Maybe I just don’t get it.

Maybe I just couldn’t understand why a pair of jeans made in Thailand may be better than another pair of jeans made in Thailand.  (To be fair, Diesel jeans are made only in Italy, Tunisia, or Morocco — with the most being produced in Italy).

The thing is, although I may think of it as a waste of money, it really is a sense of perspective and value.

There are MANY denim fans out there.  They value a well made pair of denim, that’s well-designed, fashionable, long lasting; and well, many other factors that I probably wouldn’t be able to list.

I took a shot of this pair of jeans earlier this spring while in Rome (during the whole volcano-making-Europeans-life-miserable moment), and I was slightly giddy with excitement as I envision the post I’ll write up, trashing the ridiculously priced jeans and the satisfaction I’ll get when my readers confirm my perspective, and we all pat ourselves on the back and think about how wise we are with our spending.

The thing is, how we spend our money is a very personal and subjective thing.  Though I’m a fairly frugal guy, I’ll often do incredibly unpractical things (such as impromptu travel with airfare that makes me spit blood).  And in these moments where the spending makes absolutely no sense to another person, it’ll make perfect sense to me.

Although I’ll probably never understand the concept of a pair of jeans that cost more than $20 (and I still hope someone can explain it to me), what I do understand is that I’m still a firm believer in spending whatever the hell you want — as long as you’re not bankrupting yourself or your future.

Related Post:

• $200+ Jeans

This post "Explain to Me the Concept of a $166 Pair of Jeans" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

“What do you mean you don’t need money?”

“Well, uh, you know,” I stammered, suddenly realized how stupid I sounded. “I make an okay amount of money on the side, I don’t think I really need a full time job right now.”

She shook her head in utter annoyance.

It’s been about an hour since we started the discussion about how I can at times be a flake, never committing 100% to school or work.

“You need to commit to one or the other,” the infinitely more matured friend told me. “You should just get a full-time job right now and better your working habits.”

Somewhere along the conversation, I clamor out the now forever brilliant line.

“I don’t need to get a job. I don’t need the money!”

In retrospect, this was probably another moment where I showcased my occasional twisted value system to my friend.

This conversation happened about two years ago, when I was floating around contract jobs along with part and full-time school. I was far from being a kid fresh out of high school, yet I still held some moronic beliefs at the time. The act of recounting this story has now induced about fifty involuntary facepalm.

In many ways, my friend was the complete opposite of me. She was extremely goal oriented, focus, and unwavering in regards to her academics and career. If you were to ask me about solid work ethic, I would promptly point you to my friend as a prime example.

My problem — if you can even call it that — was that I’ve never had a real issue with money. Now, don’t get me wrong, long time readers will remember that I’ve accumulated over $10,000 in credit card debt from buying crap. But I was able to wipe that debt out within a year with a mindset and spending habit change.

I was able to do this while in college, without a full-time job, and yes, without specifically asking for assistance from parents.

I’ve never fully elaborated in details on how I was able to pay down the debt through the years of running this blog, instead, I’ve focused mainly on spending habits and savings mindset — because I’ve always believed that my situation was not exactly replicable.

Back in 2002, I had an online business while I was a freshmen in college, selling miscellaneous car parts. The parts with the highest margin would cost under $20 for a hobbyist to buy, and it was a no-frills just-for-fun part.

I took a risk and pluck down about a thousand dollar to order the initial parts, built a website/storefront, and through word-of-mouth, banner ads here and there along with specific advertising on certain car forums, I was able to make a decent income from a decisively non-full time job.

I’ll wake up in the morning, see the orders and money in my PayPal account, and spend an hour each morning fulfilling orders, printing out shipping labels, packaging parts, and shipping them out. If you’ve ever wonder why I wrote a post about printing postage online from home, now you know why.

During my sophomore year, I got a job at Bank of America, working in back-end operations, processing checks etc. The shift was usually from 5 to 9 PM. I probably didn’t need the additional income at the time, but I thought it would be a good experience to get a job that required me to conform to a set schedule. I most likely would have kept working at the processing center through my time in college, had Bank of American not closed it down and laid all of us off.

This time period was when the crazy spending started. I had dual income. I was barely 21 years old, the money was rolling in and my priorities was all over the place.

Money was never a real problem for me. The problem wasn’t that I didn’t have any money, the problem was simply that I was spending more money than I was earning. Which luckily for me, was relatively easy to fix.

It was through this period, and other subsequent events that I developed a strange attitude of “not needing a job” and “not needing money.”

There’s no doubt that I was a spoiled brat. Through some amount of work, slight risk taking, and fortuitous timing, I’ve always been able to make money whenever the need arise.

Ever since I became conscious of my spending, I was able to pile my savings up whenever I have income. And when the income dries up for whatever reason? I just stopped spending. I was a college student. My tuition was paid for via grants and out of my own pockets. I didn’t have a mortgage, student loan, car payment, or any major financial responsibility. Money? Who needs money, I thought to myself.

“You’re giving me an ‘I-want-to-slap-you-silly’ look,” I told my friend after I uttered the infamous line.

“That’s because you’re a moron,” she said promptly. “You may not need the money, but what about your family?”

“Uh…”

“What about your mom? She’s been working for the past 30 years. She bought a house for your sister and you to grow up in. She’s still paying the mortgage off.”

“Um…”

“What about your sister? She bought a house during the peak of the housing bubble and is now struggling as the recession hits full on.”

“Er…”

“And what about your dad? He’s also been working for the past decades. I know you’ve never touch the money he sent you because you’ve set it aside, but maybe perchance he may need some help too?”

The New York Times recently published a piece about a Colgate University graduate named Scott, highlighting him somewhat as a sample of recent college graduates “struggling” to find a job. Readers promptly ripped Scott apart in the comments because he decided to pass up a $40,000 a year job as he believes the job may lead to a dead-end career path. With his degree from a high-end university, Scott expects a higher starting salary and a career path to match.

Scott, and at a time, myself, believed that we didn’t need just any job. That we didn’t need the money. Scott is amongst the fortunate minority that was able to finish school without debt, thanks to tuition and board paid by his grandparents. He has no overhead, no debt, and thus he believes it affords him flexibility in looking for work. While his perspective is understandable, especially considering his family is far from struggling financially, Scott’s attitude is telling.

Never before have there been a generation so vastly full of themselves. As a millennial, I’ve met a wide ranging group of people within my generation. Many of us are indeed spectacularly intelligent, full of drive, energy, and the know-how to change the world. But for every world-changer, there are hundreds of thousands of us that are just normal.

We’ve expected a lot, because some of us were told to expect a lot. We’ve dreamed big, because some of us were told the sky is the limit. If you’re holding out on a job, because you “don’t need the money” — because you don’t need that particular job, consider the fact there are thousands out there dying to get what was offered to you.

To be sure, there are many of us that have the option to choose, whether because of hard work or thanks to some fortunate luck-of-the draw, its the way the world works. Life certainly isn’t fair, and some of us are simply in a better situation. Its okay to go for your dreams and take advantage of any opportunities presented to you.

But if there’s any inkling that you may be sacrificing the livelihood of your family, of your parents, of your grandparents, of anyone that you may care about — you should step back and consider the situation fully. In one of the greatest recession of modern time, a little bit of humility and self reflection can go a long, long way.

This post "“I Don’t Need To Get a Job. I Don’t Need the Money!”" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

If you have a Chase Freedom credit card (whether it’s a VISA or MasterCard), you’ve probably got a similar mailing in your mail box.  As you can tell above, I have too many Chase Freedom cards (although some of them are duplicate ones, I have a strange habit of keeping credit cards that are long-since expired).

Before you start thinking I went crazy with the credit card sign-ups, Chase basically converted all my credit cards to their “Freedom” lineup through out the years, as they consolidated their credit card program under their flagship card product and revamp their reward programs to the “Ultimate Reward” structure.

This is just a friendly reminder to anyone that may also have had their Chase credit card converted to a Chase Freedom card.  For the summer of 2010, you’ll get 5% cash back on travel related purchases, which in fact is a pretty sweet deal.

Notes on the 5% cash back:

• Purchase categories are gas, airlines, auto rentals, and hotels
• Up to $1,500 only. So basically maximum of $75 in cash back
• Valid between July 1st and September 30th, 2010
• Must sign up at chasebonus.com/freedom32
• Or call 1-866-913-4992
• Pictures of the opt-in process can be found below

The fine prints are in the brochure, but things you basically need to be aware of are the fact that you have to opt-in for this cash-back offer. Offer applies only to net purchase made with your credit card during the promotion period, online and catalog purchases are not eligible to receive the bonus reward UNLESS the merchants have correctly identified and billed the transaction (less of an issues these days if you purchase airline tickets or the hotel booking directly from the airline/hotel).

This offer may be available to certain Chase Freedom card members only, as per the fine print in the mailing. But seeing as how all four of my credit card received the similar offer, I’m assuming that they’ve cast a pretty wide net in this summer promotion.

If you’re not familiar with the Chase Freedom card, the gist is that it’s a 1%/5% cash back credit card with rotating bonus cash back category. I’m personally not a real fan of rotating cash back categories (something Discover card introduced back in the days), but it’s definitely a program that’s much easier for card companies to maintain in terms of profitability. In this particular situation, the cash back category is timely and useful. I’ll most likely easily reach the cash back limit for this promotion as I have a few trips lined up in the summer. If you have a Chase Freedom card and you’re planning for some summer trips too, opting in for this offer is a no brainer.

This post "Chase Freedom 5% Cash Back for Summer" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

As you’re about to book your flight, you stare at the computer screen, wondering what’s the best choice.

You quickly searched Southwest, but the time table and seats available just didn’t match up to the meeting’s schedule.

You could fly American, as you actually managed to store up some mileage through the years.  Despite the fact that you prefer other airlines, you’ve stuck with American, because loyalty’s gotta mean something, right?

With a quick check, those mileage are currently meaningless as there are no reward seats available to claim.

The problem is that you’re now running on a much tighter budget.  Ever since the recession, business hasn’t been going so well, and you can barely afford this trip out to the mid-west.  But you have to get to Indianapolis, as sealing this deal ensures your business’ survival, and the 6 life-long employees that your business employs.

So despite your better judgement, you booked the American Airline flight.

Accompanying your power point presentation slide on your laptop is your rather large luggage full of equipment and samples. You usually prefer to travel light, but in this situation you have little choice.  Not a very compelling way to wow the clients when you’re only relying on PowerPoint.

You’ve managed to somehow fit everything in two luggage. A check-in and a carry-on.  You thought about American Airline’s first checked bag fee of $25 and decided that there’s no other choice but to eat the fee.  At the very least you don’t have to pay for the second checked bag fee of $35.

But wait, all those samples can be quite heavy… is the luggage overweight?  If the luggage is between 51-70 lbs, you’ll have to pay an additional $50 for the checked-bag, if it’s over 100 lbs, it’ll be $100.  On international route, the fees can be even higher.  Thank goodness the clients are in the states.

After distributing the samples between your clothes and carry-on, you were able to keep the checked bag underweight.

Hmm. Better make sure I now have room for my carry-on, you thought to yourself.  Being a frequent flyer, you know that certain seats will be able to board the flight before the other seating groups, thereby ensuring a better chance for you to have room for your carry-on luggage on a full flight.

As you select your seat, you’re slightly thankful that you don’t have to pay the extra $10-$25 other airlines may charge for ‘premium’ economy seats.

But then you saw the early boarding fee option.  You can pay an additional $10 if you want to board early.  Hmm, this could be the solution I need, you thought again to yourself.  So you paid for the extra $10 on the outbound flight to Indianapolis.

While at the gate, you quickly realized that your early boarding fee was slightly pointless, as your particular flight had many American Airline’s elite status members, and they have priority boarding before you.  Following them are those that may need extra time and special needs, and your flight was surprisingly filled with many parents and children, so you soon board after them too.

Luckily, you were able to secure a bin for your carry-on luggage, albeit it was eight rows behind your seat.

The flight to Indianapolis was uneventful, but you were glad that the flight was only delayed for about an hour. Any later and you’ll miss your connecting flight in Dallas, or you’ll check into your hotel too late, which would have made flying out the day before the meeting pointless.

Your hotel room is like any other mid-level hotels scattered through the country.  The fridge/mini bar is stuffed with candy, snacks, and drinks that are marked up 300%.  At this particular hotel chain, a bottle of water will cost a cool $4.00.

Slightly thanking the divine that there’s no additional charge on a flight for your carry-on laptop bag, you prop the bag open and decided to do some last minute, pre-meeting work.

“High speed internet access is conveniently available for a price of $9.95 per day” — says the friendly placard on the table.

You scratch your head and often wonder why low-cost motels can offer free WiFi, while many middle-to-high-end hotels still charges for wired internet access.

The notice placard was brushed aside as you make room on the desk. Not an issue. You were prepared.  Situations like this is why you’ve purchased a smartphone.

Ah. Your smartphone.

The trusty latest device that lets you text, surf, record videos, take photos, battle aliens, and much more. It also supposedly makes phone calls.

The phone sets you back $200 even though it was subsidized by a 2-year contract locked with the cell phone carrier. Your monthly plan sets you back another $60, and the data plan for your smartphone cost an additional $30 a month.

Though you were initially happy with your phone when you first got it, you quickly felt duped that you had to pay an additional $25 a month to tether your phone to your laptop in order to use your phone’s data service on your laptop.

My clients in Europe can use the same exact phone to tether their device with no extra cost and no additional needs to download some “special” software, you exclaimed to the cell phone company representative.

“But with our mobile broadband smartphone connect package,” explained the rep, “you will have additional support and peace of mind when you need access to data.”

You sat there in the hotel room, wondering why you’re paying for the same data service, from the same provider, three times. One for your home. One for your cell phone. And one for your laptop.

Brushing all these negative thoughts out of your head, you get to work on your laptop.

But the wireless data network from your cell phone company is down.

“We apologize for the inconvenience as we’re currently experiencing heavy usage in your current region,” says the telephone support representative. “Service is expected to resume to normal within 1-2 business days.”

So you pay for the hotel’s $9.95 internet service.

And you sit there.  Waiting.

Because the “high-speed” internet is no faster than your non-working smartphone.

This post "Welcome to the Age of Nickel and Dimed" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

Uranium Ore – $29.95

Always handy to have around, just in case you’re all out of juice in your Delorean-based time machine.  Of course, in actuality this radioactive sample of uranium ore is meant to be used in science labs, for testing Geiger counters and uh, other sciency-thingies (it’s been awhile since I’ve been in a lab-based course).

Amazon review of note:

3 out of 5 star.  Great product, poor packaging.

I purchased this product 4.47 billion years ago and when I opened it today, it was half empty.

UFO-01 Detector – $149.95

When the tinfoil hats just aren’t enough to deter and preempt UFO invasions, you’ll need, the 01 detector!  Made of overpriced hardware found at Radio Shack, this cutting-edge detector will not only emit a flashing LED but will also beep when electromagnetic and magnetic disturbances are detected.  With a low price of $149.95, what more can you ask for?  (Tinfoil hats and probing prevention plugs not included).

Amazon review of note:

1 out of 5 stars. Been abducted twice!!

After my first abduction I sought out to arm myself with something that would prevent this from happening to me again. Alas, the UFO Detector.

Since then my microwave, TV, radio, and cellphone have been causing the device to alarm several times, sending me in a state of panic where I’d hide under my bed for days. Next time it went off it was no false alarm. And I was, again, on board an alien vessle with probes hanging from every opening of my body.

I’d guess that for this “Detector” to work you’d need to be in an environment free from all electrical interferences. Above all, I DO NOT recommend this product.

Energy Drink Blood Energy Potion $5.23

Get real blood nutrients without that real blood taste!  The fruit punch flavor packs 4 hours of energy along with iron, protein, and electrolytes.  Because drinking regular fruit punch is so 1992.  Also available in packs of 3.  Supposedly taste like crap. But you know, it’s cool.  Or something.

Amazon review of note:

3 out of 5 stars. Kinda smells funny.

The product doesn’t taste great but I was buying it as more of a novelty. It smells like cherry yogurt and while I like cherry yogurt, I don’t like my drinks to smell like it :)

Bottom line, this is a fun product to share with friends during a vampire movie marathon. If you need energy, get a Red Bull…

Wheelmate Steering Wheel Desk Tray $24.23

Instant ergonomic desk, store easily under or behind car seat, measures about 9 x 15 inches, this is the ultimate “before I die in a horrible car crash, I’d like to have breakfast” tool.  Check out corresponding “customer images” for relevant usage aftermath scenarios.

Amazon review of note:

4 out of 5 stars.  These worked great in the cockpit for our transcontinental flights!

My copilot and I both used these during our “daily grind” transcontinental flights from San Diego to Minneapolis. We had to modify them a bit to fit snug against the instrument panels (when we bought them we didn’t realize the planes we fly don’t have steering wheels!), but in the end it did the job. With our laptops firmly in place we were able to focus our attention on what really mattered, participating in raids with our WoW clan. During our last flight we were so immersed in trying to take down Eranikus that we overshot Minneapolis by a full hour and a half before some annoying flight attendant interrupted us, babbling something about “FAA and F16 fighters.”

We’ll definitely use this product again at our next gig, whatever and whenever that happens to be…

Highly recommended!

One-Pound Fat Replica – $33.30

Because real fat isn’t gross enough, you can purchase and enjoy a similar gross experience with this 1 lb. replica of fat.  Made of pliable, long-lasting vinyl plastic. Show it to a patient after liposuction!  Grasp it in your hand as you scream at a McDonalds employee: “look what you’ve made me become!”  The possibilities are endless.

Amazon review of note:

2 out of 5 stars. Not as impressed as I’d thought I’d be.

I purchased a one-pound fat replica AND a one-pound muscle replica. I truly thought that the differences in the sizing would be more pronounced. I gotta tell you, I really don’t see that much of a difference. Theoretically, if you formed the fat into the same shape as the muscle, I’m even less impressed. Maybe these items would be good for someone in the medical field, but I just purchased them for a weight loss motivational factor – gotta tell ya – not a real motivator. I wouldn’t purchase again.

Wolf Urine, 32 oz – $31.95

Use the 100 percent urine lures to create the illusion predators are present in the area you wish. Great for photographers, gardeners, hunters and wildlife enthusiasts. Unfortunately if you live in California, you wouldn’t be able to purchase this awesome bucket of uh, wolf urine. Due to changes in shipping regulations or some sort.  Damn government, always preventing us from buying our wolf urines.

Amazon review of note:

4 out of 5 stars. One for the cellar.

One is immediately drawn to this vintage by the colour, which is an elegant, pale straw hue with an appealing peachy fruit on the nose. It has an incredibly effervescent bead — the whole glass teams with bubbles — culminating in a frothy layer at the head.

The palate has panache, with a firm, mineral acidity that cuts through a rather elegantly styled, poised meaty presence. As with most Chateau Deerbuster products, this has the signature leafy-fresh character, which softens into a slight rancid feel towards the end.

Even though it has a rather short and crisply defined finish, I still believe this has the composition and acidity to age well in the cellar of any self-respecting urine connoisseur.

Fred and Friends Air Fork One – $10.00

Now you can have the accompanied imagery as you tried to shove food down your child’s throat.  This particular utensil probably can’t be classed as “weird crap” though… as $10 is probably a cheap price to pay for peace and quiet at the dinner table or for those particularly fussy eaters that needs more of a nudge.

Amazon review of note:

My most beautiful friend Amy C. gave this to me today after seeing my link to this from FB indicating that “I WANT THIS.” Isn’t that great? I assumed that you had to insert your own fork, but there’s a full-sized fork inside already. The silicone rubber plane is soft and the wings and tail are pliable. It’s so cute and I’m about to eat lunch with it right now!

Inflatable Toast – $2.99

Toast is great, but its hard to keep in your pocket. So what do you do when you crave the warm comfort of toast but dont want to deal with the crumbs? You pull out your Inflatable Toast, blow it up and admire its realistic toasty goodness! Each soft vinyl slice of toast is 6 inches tall and has a standard inflation valve.

Amazon review of note:

5 out of 5 stars. Best inflatable toast on the market today.

I have used many different types of inflatable toast an I can say without question that this is the best inflatable toast out there. The toast inflates quickly and with ease..this is important when I am pressed for time and need inflatable toast at a moments notice. If you are like me and can’t be without a high quality inflatable toast, THIS is the one for you!

JL421 Badonkadonk Land Cruiser/Tank – $19,999.95

You’ve probably seen this before, but the Badonkadonk is still chugging away on Amazon.com, for a low price of 20K.  It features the capability of carrying cargo or crew of up to five (more like 5 people of little people stature); 6hp tecumseh gasoline engine to propel you at the top speed of 40 mph (which may take about 5 hours to reach top speed); and you get a 400 watt premium sound with PA system with “plush interior” — because let’s face it, if you can’t travel with comfort in a homemade tank, why bother?

Amazon review of note:

1 out of 5 stars. Easily blown to kingdom come.

I am an acquisitions officer for an artillery unit in the Russian Army. Since mafia hooligans stole all of our equipment to sell to Kyrgyzstani rebels, we have been looking for a low-cost alternative to the T-80 Main Battle Tank. After successful trials at a facility in Moscow, this so-called “Badonkadonk” was approved for use in the Chechen theatre. Initial reports were favorable, but then somebody noticed that the tank lacked a cannon, treads, and armor, and possessed the engine of an electric bicycle. It did, however, have an excellent audio system, but this failed to compensate for its disappointing 100% mortality rate. Recommended only for use against Lithuanians.

This post "9 Weird Crap You Can Buy on Amazon.com" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

While it’s little solace to being denied credit (let’s face it, rejection blows), Federal law dictates that you should be given clear reason as to why you’ve been denied, and free access to your credit report so you better understand your credit history.

One problem in the previous solution is that by providing consumer with only their credit report, many people couldn’t make heads or tails on where they stand in terms of credit worthiness.  Unless you’ve read up on your credit report know-hows, it can be at times difficult to distinguish what’s positive or negative — if any — in your list of credit history.

Hot on the heels of numerous financial regulation reform and amendments, Senator Mark Udall of Colorado introduced the Fair Access to Credit Scores Act as an amendment to the hotly debated Wall Street Accountability legislation.  This amendment, which was approved by a voice vote by the Senate on Monday, will allow consumers to receive a free credit score whenever the score has negatively impacted the lending/approving decision process.

Here’s what you can expect if the amendment becomes part of law:

• If you’re denied credit or approved for a more disadvantaged rate, then you’ll have free access to your credit score.
• The credit score you’ll have access to is the specific score that impacted you in the decision making process, not some random score from an unknown company or credit reporting bureau, nor would it be a range of score.  Since most lenders are still using FICO scores, the leading credit scoring model, that means it would most likely be the credit score you’ll receive and not some “FAKO” score.
• No maximum amount or limit to the amount of scores you can get for free.  If you’re denied credit by lenders fifteen times, you’ll get fifteen scores. Though one prudent move may be to closely examine why your credit isn’t up to par before you apply for further loans.
• If credit score was one of the many factors in denying a potential employment, you will also receive a free credit score.  You should note however that credit report is but one of many hiring factors for many employers.

This post "S. 3247: Fair Access to Credit Scores Act: Denied Credit? You May Get Free Credit Score in Future" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

While in Italy last month, I extensively used this credit card along with my Schwab debit card as my traveling pals and I roam around tourist traps in a decisively awesome country:

As you can see above, had the Schwab credit card emulated other Visa, MasterCard, and American Express credit card’s usual 3% foreign transaction fee,  my traveling cost would have went up by an additional $21 or so dollars.  Not a whole lot of money in the grand scheme of things, but that’s still three-and-a-quarter-less margherita pizza I’d be able to eat.

And that, my friends, is what personal finance should truly be about: how many slices of pizza you may be missing out on.

This post "No Foreign Transaction Fee = Why I Still Love My Schwab Invest First Credit Card" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

Surprise! Learning is Easier When You’re Having Fun

Many of the best lessons in life are learned as a child, while having fun. It’s why we could always memorize lyrics to our favorite songs with ease but struggled mightily with the periodic table in science class.

Do you want to teach your young kids about budgeting and making sound fiscal decisions? Minimize the spreadsheets and play shopkeeper.

It’s important to teach kids about the value of money, not just what you can do with it, but that you must also make choices about how to wisely use what you’ve got. When I play store with my daughters, I see that it helps them prioritize and begin thinking about the consequences of foolish spending. That’s right — I dish out my best financial decision-making assignments surrounded by picture books, fancy shoes and feather boas.

Despite the volume of stuff in their toy chest, I strive to instill in my 6-year old and her nearly-3-year old sister an understanding that you cannot have it all. There is, after all, a finite amount of money most of us have at any given moment (no, Capital One, that was not an invitation to begin soliciting my children about the joys of revolving debt; credit cards and borrowing discussions are intentionally being saved for when they’re a tad older — thank you very much).

So, I set up an elaborate pretend toy store — books, necklaces, tutus, plush snuggle friends, I sell it all! Then, I give my daughters some cash and role-play through different situations. During one trip through my toy Mecca, they need to buy birthday gifts for family members. Another visit is spent shopping for something fun for themselves. Either way, they have to ask how much each item costs and decide if they have enough or if they have to come back after saving up a little longer. Sometimes, instead of yet another stuffed animal, they’ll opt to hold onto some of their dollars to use at Dad’s fictional ice-cream shop – because that’s important too, from time to time!

Real Impact From Fun Lessons

These lessons have yielded interesting real-life results. When my oldest gal needed a pillow and blanket for school, she had a choice to make. The first pillow she picked, she adored. It cost $16. There was another, just-as-cool pillow on sale for $8. She had a firm $15-$20 budget, which she knew going into the store. If she selected the cheaper pillow, there was a very comfy matching blanket she could afford, also on sale for $8. If she went with the pricier one, her old blanket would be accompanying her to school. The choice was hers, and hers alone. She ended up walking into her 1st day of kindergarten with a crisp new pillow and blanket set.

Playing store is one of my girls’ all-time favorite games. I truly believe it’s one of the reasons they rarely ever whine for things when we shop together. After all, they know what it’s like to be short some coin, thanks to shopping in our own living room.

Do you have your own tips and activities you engage with your children to teach them about money management? Feel free to share.

photo credit: tudy

This post "Teach Your Children About Money Management by Playing Shopkeeper" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

Since April 15 is pretty much one day away, your best bet and fastest option would be to use TurboTax’s Freedom Edition. With TurboTax’s Freedom Edition, you can receive free federal eFile along with state free file (if your state participates in the Free File Alliance).

Do you qualify for State Free Tax Filing?

• If you make $31,000 or less in adjusted gross income for 2009 or
• Qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit
• Active Duty in Military during 2009 with adjusted gross income of less than $57,000
• States that qualifies: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, and West Virgina.
• If your state is not listed but you meet one of the 3 criteria above, you can still get a large discount on your state tax filing for $14.95 (vs. regular price of $30.95).

If you don’t meet the requirements above, unfortunately you won’t be able to get free state tax online filing.  Having said that, you can still easily file your federal tax return for free online through Turbo Tax’s Online Free Edition — especially if you have a simple tax return. As mentioned, the state tax filing would set you back $30.95.

This post "State Tax Free Filing" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

There’s 3 days until the April 15 tax deadline, if you haven’t filed your taxes yet because you’re a procrastinator like me, then you must check if you qualify for this tax credit.

Earned Income Tax Credit Qualification for 2009 Tax Year

Your earned income or adjusted gross income (AGI: all your taxable income source minus deductions) must be less than:

• $43,279 ($48,279 married filing jointly) with three or more qualifying children
• $40,295 ($45,295 married filing jointly) with two qualifying children
• $35,463 ($40,463 married filing jointly) with one qualifying child
• $13,440 ($18,440 married filing jointly) with no qualifying children

Minimum tax credit you’ll receive in for Tax Year 2009:

• $5,657 with three or more qualifying children
• $5,028 with two qualifying children
• $3,043 with one qualifying child
• $457 with no qualifying children

Investment income must be $3,100 or less for the 2009 tax year.

A qualifying child is:

• Be younger than the taxpayer claiming that child unless the child is disabled and
• Not have filed a joint return except to claim a refund

The recent stimulus bill (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) provides a temporarily increase to the earned income tax credit, and expands credit for workers with three or more qualifying children, which applies to the 2009 and 2010 tax year.

If what’s written above doesn’t make sense to you for whatever reason, consider using the Earned Income Tax Credit Assistant, created by the IRS:

• English version EITC Assistant
• Español version EITC Assistant

If You Qualify, Your State/Local Government May Have EITC Too!

Twenty two states along with the District of Columbia offers earned tax income credit for those who qualify for the federal tax credit, the state/local government tax credit may or may not be refundable.

States with Refundable Earned Income Tax Credit:

• District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan
• Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island (partial), Vermont

States with Nonrefundable Earned Income Tax Credit:

• Delaware, Maine, Virginia

Get Your Earned Income Tax Credit Throughout the Year

If you qualify for the EITC, you may want to consider receiving the credit as a payment throughout the year for 2010 instead of waiting until you file your 2010 tax return (which may be April 13, 2011 if you’re a procrastinator like me!). To get the EITC throughout the year, complete IRS Form W-5 and give the lower portion of the form to your employer (keep the top portion for your records).   If you need more information on getting your EITC through monthly payments, check out the Advance EITC page from the IRS.

FreeFile or Free Tax Prep Assistance from Volunteers

If you qualify for the earned income tax credit, you definitely qualify for free file from various tax preparation organization or software, such as TurboTax’s Free Federal eFile. TurboTax’s free eFile edition will automatically include the earned income tax credit along with any other tax credit/deductions that you qualify for.

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program offers free tax help for low to moderate income people (generally below $49,000) who can’t prepare their own tax returns.   As it’s almost April 15, you may have limiting options since many places have limiting ability in time schedule. Check with the IRS for the list of VITA sites.  Only 19 states are listed so if you don’t see your state listed, you can call the VITA site locator number at 1-800-906-9887.

This post "Earned Income Tax Credit: Do I Qualify?" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

One.. two… three… four… and five.

Odd. That’s five digits.

I blinked and counted again.

No mistake.  For the month of March 2009, I made a little bit over $10,000.

“Wow. Now if only I make that much every month,” I thought to myself. “I’ll be able to sit back, relax, scratch my butt, and be a baller.”

You may recall that I don’t really budget.  Any money I make via websites, consulting, projects, etc. gets funneled to my checking accounts, and once every 2-3 months (or whenever I’m not lazy), I tally the ballpark amount up and spit them into an Excel sheet for future reference.  On some months (when I was still in school full-time), my earnings are around  minimum wage level, and on other months I make a healthy five figure income. It all somehow manages to even out to a stable enough income where I can pay the bills and help the family out.

What really surprised me about March 2009 wasn’t the fact that I made a lot of money (relatively speaking for me), but it was the fact that I felt completely miserable during that very particular month.

So why did I felt miserable? Without going into an elaborate tale about how I failed as a human bean (mmm… I love beans), the misery was mostly due to various personal reasons, and not particularly because I was being a workaholic.

Upon reflecting that glorious month, I’ve realized a few things:

• I am almost certain that even more money wouldn’t have made that month any better. You could be spitting money at me, rubbing it all over my sexy body and I’d still feel pretty damn gross (okay that reads pretty gross too).
• What makes you happy or content in life isn’t money. It never really will be. Money, of course, does afford us plenty of opportunities and options in life. This is a fact that I can’t deny. However, what will truly make most people I know happy isn’t cold-hard cash, but rather the quality time they spend with friends and family.

Consider this: when its payday and we receive our paycheck, some of us may carry a smile that day. Is it truly because we’re now X dollar richer?  Or are you thinking about the things you can do with the money?

To be sure, many people aren’t always thinking about the happy things and experiences they can share with family and friends when payday arrives. They breathe a sigh of relief because there’s now enough money to pay the utility bill or to put food on the table for the week. There’s no escaping the fact that money will have a direct tie to the quality of life people can experience and enjoy.

Despite this, I can almost guarantee to you that for those of us that may be having it rough, for the many working poor and people that may be struggling, many of our fondest memories won’t be the day when we receive a  paycheck from X company, but rather its the day when Uncle Bob accidentally sets the grill on fire at the family picnic; the day when the rental car broke down while you’re on vacation but everyone managed to have a blast regardless; the day when your child took their first step; or simply that day when all the right people are around, and as you sit back to relax and chat with loved ones, not a single thought about money is on your mind.

This post "How I Made the Most Money I’ve Ever Made in My Life But Still Felt Miserable" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

Useful Answer Engine That You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

Wolfram Alpha has been out for almost a year now, but unless you’re a geek, you probably haven’t heard of the website.  If you don’t know about it, Wolfram Alpha is an “answer engine,” and it does this job fairly well — especially if you know the proper query to input. For example, you can quickly search for “earthquake in Haiti since January 12, 2010” and Wolfram Alpha will spit out an epicenter location chart, timeline of quakes/aftershocks, and their magnitude level.

Compared to results from search engine that you’ll have to dig, sort, and read through, Wolfram Alpha is especially useful when you need to know specific data.

Because of its clear digestion of answers, Wolfram Alpha also makes for a great tool when you use it as a mortgage or credit card interest rate calculator.  Here’s an understatement of the year: there are a lot of mortgage and credit card interest rate calculator on the web.  As a financial nerd, you may already be familiar with many of them. Some are incredibly detailed, functional, and works like a charm.  If you already found one you like, super!   (Feel free to share them in the comment below).  But if you’re still trying to find a no-frills calculator that won’t bombard you with advertisement or up-sale pitches, Wolfram Alpha may just be what you’re looking for.

Fixed and Adjusted Mortgage Calculator

To use Wolfram Alpha to calculate mortgages, type your query with “mortgage, amount, rate, duration.”

So, for a 15-year, $150,000, 4.75% fixed rate mortgage, you can type:

“mortgage $150,000, 4.75%, 15 years“

… and Wolfram Alpha will immediately spit out a result. You don’t really need to use comma, or order the search query in any particular way, but you will definitely need the key values mortgage, amount, rate, and duration.

15-year fixed mortgage, 4.75%, $150,000

In its default result, Wolfram Alpha will assume this is a fixed mortgage you’re calculating. If you want results for an adjustable mortgage, simply click on “Use adjustable mortgage rate instead.”

In the first section of the default result, you’ll see a monthly payment calculator and effective interest rate.  For our example, we see that the estimated monthly payment is $1,167 and the effective interest rate is 4.855%

In the second section of the result, you’ll see total amount of the mortgage if you stick with the payment plan. For our 15-year fixed mortgage, you can see that the total payments amount to $210,015.  If you do an immediate search and change the mortgage to a 30-year fixed, you’ll see that the total payment amount went up $71,000 to $281,690 — a clear reminder that if you can afford it, you’re much better off with 15-year mortgages.

30-year fixed mortgage, 4.75%, $150,000

Going further down the result page, you’ll see additional information such as monthly payment breakdown chart along with remaining balances through the loan period (15 years). Along with the payment table, you’ll be able to immediately visualize just how much % of interest you’re paying initially vs. principal paid.  For example, in the first year you’ll be paying almost 50/50 in terms of interest and principal, but the ratio will quickly change as thankfully this is a 15-year fixed mortgage.

You can spice things up a bit (as exciting as mortgage calculation can be) by choosing the other options Wolfram Alpha provides you with. For example, you can select “sale amount and down payment” to get a computation result with down payment included.  Clicking on “interest-only period” will give you another clear indication that interest-only mortgages are simply a bad deal.

The “same” 15-year fixed mortgage will now cost you an additional $14,351 in interest:

15-year mortgage, w/ interest-only, $150,000

Credit Card Interest Rate Calculator

If the mortgage calculator functionality impresses you, the credit card calculator will blow you away (okay maybe not, since its pretty much the same deal). To use Wolfram Alpha to calculate the cost of a credit card balance, you’ll need to type in “credit card, rate, and balance.”

So for a $8,000 credit card balance on a 14% APR card, you type:

“credit card, 14%, $8,000“

And you’ll see a similar result page such as the mortgage calculator. A payment pie chart will show you the amount of principal and interest you’ll be forking over if you stick with the default monthly payment that Wolfram Alpha computed (which unfortunately isn’t the current 4% minimum payment required by law).

But if you scroll down you can quickly see the loan period comparison chart which will show you how much total interest you’ll pay (or save) when you put more into the monthly credit card payment.  Nothing surprising there, of course.

Though the credit card cost calculator isn’t as in-depth as the calculator from the Federal Reserve/FTC, which allows you to specify the exact monthly payment you can put in each month or the number of years you want to pay off your card, Wolfram Alpha’s tool is still a quick way to instantly visualize how much your credit card balance will cost you.

More Than Just Calculators

Beyond the handy dandy calculators highlighted above, Wolfram Alpha also has a wide range of useful money and finance data you can your hands on. You can easily compare stocks quotes and #’s from 3 different companies such as MSFT, AAPL, and GOOG:

Or you can check out quotes from mutual funds, futures contract, calculate bond valuation, compound interest rates, derivatives valuation, sales tax, and even estimated salary for specific occupations!  For example, registered nurse salary:

Lastly, take a look at the example list page for money & finance from Wolfram Alpha to see the various type of computation and data results you can get your nerdy hands on, and if you find Wolfram Alpha useful, you should definitely bookmark the page future reference.

Don’t forget to check back next week for our next “finance hack” installment where we’ll cover more nifty financial tricks — perhaps something tax related for all those procrastinators like yours truly? If you already have some financial calculators you can’t live without, feel free to share them below.

This post "Calculate Mortgage and Credit Card Interest Rate with Wolfram Alpha – Finance Hack 2.0" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

Changes That Will Happen Right Away

• Help for the uninsured with pre-existing condition.  Amongst the many provision in the bill, $5 billion will be set aside to provide temporary coverage to uninsured Americans with pre-existing conditions.  The funding will help those qualified until the new health care exchanges are put into final effect in 2014.
• Coverage for young adults and older children.  Health care insurers will be required by law to provide coverage options for non-dependent children up to the age of 26.  This will especially be beneficial to recent college graduates who may be taking on a job without proper health care coverage, and many other young adults who are between jobs and students without coverage provided from their university or college.
• Drug discount and assistance for seniors.  For those people that aren’t covered by Medicare Part D Drug Benefit due to gap in coverages, they will receive $250 to help pay for prescriptions.  The coverage gap is expected to be closed in 2011 as drug manufacturers will discount brand-name drugs by 50 percent, and subsequently another discounted by another 75% in 2020.
• Pre-existing condition no longer subject to being denied coverage.  Effective six months after passage, insurers are prevented from denying coverage to people with preexisting conditions and from charging increased rates on policies for children with preexisting conditions.
• No more annual or lifetime caps.  If you buy a health insurance policy, the provider will no longer be allowed to place a cap on how much it will cover.  This change will be especially important for those diagnosed with terminal and serious illnesses that may face heavy medical bills.

Changes You Should See By 2014

• Expansion to Medicaid.  Not to be confused with medicare, medicaid is health care assistance for individuals and families with low incomes and resources — by 2014, Medicaid will be expanded to include childless adults living near poverty.  A new program will also allow states to offer home and community based care for the disabled that might otherwise require institutional care.
• Health insurance exchanges.  Exchanges will be created to make it easier for small businesses, the self-employed and the unemployed to pool resources and buy less expensive coverage.
• Tax break for families.  Tax credits will be offered to families to offset the costs of health care premiums.  Amount of tax credits will be based on annual household income. A tax credit also becomes available for some small businesses to help provide coverage for workers.
• Mandated health care coverage.  If approved by Senate,  individuals would be required to buy coverage in 2014 or face a fine of $95 or 1 percent of income, whichever is greater.  The fine increases in 2015 to $325 or 2 percent of income, and increases again in 2016 to $695 or 2.5 percent of income.  There is an exemption clause for poorer Americans, and subsidies will be provided to assist family of four that makes up to $88,000 annually.

This post "Health Care Reform H.R. 3590 Summary: What’s In the Health Care Bill and How it Affects You" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

A One-Salary Household

Hemorrhaging debt isn’t typically how a family moves to a one-salary household.

The corporate goodbye plan was hatched poolside during the summer of 2007, and began with my wife and I deciding to give our house a not-quite-extreme-but-still-impressive makeover, taking on massive debt in the process.  We knew that the move to one reliable salary would mean hitting the pause button on any major home projects, so we prioritized the most needed upgrades, those deserving immediate attention and anything else that could become a problem in the near future, and came up with the following big three:

• Convert the sunroom & one car garage into livable space for our expanding family.
• Replace the vinyl siding.
• Replace the 20+ year-old old roof.

Important Reasons

The decision for me to stay home was based on the nagging reality that our two children were spending too much time in daycare, and way too little with the people who brought them into this world. We looked at our daily schedule – drop off at 7am, pick up at 5pm, home at 5:30, preparing family dinner, eat and clean-up until 7pm, bath & nighttime routine (brush teeth, read books, etc.), then put them to bed by 8pm.

At the end of those nights, my wife and I would look at each other in amazement that we’d spent only about 2 ½ hours with our kids.

That’s a whopping 12 ½ hours in the presence of my offspring during the week!  There are deadbeat dads more engaged with their kids than that.  It got to the point where it simply wasn’t acceptable to have our children raised by, essentially, strangers for 50 hrs a week, just so we could take an extra vacation and buy more crap we didn’t need.

Additionally, I was only one year away from having my oldest daughter, then 4 ½, become a full day kindergartener.  It’d be 13 years (at least) before the school system would spit her back out to me, so we decided that I’d trade in my 40+ hours a week at work for those many hours with her, before kindergarten steals her away.

It may seem crazy to prepare for the dropping of an income by spending thousands of dollars.  It could be said that we took the contrarian’s approach to this move, spending money as wisely as we could, to ensure our total comfort in our modest home  – the place where I’d be spending most of my time going forward.

Transitioning to Financial Changes

With all of the contractor’s invoices paid by the end of 2007, we entered the New Year with a clear picture of our debt situation.   Our budget for 2008 was configured accordingly, with the intention of paying off everything, including one lingering car loan.  We sacrificed a lot that year, doing without much of what makes us happy, including vacations, concert tickets, CDs, and theater subscriptions.  It wasn’t until we were no longer saddled with revolving credit card bills, a line of credit balance or car payments and had a house we were finally completely happy with — that I was able to bid farewell to the cozy confines of my cubicle and the relative safe steady paycheck that came with it.  This was August 22^nd, 2008.

To be a middle class family in America generally means a pair of working parents.  It’s been this way for the better part of three decades and it’s this way for a reason, well several actually.  One of which is that we want far more stuff than at any point since maybe the Romans craved new lands.  Breaking free of this uniquely modern American mindset hasn’t been a walk in the park.

My wife and I arrived upon the doorstep of the at-home dad world with careful consideration of our financial situation, both present and future. We knew that to make this happen we were going to have to permanently do without certain luxuries two healthy paychecks afforded us.  Additionally, our financial future would be severely altered, since no job = no 401(k) contributions or employer match.  Now, I’ve never been much of a planner, but even I hunkered down to crunch numbers and make certain that we wouldn’t have to dip into my retirement savings 6-months into this experiment. In this way, becoming an at-home dad challenged my own make-up.  If we were going to be successful in living within our means and making sound financial choices on one steady income, I would have to think ahead, plan and give up some of the spontaneity I enjoyed when my direct deposits were filling up the bank account.

I recognize that many families make tough choices everyday, many of them a lot harder than those my wife and I made.  I also witness many American families extending themselves to the brink of financial disaster in an effort NOT to make choices.  Giving up a vacation, eating out less, and buying less stuff in 2008 wasn’t easy, and there are still times we’re flat miserable with what we cannot do. However, making sacrifices teaches our children that you simply cannot have everything you desire in life, at least not all at once, and prevents us from being flat broke.

photo credits: stmoritz1960, Holtsman, and Leonid Mamchenkov

This post "Bye-Bye Cubicle, Hello Children: Why I Quit Corporate America to Be a Stay-At-Home Dad" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

Or in this case, a butcher knife.

I swear to Xenu, lord and dictator of the Galactic Confederacy, that if I ever encounter another packaging that requires stabbing motion to open, I’m going to send Tom Cruise and his Scientology pals after the person responsible.

In all seriousness, from today forward, I’m genuinely going to make a conscious effort to avoid purchasing poorly-designed packaging that’s hard to open.

And don’t even get me started about the cost of printer ink.

This post "Crap: Hard to Open Packaging That Requires a Chainsaw" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

• Applies only to homes used as your principal residence.
• Reduces your tax bill or increases your refund, dollar for dollar.
• Is a fully refundable tax credit, meaning the credit will be paid out to eligible taxpayers, even if they owe no tax or the credit is more than the tax owed.

Checkout this one minute and 29 seconds video by Hector from the IRS explaining the first-time home buyer tax credit.  If you don’t want to watch the video, a summary of the highlights can be found below the video.

Qualifying and Claiming the $8000 Home Tax Credit

• You may qualify for the home tax credit if you bought a home in 2009 or you’re considering buying one this year.
• You qualify as a first-time home buyer if either you or your spouse haven’t own a home in 3 years.
• If you’re buying a home this year (2010), you must sign a binding contract by April 30th, 2010, and close no later than June 30th, 2010.
• Also, if you’re a long-time home owner, and you’re purchasing a replacement home for your principal residence, you may qualify for a credit up to $6,500.
• If you bought the home in 2010, you have the option to claiming the home tax credit either on your 2009 or 2010 tax return.
• To get the credit this year.  File your tax return, attach form 5405 and supplement documents (such as copy of settlement statement).
• Important: To claim the tax credit this year, you must file the tax return on paper. You won’t be able to claim the credit on e-file as the current e-file system isn’t able to handle the supporting documents that must be submitted along with the home tax credit.

Tax Forms You Will Need

• Good old Form 1040 (report it on line 67 for the 2009 return)
• Form 5405 (attach with return)

Additional Resources:

• Questions and Answers on home tax credit from IRS
• Additional Questions and Answers (qualifying, due dates, etc.)
• Filing requirements on the home tax credit

This post "$8,000 Home Tax Credit" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

Before you start setting up various financial New Year resolution goals, one quick exercise you should probably do is to focus on prioritizing  your financial weakness that cost you the most money.  Whether it’s lack of will power in spending, inability to comparison shop properly, impulsive financial decisions, risky stock purchases — we all probably have made a number of blunders that has cost us more money than we’d care to admit.

The reason why I believe it’s important to focus on the weakness or mistakes that cost you the most money, is simply because the return on time investment will have a more meaningful financial impact.  Unfortunately, whether or not it’ll be easy for you to fix or improve that particular financial weakness will be another story.

But take heart, although baby steps are a perfectly legitimate way in bettering yourself, there really isn’t anything wrong with trying to tackle a big problem and failing — after all, none of us are perfect.  Maybe you tried to cut your monthly lavish spa treatment but was only able to stick to the gun for 2 months.  So what?  That two month’s worth of savings is decisively better than never taking the initiative to save.

Discover by Getting the Hard Numbers

The best way to discover your financial weakness (e.g., actions and behavior that cost you money), is to take an analytical approach and track your spending.

Yes.  This is bitch work.  It’s not fun, it’s not sexy, but seeing concrete numbers telling you where your cash is going will always trump guess work and decisions based upon feelings.  Remember, the goal is to find your financial weakness and put a stop to it.

There are numerous ways you can track your cash flow and overall financial health. Free online-based software such as Mint.com, Wesabe, MoneyStrand, and Green Sherpa (90 day trial period) will work well.  Not comfortable with having your information online? Intuit’s Quicken will definitely do the trick too.

Set up your accounts, if you don’t already have them and start checking the expense tab to see where unexpected expenses are accumulating.  All of the software and applications listed above will have capabilities for you to sort by types of transaction, their frequency, and the total dollar amount.  The periodic late fee you get from your credit cards that you didn’t think was a big deal?  Suddenly it’s $120 over the span of 3 months. Ouch.

I recommend tracking things for at least 2 to 6 weeks, depending your actual expense ranges. Safer bets are actually a time-line of 2 to 3 months, but that’s not always possible depending on your time constraint.

Understanding the Real Problem

If you were able to identify financial weakness that cost you money, it’s time to take another step to really dive into the reasoning behind those financial transactions.

FACT: Money is NOT sentient. It does not magically wake up one morning and decides to fly out of your wallet or bank account and convert itself into a designer jean or a 55″ HDTV.

The financial waste that you may have discovered doesn’t have to be actual wasteful purchases (after all, whether or not its wasteful can be highly subjective). They can also can be unnecessary and avoidable fees, poorly made investment choices, or unintentional daily habits — the list goes on.  In fact, my own recent financial weakness are miscellaneous, convenience fess that have racked up from the airport and liquor stores.

The fact of the matter is, most of the time, something you did cause the money to be spent.  I racked up $80 in parking fees at San Francisco International Airport because I woke up too late to catch the rail to the airport.  I bought over priced goods at the liquor store because I slept too late the night prior.  Though each of those unnecessary expenses are from different sources, the underlying pattern that cause these financial mishaps are simply because I stay up too late sometimes.

This entire scenario sounds a bit stupid and minuscule, but in actuality, I’ve paid well over $200 in avoidable “convenience” fee simply because I have a bad sleep schedule.  Pretty stupid when you think about it, right?

Many times, we are creature of habits.  Back when I was living in Southern California, I tend to regularly stay up late and sleep at odd hours too.  The only reason why it didn’t cost me money?  If I wanted a lift to the airport, I can easily call up a friend.  If I wanted some random odd trinket at 4 in the morning?  There’s a 24/7 supermarket and Walmart five minutes down the street.  If I was running late and needed to find parking fast?  Well, it’s Southern California, parking is generally not an issue (nor are cursed parking tickets).

In another scenario, a friend of mine consistently pays her bill lately once every few months across various different bills, racking up late fees and penalty fees simply because she can be a bit disorganized.  While it will be years until she sort out the organizational issues (I can easily relate as I have piles of envelopes on my desk dated from 5 years ago), she was able to put a stop to the madness by setting up automatic monthly online bill pay.  If you ever have similar issues with forgetting bills, set up automatic online payments now — you don’t even have to set it to pay the full statement balance, just set it to pay minimum, at the very least you can avoid paying late fees.

As you examine your expenses and track your spending, if you were able to find a pattern of financial waste or mistakes, chances are, it’s due to some personal habits that you’ve accumulated through the years.

Habits are not easy to fix, but understanding your habits — especially habits that have financial impacts, will give you some form of armament toward the fight of curbing your financial waste. As with all things in life, knowing the real underlying issue will be the important first step you can take toward solving the actual problem.

Need help on setting and achieving financial New Years resolution? Check out some of the other related post below.

photo credit: Joe Athialy

This post "Before Setting Financial New Years Resolution: Discover and Understand Your Financial Weakness" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

If the car you see in your side mirror is appearing to come CLOSER to you (e.g., object in mirror is getting LARGER), then odds are that he’s driving FASTER than you and thus it is probably a BAD idea to change into that particular lane at the very last minute.

Just thought you’d like to know. Jerk face.

Happy New Year!

This post "Seriously, Slower Traffic Keep Right Please" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

(source)

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York begins purchasing fixed-rate mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae under a program first announced on November 25, 2008.

January 12, 2009 – Allocating TARP Funding

At the request of President-Elect Obama, President Bush submits a request to Congress for the remaining $350 billion in TARP funding for use by the incoming administration.

January 16, 2009 – TARP in Action

(source)

The U.S. Treasury Department purchases a total of $1.4 billion in preferred stock from 39 U.S. banks under the Capital Purchase Program.  In the same day, The U.S. Treasury Department, Federal Reserve and FDIC finalize terms of their guarantee agreement with Citigroup.

February 26, 2009 – Fannie Mae Reports Massive Loss

(source)

Fannie Mae reports a loss of $25.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008, and a full year 2008 loss of $58.7 billion. Fannie Mae also reports that on February 25, 2009, the Federal Housing Finance Agency submitted a request for $15.2 billion from the U.S. Treasury Department under the terms of the Senior Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement in order to eliminate Fannie Mae’s net worth deficit as of December 31, 2008.

March 2, 2009 – Additional Bailout for AIG

(source)

The U.S. Treasury Department and Federal Reserve Board announce a restructuring of the government’s assistance to American International Group (AIG). Under the restructuring, AIG will receive as much as $30 billion of additional capital from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). In addition, the U.S. Treasury Department will exchange its existing $40 billion cumulative preferred shares in AIG for new preferred shares with revised terms that more closely resemble common equity. Finally, AIG’s revolving credit facility with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York will be reduced from $60 billion to no less than $25 billion and the terms will be modified. In exchange, the Federal Reserve will receive preferred interests in two special purpose vehicles created to hold the outstanding common stock of two subsidiaries of AIG: American Life Insurance Company and American International Assurance Company Ltd. Separately, AIG reports a fourth quarter 2008 loss of $61.7 billion, and a loss of $99.3 billion for all of 2008.

March 19, 2009 – IndyMac to OneWest Bank

(source)

The FDIC completes the sale of IndyMac Federal Bank to OneWest Bank. OneWest will assume all deposits of IndyMac, and the 33 branches of IndyMac will reopen as branches of OneWest on March 20. As of January 31, 2009, IndyMac had total assests of $23.5 billion and total deposits of $6.4 billion. IndyMac reported fourth quarter 2008 losses of $2.6 billion, and the total estimated loss to the Deposit Insurance Fund of the FDIC is $10.7 billion. The FDIC had been named conservator of IndyMac FSB on July 11, 2008.

April 6, 2009 – Liquidity Crisis

(source)

The Federal Reserve announces new reciprocal currency agreements (swap lines) with the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank that would enable the provision of foreign currency liquidity by the Federal Reserve to U.S. financial institutions.

May 20, 2009 – Helping Families Save Their Home Act

President Obama signs the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009, which temporarily raises FDIC deposit insurance coverage from $100,000 per depositor to $250,000 per depositor.  The new coverage at FDIC-insured institutions will expire on January 1, 2014, when the amount will return to its standard level of $100,000 per depositor for all account categories except IRAs and other certain retirement accounts.  This action supersedes the October 3, 2008 changes.

June 1, 2009 – General Motors Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

As part of a new restructuring agreement with the U.S. Treasury and the governments of Canada and Ontario, General Motors Corporation and three domestic subsidiaries announce that they have filed for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

July 23, 2009 – Truth in Lending in Crossfire

(source)

The Federal Reserve Board proposes significant changes to Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) intended to improve the disclosures consumers receive in connection with closed-end mortgages and home-equity lines of credit. Among other changes, the Board’s proposal would improve the disclosure of the annual percentage rate on closed-end mortgages and require lenders to show consumers how much their monthly payments might increase for adjustable-rate mortgages. The proposal would also prohibit payments to a mortgage broker or loan officer that are based on a loan’s interest rate or other terms, and prohibit lenders from steering consumers to transactions that are not in their interest in order to increase the lender’s compensation.

August 25, 2009 – Ben Bernanke Renominated

President Obama nominates Ben S. Bernanke for a second term as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

September 18, 2009 – From the Dust of Lehman Brothers

(source)

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announces the expiration of the Guarantee Program for Money Market Funds, which was implemented in the wake of the failure of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. The Program was initially established for a three-month period that could be extended up through September 18, 2009. Since its inception, the Treasury had no losses under the Program and earned approximately $1.2 billion in participation fees.

October 14, 2009 – Dow Jones Above 10,000

(source)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 10,000 for the first time since October 3, 2008.

November 1, 2009 – CIT Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

(source)

CIT Group, Inc., files for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code. The U.S. Government purchased $2.3 billion of CIT preferred stock in December 2008 under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The firm’s prepackaged bankruptcy is expected to wipe out the equity stakes of CIT’s current shareholders, including the U.S. Government.

December 2, 2009 – Bank of America Repays TARP

(source)

Bank of America announces that it will repurchase the entire $45 billion of cumulative preferred stock issued to the U.S. Treasury under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) after the completion of a securities offering.

December 9, 2009 – Exit Strategy for TARP

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner sends a letter to Congressional leaders outlining the Administration’s exit strategy for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Secretary Geithner announces that the program will be extended to October 3, 2010, and focus on three areas: 1) foreclosure mitigation; 2) providing capital to small and community banks; and 3) possible increases in the Treasury Department’s commitment to the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF).

This post "The 2009 Financial Crisis Timeline in Photos" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

FICO25: 25% off myFICO Standard

What is it? myFICO Standard consist of a FICO score and a credit report of your choice from either Equifax or TransUnion. If you’re wondering about a FICO score from Experian, unfortunately the agreement between Experian and Fair Isaac fell through, so you can no longer purhcase your Experian FICO score thru myFICO.com (or anywhere else for that matter). A FICO Standard purchase will give include an explanation of the positive and negative factors affecting your score, plus access to the FICO Score Simulator, which shows you how actions like paying off an existing account or opening new accounts may affect your FICO scores.

Why do I need it? This is a no frills purchase, and is a solid choice for people that simply wants to know what their FICO score is based on their Equifax or TransUnion credit history. Maybe you need to know your FICO score before you head to the car dealership to negotiate financing terms or maybe you were just told by a lender that your FICO score ranges were much lower than you expected — in these situations, purchasing a real FICO score from myFICO can give you more knowledge and ammunition before engaging in financial transactions that involves credit history.

How much does it really cost? A FICO Standard purchase cost $15.95 per purchase, and in perspective, this is quite a bit of money to pay just for a set of numbers (of course, you also receive a detailed credit report, but you can always request those for free annually). There is no monthly recurring cost and this is a one-time purchase. With discount, the expensive purchase can be lighten to $11.80. myFICO regularly releases certain promotional code, so you should never pay full price. Either bookmark this page or keep an eye open for new promotions that will give substantial discounts.

FICO25: 25% off myFICO Score Watch

What it is? Score Watch from myFICO.com provides you with daily monitoring of your Equifax Credit Report and weekly monitoring of your FICO score.  It notifies you when you may qualify for better interest rate (such as significant change to your FICO score), delivers alerts when important changes to your score and report are detected, and shows you key factors affecting your FICO score and how lenders view you.

Why do I need it? You may have recently come across financial situations where you need to keep on tabs of your credit score.  Perhaps you’re trying to better understand and control your credit worthiness before applying for a large loan such as a mortgage or an auto loan; or perhaps you’re actively trying to keep track of your credit scores so you can better negotiate with lenders for more favorable interest rates.

How much does it really cost? myFICO’s Score Watch use to have a free trial offering but that is no longer available. Without the discount, the monthly subscription fee is a $9.95, with a 3 months advance payment required, which brings the cost to $29.85.  You can potentially “save” a bit of money by opting for an annual subscription of $99.95, but with the discount, the monthly subscription fee is at $7.96, making the 3 month cost $23.88 and an annual subscription costing you $79.96. The annual FICO score tracking plan can be quite a saving when compare to buying your score individually monthly. The current myFICO promotional code discount definitely makes purchasing the credit score more of a bargain, but again, consider carefully if you need such a subscription before you sign-up.

Having said all that, unlike many other credit subscription services offered on the web, myFICO has no high pressure monthly subscription demands or phone calls to loop through to cancel. You can easily log into your account and hit the “cancel subscription” option. This is from personal experience, so if you don’t like the service, you can end it anytime after the 3-month subscription period.

CPPSAVINGS: 25% off FICO Quarterly Monitoring

What is it? FICO Quarterly monitoring provides you with quarterly update of your TransUnion FICO credit score and credit report.  In short, you get 4 TransUnion FICO score per year, and in a sense this is a variant of the Score Watch service, but pulls your TransUnion credit history instead of your Equifax credit history.  The FICO Quarterly Monitoring service also use 400 other data sources for signs of identity theft, providing you alerts whenever there are new information added to your TransUnion credit report.  Lastly, you’ll also receive a $25,000, no-deductible identity theft insurance policy from St. Paul Travelers as part of your subscription.

Why do I need it? This is a product that’s pitched for those that may have reasons to suspect their identity have (or will be) stolen.  With FICO Quarterly Monitoring, you can have a somewhat peace of mind as you set specific alerts so you can be notified whenever additional information are tied into your credit history (such as name, phone number, residential address, etc.).  If you’ve recently lost your wallet that contains many of your personal and sensitive financial information, FICO Quarterly Monitoring may be a good service to consider (as it provides you with weekly monitoring).  If you suspect that you may be a victim (or potential victim) of identity theft, whether from strangers or family members (sadly this happens frequently), FICO Quarterly Monitoring can be an additional tool to ensure your credit profile isn’t being fiddled with.  Take note however that this service will only monitor your TransUnion credit profile.  If you’re absolutely certain you’re a victim of identity theft, you may want to consider a credit freeze.

How much does it really cost? The service will cost $4.95 monthly or with an annual subscription rate of $49.95.  With the discount promotional code above, you will save 30% off your monthly subscription fee or your annual rate, bringing the cost to $3.46 per month or $34.96.  You’ll also receive an additional 20% discount whenever you opt to purchase other myFICO services whenever you’re subscribed to FICO Quarterly Monitoring (for example if you want to complement the service with an additional subscription of Score Watch).  In some sense, this is one of the cheaper service, especially if you’re ever in a situation where you need to purchase more than two TransUnion FICO scores or report.

This post "myFICO Promotional Code" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.