The KISS Principle vs. Getting the Best Deal

I'm coming to the conclusion that I'm enrolled in way too many rewards programs. In addition to clipping coupons, I try to remember to use my Entertainment, Member (from the local NPR station) and AAA cards to score additional discounts. For online orders, I have to remind myself to click through to the website through Upromise.com. And my wallet is overflowing with loyalty cards from grocery stores, drug stores, boutique clothing shops, sporting goods stores, movie theaters, warehouse clubs, local coffee shop, etc. Every time I decide to leave a card at home, I inevitably wind up needing it. It's true that some stores will look up your loyalty reward number using your phone number, but I don't like giving out my phone number when strangers are standing nearby.

And lately, I've been having trouble keeping track of the various program benefits. In other words, when and how I'm supposed to be using these darn cards? Last week, I forgot to hand the cashier $4 worth of coupons that I had stashed in my wallet for my planned trip to the grocery store. And a few weeks before that, I forgot to use my Discover Gas Cashback Card to pay for my new set of tires. I could've gotten a 5% rebate on that $750 transaction.

So, I'm reminded of the KISS principle. Keep it simple, stupid. At what point do you decide that enough is enough? In my case, the law of diminishing returns is definitely kicking in. I spend way too much time and effort trying to figure out how to get the best deal, only to find out afterwards that if I had done this or that I could've saved even more. Maybe I need to extend myself some grace and resign myself to the fact that I'm always going to wind up leaving some money on the table. Otherwise, I'm simply going to drive myself absolutely nuts. Yes, there are bargains and discounts to be had out there, but I just don't have the time or the energy to take advantage of all of them.

Never Hurts to Ask

In one of my posts yesterday, I mentioned that I was assessed a late payment penalty on my credit card. I called Chase, and after looking at my account, the CSR reversed the charge. Today, I was assessed $24 in finance charges on the remaining balance, even though I sent in the full payment for last month's bill. Technically, because my payment was overdue, I was carrying a balance for 5 days at most. I called up Chase this morning, and again the CSR agreed to reverse the charge because of my "great payment history."

The moral of the story is that it never hurts to ask. I'm glad that they were willing to give me the benefit of the doubt and reverse the charges. But admittedly, it helps to have a clean credit history.

How Much is a Bachelor's Degree Worth?

According to a recent AP article in the Chicago Tribune, a bachelor's degree is worth about $23,000 per year.

"That is the average gap in earnings between adults with bachelor's degrees and those with high school diplomas, according to data from the Census Bureau. College grads made an average of $51,554 in 2004, the most recent figures available, compared with $28,645 for adults with a high school diploma. High school dropouts earned an average of $19,169 and those with advanced college degrees made an average of $78,093."

Pretty amazing, when you think about it.

Scroll all the way down to the end of the article for statistics on the number of individuals with high school diplomas vs. bachelor's degrees, broken down by state. IL is slightly above the national average. I thought it would have been higher.

Danger of Point and Click

The other day, I was downloading my credit card transactions into Quicken, and I noticed a $39 late payment fee. What the...how did that get in there? I do all of my payments online, and since it was a direct bank to bank transfer, it should have taken only one day to arrive. So, I looked back at my statement and at by bill pay history. D'oh! For some odd reason, I'd scheduled the payment exactly one week after it was due. I'm guessing that I clicked open the little calendar next to the scheduled payment date and just clicked on the wrong date. I use my credit card as a debit card, in the sense that I pay off my balance each month, so I don't get charged any interest. But I started panicking a little bit when I realized that I'd missed the payment date because I had an unusually large balance on my card this past month. I was worried that I was going to be socked with not only the late payment fee but interest as well.

I called up Chase card services and was transferred to a call center in India. I explained the situation, promised to send the payment the next day and asked that the late fee be waived. She said she would look into it. A minute later, she came back on the line and said that since I was a valued customer, she would go ahead and waive the fee. I didn't want to push my luck, so I didn't ask her about waiving the interest on the 5 days the payment was overdue. I'll probably have to call again in a week, once my statement is posted online.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that you should not enter your bill pay transactions when you're tired and groggy. And you should always double check the payment date.

Free Senseo Coffee Pod

If you own a Philips Senseo single-serve, coffee maker, click here for a free coffee pod sample of their Sumatra blend.

Two Milestones

I celebrated the achievement of two significant milestones this week. The first is that I turned 35. The second is that thanks to the recent bull market, my net worth shot past half a million dollars. Woohoo!

$750 Later...4 New Tires

I went in to Cassidy Tires this afternoon on my lunch hour to get my tires balanced for $50 and came out 2.5 hours later with four new tires. Apparently, the first owner of my car replaced the OEM tires with really cheap Goodyear tires that weren't exactly meant for a high performance luxury sedan. And the speed rating on one of the tires didn't quite match the other three (something that my mechanic had already pointed out to me). Hence the unstable ride that prompted my visit to the tire shop.

Anyway, I called my mechanic afterwards to give him the scoop, and he basically told me that I'd been taken to the cleaners. So, not quite believing him, I hopped onto costco.com and checked the prices. All of the options for my car would've required a special order, and the prices were pretty much in line with what I paid at Cassidy. But just to make doubly sure that I'd gotten the right tires at the right price, I hopped onto tirerack.com. The exact same tires were definitely cheaper online, but taking into account shipping costs, I really wouldn't have saved all that much money. And who wants to haul 4 tires over to a repair shop? As an added bonus, I read through the user ratings for my tires, and they were all very positive. Apparently, these particular tires provide superior performance in wet or snowy conditions.

To be honest, my car has always had terrible traction. I figured it was just normal since the car has rear wheel drive. I even thought about selling the car because I had such a horrible time with it last winter. But on the way home from Cassidy Tires, it started to rain. So, I decided to do a mini road test, and I purposefully took a few corners at high speed to see if the tires would hold. Sure enough, they did.

So, although it was an unplanned expenditure, in the long run, I probably saved some money. Because with new, grippier tires, I just eliminated one of the main reasons for trading in my car. And it all started out because my mechanic says that he doesn't do tires....

Cheaper at a Brick & Mortar

After ruining a couple of shirts, I decided that it was time for a new iron. So, I hopped onto Wize.com, a user review aggregator site, to do some product research. I was about to order the Black & Decker Digital Advantage Iron from Amazon.com. But on a whim, I decided to check some of the brick and mortar websites to see if I could find it for a reasonable price. I really wanted to use the iron this weekend, but I'm too cheap to pay for expedited shipping.

Well, sure enough, Bed Bath and Beyond had the iron at the same price. So I swung by the local brick and mortar store this afternoon and used one of my 20% off coupons. They seem to send me one every other week, and they always accept expired coupons. So, even when you take into account 8% sales tax, I wound up paying less at Bed Bath than if I'd ordered it from Amazon.com or any of the other online retailers that were featured on pricegrabber.com and shopping.com.

So, sometimes instant gratification can be a good thing :-)

$50 ING Direct Bonus - Updated with Valid Codes

To obtain a $50 bonus on a $250 initial deposit, sign up for a new account at ingidrect.com/chicago, using one of the unique reference codes below. The deadline is November 15, 2006, and the offer is limited to new customers only. First come, first serve.

CHEV6/4MFQ6MFR

CHEV6/UH8BRPQM

CHEV6/YZTCCKEN

For additional reference codes, look for the ING folks in their bright, orange and white cow costumes. They've been handing out flyers in various locations all over the Chicagoland area.

Free 12 oz. Drink at Borders' Seattle's Best Coffee Cafes

Click here for a printable store coupon. 9/30–10/8/06.

"Valid only in the Seattle's Best Coffee cafes in our Chicago (Michigan Ave.), Chicago (Hyde Park), Chicago (Uptown), Chicago (North & Halsted), Chicago (Lincoln Village), Chicago (State St.), and Chicago (Lincoln Park), IL; Snellville, Buford, Athens, and Augusta, GA; Waldorf, MD; and Arlington, VA, Borders stores. "

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Apparently, my 2004 federal income tax return is being audited by the IRS. According to the letter that I received yesterday, I need to substantiate all of my gifts to charity. Thankfully, I kept all of my receipts in a nicely labeled file folder. But I have to say that I'm more than a bit annoyed. Is it so hard to believe that an individual in my position would choose to give more than a certain percentage of my income to charitable organizations? The sad thing is that I didn't even report any of the smaller, one-off gifts that I made to organizations like the American Cancer Society. I only deducted gifts that exceeded $250.

Anyway, I've just got too many things going on in my life right now. And it's just one more thing I have to put on my to do list and remember to follow up on. Argh!

More Haircare Products to Try

I wonder what it is about the demographic group that I happen to fall into? This is the second time in recent history that I've been asked to sample and evaluate a haircare product. First, it was a bottle of shampoo. This time around, it's a bottle of conditioner.

Since most manufacturers claim that their shampoos and conditioners produce the best results when used together, I'm curious as to why they'd ask their panelists to test the products separately? Not that I'm complaining. A free bottle of conditioner is a free bottle of conditioner. Just curious, I guess.

Creature of Habit

One of the advantages of being a creature of habit is that you know exactly how much things should cost. I typically grab lunch at Jimmy John's at least once a week. I pretty much order the same thing (No. 5, no onions, no cheese). And one of the cashiers knows my order by heart. But today, when I walked into the restaurant, I was greeted by a cashier I didn't recognize. And sure enough, when she rang up my order, she tried to charge me an extra dollar over the usual cost. So, I looked at her and calmly asked 'Are you sure that's right?' She says, 'Yeah.' But then her co-worker leaned over and pointed out her error. So then she had to void the transaction and start all over. And while she was doing it, she mumbled something about how the keys on the register tend to get stuck, and that's why she over charged me. Umm, yeah...right. It would've been nice if she would've just apologized for her mistake, instead of blaming it on the machine.

Stigma Associated with Fast Food

A co-worker called me just now to ask me if I wanted to do lunch. I told her I'd just grabbed something from McDonald's. And then she started musing out loud about what she wanted to eat. I guess she was in an indecisive mood. And then she said something that startled me. "Sometimes I'm just embarrassed to bring a hamburger from McDonald's into the office, you know what I mean?" Umm, yes. But then I just tell myself to get over it.

I guess there's a stigma associated with McD's. It's okay to buy your lunch from a healthy, chi chi place like Spa Cafe. Not so cool to buy something from McD's. As if it's a reflection of my socio-economic status. I guess it's the same thing as bringing a frozen entree to work and heating it up in the communal microwave. When I worked in the law firm, only the support staff brought their lunches to work. I always bought my lunch because it was a good excuse actually get out of the office during the middle of the day. But practically speaking, it would've saved me a lot of time and money if I had just packed a lunch. The lunchtime crowds can make even the fastest of fast food places seem slow.

Ugh...I hate spiders

I've been having a lot of problems lately with spiders. Every time I looked outside, I'd see the creepy things crawling all over my screen door. And I can't tell you how many times I had to use a broom to sweep the cobwebs off of my patio furniture. It definitely discouraged me from sitting outside with my morning coffee. To be honest, I'm not even sure how the spiders managed to get up there, 'cause I live all the way up on the 12th floor. And I know that our management company sprays for bugs every year in the spring.

And now that summer's almost over, it occurred to me that maybe I could do something about the spider problem. So I looked up the word 'spiders' in the index of my old copy of Earl Proulx's Yankee Home Hints. And sure enough, Earl had a very cheap, easy and practical solution to the problem. Cedar shavings. So, I grabbed a cedar block (the kind that you usually hang in your closet to keep moths away), and attached it to the outside handle of my sliding glass door. Voila! No spiders for the past 3 days. I'll have to find more cedar blocks to hang underneath my patio table and near my grill.

Fun Quiz About Money

Here's a fun quiz about money from MSN Encarta. I only got half of the answers right. Oh well.

Happy Tuesday!

An Apple Doesn't Fall Far...

My brother's family was in town for a few days last week. My ten year old nephew, in particular, is just the sweetest and most thoughtful kid in the world. But I was reminded that kids say and do the darndest things.

We were shopping for souvenirs at Navy Pier, and my nephew is totally into glass sculptures and crystals. Apparently, he'd been saving his pennies for this trip since early April. And he was about to buy an $8 crystal pendant for himself when his dad pointed out that the pendant should be worn by a girl. So, he paused and thought about it for a few seconds, and then decided that he wanted to buy it for his little sister. But when he went up to the cashier, he asked her if he could buy it for $4 instead of the $5 that was posted on the sign. The woman, who was talking on her cell phone at the time, agreed to accept $4. So, then my nephew decides that he wants to buy a larger crystal to hang in his room. And again, he went up to the cashier and asked if she'd accept $1 less for the item than the price that was posted. This time, she wouldn't budge on the price. So, my nephew just shrugged and handed over his hard earned $8.

When he came over and explained what had happened, I was absolutely amazed that he'd haggled with an adult. Where did he learn to negotiate like that? God only knows, but I suspect it's from observing his frugal dad.

Sellers with Positive Feedback

I purchased a new, unused textbook yesterday from a private seller on Amazon.com Marketplace for half the advertised price of other online booksellers. But I found myself waffling between one seller who had 93% positive feedback but the lowest price and another seller with 98% positive feedback but a higher price. I wound up going with the seller with the 98% positive feedback. But I'm wondering whether that extra 5% of positive feedback was really worth an extra $5?

As I mentioned in the past, I've been selling stuff on Amazon.com Marketplace for the past few months. And right now, I have a 100% positive feedback rating (knock on wood). I attribute my good fortune to the Golden Rule. Do unto others as you would have them do onto you. Having had some not so great experiences with other sellers, I've learned from their mistakes. Things like inaccurate descriptions or inadequate packing materials, drive me crazy.

Anyway, I'm wondering if it's just me, or do other folks pay a lot of attention to feedback ratings? If yes, are you willing to pay a premium to purchase something from a seller with a higher rating? And finally, what's your price point? Are you talking an extra $5, $10, $15?

You're Right...I'm Wrong

Thanks to all of my readers who pointed out that I'm a complete idiot and left money on the table by frontloading my 401(k) contributions. What I really should have done was to contribute at least 5% per pay period for the rest of the year to take advantage of the company match. As it stands, I'm losing out on $2,000 of free money. But in my defense, I thought I was going to quit my job this year and go back to school this fall. So frontloading was the only way I could have contributed the maximum amount before I left the company. Live and learn.

As for next year, I'm going to have to frontload my 401(k) again because I'm planning on starting grad school full time in the fall. C'est la vie. The $2,000 match isn't enough to keep me on the job for another year.

....And the Effect on Company Matching Contributions

A reader asked a great question yesterday in response to my last post about frontloading my retirement accounts. In terms of the company match for my 401(k), do I get more or less money if I fully fund my account within the first 6 months vs. over the course of the entire year?

According to our company website, eligible employees "receive dollar-for-dollar matching contributions...on the first 5% of...benefits pay contributed each pay period." As far as I can tell, there's no dollar cap associated with each paycheck. So, if I contribute the full $15,000 (the 2006 tax limit) in 12 pay periods, as opposed to 24, the company match would still be $750 (5% of that $15,000) for the year. And since the company match is deposited in my 401(k) account immediately, there's the added benefit of time. That $750 will be earning compound interest or dividends for me for at least an additional 6 months.

So, if my reasoning is correct, there's really no down side to frontloading my 401(k) when it comes to the company match.