Save Time, Save Money While Christmas/Holiday Shopping

My wife and I no longer desire to visit brick and mortar retail stores, especially during the holiday buying season. In fact, Awesome Mom prides herself on completing nearly 100% of her Christmas shopping entirely online, without visits to the local mall.

With the breadth of eclectic products that can be purchased online, I’ve come to agree that online shopping truly can replace the tactile experience of in-store shopping. No more jammed parking lots, packed aisles and fuss. I can truly withdraw from society except for the occasional trips to the Post Office.

In the past, it crossed my mind that this might seem a bit impersonal. After all, gift giving should not be about obligation. Each gift should be thoughtfully paired to it’s recipient. While I struggle, my wife excels at that.

With that in mind I offer these shopping tips:

• Order now so you can get the size/color/style you want and take advantage of free shipping.
• When filling out online order forms, be sure to do a quick Google search on “promo codes” for the retailer. You’d be surprised how often you’ll find something (i.e. 5% off, $5 off, free shipping, etc.) to use at the online checkout.
• Signup and use Upromise.com. Login and click through to the online merchant to gain additional credits (i.e. 1-3%, etc.) towards your account.
• Check if the retailer is part of a family of brands that might offer a discount. For example, ThePopcornFactory.com is part of 1800flowers.com.
• Upromise users who also have a Citi Upromise MasterCard get 1% credit to their account on purchases made with participating merchants.
• Consider paying a few bucks extra to have the retailer ship the present to the recipient, especially if you are concerned you might not get it in time. That also saves you from having to wrap it. Your time is valuable, no sense adding more pressure on you the day before Christmas.

Point is, be a savvy shopper. Keep breathing. Try to relax. Stay sane…So you can enjoy the upcoming holidays.

Gas Price Shenanigans

I paid $54 USD at a Shell gas station last night to fill up the family mini-van. That’s $2.98/gallon for the lowest grade available (87 octane). Grrrr

It got me real grumpy and pondering who to blame: Bush, Cheney, greedy oil executives, Hurricane Katrina

Then I decided to do a little research. I’ve tracked every one of my gas fill-ups for the past three years (yes, I need a better hobby obsession). Here are the prices I paid around this time each year:

It’s interesting to see how the prices conveniently peak each summer. Also, I guess I’m becoming desensatized to the prices because I didn’t remember the prices being this high a year ago.

2004 May $1.819 :: Dec 2004 $1.929
2005 May $2.119 :: Dec 2005 $1.979
2006 May $2.819 :: Dec 2006 $2.139
2007 May $2.979

So what do we do to manage ourselves while all the puppet masters tug on their strings?

There is a lot of advice online. Here’s what I think is reasonable:

• Have a plan… consolidate all your travel errands into a single weekly trip.
• Make sure your tires are inflated properly.
• Drive less aggressively.
• Research where to buy your gas before hitting the road looking for the cheapest prices. Just search for “gas price tracker” and you’ll find many Web sites and desktop widgets to help you.
• Mass transit / public transportation can be miserable. But consider doing it once or twice a week.
• Consider using one of the online grocers… prepare your shopping list online and have it delivered.
• Pay bills online so you don’t have to travel to the Post Office for stamps or to mail letters.

Oh yeah, vote out the incumbant politicians (Democrats and Republicans alike). Start sending a message. It will take decades, but one day it might sink in.
-BD

Protect Your Family — Life Insurance Tips

Businessweek published their top 5 life insurance blunders to avoid. Essentially:

• Don’t buy the wrong amount — ‘generally’ 5-10x your annual salary. Be sure to factor in health insurance, future college expenses, etc.
• Shop around.
• Make sure beneficiaries are aware that your policy exists and who to contact in case of your death.
• Don’t depend on basic life insurance provided by your employer, which tend to be fairly modest and insufficient.

I would suggest a few other points:

• Don’t set it and forget it. You should re-evaluate it, particularly after serious life changing events — marriage, birth of a child, change in marital status, new home, significant change in income. You might also want to change from permanent to term or vice versa.
• Clearly designate beneficiaries, delegated amounts and priority order of spouse, children, parents.
• Rather than guessing, get an insurance agent to make a recommendation for you, but don’t sign a contract immediately. Take the time to evaluate and research, or even get a second opinion.

Related Links:
Businessweek’s Life Insurance Blunders to Avoid
Every insurance company (MetLife, Prudential, etc.) has advice and recommendations on their Web sites.

Hey, tooth fairy? What’s the going rate per tooth?

So my wife and I have started down the long, slippery slope of lying to our children: Santa Clause, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy.

My seven year olds have been losing their baby teeth at about a rate of one every month. Thankfully, they’re falling out naturally, not being knocked out.

My little guys are very excited about losing their teeth. They come wake me up early the next morning to show me their treasure. Surprisingly no one seems disturbed by the fact some mysterious creature sneaks around at night, breaks into our house, enters their dark bedroom and reaches under their pillow.

So how much are we supposed to slip under the pillow at night? Cheap daddy (that’s me) keeps suggesting a quarter. My wife started at a buck. Now she’s upped it to two bucks. (Grrr) She says some other mom she knows gives $20 per tooth. (Yikes!)

This is going to get expensive fast:

20 “baby” teeth
x 4 kids
x $2 per lie tooth
= $160 assuming there’s no need to adjust for inflation over time.

What are your thoughts on all this? Please answer my poll or post a comment.
Thanks.
Roland

Earn money towards college savings with Upromise

I really like Upromise. I signed up five years ago and during that time I’ve managed to earn over $1,900 to apply toward my kids’ college education fund. That’s money earned for basically doing nothing out of the ordinary. I’m going to keep taking advantage of it. I have no idea how long this will last, but there’s no evidence it’s going away anytime soon.

So how do you get in on this action?

1. Create your own account.
2. Link all your grocery shopping cards, pharmacy cards and credit cards.
3. Open a Citi Upromise Card and link it to your Upromise account.
4. Create a network — Encourage your parents and in-laws to open their own Upromise and Citi Upromise Card accounts and link to your Upromise account.

Once you have the accounts created and everybody linked to you, some slight alterations to your buying habits will help you maximize the potential earnings.

For example:

• I closed all our other credit cards and exclusively use the Citi Upromise for everything. I can earn up to 1% of my annual purchases, up to $300 per year.
• I try to make purchases from companies that are affiliated with Upromise. There are thousands of popular companies, and their earnings cary from 1%-10%.
• I pay my recurring bills with the credit card, too. Phone, utility, newspaper — anything that accepts a credit card — it all adds up.

So check it out. If you spend a little time setting it up and getting support from family, you can earn quickly for very little effort. It’s never to early to start saving for your child’s college education.

I hope you find this useful. Get started today.
Roland

Taking passwords to the grave

I came across an interesting discussion on News.com. The story is basically about the problems caused when someone has died and the relatives can’t find financial records and personal contacts that may be saved on a computer or online email account. Check out the podcast.

This results in relatives having difficulty to make sure wishes for the deceased are being fulfilled. They also have difficulty figuring out how to contact friends of the deceased.

Email providers like AOL and Google require specific documentation to satisfy requirements before the company will release access to a deceased person’s account. But those companies are cautious about releasing information until they are thoroughly satisfied.

No matter how old you are, it is advisable for you to think about who you want to have access to your information after you die. Make sure that preference is specified in your will and that the person you want to manage your estate has your password. Also, print a hard copy of your digital address book once in a awhile and leave a copy with your will.

Roland

Create a financial summary for emergencies

Parade Magazine recently published a simple article everyone should read:
Get Your Finances Organized

Basically, you should have all your information accessible in case of unexpected emergencies (e.g. natural disaster) or for your family in case you die suddenly. The key is to have it in writing (not digital) and accessible.

Q. Who should do this?
A. Just about anyone with assets or an estate.

Q. Why should you do this?
A. Well, you will die, it’s just a matter of when and how. Plus, you should have some say in how your stuff is divided among your survivors. If you don’t have a will, the government kindly steps in to meddle with your personal affairs.

Q. What should you do?
A. The simplist way is to just buy a notebook. Write everything in it, even your email account password(s). Make copies if you want (like the article suggests). Then lock the info in a secure place (safe, deposit box, etc.)

I hope you find this helpful.
Roland

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