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How do we cope with hard times? Even if you are in financial trouble, there’s always hope. Maybe these money tips may help!
[Image]Thank you to Jacques Sprenger for contributing this thoughtful post.
Almost 20 years ago, I lost my job and had no immediate prospect to find another one. This was in 1987, which was also another period of intense economic crisis. How was I going to pay the mortgage and the monthly family expenses? How was I going to continue paying for the expensive private education for my two daughters? I stayed in bed for about 2 days feeling sorry for myself, until my spouse and a close friend “ganged up” on me and showed me how ridiculous my attitude was.
8 Money Tips For Those In Financial Trouble 1. Be objective, gain perspective.In 1929 and for the next 2 years, stories of bankers jumping from high buildings were common. What did they accomplish with their foolish gesture? Absolutely nothing. Financial despair is nothing new, but it is certainly much less traumatizing than learning that you have an inoperable brain cancer. And that is the first step you must take if your financial situation looks desperate. Think of the worst possible scenario, which is losing your life before your time has come, and compare it to losing money. An exercise such as this often gives me perspective.
2. Talk to friends and family.The second step, which was fortunately my situation, is to talk about it to your spouse and to very close confidantes. Talking relieves the anxiety and the pain, and quite often leads to the astounding discovery that there is a way out. There is always a way out!
3. Look into government and private assistance.We are lucky to live in one of the greatest countries in the world (if I say so myself); one that is quite rich, prosperous, and brimming with countless opportunities. There are some government agencies to turn to, as cited in this article:
GovBenefits.gov should be your first stop. This federal government site has an interactive tool that can help you identify the aid programs you might be eligible for, along with links that can connect you to state resources. Also, try your state human-services agency’s Web site.
You may be eligible for certain services such as unemployment compensation, food stamps, low-income energy assistance, Medicaid, disability or Social Security assistance. Check as well, with your local community organizations and churches, which often have wonderful support for those in need.
4. Raise cash from things you can sell.Many folks have been able to cash in on clutter, and sometimes, that would be enough. But if you have gotten rid of the clutter and still need extra money to buy yourself some time, you may have to make a list of everything else you can safely sell… or pawn; maybe you have valuables, such as expensive jewelry that you’ve bought for your spouse or yourself. I had to sell a diamond ring that my wife had inherited from her grandmother. She cried because of the sentimental value, not because of the money it represented. But it gave us a little breathing room, enough for me to find a job that paid less; it was enough to help us survive until the economic situation changed.
5. Find out if you should consider declaring bankruptcy.When you file for bankruptcy, it’s clearly a huge step — the biggest consequence is that it goes on your credit record. So consult a certified financial planner before you make such a radical move. While bankruptcy is a last resort decision, sometimes it can be beneficial. With a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, individuals are able to reorganize all of their debts over a period of time.
6. Focus on your debt and take actionable steps to improve your situation.For more on how to get yourself out of financial trouble, check out these concrete ideas:
Hard financial times can be some of the most stressful financial events anyone can face. If you find yourself in such a position, consult a mental health community center to discuss your emotional stress with a qualified counselor.
We must be strong enough to recognize that a lot of the money problems we encounter can actually be more mental than financial. If we keep in mind that every period of crisis can also bring with it potentially great opportunities, and if we’re willing to admit and address our issues head on, we’d be halfway to recovery.
8. Always believe in yourself.Many times I doubted my own abilities; “if I am in this situation, it’s because I am not good enough,” was my reasoning during my darkest hours. That is a recipe for a situational depression, a mental state from which it is extremely difficult to emerge. Facing the facts also includes assessing your own abilities and potential without bias of any kind. Again, talk to people who know you and ask them for an honest opinion; nine times out of ten they will cheer you up and give you the strength to start again.
This is a post from The Digerati Life.
Bookmark ItThis post comes from partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com.
It's the time of year again for eggnog, good cheer and, of course, a bit of online Christmas shopping in the office.
Nearly one-third (29%) of workers, in line with last year's findings, plan to shop online while at work this year, but it may be best saved for lunch hours or break times, according to a new survey from CareerBuilder.com. The survey also found that half of employers monitor the Internet use of employees.
As seasonal online shopping ramps up, productivity in the workplace will likely be affected. Of those who plan to shop online this season while at work, 43% anticipate they will spend more than one hour, 23% said they will spend two hours or more, and 13% will spend three hours or more.
"While employers are unlikely to terminate workers for online holiday shopping during the workday, employees should proactively police their personal Internet usage," said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder.com.
"In addition, employees need to be aware of company Internet policies, as more than a quarter of employers surveyed monitor workers' time spent online and sites visited. Employees can then determine if it is best to designate their lunch hour or break times for online holiday shopping," she added.
Here's more about online activities in the workplace:
Research. Sixty-one percent of workers use the Internet for non-work-related research and activities while they are at work. Among these workers, 37% said they spend an average of more than 30 minutes of their workday on non-work-related online activities, and 18% said they spend an average of an hour or more.
E-mail. When it comes to digital correspondence, 20% of workers send six or more non-work-related e-mails per day. Among this group, 22% spend more than 30 minutes during the typical workday doing so.
Blogging. Nine percent of workers surveyed have a personal blog, and while nearly a quarter (23%) of them spend time blogging at work, only 9% of them spend 15 minutes or more blogging during the typical workday.
Social networking. Forty-one percent of workers surveyed have a MySpace, Facebook or other social-networking page. More than one-third (35%) of them spend time on their social-networking page during the workday, with 8% spending 30 minutes or more.
Is Netflix truly a bargain or does it force you to watch more movies than you'd want because you're overcome with "Netflix guilt"?
That question is the first addressed by the new "Frugal Court," presided over by Richard at Student Scrooge. Read on to get the judge's verdict. (Hint: His post makes the often-missed point that frugality is more than a matter of price.)
Netflix has its drawbacks. He writes, "The charge against Netflix is simple -- that, for most people, unless you are watching large numbers of movies each month, it is simply not worth the monthly rental fee." He's been watching only three films under the $8.99-per-month plan, so the value seems very questionable.
Cheaper or free alternatives exist, if you have Redbox or a library nearby. You can also watch movies online. (Richard makes no mention of Blockbuster or your friendly neighborhood video store. For more on Netflix vs. Blockbuster, read this post at Hacking Netflix.)
Is there value beyond the price per movie? Richard's verdict is yes: excellent customer service, convenience, and great movie recommendations. (He recommends you read this fascinating New York Times article about how Netflix is trying to improve Cinematch.)
Finally, he loves the on-demand feature, a work in progress. He had been ready to cancel his membership, but he was pulled back in when he watched two entire seasons of "30 Rock" via the Netflix streaming-video service. He said, "I have decided to stick around for a few more months and see if I make use of all of this."
[Image][Image]This past Saturday, I was a dinner guest at the home of a family friend of my wife’s parents. Over dinner, the conversation was lively and, as is often the case with my wife’s family, refreshingly frank.
One major topic of discussion was one individual’s (a person we’ll call Reggie) balance of several different aspects of his life as he approached retirement age. Reggie lives in a small apartment and has a very well-paying job, but he also has a taste for expensive vacations, taking two or three a year. He describes himself as “tolerant” of his job - he doesn’t necessarily want to do it for the rest of his life, but it’s not something he entirely loathes, either.
Reggie reflected that many people he knew had encouraged him to cut back on his travels and other personal expenses and instead start socking that money away for retirement. He argued that he didn’t have any interest in doing that, because if he were to do that, he would be foregoing trips that he could take now while he could still enjoy them in good health in exchange for a later period in his life where his health might not be as good.
And I wholeheartedly agreed with him.
There is no ready-made solution that balances saving and spending that works for everyone. Some people feel most natural when they’re very frugal, while others find a better balance with more spending in their life.
When I compare my own life to Reggie, I’m pretty sure that our spending is vastly different. He seems to splurge more on consumable items than I do (such as trips, food, experiences, and so on), for example, and I’d be willing to bet that in a given year I retain more of my income than Reggie does.
But we’re both in a reasonably solid financial state - and we’re both happy with where we’re at.
The key thing that everyone shares is a need to keep that spending lower than what you earn over the long haul. If you spend more than you earn, you’ll eventually have to pay the piper - and quite often, that process will be very painful. If you spend less than you earn over an extended period of time, you avoid that painful experience.
It’s a balancing act, to be sure. If we simply give in to every whimsical desire we have, virtually no one would spend less than they earn. On the other hand, if we were all highly austere, we would simultaneously deprive ourselves of many valuable life experiences.
My personal belief is that modern society tends to unbalance people somewhat on the side of more spending. The cultural cues that we all get tend to push us towards spending more, whether that spending is justified or not. Over a long period, particularly when that spending isn’t matched with appropriate income, we can get greatly out of balance.
What I’ve found is that the one sure sign that your balance is out of whack is that you’re unhappy with your life. If you’re afraid to open up your bills, there’s a balance problem. If you spend all of your time living as frugally as possible but feel empty at the end of the day, there’s a balance problem here, too.
The way to correct that balance problem is to start adjusting things - slowly but surely. If you’re unhappy with the amount you’re spending, find ways to cut back and take it a step at a time. Similarly, if your life feels as though something’s missing, don’t be afraid to dip your toes in the pool on occasion.
Life is all about balance. Don’t be afraid to actively see that balance that works best for you, even if it’s not the balance that others might have.
[Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image]When it comes to thinking up creative holiday gifts, it's worth taking a look in your pantry. If you're looking for a way to make your own holiday gift from scratch, consumables — better known as food — can be the way to go. After all, you're giving something that shows that you're willing to spend time on a gift, something that tastes great and something the recipient doesn't have to find a way to store.
The Traditional Baked GoodsWhen it comes to holiday gifts, it's hard to go wrong with cookies. I've long made a habit of handing out plates of cookies to people I want to acknowledge during the holiday season — but who I might not know well enough for a personalized gift, such as co-workers or professors. I've found that if I start baking cookies a little early and freeze them, I can make a surprising variety. Then I defrost just in time to put together plates and drop them off with my friends. Be absolutely certain of what ingredients you use, though — setting off someone's allergies doesn't quite share holiday cheer the way you might hope.
Don't limit yourself to cookies, though: cakes, pies and other baked goods can definitely make great gifts. If you're worried about giving gifts on a budget, baked goods can be an easy way to stretch your money. Even chocolate chips are fairly inexpensive — and it's been my experience that people feel good when a friend shows that they're willing to take time to make a gift.
Savory TreatsIt's pretty easy to get tired of sweets during the holidays. Not as many people offer up savory treats, making them a nice change. One of my favorite savory treats that I've received at the holidays was a bag of beef jerky seasoned with a super-secret combination of spices. It was homemade and absolutely wonderful. There are plenty of other possibilities (some of which will work a little better for vegetarian friends and family members).
Make Up A MixHave a friend or relative who isn't the handiest in the kitchen? Grab a couple of jars and put together some baking mixes for them. When I was first learning to cook, I got several mixes of my grandmother's cookie recipes. There was a card with them, instructing me on what wet ingredients to add and how to bake my cookies. Even better, these mixes were for cookies not found at my local grocery store. I've also seen pancake, bread and other mixes — matched to the recipients' favorite treats when they come for a visit.
Rain ChecksWith certain family members, a rain check for a few home-cooked meals can come in handy. I know my cousin was actually grateful not to get a present one year: instead, the family kept her freezer filled with meals she could pop into the oven — especially useful because she was pregnant and not always up to cooking herself.
Other IdeasThe ideas above are just a few examples. Over the years, I've received and given big blocks of fudge, jams and jellies, candies and — on one memorable occasion — a huge box of fruit. These gifts are appreciated just as much as less consumable presents, and they often work better with your budget. So, before you finish up your Christmas shopping, crack open a cookbook.
Permalink | 1 comment | Thursday Bram's blog | Channel: Food and Drink
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[Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image]How do retailers develop and keep our loyalty, particularly when times are tough? Many say excellent customer service does the trick. Then why is it so difficult to find? Is it really more than we can hope for?
We were reminded about this by a post by "FMF" at Free Money Finance. His story about customer service involves Sears, but you could easily substitute the names of many other companies.
In all fairness, we'll quickly point out that Sears eventually made it up to him, but not before FMF pressed his case. (Note to self: It pays to write a letter of complaint.)
We'll also add that FMF had a previous battle with Sears, which was finally resolved with a $500 gift card. That's where the new story starts.
He and his wife used their new gift card to buy a microwave at Sears. They were told they could get a credit if the item went on sale within 30 days. When a flier announced 20% off on "small appliances," they called repeatedly to see if microwaves were included, but no one answered the phone. But because one voice-mail option was the department for "small appliances like microwaves," they drove to the store to find out.
No dice, several managers said. The ad should have excluded microwaves, but didn't. If you call, they're too busy to answer the phone, they said.
FMF's follow-up letter to Sears included this point: "Obviously you can run your business however you like, but by having customer service as I've described above, I believe you're going to alienate people from shopping with Sears."
He got the 20% discount.
Did FMF go too far? Did he expect too much? Is it unreasonable to think that someone will answer the phone? You decide.
"Vh" at Funny about Money included FMF's post in the 86th Carnival of Money Stories, commenting, "Another Don Quixote tilts at the consumer (dis)service windmill." (Vh has had her own epic battle with Qwest.)
[Image]WTDirect just announced their Winter Bonus Blast Promotion and is now offering sign up bonuses of up to $250 for those opening new WTDirect high yield savings accounts!
WTDirect is one of the online banks we cover here, and once more, they’re promoting their WTDirect High Yield Savings Account, which currently returns a safe 3.06% APY. Now WTDirect accounts are usually a good choice for high value account holders, since WTDirect’s rates and bonuses typically apply to those carrying large balances.
If you’re looking for a safe place for your savings, you may want to consider this online bank as a refuge for your money at this time. Here are some details of the offer:
Average Balance Required Bonus $10,000 $50 $20,000 $100 $30,000 $150 $40,000 $200 $50,000 $250A WTDirect high yield savings account earns an annual 3.06% return with a few caveats. You can open a WTDirect account with any amount — no minimum balance is required. For the first 60 days, you’ll earn 3.06% on your money. But after 60 days, if your account balance falls under $10,000, your APY will be readjusted to 0.50%, otherwise, the APY stays at 3.06%.
Also, you’ll qualify for the sign up bonus only if you’re a new WTDirect customer and if the average balance requirement (as stated in the table above) is maintained. The balance will be calculated between January 1, 2009 and February 28, 2009.
How It Works1. Open a new account: go to this link and use the Promotion Code: WTG3DNC.
2. Link to an existing bank account: if you already have an account elsewhere, you can link it to your new WTDirect savings account when you apply.
3. Fund your new WTDirect account: perform an online transfer to your account by December 22, 2008.
4. Qualify for the bonus: as mentioned earlier, you’ll have to maintain an average balance to earn the bonus. Your average balance from January 1, 2009 to February 28, 2009 will be used to determine the bonus amount. You’ll always have full access to your funds at all times.
5. Receive your cash bonus: your bonus will be directly deposited into your WTDirect savings account by mid-March, 2009.
That’s it! Happy saving!
This is a post from The Digerati Life.
Bookmark ItThis post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.
Popular Mechanics created a list called "100 skills every man should know," which naturally gravitated toward DIY/physical skills like jump-starting a car and splitting firewood. The Frisky listed "30 skills every woman should have before turning 30," which actually touched on more than physical skills (though No. 12 is physical), with a handful of financial skills (Nos. 17-20).
The following isn't a checklist of things you necessarily need to do in your life. It's a list of things you should know how to do in case the need arises.
Banking and credit
Open a checking and savings account.
Deposit checks into an ATM.
Manage your bank account online.
Establish a certificate of deposit ladder.
Open an online savings account.
Link bank accounts using routing and bank account numbers.
Request and review your free annual credit report.
Contest errors or inaccuracies on your credit history.
Apply for a loan (car loan, mortgage).
Get a bank or credit card fee waived.
Get a document notarized (or signature guaranteed).
Exchange currency.
Investing
Open a Roth IRA.
Open a brokerage account.
Roll over your 401(k) to an IRA.
Request a hardship loan against your 401(k).
Re-balance your investment portfolio.
Read a stock chart.
Read a mutual fund prospectus.
Buy stocks, bonds, ETFs or mutual funds.
Buy Treasury bonds at a bank and/or through TreasuryDirect.
Read (and understand) a company's annual report (including the financial sections).
Day trade.
Taxes
Prepare your taxes (using software is OK).
Handle an IRS audit.
Request a tax filing extension.
Pay estimated quarterly taxes.
Amend a tax return.
Legally shelter income from taxes.
Living and spending
Establish an emergency fund.
Comparison shop.
Sell something online (eBay, Craigslist).
Mail in a rebate (and then get on them when they try to screw you).
Bribe someone (like a maitre d').
Buy adequate insurance (car, life, home/renters).
Negotiate with a vendor.
Threaten to cancel a service to get lower rates.
Negotiate your salary, pay raise, or benefits.
Apply for a passport.
Bid in an auction.
Barter for goods and services.
End of life
Prepare a last will and testament.
Prepare a medical directive.
Be executor of an estate.
Assume power of attorney.
Work with a funeral home/mortuary.
Finally, the other financial skills you need to learn and do -- and this is a bonus pair -- are how to register to vote and then vote. Who gets into office, at any level, has a huge impact on your finances.
Are there any that I missed? (I'm sure there are.)
Other articles of interest at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity:
401(k)s and IRAs are for suckers
[Image]The routine is familiar to many parents. You have an out-of-town school or extracurricular function, whether it be a sporting event or a club meeting or something else, and after the event, your child is quite hungry, so you solve the problem quickly by stopping at the nearest restaurant and buying some quick (and fairly pricy) convenience food. Quite often, if you’re along, you’ll indulge, too.
Over the course of a season, this pattern can become very expensive. Looking back at my own school days, I can remember periods where I would have an out-of-town match every week for three months, paired with some weekend tournaments as well. This really added up.
Luckily, my parents found several good ways to cope with this, and listening to the wisdom of some of my frugal friends has taught me a few more tactics to use for these situations. Here are ten tactics that can help you get through these costs without creating a crisis.
1. Plan ahead. On your way out the door, fill a thermos with soup and pack a sandwich and a piece of fruit or a granola bar for your child. This can provide a nice energy boost when your child needs it. One way to make this easier is to prepare serving-size freezer bags of soup in advance - just make a large batch of soup, fill up some small bags with enough soup for a good serving, then freeze the bag. When you need it, just unfreeze it, warm it up, and drop it in a thermos.
2. Have a lot of healthy but convenient foods at home. Another tactic is to simply make sure you have convenient but healthy foods available at home. Encourage your child to wait until you’re home, then quickly produce these foods. Some good ones include homemade frozen burritos (which can be easily made), grapes, and bananas.
3. Talk to your child about the situation. Most teenage children are reasonable about simple things such as this. Take a moment and talk to your child about the situation, especially if it’s becoming a pattern. Point out how much money that adds up to over a season so that they see that it’s much more than just a one-time expense of $10.
4. Encourage your child to use allowance money for this expense. If the child does not wish to wait for a bit to satisfy their cravings, encourage the child to use their spending money on it. This is a tactic that my mother used with me several times and it was quite effective - she’d simply say we can wait until we get home or you can spend some of your own money now. Usually, I’d wait.
5. Talk with other parents. If a lot of other parents are feeling the same pinch as you, talk to some of them about the situation. You may find that many of them also want to break down this routine and save some money, and if you have multiple sets of parents who are together in the same frame of mind, the culture of spending at such events can begin to change.
6. Coordinate efforts for snacks. One big thing that coordinated parents can do is set up a combined effort to handle snacks after events. Have each child bring a dollar to the events, then on a rotating basis, one set of parents provides snacks for the whole team and collects the dollars. A big jug of juice, some sandwiches, and some fruit can be perfect for this.
7. Budget for all school expenses in advance - and involve your child in the process. At the start of the year, make a realistic budget of school expenses including these extracurricular activities - and budget in advance for these costs. Get your child involved with this as well, so he or she can see the bigger picture of overall expenses for the year. Then, turn such “incidental” expenses into a line item, and talk about how to budget for them. Perhaps, right then and there, you and your child can come up with a plan that works for both of you.
8. Split the costs with your child. One potential plan is to simply split the costs of such incidentals. Perhaps you’ll cover incidental food costs for a certain number of events during the year, but your child will cover the rest out of personal money. Perhaps you’ll agree to a stipend for each such event, with spending beyond that coming out of your child’s pocket.
9. Create a “tit-for-tat” arrangement. Another option is to give your child a chance to “earn” such incidental money through doing chores. Perhaps two nights’ worth of dinner dishes is equivalent to a meal out after a school event, for example. This way, you’re exchanging value with each other and giving your child a lesson in the actual value of work.
10. Cut back on school activities. If none of these tactics work, it’s worth considering the possibility that your child is involved in too many activities - or at least in too many expensive activities. Look into cutting back on an activity or two next year, giving your child more focus on the activities that are truly important while also giving your child more free time to explore his or her own interests.
[Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image]Here are today's hot deals from dealnews.com:
Yukon Express 100-piece wooden train set for $39.99. With free shipping, that's $7 under [Image] our November mention and the lowest total price we could find by $10.
TomTom ONE XL wide-screen portable GPS navigation system with Bluetooth for $99.99. With free shipping, it's $30 below our Black Friday mention and the lowest total price we've seen.
Transcend 2GB microSD secure digital card for $3.99 with free shipping. That's the best deal we've ever seen for a 4GB microSD card.
Philips 5.6-inch LCD digital photo frame for $29.99 with free shipping. That's the lowest total price we could find by $43.
MSI Wind Intel Atom 1.6GHz bare-bones mini PC for $134.99 with free shipping. It's $19 under our mention from two weeks ago and the lowest total price we've seen. [Image]
Who doesn’t love love going to the movies? There is something special about watching a great movie at the movie theater for the first time, rather than seeing it on television. There’s something mystical about watching it with a crowd of people, booming sound, and a picture that’s 50 feet long and 20 feet high.
Face it, America loves movies. We embrace great actors, and we talk about classic movies all the time in general conversation. But, I’m sure that you’ve noticed the price of a movie ticket going up quite a bit in the last 10 years. Most nice movie theaters are now $9.00 to $10.00 for a movie ticket. And the food, that’s a whole different story. We know that the food at the movie theater is massively marked up, but people still buy it.
These days it’s tough for a family of four to go see a movie together without paying $60 to $75. That seems ridiculously expensive, so here are some simple tips for saving money at the movies.
Go To a Matinee. This is the most simple way to save money at the movies. Most people like going to the movies at night, but if you choose the matinee, you’ll save $2 to $3 per ticket. If you’re taking your children to the latest kid’s movie, go during the day. They’ll have a better time, and you’ll save some money. Plus, the crowds are usually a little smaller during the day.
Patron Your Locally Owned Movie Theater. Like many industries, the movie theater industry has been taken over by the mega plex movie theater companies such as AMC, Regal, and United Artists. However, there are still locally run movie theaters that offer less movie options and less amenities, but you can still get the movie theater experience for a little cheaper. When we lived in Gainesville, Florida, there was a local movie theater that offered all of the latest movies, but they only charged $6 per ticket at night. It was a great deal, and there were less crowds at this theater.
Join the Rewards Program. Some corporate run theaters such as Regal Cinemas offer a rewards program where you get points every time you buy a ticket. We’ve bought concessions food and received free tickets simply by filling out a form for a free rewards membership.
Check The Local Newspaper For Promotions. In West Palm Beach, Florida, the local newspaper offers free tickets to one of the latest movies out if you go and pick them up at the newspaper’s office. They might try to get you to buy a newspaper subscription, but all you need to do is simply say, “no thanks”.
Eat Before You Go. If you come to the movies on a full stomach, you’ll be less likely to be lured into the magnificent scent of movie theater popcorn. Fresh popcorn is one of the greatest smells on earth, and movie theaters know it. That’s why they jack up the price, because the smell sells itself. if you’re taking your kid to the movies on a special occasion, then go all out and get him or her popcorn and candy, but if it’s just you and your spouse going out to the movies, eat before you go. You’ll save a lot of money by skipping the concessions stand.
My philosophy about saving money is that you don’t need to pay retail for anything in life. If you continue to find ways to save money in every aspect of your life, you’ll start to see a surplus of money in your bank account at the end of the month. Use that surplus to invest and give to others and you’ll become a wealthy person. Don’t pay retail prices for the movies.
These money saving tips are part of the series on saving money on entertainment. So far we’ve covered how to save money on your television bill.
[Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image]I love wine but I’m not a wine snob. I don’t speak the lingo, and I don’t want to. All I know is that some wines taste better than others, and that some wines cost more than others. For me, the best bottle of wine is one that tastes great but doesn’t break the bank. With the dinner party season coming up, how can I find good wines at great prices? I turned to Gary Vaynerchuk at Wine Library TV for help.
I discovered Vaynerchuk through his personal website, and his videos about blogging and personal entrepreneurship. (Two of my favorites are: You can have a day job and build your own business and Building personal brands.) But Gary’s real claim to fame is his free daily video blog in which he tastes and reviews wine. Mostly he drinks more expensive stuff, but I wondered — could he offer advice for a frugal guy like me?
Good wines at great prices
I wrote to Gary and asked if he’d be willing to e-mail a few recommendations for GRS readers. He did me one better. He didn’t just write back — he created an entire video featuring his best value-driven wines of the year (subscribers will need to click through to this post to see the video — sorry):
Vaynerchuk starts with some advice that took me a long time to learn: You don’t have to spend a lot to enjoy wine.
The price point of a bottle of wine has no impact on the quality of that wine. That’s very important for people to understand, that price does not equal quality. In wine, that freaks people out. There are enormous amounts of $10-$12 wines that rock and roll…And there’s plenty of wines at $30-$50 that stink up the house.
When I first started drinking wine, I believed that a higher price meant higher quality. I now know that’s not true. My favorite wine I’ve tried this year is the 2007 Alain Brumont gros manseng sauvignon, which costs $10 per bottle at my local wine shop. (I like it so much that I bought a case, which brought the price down to $9 per bottle.)
What does Gary recommend for frugal oenophiles?
Learn what you love
But Vaynerchuk emphasizes that these aren’t the only options. Each person has different preferences. What might taste good to you might taste like swill to me. Or, as Kris and I were recently reminded, the same chardonnay may taste like gasoline with one meal, and then taste refreshing the next night with a different dish.
Because of this, wine recommendations should be treated like movie reviews: they can give you a general idea of what you’re going to get, but your actual reaction will be intensely personal. It’s important to find what you like, and then remember it. Vaynerchuk says:
You need to explore. How do you figure out what you like? By trying them. If you only drank apple juice every single day of your life, how in the heck do you know if you like orange juice? Or pineapple juice? Or plum juice? Or prune juice? How do you know? You don’t! And the same thing with wine. You’ve got to mix it up and try different things.
My kind of shopping
Armed with Gary’s advice and the latest recommendations from Consumer Reports, I went wine shopping last Wednesday. I established a budget before I set out, and then spent a couple of hours exploring the wine selection near my home. I visited Costco, Cost Plus World Market, Safeway, and Fred Meyer (a regional all-in-one store).
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find any of the wines from Vaynerchuk’s list and only two from the Consumer Reports list. Remembering Gary’s advice, however, I decided to be adventurous. He recommends a 2004 Argentine malbec, so I picked up one from the same vintage and region but a different producer. I also bought a tempranillo and a couple of other varietals I’ve never tried. I look forward to sharing these bottles with friends over the coming months.
Some people are serious about wine, and that’s fine. For me, though, wine is fun. Eating a good meal while sharing a bottle of wine is a bonding experience. Wine brings people together. And it does that just as well at $8 a bottle as at $80 a bottle.
What about you? What tips can you offer for finding inexpensive wine that’s still fun to drink? Do you have some favorite wines you can recommend for holiday gatherings?
If you like Vaynerchuk, be sure to check out Wine Library TV every weekday. (I liked yesterday’s episode: What wine goes with candy bars?)
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Related Articles at Get Rich Slowly:
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Ok. You need to get Christmas presents for your friends and your family and probably for the people in your office, too, but you don’t have a lot to spend. You’re absolutely not alone! The economy is really bad right now, and it doesn’t matter whether you live in the UK, the US, or somewhere else. Whatever kind of currency you use just doesn’t stretch as far as it used it. If you want to make sure that your pounds go further this holiday season, why not try giving homemade Christmas gifts?
Before you roll your eyes and think that all your friends will hate you, think about the money you could save. If you make presents that are thoughtful and kind and, well…good, you’ll be appreciated and you won’t be broke. A lot of these require no real skill, very little money, and can often be made from things you already have. Some of them even use rubbish as their main ingredient, although we wouldn’t recommend that for the food items!
Here are twenty-five of our favourites:
1. Stand-up, 3D reindeer Christmas cards – Everyone loves a Christmas card that they can display without it continuously falling over.
2. Potpourri Bundles – Who doesn’t want their house to smell great for the holidays?
3. Christmas cards you print yourself – You can design them through a Website or on your own, print them at home and send them out. Nothing says you care like taking the time to do that (and it really doesn’t take that long, either).
4. Chocolate Christmas Fudge – Yum. Everyone likes sweets, and around the holidays people tend to eat a long more of them.
5. Christmas Toffee Treats – These are great for the toffee lover on your list. Why buy them some expensive toffee when you can add a personal touch and make your own.
6. Christmas memory album – Give them a place to store those pictures from the wonderful Christmas that they had. It’s something that they can enjoy for a long time to come.
7. Novelty Tea Cosy – A cup of tea is a great way to relax and to warm up when it’s cold outside – or just to enjoy with friends. Give your friend of family member a smile by giving them a cute little handmade cosy to cover their teapot with.
8. Hand-decorated pot for a plant – It’s so easy. Get an inexpensive pot and use paint, glitter, fake gems or anything you like to make it beautiful and creative and unique.
9. Festive Christmas notepads – You can get some regular notepads and with a little imagination and some craft supplies you can make their front covers look like St. Nickolas, his reindeer, and more.
10. Recycle a bottle to make a fun and funky lamp – An old bottle can be cleaned up given a new life when you put an LED light kit in it. It will glow whatever color the bottle is, or you can use a clear bottle for a brighter light.
11. Christmas tea-light candleholders – You can find tea-light candles and their holders all over the place. With a little creativity and some supplies you can make them reflect the spirit and joy of the season.
12. Kid’s skittles and Christmas pudding bowling ball – Lots of people love to play skittles. You can make your own set that looks like St. Nick and friends, and the ball can resemble a Christmas pudding. If that idea isn’t what you think your recipient would like, you can make your skittles into favorite movie characters or almost anything else.
13. Paper Mache Christmas Dishes – Why have that fine china out to get broken? No one feels like doing dishes on Christmas anyway! Make some paper mache dishes that can be used for the feast.
14. Peg art teapot stand – If you know your gift recipient likes tea (and who doesn’t?) you can use pegs to make a beautiful and functional teapot stand that he or she can use all year round.
15. Mini Christmas stockings to hang on the tree – Cute! And they can be used as decoration or a way to hide tiny presents like jewellery.
16. Cinderella slipper jewellery box – Another jewellery idea is to craft a jewellery box in the shape of a shoe. Some fancy but inexpensive decoration, and you suddenly have Cinderella’s slipper!
17. Decorated Candles – A little bit of craft paint and some imagination can produce candles that are much more beautiful than they were when they left the store.
18. Dried Flowers – Most people have these somewhere in their home. They add a beautiful touch to a lot of different decorating schemes and you don’t have to worry about watering them.
19. Scented stuffed animals – You can make your own stuffed animals with patterns on the Internet or in craft books, and if you put some scented oil or other similar products in their stuffing they’ll smell great for a very long time.
20. Peppermint sweets – Just about everyone likes peppermint, and around the holidays it would be strange not to have some around. Store-bought is good, but homemade usually taste better.
21. Safety pin jewellery – Ever make jewellery from safety pins? It’s easy to do. You can fasten them together in all kind of ways to make intricate shapes, and you can also add ribbon, beads, or other small items into the mix to make something beautiful and unique.
22. Cute monkeys made from socks – It never fails that people seem to get socks at Christmastime from at least one relative. If you don’t want to give boring old socks, turn them into monkeys! They’re cute, they’re easy to make, and they definitely aren’t boring.
23. Handmade recipe books – If you know that a friend or family member really likes your cooking, or just really likes to cook, you can make that person a recipe book of their own. Similar to a memory album, it can be designed and decorated any way you like, and you can fill it with recipes and leave some space so they can add more later.
24. A personalized calendar with photos and birthdays or the recipient’s family – It’s great to see those that we love, and with this gift the recipient can see different loved ones all year long.
25. Homemade art work – Can you paint, draw or do something really creative? A lot of people can, and if you’re one of them why not paint, draw or create something to give as a gift. It costs very little other than your time, and will probably mean more than something store-bought.
There are hundreds more, but these should be enough to get you thinking. There are always creative ways to offer something thoughtful and still save money. If you take the time to think about those you’ll be giving gifts to, you should be able to base their gift on who they are and what they really like – and how much they mean to you – rather than go out and spend money for something just so you don’t feel guilty. Have a guilt-free and joy-filled Christmas season!
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Post from: Promotional Codes - Free and Valid Promo Codes, Discount Codes for UK Websites
WT Direct is offering up to a $250 cash bonus when you open a new account in their latest promotion. The amount of the cash bonus is based on the balance you maintain in your WT Direct account over the next three months, the more money you have on deposit, the more you can earn.
We keep a big chunk of money in our ING Direct and FNBO Direct accounts as an emergency fund. This is a great opportunity for us to move that money over to WT Direct for a few months and earn the cash bonus. All three of those online savings accounts are FDIC insured and WT Direct offers a comparable interest rate so it’s not a bad move for us.
Click here and use the coupon code of WTG3DN to qualify for the promotion. You can read more on the deals site about the details of the WT Direct promotion.
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You never know when disaster will strike. Be prepared.
It’s not often that I tell you to spend money on a Tightwad Tuesday. After all, Tightwad Tuesday is all about saving money, right? Right!
However, sometimes you need to spend money to make sure you’re not caught in a catastrophe that you can’t pay for. Today I’m going to tell you a true story. One that’s close to my heart.
On New Year’s Eve 1996, I got a call from my parents, who lived 100 miles away from me at the time. The home they lived in was a rented home right next to a creek. The rain that year was terrible. Do you see where this is going?
You’re right. The phone call was my parents telling me they might have to evacuate their house. They told me not to worry if I couldn’t get in touch with them. Sure enough. They had to evacuate. I heard from them the next day. Their rental was flooded. The water was 18 inches high throughout the house, and they lost everything, but the photo albums they managed to pack in the car before they left.
Unfortunately, they didn’t carry renters insurance. The Red Cross helped some, and they eventually got some help from FEMA, but they needed to find a new place to stay on short notice, and then they needed to furnish the house and make sure my family had food & clothing (my two youngest brothers were still living at home).
In the end everything worked out, but it was stressful and financially draining.
It’s at this point a lot of people would be tempted to think disaster has struck once, so what are the chances it will strike again?
Fast forward to last week. I brought my kids to the doctor’s office, because they needed to get some shots. As I’m sitting in the waiting room, I thought I heard my mom’s voice. I look up, and sure enough it’s my mom, at the doctor’s office for her flu shot. She looks a bit stressed. She sat down and told me about her day.
As it turns out, her water heater broke in the middle of the night. Since the water heater is downstairs and her bedroom was upstairs, she didn’t know there was a major, and I do mean major, leak. By the time she woke up and went downstairs, there was 4 inches of water on the floor.
This time she had renter’s insurance. Moving to another apartment was stressful, no doubt. Thinking about possibly having to replace furniture, a computer, and countless other things was overwhelming. But in the end, she knew that she wouldn’t have to worry about the financial aspect of things.
Once again, things worked out. My mom got a great deal on a better apartment. And there wasn’t as much damage to her things as she first thought. But instead of stressing about her finances over Thanksgiving, my mom was able to relax and enjoy the day, knowing that everything back at her apartment was taken care of.
The point is, disasters can happen to anyone, and they can happen multiple times. When catastrophe strikes, there are plenty of things to worry about. You don’t need to be worrying about the financial aspect of the disaster.
Renter’s insurance only costs about $10 a month. Please look into it, if you rent and aren’t covered. You never know what could happen.
If you’ve ever rented, did you carry insurance?
Copyright 2008 Lynnae McCoy
[Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image]I used to pay full price for the stuff I buy on the web. These days, that’s no longer the case as I’ve been much more resourceful about where and how to find deals, discount coupons and free stuff online. Now that cutting costs has become an even hotter topic than it used to be, I’ve compiled a list of tips and 20 online tools that can help you save money wisely and can be a great help to the smart online shopper.
21 Online Tools To Help You Find Deals, Discount Coupons, Freebies1. Make sure you are not missing a great deal. Check daily updated resources of coupon codes and online deals on top retail coupon sites. There are numerous directories and blogs where you can find current deals for most sellers and merchants.
2. Search for pleasing bonuses. Some sites offer great incentives for you to join. Ebates can help you save money in a few ways: they show you current deals for about 900 shops, they offer you a gift card if you join their site and they also promise to give you cash back when you purchase through them.
[Image]3. Find the most popular deals. Trezr.com is a Digg-like site that allows users to post current online deals as well as to vote for their favorite ones.
4. Find the most discussed deals. Dealighted aggregates deal discussions from various money-saving forums and summarizes these discussions in an easy-to-use manner.
5. Learn how much hassle it’ll cost you to take advantage of the deal. DeaLoco assigns a “grief factor” to each offer they post and lets you know how much work it’ll take to get a particular deal.
6. Check if you can save on shipping. Free shipping is one of the hottest offers you won’t want to miss before you reach for your money card. FreeShipping.org provides a collection of free shipping coupons that can be located by brand names, merchant names (example: Target coupon codes) or category.
[Image]7. Check for daily freebies. You may not have to spend money at all when you visit certain sites. HeyItsFree is one of the most comprehensive resources for online free offers.
8. Make sure you find the best prices available. BeatThat is a user-generated community where members post the lowest prices that they’re able to find. Here’s more on BeatThat.
9. Track and watch product prices. PriceGrabber allows you to create a watchlist of any products you find in their database — if the price reaches or drops below a price level you specify, you’ll be updated via email.
10. Find out what people are saying about the sellers. Check merchant reviews from independent sources. ResellerRatings offers an easily searchable database (currently there are more than 16,349 stores reviewed) of online sellers with users’ ratings and reviews.
11. Learn what customers are saying about the product. Check user-generated product reviews that are unbiased and on-spot. Buzzillions offers a huge database of products that are reviewed and rated by the site members.
[Image]12. Check out product-focused polls from social communities. Sazze is a social product review site that also lets you create and participate in polls related to any product and seller.
13. Read up on product expert reviews and recommendations. Retrevo.com offers a large database of products reviewed by both customers and experts. What’s more, you can also find useful manuals and price comparisons there. If you’re looking for camera experts for personalized advice about the best camera to buy, try BestInClass.com.
14. Check what active social media members have to say about a product or merchant. Search Twitter for unbiased opinions and news related to products, merchants and related matters that you’re interested in.
15. Check overstocked items. OverStock.com lists a huge number of overstocked products available for sale.
16. Take part in green initiatives. Do you know that you can save money by going green? Many companies combine seasonal promotions with green initiatives allowing you to both save money and to “go green.” GreenShopper offers plenty of environmentally friendly products sorted by categories and sellers.
[Image]17. Browse through online classified ads. Check the classifieds or the secondhand market for products that are of interest to you. Perhaps they’re offered at a better price here than at any online shop. Since the creation of Craigslist, buying used has been a classic money-saving method.
18. Search for best offers nearby. Whrrl is a Twitter-like service that lets its users post best offers along with their specified location; by searching for your zip code you’ll find what other people in your area are recommending.
19. Get reviews from “online friends” who share the same interests that you have in certain products. Kaboodle is a social media community that allows you to make friends with members interested in similar items. This is just another angle taken by social product review sites or product forums.
20. Search for homemade alternatives to the retail item you’re thinking of purchasing. These products may not necessarily be much cheaper when handmade than if they’re factory made, but they are often more beautiful. Etsy offers an online platform for lovely handmade products.
[Image]21. Don’t pay full price for gift cards. Bargain gift cards are available at sites that offer gift card exchanges, where people sell and trade their unused cards.
Have I missed anything? If you know of any more money saving tools and online resources where you can find great deals, coupons and free offers, let us know!
This guest post is by Ann Smarty, a search engine marketer maintaining an SEO consulting blog. Thank you Ann!
This is a post from The Digerati Life.
Bookmark ItIt's now official: A recession is here. In fact, it began last December, Kim Peterson at our sister blog, Top Stocks, reports. Another Top Stocks blogger, Anthony Mirhaydari, says we may be able to expect some relief within five or six months -- more or less.
Meanwhile, personal-finance bloggers continue to provide snapshots of how the financial pain is spreading.
For instance, informal polling of friends by the normally upbeat Silicon Valley Blogger produced depressing results. She writes at The Digerati Life:
The waves of an economic downturn are much like dealing with the effects of an impending tornado. The tornado spares some while it devastates others. You just pray it doesn't hit your household when it comes, although you can expect it to do a number on your landscape.
Among her findings:
In another post, "SVB" informs us that Georgia State School Superintendent Kathy Cox, who won $1 million on a game show (and gave the money to charity) has filed for bankruptcy because her husband is in the slumping homebuilding business.
[Image]While pressure-washing the sidewalk on Friday, I disturbed a nest of bees (or hornets or wasps — they’re all the same to me). Two of them stung my right hand. Within 24 hours, it had swollen like a balloon. Even after the doctor prescribed medication, the swelling spread to my forearm. It was like I had a meat claw!
[Image]Fortunately, things had mostly returned to normal by Sunday evening, which gave me time to piece together this morning’s post. The side effects of the bee-sting medication — alertness — also gave me a chance to stay awake until 3 a.m. Allow me to share some of the stories I read to occupy my time:
First, at the Wall Street Journal personal-finance blog, Isaac Yoder writes about trying to correct a bank’s $25/month mistake. It’s not a pleasant experience. His conclusion, though, echoes one of my money mantras: Nobody cares more about your money than you do. Always check your bills and statements, and always stand up for yourself if you spot a problem.
While doing research for a future post, I found a fantastic niche blog: 60 & Single will only be applicable to a handful of GRS readers, but I believe it’s a great resource for its intended audience.
At Blueprint for Financial Prosperity, Jim has come up with an idea that intrigues me: the financial network map. He writes: “A financial network map is a one-page diagram that shows the links and relationships between each of your financial accounts, which include but are not limited to bank, brokerage, mutual fund, retirement, credit card, and service accounts.” Jim’s visual aid makes the concept clear.
Finally, the latest issue of The New Yorker contains a long article about Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and his approach to the global financial crisis. This is required reading, up there with the two episodes from This American Life that I mention repeatedly at GRS: “The Giant Pool of Money” and “Another Frightening Show About the Economy“. Bernanke is brilliant, and a good man, and he’s doing the best he knows how. Unfortunately, in some cases he’s just been dead wrong. Fortunately, he’s learning. Highly recommended.
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Related Articles at Get Rich Slowly:
I’ve always thought of life as a spiraling staircase, gracefully wrapping around time and achievement, as opposed to the blunt vertical found on a ladder. Comparing life’s ascension to a set of stairs is often apt, but there are moments when life as ladder is far more fitting, such as when we find ourselves stuck between rungs, mired in the middle of old pattern and new performance. This is when the decisive climb from one rung to the next must begin so that we may climb toward our tomorrow, while leaving yesterday behind.
Steps may be clambered in tandem (my wife and I often fall into reflexive harmony when we find ourselves on stairs together), but climbing a ladder is a solitary endeavor. We begin at the bottom, then spend our lifetimes reaching for the top, each rung pulling us closer to dusk and further from dawn. Destinations are determined by our daily decisions, as is our grasp and the speed of our climb.
Each of us finds ourselves at some point stuck between the rungs, pinned at an impasse. Perhaps success has halted, and our growth is no longer happening at the rate it once was. We can wrap our hands around the rung above, but we do not have the strength to pull ourselves upward. Often, it is the rung just below that is holding us hostage with insubordinate habit. It is then when we must lower our heel, shatter the habits to bits, and then continue to climb without looking behind.
It is never too late to learn a new habit; never to early to shed the old like dead, useless skin. Bad habits are formed by the slow and steady accumulation of mindless minutes. As a million years of rainfall will smooth the slope of a mountain summit, so do a million misplaced moments warp our good intentions.
We all are capable of reverse engineering our own bad behavior, but we cannot unlock the door without looking for the key.
We can start by searching for the reason in our routine. Understanding why we do something is an excellent precursor to halting the undesirable. If a bad habit is built by a sequence of negative actions, then a good habit can be formed by stringing opposite elements in an opposing direction.
New habits are most difficult at their birth. The links of our new chain are frail, and barely strong enough to hold their weight, but every moment of determination thickens our resolve.
For the last three years, I’ve run a preschool with my wife. Recently, I sailed the seas to full time writer. The needs of a cadre of kiddies are nowhere close to those of the online world, and adjustments needed to be made.
At first, it was easy to allow my old habits to swallow me. It would have been simple to swear I was doing my best, but I wasn’t. The whisper was there, and I rarely commanded his silence. You know the voice, we all have one. Mine tells me to check my email, or my analytics… or my email (it’s been five minutes after all). Telling myself I could do better wasn’t enough. I needed to reach for the rung, and pull with all my might.
I could tell you that I used the mute on my computer to silence the song of my inbox, or preach the pluses of using pen and paper, but ultimately it doesn’t matter. Not one single bit. What worked for me may not work for you. I’ve read enough tips to know. I don’t need a “How To,” I need a “Why Should I.”
It is the universal thread that’s important - our need to change, and desire to do so. When want meets willing, there is no limit to how high we can climb.
Read more from Sean Platt at his blog, Writer Dad, or subscribe to his feed.
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Has anyone else noticed that Wal-Mart has changed its name? It's no longer Wal-Mart. It's[Image] Walmart, followed by something that's been called a starburst and a spark.
Does anyone care? "For consumers who had problems with Wal-Mart's brand the new logo won't change their minds; slapping lipstick on a pig does little good either," Ries' Pieces wrote in a post before the hyphen officially bit the dust.
On the other hand, we can't imagine that Walmart fans care either, as the new logo shows up in more places across the land. But we looked around the Web to see what others more in tune with logos think.
Identityworks said the change is good because it recognizes how widely known the name is -- apparently Walmart seems more like a real word than Wal-Mart does -- and "it relieves us all of the implied obligation to punctuate Wal-Mart correctly."
Others praised Walmart for dropping the all-caps format. (The name in the ads and on the stores was WAL, followed by a star or what's called a "squiggly" in Walmart-speak, then MART.) By dropping the capital letters, "Walmart is turning down the volume," Kevin Roberts wrote at KR Connect. Other said the new design is slimmer, more modern (the hyphen is so out of favor these days) and intended to look environmentally friendly with the starburst. However, Brand New said that design element brings to mind a technology or telecommunications company.
Walmart said in a press release, "This update to the logo is simply a reflection of the refresh taking place inside our stores and our renewed sense of purpose to help people save money so they can live better." The "refresh" apparently includes an effort to be more green. (We're happy to read that all Wal-Mart stores will begin donating food to food banks by the end of 2009.)
Just for fun, a poster at a forum asked others what they'd call Walmart if they could pick a new name. Tops on the list were Wall-E World and Wally World, common nicknames for the retail behemoth. Other suggestions were Nothing American Mart, China-Mart, Cheap-Mart and Only Come Here When Desperate Mart.
We bet there's one group of people who are happy about the logo change. Hopefully, when Walmart employees do the company cheer at the quasi-mandatory morning meeting, they no longer have to yell "squiggly, accompanied by an embarrassing shimmy, when spelling the name of the store.
[Image][Image]What costs $7.95, makes for a great gift for all your gift exchanges, and is chock full of the good stuff you’ve come to expect from The Simple Dollar?
365 Ways to Live Cheap, that’s what.
It’s my first book, due to be released in bookstor