Archive for July, 2011

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Swimming With Dolphins On Vacation

July 21st, 2011

Both of my kids love dolphins!

dolphin

Awesome Dolphins

So this year my wife found a package were the family can “swim with dolphins” and the go to Sea World the next day during our Florida vacation.  Needless to say, this package is expensive.

Since both of my kids are still relatively young, a requirement in the deal was that at least 1 adult had to also swim with the dolphins too.  After a talk, my wife said she would like to do it, so we agreed that she was definitely going to be the one to swim with the dolphins too.

Because of the high cost, I chose not to do the “swim with the dolphins” activity.  While I like dolphins too, but by not going I will shave an additional $150 off of the price for the experience.  Obviously, the decision was purely financial in nature, but I have to wonder, is this one of those missed opportunities in life that I will regret later because I’m being too frugal?

After a few weeks of thinking about it, I hate to say it but I’m sure that this is one of those experience that I will miss in life because I’m trying to save a buck.  I would now like to reconsider and update the experience so that I too could swim with the dolphins, but the event needs to be scheduled because they only have so many people swim with the dolphins per day.  So even though I changed my mind, I doubt that I will be able to upgrade my time there to include the “swimming with dolphins” element too (I still get to snorkel though).

I don’t see us doing this again in the future, so I’m afraid that I just lost out on a wonderful experience for $150 extra…

What would have you have done?  I’m sure I’ll still have a great time either way…  Later, after my vacation, I will have a follow up post on this experience from my wife and kid’s perspective.

Bests,

MR

 

 

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The Paradox Called Warren Buffett

July 20th, 2011

As I’m struggling to come up with something to write about today (headaches do that to me), my mind drifted to Warren Buffett and the fact that he’s such a paradox in the investment (or business) world.

Warren Buffett and Bill Gates

Warren Buffett and Bill Gates

In many ways Warren Buffett is like the old folklore hero John Henry.  John Henry was a black man and the story goes that the railroads owners were replacing men like John with steam hammers.  John Henry challenged the steam hammer machine to a contest and won, but immediately after winning the contest, he collapsed and died.  He was a hero to the working men of that age!

Warren, much like John Henry, goes up against machines and special computer algorithms, but to date has fared well and continues to win the battle with the computer programs, and without dying at the end.

Another way Mr. Buffett is a paradox is that he’s a solid Democrat.  Although raised a Republican, his wife converted him to the Democrat way.  While I don’t entire agree with his political choice, I’m not necessarily a right-wing Republican either.

I do see a great paradox in that Warren being one of the richest men in the world is solidly in the Democrat camp.  Doesn’t that kind of go against nature, or at least popular public perceptions of the extreme rich?

Another oddity is that Warren doesn’t use his computers as tools to help with his work, instead he uses it to play bridge with remote friends (like Bill Gates) and other games.  But other than that, he doesn’t use computers for investing or business purposes…  Tell me this isn’t a head scratcher!

Yes, in today’s society, Warren Buffett is the equivalent of seeing a real unicorn or Pegasus.  Perhaps this is why lunch meetings with him go for millions of dollars on eBay each year.

Personally, I fix it interesting that his consumption habits (coke, cheeseburgers, etc), isn’t really far from the typical middle class style of eating.   so here is one of the richest men in the world eating normal foods that I would eat when I go to lunch…

Can you think of other interesting paradoxes about Mr. Buffett, if so, please comment!  We would love to hear them!

Thanks,

MR

 

 

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Bye Borders, I Will Miss You!

July 19th, 2011
Borders Book Store

Borders - (Image via Wikipedia)

 

Did the Amazon technological marvel called “Kindle” kill the book store behemoth Borders?  Borders said that is exactly what has happened, I wonder if Barnes and Noble is next?  I’m sad to say that 10,700 Border employees are now out of a job!

In my previous blog entry called “Is Technology A Job Killer?” I basically summarize how we are going to lose more and more jobs as a result of technology.  But perhaps my statement isn’t really that amazing, perhaps we’ve been losing more and more jobs for a long time now and we just didn’t realize it.

Reading my above statement and previous blog post, you might think that I’m anti-technology, but that’s not true!  In fact, technology is what puts food on my table at home.  I’ve seen the Kindle and it’s pretty cool.  As cool as it is, I still prefer hard bound books, but I definitely see the value in a kindle.

 

My History With Borders

Okay, now I’m going to talk about why I’ll miss Borders so much!

Over 5 years ago, I had a small lunch group of three or four members that would go to Borders at lunch.  We would browse the magazine section and I would occasionally check out the latest computer books (see I don’t hate technology).

After about 10 minutes, we would all settle over in the small Cafe and order soup and some times coffee.  We would discuss ideas covering financial investments and plans we had in the future, to ideas that we thought would be cool to have or invent.  It was a great time, and times remembered fondly… at least until the Borders store closed 2 years ago.

Even though we don’t go there anymore (since our employer moved to a larger building far away from that particular Borders store), I still had fond memories of the place whenever I would drive by.  Occasionally I would even stop in just to experience that same old comfy feeling, buying an occasional greeting card or financial (or computer) magazine while I was there.

It was an A+ experience that my kids won’t grow up to know.  Hopefully Barnes and Nobles can hold on, it’s similar although a bit more uppity.  My family could still blend in, although it doesn’t have that same friendly everybody fits in feeling that Borders had.

I’ll admit, I’m kind of worried that some of the quaintness in the world is going to be left behind by the Amazons, eBays, Netflixes and Apple itunes of the day.  Oh year there is still Walmart, but do you really go there for the aesthetics?  Do you get a warm comfy feeling when you get a pop for their vending machine in the vestibule?

So as Borders finally closes it last few remaining store doors, I node Goodbye to the store that held so many lunch memories for me with friends I hardly see anymore.

So tell me, have you bought at a store or establishment that you would like to have around for a while?  I do, that’s why I make sure I make sure I support my local stores and restaurants and my local drive-in, because the world would be a much more generic and bland place without such unique landmarks!

Goodbye Borders, Hats off to you!

MR

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Making Your Credit Cards Work For You Instead Of Against You

July 18th, 2011
Chase Freedom Credit Card

Chase Freedom Credit Card

Making Your Credit Cards Work For YOU!

Okay, let me start by saying that I’m the master of my credit cards and they work for me not against me!

I use my credit cards for everything that I possible can!  I use them for the typical stuff (clothes, groceries, gas, etc), and even non-typical things such as fast food, taxes, car insurance and really anything that I can charge with them!  I’ve even tried to buy a new car with my rewards credit card (the dealer wouldn’t bite on that one though)!

So why do I charge so much with credit cards?  CREDIT CARD REWARD POINTS

Yes, I love credit card reward points that I get for using credit cards!  I’ve use my points to buy computers, camcorders, jewelry, clothes and other such items.  But my favorite thing to buy with reward points (other than getting cash back) is gift cards.

I’ve found that if you buy $100 denominations of gift cards, you get a better point to value ratio!  So I almost always go for these types of rewards today.

The trick with reward credit cards is that you must pay your balance in full each and every month.  If you don’t do this, it greatly diminishes the benefits of the reward points provided by such credit cards because the interest on carrying a balance on such cards is usually much higher than the bargain non-reward credit cards.  So please don’t use reward cards if historically you have carried a balance!

Present Day Purchases

My last three purchase (from oldest to newest) has been Nintendo DS, Sony Camcorder and a ASUS Computer (it was only $700!).

Although I’ve bought TVs in the past, I’m going to buy a LED or LCD Big Screen TVs and then take a different direction with future purchases using reward points from my reward credit cards.

 

Future Plan Purchases

I’ve come up with what I think is a clever solution to take some of the bite out of minor, future emergencies, at least to some degree.

My house is over 10 years old now, and this means that my some of my appliances are starting to get pretty old too.  So lately, I’ve thinking about letting my balance ride until my dishwasher, clothes washer or dryer, or any appliance start to fail, at that point I’ll redeem my points and buy a new appliance with the reward points.  The only caveat is that I’ll have to cash out some of the point every 5 years or so.  Some of the credit card companies have the points start to expire around this time period.  You really should check your policy to determine when the points start to expire.  Another option would be to call credit card company’s customer service 1-800 number and ask them if and when the points start to expire.

As an alternative, I’m also thinking about getting reward cards such as Chase Freedom that will give you cash back instead.  That way I can create a special emergency fund this way.  Actually I’m kind of fond of the idea of a free emergency fund (lol).

The key is to have total control of your spending!  I only spend on what I normally would spend money on, nothing more and nothing less.

Do your credit cards work for you, or you for them?

MR

 

 

 

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Yakezie Carnival 7/10/2011 – Birthday Edition, Part 2

July 17th, 2011

Welcome to the Yakezie Carnival – Birthday Edition, Part 2.

The Birthday part of the carnival was in reference to my son’s birthday last week, but his week it’s in reference to FirstGenAmerican.com who just had her blog turn one!, and the newly born full-time blogger Crystal at Budgetinginthefunstuff.com (we’re very excited for her!), and Kay Lynn at BucksomeBoomer.com who had her blog just turned two!, exciting times all around!  In celebrations, I broke from my diet and had cake and some ice cream!  Congratulations ladies!

 

We had so many excellent representation of personal finance blogger articles, that I decided to split the carnival in two parts.  This is the 2nd part of the carnival below.

Check them out, I think you’ll be happy you did!

 

Money Talks: Never Say “I Can’t Afford It” Again – Language is a powerful thing. Try saying “I choose not to spend my money on that.” instead of “I can’t afford it” and see how it feels.

Faith and Finance: Teaching Children About Compound Interest – One small habit can change the way your children look at money forever. By matching your kid’s birthday gifts with a contribution to the ‘compound-lesson’ fund, you can help your child understand the impact of compound interest. Are you up for the challenge?

Living in Financial Excellence: My Lawnmower Broke and I’m Not Going to Fix It – About six years ago my lawnmower refused to start. I thought I would attempt repairing it myself to save a little money. I also thought I knew what I was doing. This was one of life’s hard lessons that taught me how much I really don’t know. The short story is I ended up destroying the lawnmower and had to buy a new one.

Financial Success for Young Adults: Finance Lessons from the Hobbit – Learn how to manage your money from Bilbo Baggins himself. Don’t be a Scrooge with your money, be a Hobbit!

Yes, I Am Cheap: CEO Salaries Rise Faster Than Average Workers – The economy is on an upswing if the rise in CEO pay is an indication. While the average worker salary increased 0.5% last year, CEO salaries increased by 23%!

Totally Money: Top discipline tools for scrapping siblings – An article about ways to keep the peace with scrapping siblings

Outlaw Finance: The Psychology of Savings: 3 Reasons Why You Don’t Have Money to Invest – Pinpoints three common reasons why people don’t have the money to invest.

Deliver Away Debt: Marriage and Debt: Who Is Responsible – Some tips on dealing with debt so it doesn’t hurt your marriage.

PT Money Personal Finance: The Secret to Understanding Your Personal Money Style – Takes a look at what motivates us and how that fits in to our future financial goals and our present spending.

Frugal Confessions: Can’t Get Ahead? It May Be Time to Get Out the Machete – A lot of articles I write here are about fine-tuning your frugal habits, budget, and spending. It’s as if I ask you to take a scalpel and slit open the tiniest of holes in your finances in order to reap that extra little efficiency. But what if that is not enough? It may be time for some more drastic measures.

Squirrelers: Doctors and Customer Service – Story about a less-than stellar customer service experience at a doctor visit, brings to mind the thought that doctors are service providers and can only help their business by thinking more about the customer.

Faithful With A Few: 4 Reasons That People Fail With Their Finances: What I Have Learned As A Credit Counselor – A credit counselor gets to see many personal details of one’s finances. Check out this post by one, sharing 4 reasons why people fail with their finances…the reasons are worse than you think!

Invest It Wisely: Nature vs. Nurture – Nature and nurture doesn’t begin and end with birth. As time goes on, we gain more and more influence over our own lives. I firmly believe that we can improve ourselves as human beings by surrounding ourselves with people that are better than ourselves.

Investor Junkie: Lending Club (July 2011 Update) - This update marks now two years since I’ve been investing in Lending Club notes (see my first review of Lending Club). Since my last update, my NAR has decreased to 11.32% from 11.35%

Mom’s Plans: Three Strategies to Make It Easier to Pick Up the Pieces after a Natural Disaster - While no one wants to imagine being in the path of Mother Nature’s wrath, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself if you are.  Making it through a tornado or other natural disaster with your life and the lives of your loved ones is most important.  Everything else is extra.  But following these steps can help make picking up the pieces a bit easier.

My Journey to Millions: July 2011 Net Worth Update: Great Month – Usually I combine my net worth updates with some sort small complaint I have, but June was an amazing month for me both personally and financially.

Control Your Cash: Programmed to Receive -Great story about Don Felder’s problems with the Eagles band (of which he was a shareholder for 33% of the company).  My takeaway from the article was that it’s owning a piece of the action is smarter than being an employee.  Check it out, it’s a fascinating read!

 

And this concludes the Yakezie Carnival, the Birthday Edition!  You say you want more?  Check out last week awsome submissions to the Carnival in the Yakezie Carnival 7/10/2011 – Birthday Edition, Part 1!

Thanks for checking out all the great submissions, Squirrelers at Squirrelers.com is hosting the next carnival, which is today (7/17/2011) too!

MR

 

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