Archives for September 2013

Book a Los Angeles to Honolulu Award Ticket for only 25,000 British Airways Avios Points

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I got introduced to British Airways through their generous credit card bonuses. Even if you didn’t, British Airways Avios points are good to understand because Starwood Preferred Guest points, American Express Membership Rewards points, and Chase Ultimate Rewards points can all be transferred to British Airways Avios points on a 1:1 basis or better. This makes it quite easy to gather enough BA miles when you need them to reach an award tier.

Redeeming British Airways Avios points for free award flights is now distance-based, which made some awards more expensive and some cheaper. One important change was that you could now book an American or Alaska Airlines flight from a West Coast city to Hawaii for only 25,000 points roundtrip plus $5 or $10 depending on number of stops with no other fees and taxes. Most other airlines charge at least 35,000.

Now, I’ve gotten comments that British Airways Avios points are “impossible” to use on American or Alaska. If you only want to fly on major holidays and don’t have any flexibility, yes it is very hard because you need to find a “saver” and not an “anytime” ticket. But if you are either willing to book last-minute (less than 2 months) or plan ahead (6+ months) your odds will improve greatly. For example, let’s run a quick search for LA to Honolulu (LAX-HNL) for next month October. To find availability, I’m doing this on American Airlines’ website AA.com. This also works for finding Alaska Airlines flights. Here’s the availability for LAX to HNL:


(click to enlarge)

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My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Famous Investor Benjamin Graham on Modest Living

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Benjamin Graham is considered the father of stock analysis and value investing, with his books Security Analysis and The Intelligent Investor (first published in 1934 and 1939, but since revised many times) still considered must-reads today. He has many well-known disciples, Warren Buffett being the most famous one. Relatively early in his career, he experienced the Great Depression. I found this quote from his memoirs via The Biz of Life:

The Crash reaffirmed parsimonious viewpoints and habits that had been ingrained in me by the tight financial situation of my early youth but which I had overcome almost completely in the years of success.I blamed myself not so much for my failure to protect myself against the disaster I had been predicting, as for having slipped into an extravagant way of life which I hadn’t the temperament or capacity to enjoy. I quickly convinced myself that the true key to material happiness lay in a modest standard of living which could be achieved with little difficulty under almost all economic conditions.

Security analysis is all about managing risk and keeping a margin of safety. In my mind, Graham realized that a modest standard of living is part of keeping a margin of safety for your personal finances.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Citibank Checking Account Promotion: 20,000 ThankYou Points

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Update: Citibank has a new checking account promotion for new customers. You can get up 40,000 ThankYou points if you can maintain a $50,000 balance, but the more accessible option can still get you a nice 20,000 ThankYou points. I’ll only focus on how to get the 20k offer below. This would combine well with the 30,000 ThankYou point bonus from the Citi ThankYou Preferred card. Don’t forget to maximize the value of your Thank You points.

First, you must open a Basic Banking package either through the link above or by calling 1-866-583-6706 and using promo code CZC2. As long as you make 1 direct deposit and 1 bill payment each monthly statement period, you’ll pay no monthly service fee. Alternatively, keeping $1,500 in the account by itself will waive the $10 monthly service fee.

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My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Citi Bike Sharing Program – New York City (Free Day Pass)

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Update: Get a free 24-Hour Access Pass to Citi Bike with any Mastercard, which will get you unlimited short bike rentals (less than 30-minutes to avoid overtime fees) within a 24-hour period. Register by 9/30/13, use by 10/31/13.

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My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Self-Employed Lifestyle Design from the 1970s: The Incredible Secret Money Machine Book

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

What is success? Perhaps you think of a new idea, get some venture capital, grow and scale like crazy, and then you sell it after a few years for mega-millions. More traditionally, you work your way up the corporate ranks, become a manager/executive, and make good money that way. Or perhaps you start a small business and expand it over decades. All are good and fine.

However, there are people out there that take yet another path. Their priority is to be able to do what they enjoy without interference and get paid adequately for it. These micro-businesses are self-funded, independent, and happy that way despite the inherent drawbacks. One person. No bosses. No employees. Some get rich, some don’t.

Which bring me to this book, The Incredible Secret Money Machine by Don Lancaster (see free download link below). First published in 1978 and updated in 1992, this is one of the few books that I’ve found that celebrates the idea of a person working for themselves and that being enough. There is a lot of outdated references in the book along with a “hippie” vibe, but also a lot of timeless ideas. To give you an idea of whether your personality aligns with this book, here are his four basic beliefs:

1. You have to be heavily into a technical or craft trip on a total lifestyle basis.

The absolute single most important thing in your life has to be doing something technical or artistic in a better and a different way than anyone else. […] Your own trip has to be the absolute center of everything you do, everything you work with, and everything you believe in. Doing it has to be much more important to you than making money, more important than worrying about what people think, and more important than behaving, competing, or complying the way that other people think you should.

2. You must want to stay in control.

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My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Vanguard REIT Fund Historical Total Annual Distributions 2000-2012

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The Vanguard REIT Index Fund provides low-cost, broad exposure to real estate investment trusts (REITs). It is available in mutual fund (VGSIX, VGSLX) and ETF shares (VNQ). A unique feature of this asset class is that to qualify as a REIT, a company must distribute at least 90 percent of its taxable income to its shareholders annually. This means that the income earned by this collection of commercial property (shopping malls, office buildings), self-storage companies, apartment complexes, and nursing homes is almost 100% spit out as dividends. (Note that REIT distributions don’t qualify for the preferred dividend tax rates).

I was curious as to what it would have been like to hold this fund and treat it like an income-producing rental property. Let’s say I bought it starting January 2000 and held it until today. I went on Yahoo Finance and looked up the historical distributions for VGSIX and added them up on an annual basis. Here’s what you would have earned per share:

As the share price in 2000 was about $10, you would have started with roughly an 8% annual yield. Based on that initial $10 number, your annual yield would have risen to nearly 12% in 2005 and dropped to 6% in 2010. Of course, the share price did vary over the entire period, with some big swings and ending up at over $20 today. On a total return basis (share appreciation plus dividends), this fund has shown significant volatility but has done quite well for those that held on:

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My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Cost of Convenience: Costco Rotisserie Chicken vs. Homemade Whole Roast Chicken

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Ah, the famous Costco Rotisserie chicken. According to this WaPo series on supermarket rotisserie chickens, Costco sells over 50 million of them a year. You could make an entire cookbook with all the recipes online on how to stretch this bird into multiple meals… quesadillas, salads, soups, sandwiches, and more.

But can you do better on your own? I’m going to tread carefully here because I know the Costco Rotisserie Chicken is beloved by many. I’ve bought my fair share in the past, but these days we prefer to roast whole chickens ourself. Is it worth the extra effort? Does it save money? Let’s take a closer look.

Costco Seasoned Rotisserie Chicken

  • Pre-cooked weight: At least 3 lbs, according to Costco.
  • Cost: $4.99
  • Unit cost: $1.67/lb.
  • Ingredients: Whole chicken, water, seasonings (salt, sodium phosphate, modified food starch, potato dextrin, carrageenan, sugar, dextrose, spice extractives).
  • Total cooking time including prep: None.

The added ingredient list besides chicken doesn’t look too bad, with no preservatives or artificial flavors. However, I would note that these chickens are “marinated” by injecting them with a saltwater solution with phosphates. That’s how they stay so juicy and tasty inside (and high in sodium). Other supermarket chains like Wegmans don’t do this to their chickens.

Homemade Roast Chicken

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My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Citi ThankYou Preferred Card Review

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

ThankYou Preferred CardOur partner Citi has refreshed their Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card. Here are the highlights:

  • Enjoy 0% Intro APR on purchases for 15 months from date of account opening and 0% Intro APR on balance transfers for 15 months from date of first transfer; after that the variable APR will be 15.49% – 25.49% based upon your creditworthiness*
  • There is a balance transfer fee of either $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater*
  • Earn 2X Points on Dining Out & Entertainment
  • Earn 1X Points on All Other Purchases
  • Points are redeemable for gift cards to popular retailers, restaurants, and department and home stores. 2,500 ThankYou® Points can be redeemed for a $25 gift card at thankyou.com
  • No expiration and no limit to the amount of points you can earn with this card
  • No annual fee*

There have been a couple of new changes to this card. You now get 2 ThankYou points/dollar on purchases for dining and entertainment, and 1 point/dollar on other purchases. The card also added smart chip technology which improves security and acceptance internationally. Finally, don’t forget to use the Citi Price Rewind feature for any larger purchases, as it protects you against future price drops. You must register your purchase, and then if the same item is found with a price at least $25 lower than what you paid within 30 calendar days of your purchase, you can be refunded the difference.

Add in the fact that there is currently no sign-up incentive on this card, I am not excited about this card. Instead of just getting double points on dining out and entrainment, I would much rather earn 2% cash back on everything with the Citi Double Cash card.

  • Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card Application Page

“Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the issuer. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the issuer. This site may be compensated through the issuer’s Affiliate Program.”

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Best Value Smartphone Plan For Multiple Lines? T-Mobile Simple Choice Family Plan

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

A few months ago there was a flurry of newspaper articles about families with huge $300+ cell phone bills. I don’t have to deal with this yet, but here is a value option for those of you paying for multiple lines for parents, grandparents, kids, or just roommates sharing.

The T-Mobile Simple Choice Family plan offers a smartphone plan with unlimited talk, text, and data starting at just $100 for 4 lines with no contract ($50 for the first person, $30 for the second, and $10 for each additional person). That’s just $25 per line before any discounts, taxes, and fees.

How can this unlimited plan possibly be so cheap?!

#1. “Unlimited web” is broken down into 4G “high-speed” HSPA+/LTE data and their slower 2G data networks. The base plan includes 500 MB of high-speed data for each line (not shared). After that, you get punted to slower 2G speeds (~100 kbps reportedly) unless you pay for more. I actually think this is a good compromise. If you have kids that “need” the ability to check the web for “homework” (aka Facebook or Instagram) all the time, 2G speeds may be enough. Otherwise, just tell them to use the WiFi at home. If you want more high-speed data for your line, you can pony up $10 more for 2.5 GB of 4G data or $20 for unlimited.

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My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


$30,000 Beat-the-Benchmark Experiment Update – September 2013

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Here’s the September 2013 update for my Beat the Market Experiment, a series of three portfolios started on November 1st, 2012:

  1. $10,000 Passive Benchmark Portfolio that would serve as both a performance benchmark and an real-world, low-cost portfolio that would be easy to replicate and maintain for DIY investors.
  2. $10,000 Beat-the-Benchmark Speculative Portfolio that would simply represent the attempts of an “average guy” who is not a financial professional and gets his news from mainstream sources to get the best overall returns possible.
  3. $10,000 P2P Consumer Lending Speculative Portfolio – Split evenly between LendingClub and Prosper, this portfolio is designed to test out the alternative investment class of person-to-person loans. The goal is again to beat the benchmark by setting a target return of 8-10% net of defaults.

As requested, I updated the scale to zoom in on the comparison chart.

Summary. 10 months into this experiment, the Benchmark and Speculative portfolios have suddenly pulled neck-and-neck, with less than $25 separating them ($11,060 vs $11,083). Both US and Emerging Markets stock indexes have dropped recently, while my Apple shares have risen in anticipation of new product launches before the holiday season. Both P2P portfolios are still paying out competitive interest although late loans continue to pop up. Values given are as of September 1, 2013.

$10,000 Benchmark Portfolio. I put $10,000 into index funds at TD Ameritrade due to their 100 commission-free ETF program that includes free trades on the most popular low-cost, index ETFs from Vanguard and iShares. With no minimum balance requirement, no maintenance fees, and no annual fees, I haven’t paid a single fee yet on this account. The portfolio was based loosely on a David Swensen model portfolio. Portfolio value is $11,060. Screenshot of holdings below:

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My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.