Flights to Israel

About two months ago, I sat down and planned out my flights. Combined J and I had enough United miles and Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to get two one-way tickets to Israel.

We used partner airlines to find available reward seats on the day we wanted to leave. Because it was so cheap, we had to be flexible on the routing. Here is what we ended up with.

• Denver (DEN) >New York (LGA) – United 310
• New York (JFK) > Frankfurt (FRA) – Singapore Airlines 25 (on an A380!)
• Frankfurt (FRA) > Tel Aviv (TLV) – Lufthansa 690

As you can see, that was not so simple to put together. However, it was possible and only took about 30 minutes to work out once we decided on United miles for the first direction. We had to make the reservation by phone because we were too complex for the online system. We also had to make a small change due to a phantom award seat.

To change airports in New York, J’s cousin picked us up at Laguardia and dropped us off at JFK. We had enough time to have dinner on the way, but if we didn’t have friends there we could have taken the shuttle.

In Frankfurt, we had a full day to go into town and explore. We enjoyed German beer and got stamps on the passport. For the long-haul flight to Frankfurt, we totally enjoyed our experience on the luxury airline Singapore Air on a giant A380. Their coach seats are almost as nice as first class on United!

Flights Home

To fly home, I took advantage of partner airlines yet again. This time, I used British Airway Avios miles for one ticket and American Airlines miles for the other. There is a great deal for American miles right now via the AAdvantage® Visa Signature® Card. If you want to double up, also check out the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® World MasterCard®.

Because British Airways and American Airlines are both members of the OneWorld alliance, we were able to book partner flights there as well. Here’s how it all worked out.

• Tel Aviv (TLV) > Berlin (TXL) – Air Berlin 8903
• Berlin (TXL) > Chicago (ORD) – Air Berlin 7420
• Chicago (ORD) > Denver (DEN) – American Airlines 3629

We ended up with a full afternoon in Chicago which we spent touring with a friend. It felt like a long trip home, but then I remembered it only cost us about $70 each and I felt better.

Hotels and Lodging

We looked at using our Starwood points for hotels, but didn’t find any deals good enough, so we just decided to pay for our hotels the nights we used them. We stayed with cousins for part of the trip, and could have longer, but wanted a bit more freedom so we opted for hotels a couple of extra nights.

All in all, we had 1 night in a hotel in Tiberias and 4 nights in hotels in Jerusalem. We found the best deals at Hotels.com and booked them there. The total cost of hotels, which we split, averaged $150 per night. The total was about $750 or $375 each.

If we had wanted to save more, we could have found hostels or looking into other options to save money on hotels when traveling.

Food, Entertainment, and Souvenirs

For spending money, we each bought some stuff on our own and shared meals and visits to the local pubs.

For my part, I took out less than $300 from ATMs. I always suggest using ATMs while abroad to get the best exchange rates and avoid fees (make sure you have the best ATM card to get foreign ATM fees refunded automatically).

For most places I was able, I used a credit card that charged no foreign exchange or foreign use fees. Most small shops and restaurants in Israel are not credit card friendly, so I only spent about $100 the entire trip on cards.

Total Cost

In total, the trip cost less than $900 each. If we had used points/miles for hotels, stayed in hostels, or stayed with family longer, we could have easily made it less than $500 each for 10 days abroad.

Traveling doesn’t have to be cost prohibitive. It doesn’t have to be incredibly expensive. It just takes budgeting, planning, and a little extra effort to make a $5,000 trip cost $500.

How to you budget for travel and big trips? Please share your best tips in the comments below.

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Image by upyernoz / flickr

An Amazing Trip to Israel on a Budget is a post from: Narrow Bridge Finance

Save Money By Doing it Yourself

This was probably the thing that we were most guilty of in our first few years, we hired out part of our lawn care which really does nothing towards saving money. We hired Chemlawn to treat and fertilize our yard and it did look nice, but it cost upwards of $400 to have them do it. After watching what they did, we bought ourselves a spreader and do it all ourselves now. As long as the seed, fertilizer or weed control is granular in nature you can use the spreader on this and really does not take much time. This gives you the added benefit of being outside plus you can use that money on other things as opposed to paying someone else to take care of it for you.

Watch For Sales

Another great way to save money on lawn care this time of year is to take advantage of sales at home improvement stores. We’ll go through their fliers each week so we can see what’s on sale plus it often gives us landscaping ideas we can use for our yard. Just be careful of the “rebates” that some offer as they’re not actually cash back, but coupons good only at their store. By going through the circulars we find what we want beforehand so we can go in knowing what we’re looking for which helps us cut down on needless spending. We’re not terribly loyal in terms of where we buy our lawn care products and usually shop by price. However, if you have a Chase Preferred Card you can get 5% cash back this quarter on anything you buy at Lowe’s, which is a nice little bonus to have.

Know What You’re Dealing With

Before we started doing our own lawn care, we were garden enthusiasts. We’re always looking for frugal gardening tips and discovered that our local county extension office was a great resource to use. By taking in some of your soil for testing they’ll tell you what how you should amend it to support a healthy, productive garden. If you’re not a gardener, they can still be of help as they can tell you what type of grass seed, fertilizer and weed control you should use. This can help you save money on your lawn care as you’ll learn what exactly you should be doing to make sure your lawn maintenance is doing what it should and not wasting your time. They can also tell you how often you should water and the optimum level for your lawn mowing so you do not stress your yard too much. They have been a great help to us and some extension offices will even offer this service for free.

Do you hire out your lawn care, or do it yourself? What ways have you found to save money on your lawn care?

Image by Adam Farnsworth/Flickr

3 Simple Ways to Save Money on Your Lawn Care this Summer is a post from: Narrow Bridge Finance

Cost of Debt

Over the lifetime of the loan, assuming no more early payments, I would owe $23,225 in interest. That is a lot of money.

Just think of what you can do with $23,225? Buy a car. Take a trip around the world. Invest and save for your future. It is so much money that there are even articles about what to do with $25,000.

Potential Investment Gains

On the other hand, 2.875% is a pretty low rate. At that rate, it may be possible to earn more, offsetting the cost, by investing in the stock market.

If you can earn 3% on what would have been an extra payment, you come out ahead. If you can beat that, you are making even more.

The S&P 500 has a compound annual growth rate of 9.94% since 1970, so it would seem that it could be easy to buy a low fee index fund and make more than 2.875%.

Investment Risk

If it were that easy, everyone would be making on average 10% each year with their investments. However, there are investment risks.

Over the period that the S&P 500 had a CAGR of nearly 10%, 9 years had a decline. With the volatility we’ve seen over the last several years, it is impossible to say what is going to happen next. (If you do know, please tell me.)

Reasons to Pay It Off

Seeing as we never know what the market is going to do next, we don’t know if we can certainly beat 2.875%. In fact, we could end up losing money if we invest over the same time horizon.

However, we do know that no matter what happens with my investments, I will owe the bank $23,225 in interest. Because I’m not sure if I can beat $23,225 by investing, paying off the loan makes more sense to me.

In addition, until the loan is paid off, I will always owe the bank the remaining principle on my loan. Right now, that is about $97,000. I would sleep much better at night owning my condo outright and not having to worry about paying off any loans.

There is Always a However

However, I am currently looking at saving up for a second condo. If I do that, I can rent out the current one for a profit and live in the second one. My best estimate is that I could make about $500 per month, if not more, in monthly profit by renting it out.

So here’s my plan: Split the difference.

I plan to pay extra into the loan each month and save extra each month. If I can pay $200 extra per month into the loan, I will save about $6,000 in interest and cut nearly 4 years off the loan. If I figure out how to put more, even better.

That will allow me to save to invest in the future while saving myself money on my current loan. I call that a win-win.

What Would You Do?

How would you pay off your loan in my situation? Would you save extra to invest in a new property or would you put it all in to the remaining $97,000 loan balance? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Image by JasonParis / flickr

Should I Pay Off My Low Interest Mortgage Loan? is a post from: Narrow Bridge Finance

When to Use Checks

Okay, that intro might have been a bit harsh. I do use checks to make business payments, but I do not use any checks (and hardly use cash) in my day-to-day life.

If you use checks for any regular purchases, think about other options. I suggest using an airline mile or travel reward credit card for every purchase. Even if you have a small business, getting a business rewards credit card (just click “business credit cards” for an up-to-date list) may be easier than you think.

If you use checks to pay your credit card bill? Pay online. If you use a check to pay your HOA, mortgage, or rent: use your bank’s bill pay.

There are always options to get away from using checks. Do you best to save paper, money, and hassles by going electronic for as many payments as possible.

Where to Get Checks

The easiest solution may be to just call your bank and ask them to order your checks. Most banks order your checks through a company called Deluxe. Deluxe checks are often very high quality and use the best security standards, but many other companies do too. And the other companies charge less for the same product!

Instead of calling up the bank and asking for checks, search online for the best deals. I am partial to this buy-one-get-one free deal for checks from the Bradford Exchange. Make sure to enter coupon code 15237XFH at checkout to get the discount.

If you need business checks, you can also look at deals from sites like Bradford Exchange or do your best searching online for the best deals.

Don’t Be Lazy

All I ask that you please don’t take the lazy way out. Ordering checks on your own takes only a few minutes and can easily save 70% off the horrific prices you would pay ordering from the bank. Be smart with your money and save by spending a little time to save big.

How do you buy your blank checks? Please share in the comments.

Image by comedy_nose / flickr

Never Buy Checks From the Bank is a post from: Narrow Bridge Finance

Credit Card Interest Rates

The cash you take out using a convenience check begins to charge you interest at your credit card rate, which can average over 20% APY for some people.  Why would you ever do that for extra cash?  Unless you can invest it with a guaranteed rate of return above that 20%, there is no reason to pay that kind of interest.

If you are in debt, make sure to budget and plan to live within your means. I paid off all of my student loans in two years by keeping spending tight and working hard. I am not special, I just stuck to a plan and worked hard. You can do it to if you are having trouble paying off debt.

Cash Advance Fees

Some cards charge a cash advance fee if you decide to use the checks.  While not all cards charge a fee, it is often about 2% up front.  That is a 2% fee just for writing the check before interest even kicks in, which includes the fee in the compounding balance.

In a worst case scenario, it is best to just use the credit card, never use a cash advance on a credit card to pay for any purchase.

No Rewards

When you use them to withdraw from your credit line, you generally do not get the rewards associated with the account.  I use all of my credit card rewards for things like free flights and hotel nights. Almost all credit cards give no rewards if the spending comes from a convenience check.

If you manage your credit and budget right, you can take advantage of awesome travel rewards. If you rack up credit card balances, your credit score will go down and you can’t take advantage.

Identity Theft

These checks can be a possible source of identity theft.  Smart thieves know what these are, and know they can be used to tap into your credit card.  While you are likely not going to be responsible for the charges, it is a headache to get fixed.  Additionally, the thief gets you address and other personal information from the check which can be used for further identity theft in the future.

Avoid the Temptation

So why do the banks keep sending the checks?  Temptation and convenience.

How easy would it be to take that check over to the store and buy a brand new 60″ flat screen TV?  It would be as easy as doing it with you credit card, but the bank gets more money if you use the check, and that comes from your pocket.  Millions of people are dumb enough to use the checks, so the banks will keep on sending them.  However, before you get to the store, make a stop by the shredder to put the checks to rest.

Originally published April 5, 2010. Updated May 8, 2013. Image by dee & tula monstah / flickr

Four Reasons to Shred Those Credit Card Convenience Checks! is a post from: Narrow Bridge Finance

I Really Like Wine

Let me start by saying that I really like wine. I have been in a wine club and used other sites to discover new wines and get my favorites shipped to my home. When my wine rack was full the first time, I got another. When the second filled up, I went to a kitchen shelf for the overflow. Now I am looking at getting one built in.

Like with beer, I am picky on the types of wine I like. I enjoy almost any Sangiovese or Chianti. However, I would rather just have water if my only options are a Chardonay, Sauvignon blanc, Resiling, or Moscato.

Needless to say, I have spent more than a few dollars on wine over the years.

Wine Quality Ratings

As wines come and go, professional reviewers taste the wines and give them quality ratings. These professionals have trained their pallets to be aware of the small nuances each wine has. While it is fun to go to wine tastings and pretend you can taste like an expert, most of us simply don’t have the experience, or desire, to spend that much time and money learning about wine.

Instead, focus on the main features of the wine and find wines that you like. Who cares if it scores 80 points or 99 points. If you like it, that is the most important feature.

Wine Costs

You can find wine for $2 at Trader Joe’s, or you can head to Vegas and find a bottle well over $100,000. However, according to a blind test of 6,000 wines, it appears that people think almost all wines are more or less the same unless they already know the price.

In other words, price doesn’t matter!

If you are going to the liquor store to pick up your favorite vintage for a dinner party, don’t worry about the price tag. Instead, focus on the quality of the wine and how much you like it. I have found that I can fine amazing wines for $10 that I like just as much as their $20 brethren. I don’t see any real reason to spend more than that.

Value For Your Dollar

When I decide to get new wine to overfill refill my wine racks, I usually head to Wine Till Sold Out. I subscribe to the emails and patiently wait for a wine style I like under $10 per bottle. Sometimes it only takes a few hours, other times a few days. But I am always patient and never spend more than my budget.

I find that buying that way gets me the most value per dollar spent. If I would rather mix it up a bit, I head to the local grocery store where I can get a case discount on wine when buying six or more bottles at a time. Either way, I find I am almost always happy.

How Do You Buy Wine?

How do you budget and shop for wine? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments.

Image by by gcfairch / flickr

Are Expensive Wines Worth the Money? is a post from: Narrow Bridge Finance

Now that bonus season has passed, my net worth leveled off a bit and I am starting to make future plans for my debt and savings for the rest of 2013.

Banking, Debt, and Investments

This month, I made a few changes to my money. First, I decided to pay an extra $200 into my mortgage. I did some math and found that, at this point, each extra $100 I put into my mortgage saves me about $50 in loan interest over the life of my mortgage. Might as well put in what extra I can to save a few extra bucks in the long run. I am going to have to pay the principle off at some point, so what better time than now?

I also decided to increase my 401(k) contribution by 1%. I took a look at my 401(k) portfolio to re-balance my investments. When I was in there, I decided to increase my 401(k) contribution from 5% to 6%. That is in addition to my company’s match (4%). I am now maxing out my Roth IRA with an auto-deduction and contribute a net 10% in my 401(k).

I am also continuing to add $25 automatically each paycheck into my Lending Club account. My net annual returns at Lending Club are 11.30% and steadily growing as I diversify into more risky, higher interest loans. I currently have 35 active loans, 1 in funding, and 10 fully paid. I love Lending Club as an alternate investment vehicle.

Liberty Fund Update

I have a $30,000 savings goal for my liberty fund. Thanks to my bonus, I was able to make my biggest contribution to date. I started saving in August and the fund balance is now at $22,994. The end is in sight! However, I do plan to use $2,500-$5,000 on some home remodeling projects.

The bulk of my liberty fund is in a combination of high interest savings accounts and a stock investment account. I suggest Ally Bank for this type of savings. I began this fund with a $5,000 emergency fund goal.

Side Business Income

Narrow Bridge Media – All Blogs and Online Activities

Revenue

• Private Ad Placements and Freelance Work – $775
• AdSense – $27
• Affiliate Payments – $145
• Premium Plugin Sales – $0 (will be reported only when paid by Code Canyon)

Expenses

• Freelance Writers – $60
• Email List – $19 (Provided by Aweber)
• Web Expenses and Development – $95

This was a pretty good month. My goal is $1,000 per month, and this month I made $947 in revenue. Maybe an increase in freelancing will help make up the difference? Also, in case you were curious Premise is a plugin that allows on-site payments and digital product sales. I am trying to incorporate it into a few different sites I own.

I created a new WordPress plugin to solve a problem I had. I was trying to convert from the Thesis Theme to Genesis (did you notice?) and couldn’t move my Thesis post images as expected. My new plugin takes care of that and is available for $10, of which I get $6 per sale.

Denver Flash Mob – Flash Mob Consulting and Planning

• Revenue – $150
• Staff Payments – $100
• Other Expenses – $144

The completely rebuilt the Denver Flash Mob website is sending me more business leads, but I don’t always have the ability to meet the requests. I currently have 3 events in the works. The $144 spent this month was for Event Espresso, an event signup tool allows me to setup events outside of Facebook, control all aspects of the event, and automate signups to the email list when new people join a flash mob. You can take a look at the new calendar and new event pages if you want to see where the money went.

I am considering selling this business to free up time for other projects, but I’m not really sure where to start.

Net Worth

In total, my net worth was down $239, or -.14%. (My IKEA visit put me over!) I update my condo value from Zillow and update my car value based on Kelley Blue Book annually in January. I pay off my credit cards in full each payday.

May 2013 Net Worth and Earnings Update is a post from: Narrow Bridge Finance

Stay Local

Since we live smack dab in the Midwest we have plenty of options for our summer vacation; many cities are within a day’s drive of us. Within 8 hours, we can be in Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago or Kansas City. We have done the staycation idea, but getting out of town makes things so much more enjoyable. I realize that some may not have the same number of options as I do, but I am sure there are options available that would allow you to keep the travel costs down and still have an enjoyable vacation. We like to stay local because it means we can drive and pack accordingly to keep some of our costs down and use that saved money for other things we may want to do while on vacation.

Think Outside the Box for Your Summer Vacation

We’re always looking for new summer vacation ideas and often it just takes a little creative thinking to find a way to enjoy the kind of vacation we want. With three children under the age of five, staying at hotels can be challenging, expensive and stressful, so we like to look for other options like renting a cabin. We’ve had good friends do it and it can allow you to feel a little more at home while also possibly being able to save some money overall. Another thing we like to do is look for things we enjoy but don’t have the time to do throughout the year. We love going to a beach or spending time in the water. Sadly, that is not really an option in Omaha. However, if we go somewhere like Minneapolis, you can definitely find us at one of that city’s many beautiful lakes. Last summer, we visited the town my wife’s grandfather grew up in and had a blast taking an inexpensive steamboat tour of Lake Minnetonka followed by a picnic lunch at a waterfront park. We pushed our kids in a tire swing just a few yards from where my father in law had played as a child. It was a priceless experience that wasn’t pricey.

Watch Your Price…Only to a Point

Who wants to be budget conscious while on summer vacation? We watch our spending all year, so we want to be able to enjoy ourselves more while on vacation. However, this does not mean we throw all common sense out the window, we just choose how we want to allocate our summer vacation budget. This means we look for possible summer vacation deals or travel during the week to help keep the lodging costs down so we can spend our hard earned money on other experiences that will make the vacation more enjoyable for all. By doing this we still stay at a nice place, but we’re not staying at the Ritz. Instead, we put as much of our money as we can towards the experiences we’ll be able to remember for years to come.

Where are you planning on going for summer vacation this year? How do you keep your summer vacation costs down?

Image by David Stanley / flickr

How to Have an Unforgettable Summer Vacation and not Bust Your Budget is a post from: Narrow Bridge Finance

Stay in Touch

If you want to get exclusive details on how I do that and much more, make sure to sign up for the free money tips newsletter. It comes once a month and gives you content you can’t find on the blog. You can sign up in the right sidebar or at this link.

While you’re at it, please give the site a “like” on Facebook and follow me and follow the blog on Twitter. Sometimes I share special news and tips through those outlets that don’t come up on the website.

This Month’s Blog Carnivals

Carnival of Personal Finance #404 – Sunny Edition

Carnival of Personal Finance #405 – It’s Tax Time Edition

Carnival of Personal Finance #408 - Disney World Edition

April 2013 Round Up is a post from: Narrow Bridge Finance

Your Old 401(k)

First off, you have to look at where you account is today. How much do you have there? Is there a fee for the fund you have your money sitting in? Is there a maintenance fee? What is the total cost per year and cost as a percentage per year?

Using the free 401(k) analyzer at Personal Capital, a free site I use regularly to monitor my investments and investment fees, I found that I pay .67% per year to keep my investment in a variety of funds that meet my goals. That is a great, competitive rate, but it still means I am paying $85 per year to give Wells Fargo the pleasure of managing my retirement funds. That is an estimated 20% of my future earnings! If I were to leave, I could find lower fees managing the funds on my own.

If you are like me and don’t love the fees at your employer, remember to move things right away when you leave. It is worth keeping everything with the employer’s endorsed provider as long as you get a match on your contribution. If you have already found a new employer, it is time to move on and stop letting that bank take fees on your hard earned money.

Reasons to stay with old employer 401(k):

• Low fees/no fees (rare)
• No extra work (lazy person’s excuse)

Reasons to move on from your old employer’s 401(k):

• High fees (likely)
• Little control and few fund options
• No more contact with HR department where you used to work

Most often, the reasons to move outweigh the reasons to stay.  If you are going to move, don’t just take the cash out and pay the tax penalty!!!!  If you contributed to a retirement account, you got a big tax saving.  Taking money out of a retirement fund early comes with hefty IRS penalties in the US, and I am sure similar penalties in Canada and other countries around the world (readers, please verify in the comments if you know).  When you take out the funds, they have to go directly into a comparable retirement fund somewhere else or you have to pay up.

Rolling Over Your Old 401(k)

So, you are ready to move?  Now it is time to research possible storage for your 401(k) in the future.  Note that you can always move your 401(k) or IRA to another bank/broker, you are not limited to when you leave a job.

Googling 401(k) roll over gives you about 495,000 results and countless sponsored options.  You see ads from places like TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab, T. Rowe Price, Vanguard, Edward Jones, Sharebuilder/ING, E-Trade, and many more.  You can use virtually any bank (not recommended) or brokerage (recommended).  Here is a short list of my favorites:

1. Your Broker – You are probably there for a reason.  If you are happy, explore retirement account options.  You should be able to talk to an expert a sales person that can help you easily move your old account.  Just be sure to ask about fees and investment options before you agree to anything.

2. Charles Schwab- Schwab is my broker, so it is a natural fit for me.  I can invest for free in a whole slew of index funds and mutual funds with no trade fees and no maintenance fees. Like with any broker, it is up to me to monitor the fees the funds charge me. I have no reason to go elsewhere based on anything I have read.

3. Vanguard – One of the most popular firms with “low fee fund” options.  Many other brokers offer access to invest in Vanguard funds as well. I have a large portion of my retirement funds in Vanugard funds through my Charles Schwab account.

4. Sharebuilder- If you are an investor bent on controlling the details and doing your own research, Sharebuilder offers low cost trades, so you can manage the account with fewer trading fees than other brokers.  It is also easily funded through Capital One 360 (formerly ING Direct).

Remember that these are just a few of the many options you have for investing your hard earned retirement funds.  Just be sure to do your research on fees and investment options before you sign up.  I would love to hear what you use in the comments.

Originally published January 5, 2010. Updated April 29, 2013. Image by zoetnet / flickr

Rolling Over Your Old 401(k) is a post from: Narrow Bridge Finance