for a $5.00 investment, those bags are paid off after just 20 trips. If the bags last another 5 years you could earn about $62.50 assuming you go to the store 50 times a year. That is a return of 1150% on your initial dollar investment in 5 years! We all wish we could get that kind of performance on any investment. If you reuse some of the thousands of plastic bags you already have laying around the house, you could be earning completely free money.
So do the earth a solid and save money at the same time, use reusable bags at grocery stores.
What do you think of tip #4 - earn free money with reusable bags at groceries stores?
» Filed Under Frugality, Money Savers
Save Money By Always Asking For The Fees To Be Removed
Posted on February 18, 2008
It wasn’t long ago that I can remember just complaining whenever I got charged fees by a company not knowing that I could do anything about it. Now I know that the consumer does have power. Every fee or even purchase prices that I come across now get questioned. The old adage of ‘what’s the worst that can happen’ is very appropriate. The company can say ‘NO’, but most likely they won’t.
Here are a few examples from the very recent past :
NJ Division of Taxation – I mentioned that I had a problem with my 2006 NJ taxes and they wanted to charge me over $300 dollars in penalties and interest. Well, a quick email and then a follow up letter reduced the bill about 72% to under $100 dollars.
Comcast – Installation fees and monthly services costs slashed through one phone call and a threat of cancellation. Call Comcast and save money.
Verizon Late Fee – One quick phone call got a $5.00 late fee removed with no arguing.
Those are just a few examples from the last month or two, but the list includes endless fees that you thought you couldn’t get away from paying including bank charges and credit card fees. Often just asking the clerk at stores if there are any available coupons will get you discounts. The moral of the story is….JUST ASK!!! Don’t be afraid that they may laugh(sometimes they do), but try it, make it habit and you will be pleasantly surprised.
» Filed Under Frugality, Money Savers
Free 80 Hour Dual Tuner Series 2 SD Tivo Promotion Through Kidzone
Posted on February 9, 2008
Just purchase a one year of service and you will receive brand new 80 hour Series 2 Dual Tuner SD Tivo DVR free of charge. This is not even a free after rebate program, but a free at checkout promotion. The deal calls attention to TiVo KidZone, a service that Tivo created with the help of the Parents TV Council to help tailor you child’s TV viewing habits. For each new purchase using this promotion Tivo will send the Parents TV Council $25.
If you decide to take advantage of the deal, please considering using my email address in the Tivo Rewards referral email section during the sign process. It can viewed as a way to give back for helping you find the deal. It will give me a few Tivo points to spend in their store. Use the email 
in the TIVO rewards referrer box during signup.
The offer runs from September 20, 2007 to April 5, 2008, or while supplies last. You can view the Tivo deal by clicking here
and the deal terms here
You can even get another $12.50 off by using a cash back rebate service like Mr. Rebates. $10 for the Tivo referral and $2.50 as a sign up bonus, although you can’t cash out until you earn $25 dollars. Just use the above link to sign up, and then go here and follow the instructions. I will cover a review of their services in a future post.
I actually grabbed a free box and a one year subscription on Thursday. Took about 3 days to get here and it is already hooked up and working perfectly. The $10 has already shown up in my Mr. Rebates account.
» Filed Under Money Savers
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