Gamer Deals
For all you gamers out there:
Dell is offering 15% off and free shipping on consoles and accessories so pick up an Xbox 360, Wii or PS3 on the cheap using this code :65G7RQ11J?M2LH.
Pick up some Axe products at your local Target and get 300 Microsoft Live points. Details here. Get your game on and smell better for it.
Go pick up a nice backpack or messenger bag for your laptop at Staples and get 100% back in Staples rewards. Click here for info. If you visit a brick and mortar store you can pick up a catalog that will have a coupon code for a free luggage set with $100 minimum purchase online. Combine this with a $96 bag and two cans of air for $9.99 like I did and you will get a nifty backpack, luggage and two cans of air about $15 after Staples Rewards. After partaking of this deal you should be able to move all your consoles on a whim.
Suburban Forager
A garden is always a great option to provide fresh food on the cheap. However there are plenty of edibles all over the ‘burbs and even in cities that remain untouched. I will share a few things I have gathered or heard about but be aware this is not a guide to identifying plants. You will need to do your own research to ensure that what you have picked is safe to eat. Be aware that even if you discover a nearby plant is edible, make sure that it has not been sprayed with pesticides.
Ripe Mulberies
Here in Illinois there are plenty of mulberry trees that seem to spit out gobs and gobs of berries that remain uneaten for some reason. They very in taste from tart to intense sweetness depending on the stage of ripeness. Be aware that the leaves and unripened berries of the plant are poisonous. There are about 6 mature trees along my jogging path and I tend to snag a few to snack on. I’ve also picked 3 pounds of berries in about 20 minutes – the trick is to hold your basket just below the branch you are picking and nudge the black, ripe berries. They will fall off quite readily.
Flowering Garlic Mustard
Around disturbed and shady areas in Illinois you may find Garlic Mustard. This is a highly invasive species and you would be doing your environment a world of good by eating it. Garlic mustard spreads quite readily so be sure not to spread any seeds when you pick them or when you take them home. The root, leaves and seeds are edible. I haven’t tried cooking these myself but I will the next time I volunteer with my local praririe group.
Dandelion leaves, flowers and roots are also edible. I won’t be linking an image because chances are, you know exactly what the little buggers look like. Just make sure the lawn you pull them from has not been sprayed with chemicals.
Click here for a website with some images of edible weeds and plants. They seem to have foraged around New York but many of the plants are spread throughout the country.
Kill Bills
Your bills piling up too high? Chop them down! Recently I did some work to make those bills a bit less painful:
- The cable and internet bill for my family was over $100 per month. About 6 months ago I called in and had it cut down to $80 a month but it bounced back once their “promotions” expired. This time the customer service rep was incredibly helpful and found a package that combined both our standard cable and internet into a single package for $65/month. He even set it up so that our next bill which would be invoiced less than a week from now will reflect the changes. Cable providers will typically cut up to $10 off per service if you are off contract so never pay their full price.
- Cellphone companies are notorious for shortchanging customers. I have a severe aversion towards Verizon which does not use SIM cards and makes it difficult to impossible for customers to sell their phones at the end of their contracts. My family uses T-mobile which allows a handy 10% discount for joining the Freelancers Union (free to join, click here). Another thing I love about T-mobile is their grandfathered $5.99/mo smart phone data plan (click here for info). AT&T also offers a 10% discount if your company uses their service.
- Many utilities are now accepting credit cards and online payments without a service charge. Save your self a stamp and pay with a credit card like Chase Freedom to get up to 3% cash back.
So have any of you had any experience cutting back on other utilities? I can’t see the water or electric company chopping down my rates, where else have you all found savings?
Financial Finagling
So my friends and family have been accusing me of being a skinflint for the effort I’ve gone through in the past few months to make a few bucks:
I ordered $1 distribution quality coins at face value at from the US Mint. They are trying to encourage circulation and you can charge the cost to your credit cards. Remember, these are circulation quality and not the numismatic (collectible) quality coins so don’t try to Ebay them if you value your rating. You can take advantage of this in a few ways:
- It allows you to access money on a credit card that offers 0% APR on purchases. This allows you to bank the coins for interest for the duration (6-12 months)
- You earn credit card rewards points on your purchases
- You can search for error coins in your purchases and potentially find a valuable coin (though this is horrifically boring, I don’t really recommend this)
The bank might look at you funny when you bring in $2,000 worth of coins but that is what their counting machines are for. Just make sure you don’t use a coinstar type machine that charges a fee, the teller should use a commercial machine in the back to sort your coins. I ended up ordering twice, $2,000 to maximize a 0% offer and $2,500 to earn $50 in rewards on my Schwab First Invest card (2% cash reward). I should earn about $70 from my rewards checking account at 4% from the 0% offer.
Discover Card is offering their Teen Current Debit card where you can charge up $2500 to a pre-paid debit card. This charge can be issued on your credit card and earns you full rewards. The down side is that you can only withdraw $500 per day from an ATM and the card costs $5 per month in service charges. Still, if I charge $2500 per month I would come out ahead at $45 using my Schwab First Invest.
Was all this worth the effort? For someone with a full-time job, no. However I am still looking for work so it was an easy way for me to make some cash.
You Say Potatoe, I Say….
This little news bit isn’t really relevant for us in the U.S. but the spirit of the dodging taxes (legally) and making the most of what you have still lies at the heart of this NYT article.
Unfortunately, the crafty lawyers at Proctor and Gamble have recently lost a ruling which sought to remove the “potato chip” classification from Pringles in order to avoid paying VAT (Value Added Tax). The judge ruled that the greater than 40% potatoe flour content in the chips exceeded the standard of “potatoeness”.
A quick scan of the ingredients lists of Pringles did not turn up anything too alarming (besides vegetable oil being the second largest percentage of the ingredients).
Due to the ruling, the company now owes $160 million to the British government. Ouch.
Take this ruling to heart and be careful with what you deduct in your own taxes. I was recently propositioned into joining a multi-level marketing plan to run my own business. The pitchman reminded me of the tax benefits of owning ones own business including home office and utility exemptions, mileage deductions, etc. However, these deductions can be abused and if you are audited expect serious penalties. For example, mileage to and from a regular work place cannot be deducted. A “business” vehicle that you also use to go buy groceries on the weekends will not qualify either in the eyes of the IRS. In fact, if you are an employee and your workplace ends up giving you a company car and allows personal use, that is actually a taxable benefit.
In closing, check with a tax professional if you are attempting to claim business deductions.
Credit = Alcohol
As part of the new credit card reform bill, individuals younger than 21 must now have a co-signer to obtain a credit card. This measure is likely aimed to prevent credit card companies from signing students up at college campuses. While I too signed up for cards for T-shirts and free food without understanding the ramifications to my credit score, I ended up benefiting greatly from the long credit history going to back to my freshman year. Now that I am out of school, I was able to apply for over $25K in new lines of credit from my recent app-o-rama. 13K is at 0% APY and is sitting in my savings account earning me interest.
None of this would be possible without having established credit history. By making credit cards hard to obtain, the government is doing incredible harm. For an administration focused on improving liquidity in the credit markets, this part of the bill is equivalent to shooting themselves in the foot.
Our current focus on pushing responsibility further and further down the line for young adults is a ridiculous trend. At 18 you are considered an adult under law. How can we expect any less when it comes to financial responsibility? The less you expect of people the less you get in return.
You can read up more on the benefits and fallout from the Credit Card Reform bill at the ManVsDebt blog.
Hello Kitty, Goodbye Rewards
As part of the push to get the Credit Card Reform bill passed, Senator Byron L. Dorgan criticized credit card companies for advertising to kids such as with the Hello Kitty card.
You can check out the coverage at Consumer Reports.
How can something so pink and cute be so evil? Hopefully they don’t mess with the Chase Disney rewards card lest they wake Mickey from his slumber in Valhalla.
The Credit Card Reform bill has passed through the senate. A great day for people who abused credit cards, a bad one for those who had the opportunity to exploit them. Yes, credit card companies have abusive practices but they made money. That money let them offer people some great rewards and kick backs which are now going to start fading away. Chase is an example of a bank rolling back its rewards programs. Chase Freedom credit card holders are getting letters stating that their card is being downgraded to an inferior 1% program from their 3% on everyday categories program. A $50 bonus for claiming $200 in cash back rewards has been removed. So while the bill is good in its intention of getting rid of some exploitive practices, expect to see alot of benefits cut too.
Senator Dorgan’s fears are unfounded. Getting a credit card at a young age paves the way for a good credit score if used responsibily. If we want to prevent a 14 year old from learning how to manage their finances, how will they know what to do when they are 40? If a pink credit card is the worst thing influencing little girls today, I can’t wait to hear what Mr. Dorgan things of the Hello Kitty personal massager at Hello Kitty Hell (SFW).
Welcome to The Cheapist!
This is a personal finance blog in progress. Keep checking back 