Keep Your Cash

It pays too complain

I'm back. During my 8 month hiatus, I quit my old job, got married and moved to Austin, TX. I have a new job, a wife an a new apartment. Before I met my wife I never knew that complaining about bad customer service could pay off. In the past years she has received 4 free drinks at Seatle's Best coffe, a few free meals and free shipping and a discount on an item that was damaged the first time we received it. I am not advocating to complain for any small thing, but to complain when you feel that the service rendered was not what you paid for.

Labels: Save money

Have You Crossed The Frugal Line into Cheapness

For the past few weeks I have been trying to save like a madman. I am getting married on March 31, 2007 and need all the money I can get. Well, I am eating in at work four days a week. Last Wednesday I brought in a hamburger patty and chopped it up to make two Burritos. One of my friends at work was very critical of me and told me not to be too cheap. He said that I was not frugal but cheap. He said that my salary was a sign that I was not poor and that I should not be skimping on a good meal. In my opinion I was making the most of the 8-pack of patties I had bought and thought that I was being "creative". His comments made me think of other things I have been doing lately that made me think I was not being frugal anymore but just cheap. Have you crossed the line without even knowing?

Found a $130 Check in my unopened mail stash

Yesterday I went going through my old mail and to my surprise I had received a check for $130 from the IRS a few weeks ago. Apparently I was due a refund back in 2000, but never got it because I had moved. I will but this money in my Wedding Savings account which I recently opened with Amtrust Bank. I have missed on class action lawsuits and other small refunds just because I do not open my mail on a regular basis. I quit opening my mail regularly due to the fact that I pay all my bills online and keep in touch with friends through the phone and e-mails. Remember to open all your mail at least once a week.

Trading Fees Going Down. Thanks BofA

This is good news to small investors like me. Bloomberg has a article on how BofA free trades will lower discount brokerages costs.

Can you save 32.2 % of your pay for Retirement?

In order to max out my 401K and Roth IRA (15K+4K), I need to save about 32.2% of my pay. My employer only matches if we had a profitable quarter, thus I cannot count on that contribution to lessen my burden. I have never been able to max my 401K, but I am confident that as I grow my financial foundation and salary, it will become easier to max out both of my accounts. What is your percentage?

How much should a Wedding cost?

My Fiancee and I are planning a wedding next April or May. We will not have a lot of outside help due to the financial situation of our parents. Her mother and her will contribute about 1 to 1.5K towards the wedding. I do not want to go much into debt for the wedding. I think that the cash I have would be better used for a downpayment on a house, but she wants a "beautiful" wedding. I plan to contribute about $5K total. My family and friends will probably come up with an extra 1K. Out total budget is going to be about 7-7.5K. We plan to cut cost by doing a daytime wedding and inviting about 150people. I heard that the average is about 20K. Do you guys think I am being cheap?

Are you the Family Money Expert?

Most of my friends and family consider me the money expert eventhough some of them make more money than I do. My friends often call me or ask me what I think before they invest or apply for loans. I manage my mother's and sister's 401K. Some people at work have also asked me to take a look at their 401K plan and make some suggestions. The thing that makes me a little angry is that their plans seem to be doing as well as mine in the period of 3 years but with a lot less risk. I am a lot more conservative with other's people's money. I currently have about 10 holdings in my 401K account which I think its diluting my returns. I plan to drop my holdings to 7-8 before the end of the year.

CITI Rewards Increased Gift Card Point Price

Today I checked my rewards points through Citi. I noticed that I had accumulated 5K points. I usually get a $50 Target gift card at this point. I went to a ask for it and to my surprise I saw that that you have to redeem 6K for the card. I check for other retailers and the change was for all of them. They did not change the $100 cards, they are still 10K.