Currently I’m reading The Millionaire Mind
Jan 062007
I’m sitting on the plane as I type up this blog post in an attempt to kill more time. I’m flying American Airlines, which provides free headphones but no real entertainment (unless you consider a showing of Lassie entertainment).
Here’s some travel tips which I think might save you guys a bit.
1. Purchase your tickets in advance. Search multiple sites for different deals at different times of the week. I’ve seen various sources say tuesday night and wednesday morning are the best times and it’s best to book at least 21 days in advance of your trip. I booked my flight about a month in advance for January 4th to January 13th from Newark International (EWR) to Los Angeles Internation (LAX). There was a 45 minutes stopover in Dallas, Texas (DFW) and there’s no stopovers on the returning flight. Total cost of flight? $254/ticket including taxes and fees. I could have probably gotten them slightly cheaper but this is the first time I’ve ever bought tickets on my own so consider me a newbie on this one.
2. Eat well before you go on your trip. If your airline bothers to serve you a meal it’s most likely not going to be great. American Airlines doesn’t serve any food, but they sell you bags of M&Ms for $3 and a choice of turkey sandwich or chicken salad for $5. I was insanely hungry so I had to give in and purchase a turkey sandwich on the flight and then later a cheesecake at the dallas stopover. What’s idiotic is the TSA bans you from carrying on beverages due to the “liquid threat” so if you’re thirsty, you’re stuck buying overpriced beverages inside the airport. How’s that conspiracy theory for you?
3. Pack well. You really don’t want arrive at your destination and find out you’ll have to buy things which you already have at home (toothbrushes, haircombs, etc.). It’s okay if you travel with a girlfriend like mine though, which packs EVERYTHING.
4. Research your destination well. Find out what kind of discounts destination places like Disneyland have. You ever go to your local theme park (six flags, dorney park, etc.) and wonder who actually pays full price for admission? Tourists do, don’t be one of those tourists. You can also find great local attractions that’ll be fun yet cost effective.
5. Internet is not free at most airports. If you’re a friend of someone that’s a customer of a service such as tmobile hotspots, ask them for their username and pass. You’ll be able to get internet through their account free. The rate for a day pass of internet access at Newark International is $4.99, clearly not worth it for the 30 minutes I was waiting in the terminal.
6. If you know someone that can give you a ride from the airport, take it! Taxis are extremely expensive. The place I was staying at in L.A. is about 21 miles from the airport. At $2.65 initial fare + $2.50 airport surcharge + at 35 cents per 1/7 mile the fare was roughly $60!
Jan 042007
Each and every month I try to charge all my expenses on my credit cards. Well, the most obvious reason is the free rewards, cashback, miles, etc. Some people associate heavy credit card usage with reckless spending. Charging everything spells disaster for some people because they can’t control their expenses. Unless the APR is 0%, I pay off all my cards in full each month.
It also makes sense to have different rewards cards to get the maximum rewards possible. I’m sure you already know about that.
Another reason for using a credit card besides the rewards, if you’re someone that’s responsible, is the fact you can earn interest on the money. Say you spend $5000/month in expenses, if you paid in cash, end of transaction. However if you pay with credit, you can stick money you’ll use to pay for that purchase in a high yield savings account and you’ll earn interest on that money. So in theory if you would be earning $5000 in interest for a full 30 days plus you can earn slightly more by paying a little later during the grace period. If you plan it right, you should never have a balance less than $5000 in your account at any time, since by the time you pay off your credit card at the end of the grace period, you should have already added $5000 at the beginning of the statement for that month’s purchases. The net effect is you constantly earn interest money you normally wouldn’t. The only thing here is it wont’ work if you’re spending money you don’t have.
For you rate chasers out there, iGObanking is offering a no minimum no fee account that offers 5.3% APY. Check it out at https://www.igobanking.com
I know there are other savings account that have higher yields but often require a minimum balance. iGObanking offers a 0.25% higher APY yield then my current Emigrant Direct Savings.
0.25% isn’t much but if it doesn’t cost you anything, then why not? Money is money. I’ll open up a test account with iGO to see how things work there. I like that you can link to multiple accounts without sending in voided checks unlike Emigrant Direct.
Currently I’m a Netflix (nflx) subscriber and a happy one. Rentals have been easy and arrived promptly. However, Blockbuster (bbi) seems to be cleaning up their act and capitalizing on their main advantage over Netflix: brick and mortar locations.
Brick and mortar locations? Doesn’t going to the store and and renting a movie defeat the entire convenience purpose? Nope, it actually adds to it. There have been days where I’ve watched all my Netflix movies that I have out and wait the day or two turnaround it takes for my next dvds to get mailed out. With the Blockbuster Total Access program, you get the similar DVD through the mail deal with similar pricing scheme. Here’s where it gets good: in addition to DVDs through the mail, you can exchange DVDs you received through the mail for in-store rentals. So if you’re bored on a Tuesday night and already watched all the DVDs you have out, you can just go to a local Blockbuster store and exchange one of your DVDs you recieved through the mail for another movie.
What’s the big deal? Instant gratification. Blockbuster is finally providing some real competition for Netflix and competition is always good. I might even consider switching over to Blockbuster this year.
It’s obvious that the Blockbuster model and pricing is a ripoff of the innovative Netflix system but what kind of edge does Netflix have over Blockbuster now? Both offer through the mail dvd rental system with similar pricing schemes but Blockbuster has the slight edge with the ability to exchange dvds at in-store locations. Currently Netflix does have more distribution centers which probably means better turnaround times for some people.
Jan 022007
I’ve thought about several goals for this upcoming year that are realistic for someone in my current situation, a 19 year old college student that works part time, oh damn I turn 20 this year. Well, here for my financial goals for 2007.
1. Increase net worth by $5,200 – That’s roughly $100/week. It will take a couple sacrifices here and there, meaning no real big item purchases. There will still be room for the movies, dinners, netflix subscription, etc. Certain expenses such as groceries and gas will be taken care of also.
2. Fully fund roth IRA – Why? This is the lowest income bracket I plan on being taxed on (
3. Increase exposure to foreign investments – There’s just too much growth going on outside the U.S. that ignoring foreign investments would be a mistake to any investor. There’s always uncertaintly in the U.S. economic picture with a weakening dollar and other items relating to oil being priced in euros.
4. Focus on this blog more – This blog has been lacking attention lately and I apologize for that. 2006 was my rookie year, 2007 will be different. I’ll try to develop a consistent publishing schedule.
5. Start an emergency fund – This is something I never really got around to doing. I plan on starting a CD ladder which I’ll make an upcoming post about.
6. Increase credit limits. – I currently have 2 cards with a $4,000 limit each. After 1 card bumped me up from $800 to $4,000 the other card followed suit. Why do I want more credit? Well, a couple of reasons:
* I’ll always have the security of a money whenever I need it if I have a high credit limit. Hopefully I won’t ever have to use it.
* Credit utilization percentage will be a lot lower, looking better on my credit reports.
* More money can be made from 0% apr offers. Getting $8,000 at 0% and sticking it in a high yield savings account will only net me $400. I’m not complaining about the free money, but putting say $40,000 at 5% will net me $2000 free.
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