Hello everyone! This post was originally intended to be a recap of January here, with some acknowledgements, but I thought I’d first bring up the topic of buying organic. I’m curious what your thoughts are on the subject.

Buying Organic – How Often is it Truly Important?

This came to mind from a couple of places. First, the notion that seemingly everywhere we go in a grocery store, we’ll see some foods being labeled as organic. Be it fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, or anything else – it appears that there may be a really solid market out there for products sold as organic. The second place this topic came from was a conversation I had recently with someone, who strongly believes in organic as much as possible when it comes to diet, thinking it’s more than worth the extra cost.

Now, I do subscribe the the notion that investing in quality, fresh, nutritious food is a smart move. Obviously, your health will likely be better off with such purchases being consumed. Additionally, taking a financial angle, making smart choices each day can lower health care costs over the long run. It’s clear that choosing good nutrition can positively impact the quality of one’s life.

That being said, my thoughts have been that this more the case when choosing between alternative types of food. For example, choosing a frugal breakfast of oatmeal is likely a better choice than eating a bagel. It’s healthier and likely cheaper too.  However, when choosing between the same food – but one option is organic, and the other regular (non-organic) – the decision gets a bit fuzzier to me.

Here’s an example: if I want buy blueberries, and a container of regular berries costs $2.50, but organic berries cost $4.00, is it worth paying $1.50 for the organic version? Keep in mind that the quantity of berries is the same.

This example can be applied to any type of food, whether fruit, vegetables, dairy, etc. The idea of paying more for the same type of food that looks the same, but has the “organic” label, always makes me wonder. Personally, for the kids, I might get organic milk and cheese. That seems worth it, when I think about hormones and dairy. But I really wonder about some of the other types of foods, and often think that we can wash things thoroughly. I mean, if I buy a non-organic apple, for example, am I really doing something unhealthy? Is there that much of a difference between an organic apple and a regular one that’s been washed?

When you look at the potential volume of food that we can buy organic, the incremental costs could really add up. That gets me wondering how we should pick our spots buying organic, and how important it always is. I mean, I’ve seen cotton being noted as organic!

Feel free to convince me. I’m focused on nutrition now, and would like to hear any thoughts on this topic. If you think I’m wrong, please feel free to tell me why. I’m open to change

My Questions for You:

• Do you place a high value on buying organic, or do you look the other way
• If you do buy organic, what do you purchase in that category and why?
• Do you have any advice or suggestions for others deciding on whether or not to buy organic?

Top Referrers for January

The following are the “lucky dozen” – lucky for Squirrelers, that is. These are the 12 sites that brought the most visitors here in January. Thanks to each of you!

1. The Simple Dollar
2. Festival of Frugality
3. Yakezie
4. The Dog Ate My Wallet
5. Funny About Money
6. Get Rich Slowly
7. So Over Debt
8. Sweating the Big Stuff
9. Budgeting in the Fun Stuff
10. Digging Out and Up
11. Money Relationship
12. First Gen American

Squirrelers in Blog Carnivals

Squirrelers was included in the following blog carnivals in January:

10 Winter Savings Tips was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Sweating the Big Stuff

What Do You Think About Gift Cards as Holiday or Birthday Gifts? was included in the Canadian Finance Carnival at Canadian Finance Blog

Squirreling Gone Wild #31: The Surprise 90% Discount was included in the Festival of Frugality at Funny About Money

10 Ways to Save Money on Auto Insurance was included in the Totally Money Carnival at Mother Miser

15 Ways to Grow and Protect Your Net Worth was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Diva in Debt

Lottery Coupons: Save Money on Losing Money was included in the Festival of Frugality at The Frugal Toad

Sometimes we Have Rainy Days – Even With Money was included in the Yakezie Carnival at Prairie Eco-Thrifter

Crazy Job Interview Stories was included in the Totally Money Carnival at Passive Income to Retire

Will Less Teens Driving Today = Fewer Expensive Car Purchases in the Future? was included in the Yakezie Carnival at The Amateur Financier

Make Sure to Review Your Credit Card Statement was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at The Jenny Pincher

Will Job Searching Change in the Future?

Resumes have been a part of the interview process for many years. It’s an established practice in many industries and white collar jobs to have a resume prepared which can be reviewed by a prospective employer. Either the resume itself gets you in the door, or it’s usually considered a must-read document anyway if you get noticed by networking or someone you know.

Is this showing some initial signs of changing a bit? An interesting article in the WSJ discussed how a few employers are focusing less on resumes these days when evaluating prospective job candidates. Rather, they’re looking at other factors. Examples noted included quizzes, surveys, videos, and checking a candidate’s web presence. Giving this some thought, it’s clear that things have changed quite a bit in just the last few years. Furthermore, I believe that we might be on the cusp of some more far reaching changes in the job search/recruitment process in the not too distant future.

In the past, how could an organization know that a potential applicant for a job would be a good fit and able to succeed? One way would have been to look at a resume, then interview the person to see if he or she gave good answers. References could be checked and questions asked about the person’s experience. Perhaps a basic personality test or quiz could be given. Short of other publicly available information, the amount of information to evaluate a candidate was limited.

As of today, we can do a number of things that help us understand what a candidate for job is truly made of beyond just the resume.

Linkedin – sure it might seem like an online resume in some ways. However, you can tell more about a person here than what would show up on a resume. You can see to whom a candidate is connected, and what roles those individuals hold. It’s a way to better frame up the type of work the person might have done, the talent level of the people with whom they interacted, and the degree of connectedness the individual has. This provides additional information that a resume can’t.

Facebook - depending on privacy settings, you can learn about a person’s personality from what’s out there. Crazy pictures? Well, maybe they don’t match up with your professional persona, and this could be good…or bad. Depends. But it’s another layer of information that helps tell the story of who you are.

Googling - just googling someone can tell you some things about a person. If someone is applying for a job, a quick search might reveal some talents and accomplishments that the person has had. Or, it could show some less than flattering things.

What this comes down to is the notion that when we’re trying to get a job, it’s not just the old standy factors that matter. Rather, since the readily available information has increased in volume, we’re being evaluated more comprehensively now.

How will this change going forward? What are we on the cusp of?

Good questions. I’m not  an expert on this, so I’m quite curious what you think.

To me, I can see social proof as becoming even more important. Going beyond what’s on today’s social networks, and what appears in search results, it might be that a online presence that demonstrates achievement, talent, potential, etc could be expected. Perhaps having a blog, and demonstrating subject-matter expertise in your field could become the norm rather than just a mark of the exceptionally motivated. Maybe it will be more important to have written white papers, contributed to an e-book, or in some way show that you know what you’re doing.

Maybe we’ll have to have PowerPoint type of presentations of our skills available for all to see.  Perhaps it will become more much more common than it is today to have a video where you can demonstrate your knowledge, or give an “elevator speech” to be seen. Or, maybe we will have to compete with others in online skills assessments, being ranked on some kind of social and sharable platform.

I’m just totally brainstorming here, and sharing ideas that come to mind. Perhaps some of these things are more pervasive than many of us realize already. Perhaps this is overblown, and it will still often come down to traditional networking and who you know – which is super important today and has been for a long time. However, it sure seems like there’s at least some evolution coming in the way the job market is negotiated, from the perspective of both employers and employees.

My Questions for You:

Did you find your most recent employment through more traditional methods, or through any newer ones?

What changes have you noticed in recent years in how people are hired and find employment?

Looking ahead, what changes do you think we might see in terms of how people find jobs and how companies look for employees? I’m curious what you think might be coming our way, if anything.

How much is avoiding dental pain worth to you?

The cost of dental work can be quite high for many people. For those who do not have insurance, it can be outrageously costly. Even if you do have insurance, dental care can be expensive anyway.

Regardless, it’s something that’s important and we need to take care of our teeth for many reasons. Dental health has been shown to impact our overall health in numerous ways.

With that in mind, I’m facing a dental procedure that needs to get done. I need to get a wisdom tooth removed, which is not something anyone would look forward to. However, it has to happen, so I might as well get the time scheduled and get it over with. The only thing I thought I had to decide was when to make the actual appointment, but I found out that I have a new decision to make: how much to spend on pain relief for wisdom tooth removal!

Frankly, I haven’t really considered this type of decision before. Usually I’ll just deal with the medical care that I have to get, and will put my health above money – within reason of course. If things are truly optional, that’s obviously different. But if I absolutely need medical care or medicine, I’ve just gone ahead with it in the past. What’s the point of saving money if it impacts your health?

As I noted, this procedure must be done, so of course I won’t try to save by avoiding it. However, there are different prices for pain relief for this dental procedure. After getting an initial consultation, the office got back to me with the following 3 options for removing the wisdom tooth.

Local Injection

This apparently involves a shot (or shots) to the mouth and areas near the tooth. The idea would be to numb the area so I don’t feel as much pain as the tooth gets extracted.

Pain Relief: 3rd best out of the 3 options

Cost: $76 – least expensive of the 3 options

Gas (Nitrous Oxide)

This option, from what I understand, is intended to relieve your anxiety so that you really aren’t too bothered during the procedure. Thus, you may not notice the pain quite as much while the tooth is being extracted.

Pain Relief: 2nd best out of the 3 options

Cost: $115 – 2nd most expensive of the 3 options

IV Sedation

In this case, you are actually sedated. You’ll be out of it, and won’t be noticing what’s going on. Essentially, its like you’re asleep.

Pain Relief: best out of the 3 options

Cost: $338 – most expensive out of the 3 options

With all this information provided to me, the first thought that came to mind was this: “give me a shot, get that sucker out of there, and let me save some money!”  Then, I paused and thought about it for a moment.  Do I really want to do that?

The difference between a local injection and the gas is $39. That’s not much, all things considered, for something like this. So, I’m eliminating local injection as an option. The difference between gas and IV sedation, however, is $223.  That’s a little bit more noteworthy. I’m probably going to go with either nitrous oxide, or IV sedation for this treatment.

The decision: is $223 worth spending for a little more pain relief?

It’s money vs. pain? I wonder how many people even think of money in a case like this? I’m guessing there are people on both sides of the spectrum. Some might want pain relief no matter what, and there might be some tough characters that will save a buck at any cost. The things people will do to save money!

This also serves as a reminder of how important it is to have insurance and some financial resources. Some folks have no options.

But for those that do, I wonder how many would tough it out and go with the cheapest options. For some, losing money can be quite painful!

My Questions for You:

Which choice of the 3 would you go for?

Do you think of money in cases like this, or do you just want comfort at any reasonable price?

Have you ever faced a decision on any health care decision that was impacted by cost?

Financial Diet: Spending Until 80% Full

Fitness has been one of my goals for this year (as it probably is for many people, in a lot of years), but this time I’ve put forth more effort into it. Aside from the most important part – taking action – I’ve done a little more reading on ways to improve health.

Of course, as I say here periodically, health and money are interrelated. Improve one, and you can help the other.  Now in this case, I thought I’d actually do something a bit different. Here,  I thought of applying a health-related principle to money. That concept: Hara Hachi Bu.

From what I’ve learned, Hara Hachi Bu is an Okinawan approach to regulating eating. The idea is that one should eat until reaching the point of being 80% full. The result? People eat less, don’t gain unnecessary weight, and have better health. It’s been said that Okinawa has an exceptionally high percentage of centenarians compared to the rest of the world. Eating fewer calories, when paired with an active lifestyle, might really help longevity and the ability to live a healthy life to 100.

It got me thinking – why not apply the 80% concept to our spending?

If calorie restriction and eating until 80% full might play a role in longevity, maybe spending 80% of what we think we need can play a role in longevity of our savings as well. If we spend less, we can increase our income minus expense gap. This increased savings, with time, proper investing, and the power of compounding, can result in a substantially increased net worth and financial security. This extended life of our savings can help us live a higher quality of life for a longer period of time.

Now, I don’t think this is just a matter of taking a high level of spending and bringing it down by 20%. Rather, I’m talking about taking what would be a reasonable budget made by financially responsible people, and living on 80% of it.

This could entail spending (and living on) less as follows:

• Housing – moving to a less expensive area or living in a smaller home
• Cars – driving an older used car, or for a family getting rid of a second car
• Food – cutting out dining outside, and going the extra mile to make frugal dining choices

It’s almost like thinking about what you need to live comfortably, and then spending at 80% of that level. Maybe we can get used to that, just like the body gets used to living on less calories when stopping at 80% full.

Update: Just so everyone knows what I mean by 80%, I’m referring to 80% of current expenses. I’m not referring to spending 80% of income and saving 20%. Rather, I mean take whatever your expense level is and multiply it by 0.8. For example, if a family earns $100,000 and spends $80,000, they’re saving $20,000. By applying this Hara Hachi Bu concept, the family would take the $80,000 expenses, multiply by 80%, and spend the resulting amount instead: $64,000. In this case, savings as a percentage of incomes goes up from 20% to 36%!

My Questions for You

What do you think of the idea of living on 80% of an otherwise reasonable expense level?

Do you think that doing this could extend the life of your savings and substantially grow your net worth?

Much like the Hara Hachi Bu rule, do you think that this approach is one that would require a higher level of discipline than many of us are accustomed to?

Review Your Credit Card Statement!

Do you carefully check your credit card statements, and review the transactions? It can help ensure that you’re not being charged unnecessarily for any ”phantom” transactions, unauthorized purchases, or mistakes.  I had an experience recently that serves as another example of why we take the time to at least scan through our statements each month.

First off, I make it a practice to pay off any bills in full each month. I don’t like to carry credit card balances, and simply don’t do that. Rather, I pay it all in full and on time each month. So, when reviewing a credit card bill, I typically don’t think of there being any issues in those areas. I’m usually focusing on transactions instead.

A recent review of a statement showed that all the transactions seemed fine, but something else jumped out at me: an interest charge! Impossible, right? After all, I pay may bills on time and in full, so there should be no problems.

Immediately, I called the credit card company. After describing the situation, and asking why it happened, it turns out that my last payment had been received late. Now, that’s not something I wanted to hear, since you just don’t want to be paying bills late.  There must have been some kind of mistake on their part!

Well, after they described the situation, I froze for a second and realized that I had been busy the month before and my payment was made close to the deadline. I normally don’t do that, but it was just one of those things. However, I pay bills online and the payment date was supposed to be right at the deadline date. Apparently, it must have hit right after that so thus the late fee.

Ouch.  Obviously, if you read this blog, you know that this is NOT something I would be happy about. Being someone that takes pride in financial responsibility, I didn’t like that this happened.

I explained the situation to the person on the phone, and stated that I pay my bills on time in full every month, and that was the reason I was surprised and called. The guy on the line then said he would make sure that the fees were reversed and charges removed. Great!

After getting charges reversed, I felt some satisfaction in knowing that reviewing a credit card statement saved money. Of course, I also learned a lesson that even people who are responsible can slip and make a mistake by procrastinating. Best to pay bills well ahead of the deadline, to avoid any situations like this where you have to call. Separately, one might also consider looking for a cheap credit card. Minimizing credit card expenses is a good thing.

Finally a big thing I learned from the experience is that building up a stellar track record of paying in full on time can build goodwill.

My Questions for You

Do you review your credit card statements each month?

Have you ever found any surprise charges on there? If so, how did you handle the situation?

What is your process for making the payments each month?

It's Warm Somewhere!

Welcome to the 320th edition of the Festival of Frugality!

As I’m putting together this week’s festival, I can look out the window and see snow on the ground, gray skies, and barren trees. Which is fine, because it’s the middle of winter!

That being said, this is the time of year when many of us here in cold weather climates might think about how nice it would be to enjoy some warm weather right now.  Of course, our frugality often takes over, and we don’t go anywhere.  So call this living vicariously, self-torture, or motivational – but this week’s edition of the Festival of Frugality will be the It’s Warm Somewhere in the World Edition!  We’ll take a look at some places around the northern hemisphere that enjoy great weather this time of year.

Of course, the main event here is the collection of excellent articles that were submitted. There’s a lot of good reading here, please check out the submissions. First, we’ll start with this week’s Editor’s Picks, and will then move on the rest of the recommended reading. I’ve included the comments as provided to me by the sender in each submission.

Editor’s Picks

KT presents Is Outsourcing Household Chores a Luxury or a Smart Money Move? posted at Personal Finance Journey. I don’t like cleaning; and I make no secret of that fact. Dust can multiply for months, and I might notice that it is there, but I probably won’t clean it. I do have the basics that I do every day – dishes, and general picking up. I clean the bathrooms and sweep and mop the kitchen floor, so I am not a complete slob, but I hate deep cleaning.

Jeffrey presents 101 Simple Pleasures That Don’t Cost a Dime posted at Saving Advice. There are a lot of simple pleasures out there and many of them cost nothing to very little. Embrace them. Actively seek to find them daily. Enjoy life on the cheap.

Annabelle presents Marilyn Monroe, frugal icon? posted at Shopping Detox. Despite being remembered as an icon of old Hollywood glamour, Marilyn Monroe lived a surprisingly thrifty lifestyle 

Aruba:  Located in the southern part of the Carribean Sea, this island features January average high temperatures of 85 degrees (29 celsius)! Interestingly, average highs range from 85 to 89 throughout the year, marking a steady climate.  I was fortunate enough to visit there once – it was a spectacular place.

Other Recommended Reading

Kevin presents 3 Frugal Ideas for a Romantic Valentine’s Day posted at Invest It Wisely. Remember, there’s no need to spend a fortune on Valentine’s Day. Sometimes, a bit of cheap fun is all you need. So, what are your ideas for Valentine’s Day this year?

Kyle presents 4 Reasons You Should Not Invest in Real Estate Right Now posted at The Penny Hoarder. A few weeks ago we shared with you some reasons why this might be a good time to invest in real estate and this week we wanted to present the other side of the argument. Here are four good reasons not to buy real estate right now…

Aloysa presents Live A Little: Have A Latte posted at My Broken Coin. This is a new series I am starting on this blog. It is called Live A Little, and it is not about how to save more by cutting expenses and living frugal. It is about spending, but in an intelligent way.

Wayne presents Retirement Planning for Young Families posted at Young Family Finance. Find out what the first step of retirement planning should be for young families.

Shaun presents Lottery Winner Loses Everything in Four Years: Smart Approaches for Families with Income Windfalls posted at Smart Family Finance. Lottery winners are famous for winning fortunes and then losing them. That is because it is easy to make financial mistakes when families run into income windfalls. However, there are a few approaches to help you to make smart decisions and minimize the risks of losing everything.

YFS presents 4 Tips to Improve Credit Even After A Bankruptcy posted at Your Finances Simplified. A bankruptcy can be a financial event which wrecks credit and hurts a consumers ability to qualify for loans. Its effects can be felt for years afterwards, as it appears on a credit report for 7-10 years depending on what type of BK you file for.

A Blinkin presents CD’s are for Hypocrites posted at Funancials. I would venture to say that there are two investment products people learn about before any others Stocks and CDs Certificates of Deposit. Assuming most people learn about these two options when theyre young, I would think the way they were explained was elementary. Something like stocks are risky CDs are risk-free. But are they remembering inflation?

LaTisha presents What is a Portfolio? posted at Financial Success for Young Adults. A portfolio is made up of assets. There are five major asset classes of intangible financial instruments; Stocks, Bonds, Options, Futures, and Foreign exchange.

Kevin presents Claim Your Unclaimed Property posted at Thousandaire. Check to see if you have unclaimed property free money waiting for you. Just search at your state’s website and you might have something

Darwin presents US Debt Now Equivalent to Entire US Economy – Investing in This New Era posted at Darwin’s Money. The United States has just reached the dreaded 100Dbt-to-GDP ratio with its $15.2 Trillion debt level surpassing the value of all goods and services produced in-country. This is important because it vaults us into a whole new echelon of debt-ridden societies with financial crises of their own: only Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan and Portugal have debt-to-GDP ratios exceeding 100 This is scary stuff folks!

Cape Verde: Situated off the western coast of Africa, these islands are off the beaten path and not widely discussed as a travel destination by many. However, average high temperatures in January reach 76 degrees (24 celsius).

Andy presents The Number One Retirement Fear posted at My Retirement Blog. According to an AARP study recently released, health care issues are the number one biggest fear retirees have. Is retirement affordable? The biggest challenge for most potential retirees is the cost of care and the ability to stay healthy through retirement. Experts claim one will need an extra $200-$300,000 to pay just for health care.

PITR presents Generate passive income – How to do it posted at Passive Income To Retire. If you want to generate passive income, you need to know the two ways that people establish a passive income.

Corey presents Why Financing a Car Can be a Bad Idea posted at 20s Finances. If you are looking to get a car and you don’t have enough money saved to purchase the car outright, you may be tempted to get a car loan so that you don’t have to wait. But is this really the best route to take?

Hank presents Four Great Benefits Of Buying A House posted at Money Q&A. There are many great benefits of buying a house such as wealth creation, tax savings, forced savings, and others. Renting should not be your default option when there are so many great benefits of buying a house.

Jester presents A Side Income posted at The Ultimate Juggle. Finding a side income can go a long ways to meet your financial needs. Find out how to manage your time and make it happen.

Mich presents NAL Energy to Underperform in 2012? posted at Beating The Index. I believe the stock will underperform in 2012 based on running 2 set of scenarios which indicate the company is not in its best shape.

Suba presents Five Ways to Save Money and Get Fit at Work posted at Broke Professionals. Now that the New Year is here, we are all looking for ways to trim down the expenses and the waistlines. Here are a few ideas on how to do that before or after work or at lunch time. Use Lunch Get some exercise on your lunch break. Read this article for more ideas!

Eddie presents Million Dollar Question: Should I Use My Savings To Pay Down Debt or Fund My Retirement Plan? posted at Finance Fox. Mortgage vs RRSP. TFSA vs Student Loan. Credit Card Debt vs RRSP. TFSA vs Mortgage. RRSP vs Car Payment. Lots of different situations, some of us are in one of these and others may have two or more different forms of debt to pay down.

Amanda L Grossman presents Health Insurance Companies Give Financial Incentives for Good Habits posted at Frugal Confessions. Since I discussed a ‘stick’ approach my health insurance company began on January 1, 2012 by charging a higher premium for smokers than for non-smokers, I’d like to take the time to discuss a ‘carrot’ incentive approach!

Don presents Radical Idea to Create Jobs posted at MoneySmartGuides. I have many crazy ideas. Most aren’t fit to become reality like my spray-painting lawnmower for when the summer heat turns your grass brown. But every so often, I come up with something that I feel holds merit.

Hawaii:  Personally, I’ve been to 47 of the 50 states, but this one has eluded me. Not that I have time to travel these days, but someday I’d like to visit Hawaii. Sounds good right now, as average high temperatures in Honolulu are 81 degrees (27 celsius).

Erika presents My Plan to Lose Ten Pounds in Three Months posted at Newlyweds on a Budget. Have you joined the 10-Pound Challenge yet? Lose ten pounds in three months, win money! Everyone needs a plan to lose ten pounds in three months. We all want to lose weight fast and find the easiest shortcut to get there.

101 Centavos presents How NOT to Invest in Water posted at 101 Centavos. I’ve been reading quite a bit about water lately. Set a Google alert for water scarcity India China, and your inbox is bound to fill up with stories of water scarcity.

Daniel presents Tax Evasion Costs Over $300 Billion Each Year posted at Sweating the Big Stuff. Think tax evasion is a small problem? Thing again: tax evasion in the U.S. amounts to $337.3 billion a year.

Don presents My Son Is A Young Entrepreneur posted at Money Reasons. This is about my son’s transformation in becoming a young entrepreneur. Not bad considering he is only eleven.

Jeffrey presents Five Reasons to Give Up Goal Setting posted at Money Spruce. Should we give up goal setting to achieve more success? Goals are something everyone uses, but is it the most effective for getting things done. Here’s a discussion why it might not be.

Money Spending Mommy presents Debt Free – Stress Free posted at Money Spending Mommy. When times are tough, it can be difficult to make payments on the things we need. And when we run up a lot of debt for unnecessary things, it can get out of control in a hurry.

D.J. presents Start Early – How to Encourage Kids to be Savers posted at The Family Wallet. So how do you encourage kids to be savers? The best way to teach kids how to save is to teach them that buying brand name items is not necessary when store brand names or cheap name brands are just as nice and “in” as they would say.

Beating Broke presents Frugality Will Change You posted at Beating Broke. Drug habits, smoking habits, and coffee habits are all habits that are easy to pick up because they cause a pleasure response in you body. A savings habit is a bit harder to pick up. But, as Ninja will attest, it can be done.

Peter presents Save money by Checking Auto Insurance Rates, Even If You Think You’ve Already Got a Good Deal posted at Bible Money Matters. One mistake that I see a lot of people make, myself included, is to assume that the price they’ve got on their product, service or insurance policy is the best rate that they can get, mainly because it was the best rate when they signed up for it.

Mr. Money presents American Express Bank Personal Savings Account Review posted at Smart on Money. American Express is one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Most people know about them because of their credit and charge cards (that’s where I first came upon them), but they’ve also quickly become a good solid option when it comes to online savings accounts.

Dubai: With explosive growth, this desert locale has become an international business destination, with skyscrapers galore. While temps in the summer months average over 100 degrees, January high temperatures average a comfortable 73 degrees (23 celsius).

Kay Lynn presents Want to Save Money? Slow Down posted at Bucksome Boomer. Slowing down may be counter-intuitive, but it is good for our wallet and for our sanity. By slowing down, we might even be able to check things off that list even faster.

Control Your Cash presents How to go broke in real estate posted at Control Your Cash. A list of recommendations for the would-be landlord who hates money and wants to fail.

Melissa presents Preparing for a Frugal Valentine’s Day posted at Mom’s Plans. Fight back against the consumer machine by making your Valentine’s Day more meaningful.

John presents Want Better Healthcare at a Lower Price? New Primary Care Models Are Gaining Traction posted at Wallet Blog.

Young and Thrifty presents Quicken Home and Business 2012 Review posted at YoungAndThrifty. I was very excited to try Quicken because I have heard so many great things about it and it almost seems that any Personal Finance Blogger isn’t really a personal finance blogger if they don’t use some sort of snazzy personal finance software like Quicken to track their spending, their budgets, and their investments all in one place.

Suzana presents Getting Free Clothing With Rewards Cards posted at Zlittle Saving With Style. Rewards cards are really neat way to build up points to get a name brand clothes for free. This year I used my points that have accumulated to get a department store gift card from Macy’s and Gap. What did it cost to use the credit card and pay it off each month versus paying cash or check? Nothing!

Ashley presents Dealing with Financial Setbacks posted at Money Talks Coaching. I hate financial setbacks. They stink. No matter how well you plan Murphy likes to stick his big fat nose into things. I’m facing my own financial setback at the moment and I’m struggling with it.

Justin presents 10 Ways to Raise $100 in Less than One Day posted at Money Is the Root. I am going to give you 10 ways to make, raise, find, or simply get $100 in less than one day

Robert presents Can You Actually Afford a Pet? posted at The College Investor. A look at the costs of owning a pet, where you can save, and if you can afford it.

Michael presents Save Money By Keeping Your Car Longer posted at So You Think You can Save. The average age of a car is 10.8 years. Are you keeping your car longer and saving big-time money along the way?

Key West: A part of Florida, this southernmost city in the Continental U.S. is part of an island chain offering a climate that’s practically tropical in nature. The January average high temperature is 75 degrees (24 celsius)

Jon the Saver presents Romantic Yet Frugal Tips for Valentine’s Day posted at Free Money Wisdom. Because I have insight into the female gender, I’m going to give you lads a few tips on how to be original this V-Day. Hopefully, this will score you some points with your lady. If not, don’t show her where your ideas came from.

Jacob @ My Personal Finance Journey presents Back to the Basics: Control Your Spending posted at My Personal Finance Journey. This post illustrates the importance of going “back to the basics” and having regular reminders of basic financial planning even as one’s lifestyle changes. By continually working under the “spending less than you earn” approach, this post describes how one can successfully manage their finances, regardless of how their financial situation changes over time.

Paul Vachon presents How Frugal Living Can Build Wealth for the New Year and Beyond posted at The Frugal Toad. Frugal living does not mean shopping in thrift stores and having soup every night for dinner. Being frugal simply means being deliberate in how you spend money, not impulsive. There are many ways to be frugal but the key to making frugal lifestyle changes permanent is to find ways to save money that will work for you

Echo presents How To Save $65,541 This New Year posted at Boomer & Echo. By following these three steps you could be saving $65,541 on average based on a $300,000 mortgage value amortized over 25 years.

Bob presents 20 Ways to save money by NOT being normal posted at ChristianPF. This is a look at some of the things my wife and I did that none of our “normal” friends would ever dream of…

Madison presents 2011 Tax Calculator to Project Your Tax Refund posted at My Dollar Plan. Who doesn’t want to project their tax refund a little early? Here’s how you can do it!

Linsey presents The World of High Stakes Sweepers – Is It Real? posted at 1099 Mom. Suddenly, just as “Extreme Couponing”caused a bunch of new people to start furiously clipping, there is a new interest in entering sweepstakes, and some people are left wondering if winning prizes will be their ticket out of debt, poverty, or working a regular job.

SavingMentor presents How to Eliminate Your Home Phone Bill and Long Distance Charges! posted at HowToSaveMoney.ca. The Internet is becoming the only infrastructure necessary to do many of the things that used to require special mediums before like making phone calls, watching TV, listening to music, and so on. Yes, the internet can even help you completely eliminate your monthly home phone bill as well as the long distance charges you may have become accustomed to!

Ray @ Financial Highway presents RRSP Deadline 2012-Limits posted at Financial Highway. The RRSP season has begun! Every bank, every branch and every teller will remind you to contribute to your RRSP before the deadline. With so many people vying for your RRSP contributions, who should you trust?

Forest Parks presents How To Haggle Buying A Car posted at Frugal Zeitgeist. Buying a car is an expense that no one likes to have to think about but it is also one you can save a lot on. Learning how to haggle with the sales people really is an art and has many tricks.

Goa: On the western coast of India, Goa is a popular international tourist destination. A former Portugese colony, this Indian state boasts warm temperatures, with the January average high being 89 degrees (32 celsius).

Kennedi presents Getting Fit on a Budget posted at Face and Fitness. Not everyone can go out and pick up an expensive gym membership. Here’s a list of free or low-cost resources to help you stay healthy on a budget.

Marissa presents How to pay online and save money posted at Thirty Six Months. Ways to save money by paying online.

Roshawn Watson presents Home Mortgage Leverage SUCKS! posted at Watson Inc. An article was circulated last week where the author lamented losing the leverage benefit of having a home mortgage. Here’s the counter-perspective: home mortgage leverage sucks!

FIRE Finance presents 12 Tips To Lower Your Heating Bill posted at FIRE Finance. The cost of energy is rising everyday. Whether it be electricity, gas, water or sewage, our utility bills are becoming higher with each passing month. Consequently most of us are looking for ways to trim our energy expenses and boost our savings. The cost of heating our houses in winter is always a major concern …

Teacher Man presents Using Your Student Card To Get Discounts posted at My University Money. I should admit that since my old university never asked for their student card back, I was definitely taking advantage of that even after I graduated, but before starting my graduate courses!

Dr Dean presents Projects: Getting Started! A Growing Mushrooms at Home Case Study posted at The Millionaire Nurse Blog. Whatever the project, getting things done happens the same way. At our house, we’re raising mushrooms. Read all about how to get a project up and going-and how to become a SSD (spore spawn diddy).

SB presents all you need to know about 2012 taxes posted at One Cent at a Time. All you need to know for filing income tax for the year 2011, which is needed to be filed on or before April 17, 2012. Contains links to relevant IRS notices and web pages for you quick reference.

vh presents Real Estate: Lookin’ ‘Up…WAY up posted at Funny about Money. In the Phoenix area’s badly thumped real estate market, at last we’re seeming some signs of life. Four factors are working in favor of a return to pre-Bubble values.

CF presents Cutting down your hydro or electricity bill posted at The Outlier Model. As you might guess, heating costs are a major consideration for the Canadian winter. Living in Vancouver, this doesn’t affect us as much, however the recent cold snap to hit the West Coast has really affected our hydro costs. Check out what we’re doing to keep costs down!

Glen Craig presents How to Get a Bargain When Apartment Hunting posted at Free From Broke . The demand for renting has increased as the housing market flounders. Don’t get caught paying too much for rent! See how to get a bargain when you are apartment hunting.

FruGal presents Keep your carpet clean on the cheap posted at TotallyMoney. Advice from a professional about preventing wear and keeping your carpet clean on the cheap

Philip Taylor presents How to Become an Online Tutor and Make an Extra $1,000 a Month posted at PT Money Personal Finance. Make more money: An interview with an online tutor reveals the pros/cons of online tutoring, qualifications needed, and how much money you could expect to make.

Steve Zussino presents How to save money eating a gluten-free diet posted at Grocery Alerts. I have tried a lot of gluten free breads, cookies, and pastas and have finally found some wonderful products. Now I have yummy gluten free substitutes for all of the foods that I was used to eating before going gluten free. Here are some tips for eating gluten free on a budget.

John presents Meal Plans Kick Grocery Lists’ A$$ posted at Married (with Debt). One of the best places to save real money is your food budget. By making meal plans instead of grocery lists, you can reduce impulse buying, plan healthier meals, and save big money to put towards your goals.

Score some stock returns for us!

As many of you might know, if you’ve been following Squirrelers, I sometimes delve into data to identify trends and find insights.

For example, I’ve looked at stock market returns by month to identify which months perform best/worst. Another example, among others, was analyzing how the best companies to work for have had excellent stock performance in the past. Whether stocks or other areas of personal finance, it’s often interesting to slice and dice data to to find some information that might be useful in some form or another.

In this case, I thought I’d look at some data from another angle, this one more just for fun.  With the football postseason in high gear, I set out to identify trends related to the Super Bowl and stock market returns.

Objective

Are there any trends we can identify by looking at who won the Super Bowl in prior years, and how the stock market performed in those years?

Methodology

I first collected information on who participated in the big game since it first kicked off in 1967, and which team won or lost. Then, I pulled stock market data from each year since then, and calculated the annual return for the market. Specifically, I used the S&P 500 to analyze stock performance.

In looking at the data, the natural split seemed to be by conference: NFC or AFC. Organizing it by which team won the championship in any given year, I was able to pull together tables. Keep in mind that through the 2011 game, the NFC has won 24 championships, and the AFC (or old AFL, for the first few years of the title game) has been victorious 21 times.

Results

The first table shows the results by seasons the NFC won, and the second table does this for seasons the AFC won.

As can be seen, there is a notable difference in stock market returns based on which conference emerges with the victorious team.  Clearly, there is a Super Bowl Effect – which might as well be referred to as an NFC Effect.

Years where the NFC wins the game end up with an average return of 11.06%.  When the AFC wins the game, market returns average just 3.95%.   Additionally, when the NFC wins, the stock market is more likely to have an overall positive year: 83%, vs 67% when the AFC wins.

Takeway: GO NFC!

OK, this is all in fun. Plus, the sample size isn’t that great in terms of total numbers. 45 years of data seems like a lot, but it’s not a huge data set. Besides, correlation doesn’t mean causation! But hey, if you don’t have any particular rooting interest in the game – and if your favorite team isn’t there (like me) – why not cheer for a potential winning outcome for the market!

My Questions for You

Have you heard of the Super Bowl impact on the stock market?

Who are you going to be pulling for in the Super Bowl?

Now THIS is a car for a teenager

When I was a teenager, I couldn’t wait to drive. It seemed like most people I knew were like that. Driving meant freedom, independence, and taking a step closer to adulthood. Also, it meant more opportunities for meeting up with friends, having fun, and socializing.

A recent article I saw on Moneyland discussed how this level of excitement might not be at the same level these days. More specifically, the article referenced a study that indicated that fewer teenagers have driver’s licenses presently versus 25 years ago. Actually, the comparison was 2008 vs. 1983, but close enough, right? In 25 years, the percentage of 17 year olds with a driver’s license dropped from 69% to 50%.

What’s behind this? A hypothesis noted in the article revolves around the idea of teens having more opportunities to interact with one another, though online methods as well as texting. Additionally, the high cost of gas might play a role as well.

I think there’s something to that.  As I mentioned earlier, a big part of getting a driver’s license as a teenager had been the opportunity to socialize. Sure, getting to school and part-time jobs was helped by having a license.  But the social aspect of it was there too. Now, at least some socializing is able to done without driving. Plus, gas is currently expensive relative to historical prices and inflation, as we have discussed here before.

Thinking of implications in terms of spending money, it seems as though it might lessen the so-called need for teenagers to have a decent ride. The topic of cars for teenagers has been one that has elicited some strong opinions from those who think that many teens have oversized appetites for expensive cars.  Count me in that group!

Of course, in light of this data on decreased percentages of teenage drivers, maybe we’re seeing the beginning of a trend in terms of the types of cars they drive. I mean, if they aren’t clamoring for a car as much, why would it matter as much what car it is that they ultimately get?

Taking it a step further, I wonder if we’re looking at the beginning of a trend where the next generation of buyers might not be as interested in overspending on new cars? After all, today’s teenagers are tomorrow’s new car buyers. If they’re not as socialized into making a part of their self-identity shaped by the vehicle they drive, perhaps this will be less likely to happen as they get older.

That would be a good thing, provided there isn’t a corresponding shift toward overspending in other areas (technology, anyone?). As far as car purchases go, I personally think that cars are necessities for many adults, but are also usually financial liabilities. Instead of spending on a luxury car brand that’s expensive, why not buy a less expensive yet highly rated and reliable brand? You can save the difference, and put it toward retirement. Additionally, driving a car for many years is a good way to avoid additional expenses, provided you take care of it. I drove a car well past 200,000 miles and avoided big expenses in the process, so I know it can be done!

We’ll see where this trend takes us, and whether it’s a leading indicator to some type of change in overall perceptions of wants vs. needs with types of car purchases.

My Questions for You:

What do you think of this data on teenagers driving less?

Do you think teenagers only need functional and safe cars, if they have one at all?

Do you think this might be a harbinger of things to come, with less interest in expensive car purchases in the future?

Double check your attire before the interview. Trust me.

Have you ever had a job interview that ended up being a bit crazy or unusual in some way?

Job interviews can be quite the experience. Sometimes they can be exciting, due to the opportunity in front of you. They might also be stressful too, for that same reason – the opportunity – as well as the idea that everything you say or do is getting folded up into a giant judgement on whether or not the organization wants you.

Other times, job interviews can be interesting adventures.

Just Words!

I was talking to a friend about an interview he had, and he relayed how he had an experience he had recently that didn’t fit within the range of standard interview protocol. At first it was stressful for him, but turned out to be one that he could laugh at chalk up as a funny interview story. We’ll call him “Tom”.

The way he told it, he went into an interview for a corporate position, for an upper-middle management position with an organization that seemed typically corporate. He talked a few different people on his interview schedule, then settled in with the guy that would be his boss if he got the job. The guy apparently seemed normal enough at first, asking some challenging questions but being cool with his reactions to Tom’s answers. Then, after some situation specific questions (tell the time you faced X challenge, Y obstacle, etc), the guy flipped out to Tom’s responses.

“Just Words!” the guy barked at my buddy.

Tom apparently didn’t know what to say. He’s a hard working guy who’s probably really good at what he does, but he was taken aback by the guy’s comment. What did he mean?

So, the interviewer proceeded with another question, listened to my friend’s, response, and again fired back with “Just Words!”

Tom wondered what he could have possibly said to cause the sudden change in the interviewer’s behavior.

A few more questions were asked, and  Tom’s answers were met with a much louder and direct response, this time shortened to “J.W.!” Nothing else was said each time. Apparently the guy was shaking his head as he was saying it. The interview concluded soon thereafter, and Tom interpreted the guy’s responses to mean that he was providing “words” but nothing concrete in his answers. As in, all empty words but nothing specific in terms of good answers to how he handled past experiences.

He didn’t get the job, but at least he can laugh at it. Probably helps that he’s doing well in his career anyway.

Fertility Issues

The conversation with the friend I mentioned above got me thinking about another friend that told me about a time he went for an interview at a company where he too had a full schedule and a bunch of people to talk to.  Eventually, he got to an interview with someone who was quite high up on the ladder there. This interview was when the friend – we’ll call him “Carl” – was just out of school.

Carl finished up his discussion with the prior person on his schedule, and he or she walked Carl over to the office of this next individual. The guy he was to interview with seemed gruff, and told the person who brought Carl there to have him wait outside his office for a few minutes.  There was nowhere to sit, so Carl just stood outside the office. He wasn’t trying to listen to anything, but he quickly noticed that the guy was making a phone call. No big deal, right?

Well, apparently the guy was making a personal call where he was very loudly yelling at someone at a doctor’s office or laboratory. He was shouting about how he and his wife have been trying to have a baby, that this was their “third time” (whatever that meant). He expressed very loudly that he didn’t know why this problem couldn’t be solved, and seemed quite displeased at something the person/entity on the other end of the call had done.  According to Carl, people in the cubes outside the office were looking at each other mouths open in amazement. Meanwhile, Carl was standing there alone, wearing his suit and waiting for the door to open so he can get an interview with this guy.

He said that he heard the phone slam loudly, and a few expletives uttered. Then, after a few moments, the guy opened the door with a big smile and was super nice. He acted like he was having a great day, and was really friendly.

Weird, eh? In retrospect, Carl sincerely felt bad for the guy, as those were some understandably sensitive personal issues that he and his wife must have been dealing with. At the time though, he felt like he was dealing with a split personality and couldn’t wait to high tail it out of there.

Mismatched Suits

This gets me thinking of my own crazy interview stories. The most notable one was my fault entirely. It was back in school, and I had an interview scheduled at the bright and early time of 8:00am. It was on campus, held in interview rooms at the school’s placement office. Companies regularly came to interview students, and I was no exception.

Anyway, I have to say that I was a bit different then in that I wasn’t used to getting up before 7:00am for much of anything as a college student. I generally scheduled my classes for 9:15am or later, to accommodate the typical college student lifestyle and hours. So getting up bleary eyed at 6:30am to get ready was probably a risky move anyway, but it was either that or no interview. Obviously, I chose the interview.

I got the interview waiting room a few minutes before 8:00am, and noticed that another student – a drop dead gorgeous girl – was looking at me and glancing away alternately with a sly look. I thought “awww yeah….this is my day!”. It was flattering and seemed to mean that it was going to be a good day if nothing else. I felt confident as I kept waiting for the interview.

For whatever reason, as I waited the thought occurred to me that I should just take a quick look to make that I was put together before the interviewer came out and called my name. I looked down to see that my shoes were tied, nothing was amiss, etc. Then, I froze. Next, I did a double take. Make that a triple take.

Getting up early (for me at that time), I apparently must have had a lot of cobwebs to shake out that didn’t get shaken out. I realized that somehow, some way, I had pants from one suit and a jacket form another suit. One was gray with pinstripes, the other was dark blue.

Uh, no wonder that girl in the waiting room kept looking. I went from pumped up to feeling like a complete clown.  How the heck can anybody possibly do something like this? I’ve always been responsible and known for having my head in the game, but felt like a bozo at that moment. I wanted to hide.

Once I got called by the interviewer, I got up and just did whatever I could to make direct eye contact with her the whole time. As we got to the interview room, I sat close to the table and leaned forward, so the interviewer wouldn’t notice my total screwup in mismatched suits. Additionally, I was tried to keep the conversation going as much as possible. When the interview was over, and she walked me out the room, I made sure to trail her – walking a step behind so she had as little time as possible to notice anything.

The crazy part about all this: I actually got an internship offer from them a week later!

Unbelievable. You know, I wish I could’ve saved that luck for now that I’m much older!

My Questions for You

Have you ever been in a job interview that was a bit funny or crazy, whichever side of the desk you were on?

Have you heard of any people dealing with any strange things in job interviews?

Have you ever made any embarrassing mistakes in an interview, that you can at least laugh at now?

Can you cut expenses with these?

It’s nice to find ways to cut out expenses, and operate a bit leaner financially. That is, as long as the changes don’t impact your day-to-day life too much:) Then, it’s a matter of viewing them as trade-offs.

A recent article in on Yahoo! Finance discussed 12 things that people can choose to stop spending on in the new year. Now, I often think that it’s worthwhile to consider how much time one spends on trying to save money, as it’s necessary to make money first before we can save it.  That being said, if we’re going to spend some time focusing on saving on consumer purchases, we might as well do it with some type of framework.

Recall that I recently posted on the topic of trying to spend wisely, where I suggested that we ask ourselves the following questions before purchasing:

1. Do we truly need the item?
2. Can we easily find a lower cost alternative?

Keeping that in mind, I’m going to go through the list of what to cut from our budgets (from the aforementioned article), and will answer those two questions for each one. Then, I’ll describe what I’ll actually do in practice.

1. Coffee Shop Visits
• I don’t truly need to do this, though I enjoy it
• A lower cost alternative is available, such as home brewing
• What will I do?: I will keep visiting. I suppose it might seem like I’m going against the system I devised, but I look at the visits as more than coffee. Which, by the way, is simply black coffee and not one of the more expensive drinks. I view it as renting space where I can get some work or writing done while enjoying a drink. The combination works for me in terms of productivity, so I’m going to keep doing it occasionally.
2. Incandescent Light Bulbs
• I don’t really need to buy these exact type
• Not sure a lower cost alternative is available, unless you operate on sunlight:) Well, longer-term the energy-efficient ones are supposed to be cheaper anyway.
• What will I do?: Buy the energy-efficient ones, and save money in the long run. Besides, the others are effectively being phased out.
3. Disposable Water Bottles
• I don’t need to buy these bottles
• Lower cost alternatives are available, such as carrying a reusable bottle or using a water fountain. Remember when that was the norm? If not, maybe it’s just people that aren’t super young anymore:)
• What will I do?: Use reusable bottles. I’ve bought a few, and will use them regularly. The disposable bottles I have bought were purchased in bulk for maybe 10 to 15 cents each – as opposed to the $1 or more rip off for single bottles many places. But still, once you get past the initial investment in a reusable container, it eventually represents the cheaper choice.
4. Baggage Fees
• Usually, for shorter trips, I don’t need to check a bag
• A lower cost alternative is available: packing lightly, and carrying on
• What will I do? Going forward, on personal travel I will be sure to pack lightly and avoid such fees. Of course, I had previously discovered an alternative way to avoid checked bag fees that I won’t try on purpose, but thought I’d share anyway:)
5. Subscriptions You Don’t Use
• We don’t need to spend on things we don’t use!
• A lower cost alternative might be available if you choose to read - going online is one way
• What will I do? Continue to go subscription-free. One can go online for much information, or go to the local library and read hard-copy periodicals in many cases
6. Baby Food
• I’m a parent, but past the baby days. But if you have a baby, store bought baby food technically isn’t a need
• A lower cost alternative could be making it at home, so yes – one is likely available
• What would I do? In that case, being in the position of being a parent of a baby, I would still buy some pre-made baby food. Now, I do think that it seems like a good idea to mix in some homemade food. However, with the demands of daily life for many working parents, time is valuable. Speaking from experience, I think buying at least some baby food is worth it for working parents.
7. Credit Score Fees
• I think checking one’s credit score is very important, probably a need
• Apparently, free options are available
• What will I do? I like the option of getting something for free.
8. Cable
• I don’t truly need cable
• Yes, there are plenty of lower cost alternatives for watching shows and movies.  Hulu and Netflix were a few mentioned.
• What will I do? Good question. Cable right now offers some things kids really enjoy, which has tipped the scales in its favor. But wow, it’s not cheap. I’m contemplating ending it, with other options filling in the gaps.  It’s not a need.
9. Landline Phone
• I don’t need a landline phone
• There are lower cost options, and alternatives that are arguably more necessary
• What will I do? I don’t have a landline phone, and haven’t had one for a while.
10. Cleaning Supplies
• I think they’re needed
• There might be lower cost options, in terms of homemade concoctions
• What will I do? I think there’s room for swapping out chemicals for more natural options for certain things, but I don’t have the time to devote to making my own cleaning supplies at this time. I’m sticking to primarily store bought items.
11. ATM Fees
• ATMs are useful, but their fees are not necessary
• There are lower cost options, such as finding an institution that doesn’t charge you fees along those lines
• What will I do? What I currently do, which is limit ATM usage to my own bank, where I don’t pay any such fees
12. Home Repairs
• It’s necessary to do home repairs, but only sometimes necessary to pay someone to do them
• There is a lower cost option: DIY
• What will I do? My past history has been to do repairs for the basics, but then call a professional for something that’s bigger and time consuming. I’m fine with paying when needed for such things, where it makes sense of course. No reason to stubbornly avoid paying other people or having a false sense of bravado when it comes to fixing things.

My Questions for You

Are there any of these expenses that you are fine taking on, as I am? If so, which ones?

Or, do you actively try to avoid expenses even if it means extra time and effort?

Can you think any other similar items that can be included on a list of expenses to stop paying?