Pragmatic Finance

Welcome to the 45th edition of the Festival of Frugality. I will tell you an interesting experience I had recently.

Last weekend I was organizing my room after hearing Upstate Frugal tell me how it could improve my finances. I was going to throw away some junk mail invitations to seminars that Wenchypoo told me are a waste of money when I heard the telephone ring. It was FreeMoneyFinance. He had come across a flyer advertising some carnival in town. He said it also had some tips to save money during the holidays. That seemed strange for a carnival and I contemplated whether it would be fun. After hearing Ask Uncle Bill tell me to get off the dime many times I decided to finally go to the Festival.

I got dressed, putting on my new gray socks that I bought after learning from Frugal Living that white socks don’t last as long. After talking with the Weight of Money I decided to make a special purchase plan for the kids.

Before I left the house Enough Wealth told me how credit cards can save you money if used correctly so I brought them with me. I left and got into my rental car that got a corporate discount on using My Wealth Builder’s advice.

Once there I had to wait in line unfortunately. While standing there a girl named VicPicks explained how she got loads of student discounts on her purchases using a discount card. I might have to get one of those after I leave here. I asked someone named FireFinance who was standing in front of me about his hair style and he explained how he saves money by getting hair cuts at home.

After I got in I was very hungry so I started looking for something to eat. While I attempted to buy something Jengod explained to me some great tips on cooking at home so I could do that next time. If I do that I should probably listen to Stop the Ride and visit bulk food stores.

I decided to get a hamburger and a soda at sat down with a group of friendly looking people. Queercents made sure to point out that I could save the plastic bags it was in for other uses. Phil for Humanity also told me that I should have recycled rain water at home instead of buying the drink. During the conversation Penny Nickel recalled a story of visiting snack stores as a child to explain how to shop for less at discount stores.

I then went to try out some of the games there. At first they seemed pretty strange. One booth had a girl named Tricia who showed me how to play the paper bag game. Next I went to someone named Highest Echelon whose game involved matching your phone usage with service. He advised using Virgin Mobile. A booth with the words How do People Get Rich attracted my attention. But when I got there they were explaining how to get a much better return on your money using online savings accounts. I began to wonder, what kind of festival is this?

I began to leave and as I was walking out I heard someone complaining. His nametag said DebtFree4Ever and he was telling some people about this year’s nominees for creditcard.org’s lemon aware. A guy next to him named Debt Free told me three mistakes when selling your home.

When I was almost home my car broke down. Maybe I will have to look into that interesting car sharing service that the Good Human told me about. During the walk my knees felt some pain. I thought to myself that I should listen to fivecentnickel’s advice on saving on medical care when I have this checked out.

When I finally arrived I had some more bad news. I noticed a letter from the bank. Apparently, a free house can be too expensive if you can’t afford the bills. Maybe if I had listened to First Time Homeowner and got a tax credit for insulating the attic I could have saved some more money and been more energy efficient.

After the long exhausting day I laid down wondering why it had been so bad. Maybe I would have some better Karma if I did like Tired but Happy and gave tax deductible gifts to friends and family instead of buying them things they don’t really need.

You’ve probably been told or heard countless times of the importance of a college education, especially in regards to the increased earnings. However, saving for the college expenses of your children is a daunting task. I am reviewing a chapter from the The Boglehead’s Guide To Investing that is titled Savvy Ways to Invest for College as part of the BogleHead Project. It covers some of the strengths, requirements, and tax implications of some of the popular methods.
The plans they cover are:

• Personal Savings
• Custodial Accounts
• U.S. Savings Bonds
• Coverdell Educational Savings Accounts
• 529 Qualified Tuition Plans
• IRA Withdrawals
• Other funding options

Read the rest of this entry »

After preparing for my app o rama for over a month I finally got down to business. My goal was to get sign up bonuses and as much 0% balance transfer money as possible.

Whew. A few notes…the advanta is a business card that has 5% cash back on gas, office supplies, utilities, computer equipment, cell phones, and internet services with the usual 1% back on all else. Sounds awesome. The only catch is that the cash back is capped at $25 max per month and $300 per year.

I went for the USAA American Express because I have heard USAA is generous with limits and it has a 1% foreign transaction fee. This gives me a card to use on trips overseas. It will also help me to keep my utilization lower since it’s going to be pretty stressed due to the balance transfers.

The Washington Mutual’s bt offer is only 6 months but the real reason I am getting it is for the free FICO score. I am sure that will eventually come in handy.

The American Express Gold Business has a lot of potential bonus points if you spend a lot on it. I doubt I will get to those levels but the immediate bonuses from amex and cardoffers make it well worth it.

Adding up the totals…if I am approved for all cards I will get…$710 in cash from signup bonuses, 12k discover miles, and 15k skymiles. I am hoping, with my current citi offers, to acquire 50k in balance transfer cash at about 35 to 45% utilization.

I got sidetracked and forgot to post about this monday. AllFinancialMatters has set up a project involving the new book, The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing. Each day a blogger will post a review of one of the chapters. I will be reviewing Chapter 14: Savvy Ways to Invest for College. A list of each chapter and the blogger who will cover it is on his site. I have seen book reviews but don’t remember seeing a community wide book review like this before. It should be interesting.

To give you some background info…John Bogle founded Vanguard, the mutual fund company. Bogleheads refers to some of the strong supporters and followers of John Bogle’s approach to investing. The book is three of the strongest supporters who manage the Vanguard Diehard’s forum on morningstar.com. I have just started reading it and so far I am really enjoying it.

Check back on Wednesday, October 18th to see my review on investing methods to save for college.

Probably more important than the company you choose for your auto insurance is the actual coverage. It’s probably a good idea to go over the major types of coverage before going forward.

Liability
This covers an accident where you are at fault. This is normally the bare minimum that you can get by with. If you run into someone or over a telephone pole this is what will pay the bill. Many times it is split into bodily and physical damages and sometimes with a maximum per person and per accident. Read the rest of this entry »

I decided it was time to do an app o rama to make some more free money. Never heard of it? I discussed what an app o rama is not too long ago. It’s simply a process of opening up a bunch of new credit cards when your credit score is high in order to get sign up bonuses and 0% balance transfer offers. Read the rest of this entry »