- Freedom is that instant between when someone tells you to do something and when you decide how to respond. #
- RT @keepinspiringme: Win a Canon EOS 450D SLR camera by simply tweeting the #kimcanon hashtag. #
- RT @mbhunter Carnival of Personal Finance: Parts-of-speech abuse edition http://bit.ly/7cyAqV #
- Note to self: While misusing the faucet sprayer may make me giggle, my wife is not so appreciative. #
- RT @copyblogger On Dying, Mothers, and Fighting for Your Ideas http://bit.ly/7gZgW3 #
- Blackberry? Good or Evil? #
- Round 1: Me v Snow. Winner: Me. #
- RT @The_Weakonomist: Men, I've learned that in relationships, you can be happy, or you can be right. #
Saturday Roundup
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Day 18 of the 30 Day Compact. We’re doing well, but not perfect. My cousin is getting married next week, and I’m not going to buy used for that. That makes it 1 purchase so far this month, not counting food or consumable hygiene items. That’s not too bad!
The Best Posts of the Week:
Yahoo put 1000 computers to work for 23 days and found that the 2 quadrillionth digit of pi is 0. Just for the geek of it.
If you are habitually late, you are rude and selfish. Don’t leave other people waiting for you.
Just letting my inner survivalist out for a minute: Always watch what’s going on around you and don’t put yourself in a situation that makes you an easy victim. I strongly recommend a “Refuse to Be a Victim” class for everyone, especially–to let out my inner chauvanist–women.
For Halloween this year, I think I’m going to go as sexy Big Bird.
And finally, how much of your weekly 168 hours are you wasting?
Finally, a list of the carnivals I’ve participated in:
Nada. I forgot to submit any posts to any carnivals last week. I’m a sad clown.
Payday Loans Suck
- Image by vonglee via Flickr
A few weeks ago, I was approached about placing ads on this site. I was excited when I read the email. It came from a real domain, didn’t involve any Nigerian princes or wire transfers for overpayments.
Over the course of the email conversation, it was determined that, for a fee, I would place some links in a few archived posts. It would just be links to improve search engine ranking, without being an eyesore for my current readers. I don’t have a problem with that. The intrusiveness is similar to Chitika ads, which are only visible to search traffic. It’s a nice way to advertise: monetization without alienation.
Then I saw the links. I was being offered money to promote payday loans.
Payday loans offer to loan you–for example–$100 for the low(snort) price of just $25. That’s not bad. Only 25%. I know some credit cards that aren’t that good. The catch is that the loan is due in full in 2 weeks. That gives it an APR(Annual Percentage Rate) of 650%. That’s not so good.
When you payback the loan, your paycheck is pre-spent by whatever you borrowed, plus the pound of flesh fee and you are that much more likely to need their services again, digging you even deeper.
It’s not like the target demographic is terribly affluent. These are people who not only can’t make ends meet, but also can’t acquire traditional credit. They are left paying this insulting fee.
I consider payday lending companies to be immoral, unethical and generally, more than a bit dishonest. These are the people who give decent, hardworking capitalists a bad name. I’d rather go to a mob loan shark. He’s at least honest about what he is.
They got shot down.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy making money. I also enjoy the money I make here.
But not at the expense of my soul or my integrity.
Pros and Cons of Cashback Credit Cards
The news that the Bank of America is introducing a cashback credit card is of little surprise. The credit card industry is competitive and customers enjoy the thought of earning while they are spending!
There are both pros and cons of cashback credit cards however and they are not suitable for every circumstance. So, before committing to a card, consider the advantages and disadvantages.
Firstly, cashback cards can be financially profitable but this depends on whether you have the funds to make the repayments. If you are having difficulties with debt, these cards are probably not the most suitable.
The strategies for maximizing your benefits from cashback credit cards depend on making repayment deadlines. Prioritize cards that have a 0% APR introductory rate.
If you can make your repayments within this 0% interest rate, or on time each month, you will not incur any interest charges. It is important to be organized so that you always meet repayment dates.
Once the 0% APR has finished, cashback credit cards will often then revert to a high APR. If you cannot pay all your debt, these charges will mount up quickly.
If this is likely to happen to you, consider looking at alternative cards with a low but constant APR, so that you do not encounter such high charges while repaying your debt.
Cashback cards are not always the smartest move financially when it comes to outstanding debt. Although they may offer a 0% balance transfer, this is not always as simple as it sounds.
If you transfer an outstanding balance to a new card, even with a 0% APR introductory period, any repayments made will be charged against your newest purchases.
This means that it is more difficult to pay off the original balance transfer if you are also using the card to purchase new items and of course, it is very tempting to do so as you have the 0% APR available.
Be aware that if you do not pay the balance transfer amount by the end of the 0% period, you will then have to pay a much higher rate on this amount.
So you either need to be sure that you can pay off the balance transfer in full in addition to new purchases or consider using a separate card just for a balance transfer.
Although this may seem more work, it can potentially save you a great deal of money in interest charges. Remember any credit card is only worthwhile if it helps you manage your money.
Some cashback cards also have a minimum spend requirement and often this is paired with a specific time frame. Read all the criteria about the card before committing to it.
Otherwise, you could be charged for not reaching the minimum spend limit or not doing so within the required time frame. Consider these issues when choosing a card.
Cashback cards can be very useful and allow you to earn money while you are spending, but they need to be used with wisdom. Research your options to ensure you select the right card for you.
Post by MoneySupermarket.
Credit Cards: My Failed Experiment
Back in April, we went off the cash plan.
In the two years prior to that, we paid down about $40,ooo in debt by completely forgoing credit cards. We went on a strict budget and all of our daily expenses–other than gas for the cars–was paid in cash. The only other exception was anything bought on the internet. Amazingly enough, Amazon doesn’t take cash. When that happened, the amount we spent online was taken out of the cash supply and set in a box until we could get it back in the bank.
No other exceptions.
In April, we decided that we had changed our relationship with money and could–judiciously–move back to credit card use, to take advantage of the rewards. We’d still use the same amount we had budgeted for groceries, clothes, and everything else. I set up an automatic payment for the budgeted amount, so we could use the card for our daily spending and the bank would automatically pay it off every month. What could go wrong?
Ugh.
We are not predisposed to be able to use credit cards well. It’s just not good for us. Credit cards just don’t feel like real money going out. When we were using cash for everything, we could see when money was running low, and we’d adjust our spending to stretch it out as needed. With plastic, it just became too easy to keep spending.
For the first couple of months, it was easy to overlook the problem. We paid my son’s vision therapy on the credit card, to get a discount on the therapy and cash in on the rewards program. That was around $4,000. Combined with the regular spending, it took us a couple of months to get it all paid off and current.
This month, we’ve managed to overshoot our monthly budget by $500. We’re only halfway through the month.
This weekend, we had a fairly unpleasant conversation about money. In the end, we decided to go back to cash-only. It works for us, in a way that credit cards don’t. Credit cards were a failed experiment. We’re going back to what works.
Have you ever had to switch from cash to credit cards and back? How did that work out?
Five Ways to Save Money On Cable
Cable is a luxury. There are very few people out there who can actually and legitimately consider cable television to be a necessity of life. For the rest of us, it’s just something that’s nice to have. Unfortunately, it’s expensive. In my area, prices come as high as $90 plus tax, and that’s not including any of the fancy channels that could feed my True Blood addiction. If you start adding on channels, you can get up to $250 per month.
That’s a lot of cash.
Cutting back on cable TV is one of the easiest ways to get your spending under control. Here are 5 ways to make it happen.
1. Ditch it
Do you really need cable at all? How much of your life do you waste in front of the TV? This wouldn’t work well in my house. We enjoy too many shows, and a lack of TV aggravates my insomnia. When I wake up at 2AM, I need something mindless to distract me while I fall back asleep.
2. Netflix Instant
I love my Netflix. With Instant, as long as you aren’t too hooked on watching the latest show as it comes out, you can catch most of the show you enjoy. There are thousands of TV series to choose from. I make a habit of choosing a couple of shows at a time, and watching the entire series before moving on. This does have the drawback of leaving you a couple of seasons behind for some shows, like In Plain Sight. Grr.
3. Go basic
If you do need TV, do you need the extended cable-only channels? Can you get by with basic cable, and just get the shows that would be otherwise broadcast? That’s what we did. This, combined with #2, make TV cheap and easy.
4. All internet
Did you know that you can use a Roku box to get Netflix Instant, Hulu Plus, Crackle, and more? I have more channels available there than I’ve ever had on cable. Starting at $50, it’s a steal.
5. Drop the fancy channels
HBO, Skinimax, and Showtime are pure unnecessary luxuries. Save yourself some money and buy each series on DVD as they come out. If you buy one a month, you’ll still come out ahead.
I’m not about to tell you that cable is evil or that TV is rotting your brain. I enjoy my rot, and you should be able to do so, too. Try not to waste extra money doing it.
How do you save money on TV?
