Archives for February 2017

HBO Documentary: Becoming Warren Buffett

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.

HBO has a new documentary film called Becoming Warren Buffett that includes a more personal look at his life, including “never-before-released home videos, family photographs, archival footage and interviews with family and friends.” I just watched it on using the HBO Now 30-day free trial. Here’s the HBO trailer:

My notes:

Warren Buffett does have a folksy exterior. He drives around in his own car, eats at McDonald’s, drinks Coke, and still lives in the same house he bought in 1957 for $31,500. He doesn’t have a personal stylist or fashionable clothes. He likes to say things that sound like common sense.

Some people think this is a fake exterior. I don’t think so. Some people take this to mean that “anyone” can get rich buying and selling stocks. I also don’t think so.

Warren Buffett is also extraordinarily intelligent and competitive. His net worth is one of his scorecards. His skill is capital allocation and that involves extreme emotional detachment and rationality. These are features that aren’t visible, and he’s better at it than you are.

Warren Buffett is always learning and improving. Buffett skipped grades, finished high school at age 16, and finished his undergraduate degree in 3 years. However, instead of any degree hanging on his office walls, he has a certificate from a Dale Carnegie course on public speaking. Buffett realized his weaknesses and worked to improve himself.

Charlie Munger shared an analogy with someone who can juggle 15 balls in the air. How did that happen? Well, at some point they started with one ball, practiced, and then two balls, and then practiced some more…

The film does explore his personal life, albeit in a very sensitive and respectful manner. His emotionally volatile mother is mentioned but not explored deeply. His father was a great influence and Warren keeps a picture of his dad on the wall in his office. His late first wife, Susan, was shown as a very kind, considerate person. In her interviews, she came off as very well-spoken, fair, and intelligent. She definitely played a huge part in his overall development. She is also a huge reason that eventually $100 billion is going to charitable causes to improve the world.

Buffett has said many times that he won the “ovarian lottery”. He was born in the United States. He was born a male. He had many opportunities to succeed and support structures if he failed.

As a relatively new and clueless parent, I wonder about his kids. Warren Buffett spent most of his time working and not much time raising the kids. I wonder what they would have been like if their father didn’t become famous and rich. (Supposedly when they were young, Warren really wasn’t all that rich or famous yet.) Today, all three of them appear to be well-adjusted adults, but everyone’s job is to give away their parent’s money. Do they do this out of obligation to their parents? Out of obligation to make sure the money is well spent? Is this the “job they would get if they didn’t need a job”?

Warren attributes his financial success to “Focus”. Was that laser focus detrimental to his family and other personal relationships? What if he had just stopped when he reached $10 million or whatever?

Warren Buffett is worth over $60 billion, yet he doesn’t meet certain definitions of “retirement”. What Buffett has always been keen on is constructing a life that fits him. His version of financial freedom includes sitting by himself and reading 5-6 hours a day and thinking. He’s loved being his own boss since filing his first income tax return at age 13 and taking a $35 tax deduction for the use of his bicycle and watch on his paper route.

I think hero-worshipping can be dangerous when you simply try to follow everything about someone else. Every human has their flaws. We should extract the qualities that we admire, and try to emulate those qualities. Warren Buffett has a lot of worthy attributes and I value his shareholder letters, but I certainly don’t want to “be just like Warren Buffett”. For me, I respect that he basically figured out how he wanted to live his life (no bosses, lots of reading) and that he achieved it an early age. The eventual billionaire status doesn’t really excite me, other than the fact that he managed to remain “grounded” and relatable.

Overall, the film does offer some new personal glimpses but not much new deep material for those that have read his biographies – The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroder and Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein.

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.


RingPlus: Free Cellular Phone Service Ending 2/11

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.

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February 2017 Update. Well, looks like the party is officially over. As predicted, it ended quickly and messily. Ringplus sued Sprint. Sprint announced they were kicking R+ off the Sprint network on February 11th. Both announced that R+ users will be automatically migrated over to Ting if they don’t leave on their own. The timeline is yet unannounced. More details here and here. This is a soft landing as Ting has solid customer service has agreed to honor R+ balances. At the minimum, they’ll give you $35 in Ting credit. To activate service, you will need to put a credit card on file and agree to Ting’s terms of service online. My Ting Review here.

Ting will gladly honor the RingPlus Top Up balance that you had as of February 5, 2017. If you had $35.00 or less in RingPlus TopUp credit, you’ll receive $35 in Ting credit before your first bill. If you had $35.01 or more in RingPlus TopUp credit, you’ll receive $35.00 to start and then $5.00 each month until all of your remaining RingPlus TopUp credit balance has been honored.

I received over 1.5 years of free service on a secondary line for a one-time $10 fee and I’ll still end up with $35 in Ting credit, so it ended up bring a pretty good deal overall.


November 2016 Update. The most recent update:

Starting December 1, 2016, all Plans that are not Mad Plans will not renew at the end of their billing cycle. Members can change to any of the currently offered plans from our website. Phone Swaps will be free starting Wednesday (11/23/16) until further notice.

Realistically, this was always the type of deal that was not going to last forever, and hopefully if you participated you got good value out of it. I got over a year of Sprint-based cellular service with 1,000 minutes, 1,000 text, and 1 GB of data for an total cost of $10 (technically the $10 is still in my account). The party is winding down… in the meantime I recommend taking the following precautions:

Know that your plans can and will be discontinued with little or no notice. Don’t buy an expensive phone just to switch to R+. Don’t pay for their lifetime Member+ plan. To put it simply, commit as little money as possible. Have a plan to port your number elsewhere; Ting can use Sprint or there are many free or $1 SIM cards out there on GSM networks.


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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.


Becoming an Amazon #1 Bestselling Author for Under $5

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.

footdownBrent Underwood is a partner at a marketing company and was tired of shady competitors basically offering the tag of “Bestselling Author” for anywhere between $1,000 and $3,000. So he decided to tell everyone how they can do it themselves for 5 minutes and three bucks.

Read the entire thing, but essentially he makes a 1-page Kindle eBook and Amazon approves it for sale within 4 minutes. The sale listing goes live a few hours later. A few friends each bought a copy for $0.99 each, and that’s it, he was a “#1 Bestselling Author” in his (carefully chosen) niche category! I figured it was easy to self-publish a book, but I didn’t know it was this easy.

In addition to being an interesting peek inside the world of self-published eBooks, Underwood explains how the term “bestselling author” has become highly manipulated. Hey look, his foot… I mean book now has over 20 glowing reviews and comes in paperback!

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.


H&R Block Lowest Price Ever on Amazon: Deluxe Fed + State $18.99, Premium $26.99 (2/6 Only)

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.

hrb2016Deal has expired. I recently posted a deal on H&R Block Deluxe Federal + State for $21, noting that last year’s all-time low was during a brief $19 sale on Amazon. Well, right now Amazon is having an H&R Block “Deal of the Day” sale. These products are at the lowest price ever this year:

Prices change on Amazon all the time and this looks like a one-day only sale for 2/6, so please verify before purchase. Here’s a quick screenshot:

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Price history:

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This is desktop software (Windows or Mac) that you’ll have to download and install on your computer. The good news about desktop software is that your personal financial data isn’t uploaded onto a corporate server to be stored forever (and potentially hacked). Amazon will let you download it at your convenience, which will take about 1 minute on broadband.

H&R Block is running their 10% Amazon bonus promotion again this year, where they will let you convert part or all of your federal tax refund into an Amazon.com Gift Card with up to a 10% bonus. So for example you could turn $500 of your tax refund into $550 in Amazon gift certificates. Limits apply ($2000 per e-card, maximum $5000 per customer). I can’t find the exact terms, but last year the 5% bonus was for H&R Block Free and Basic versions, while the higher 10% bonus was for Deluxe, Premium, and Premium & Business.

Keep in mind that for these products 5 Federal e-Files are included but State e-File is extra ($19.95 for all I believe). I would personally just print the (usually shorter) state return out and snail mail it in.

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.


Santander Bank New Checking Account $225 Bonus

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.

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sant_logoSantander Bank has a new promotion offer a $225 cash bonus for new deposit customers that satisfy the following conditions:

  • Open an eligible new checking account by 3/31/17 with the promo code WINTER225. You must not have or have had a Santander deposit account in the last 12 months.
  • Have direct deposits totaling $500 or more within the first 90 days.
  • Keep your account open for at least 90 days.
  • After you meet these conditions, the $225 bonus will be paid within 30 days. (Your account must still be open with a positive balance at time of bonus payout, so that’s a total of 120 days.)

You should be able to get this offer by visiting SantanderBank.com/winter225 and using promo code WINTER225. If you want to be extra-super-duper-sure, you can register your information here and request an “exclusive coupon” e-mail to be send to you.

There are three eligible checking types: Simply Right Checking, Basic Checking, Premier Plus Checking. Most people will probably choose the Simply Right Checking with $10 monthly fee that can be waived with at least one transaction every calendar month – a deposit, withdrawal, transfer, or payment. The Basic Checking has a fixed $3 monthly fee, but no minimum activity requirements. For both, minimum opening balance is $25 and paperless statements are free (mailed $3 each).

Note the following text regarding direct deposit. Hopefully you can split your paycheck direct deposits easily to multiple accounts.

**Direct deposits include deposits made by your employer or a federal or state government agency or retirement benefits administrator and generally payments made by corporations or other organizations. They do not include deposits to your account that are made by an individual using online banking or an Internet payment provider such as PayPal.

Here’s the rest of the Fine Print:

*Offer is not available if any account owner is a current deposit customer of Santander or had a Santander deposit account in the last 12 months prior to account opening. Cannot be combined with other offers. Eligible new account must be opened between 02/1/2017 – 03/31/2017. In order to receive the bonus, the account must remain open and in the eligible product type at the time of bonus payout. In addition, the account must have a positive balance at the time of bonus payment. Bonus is considered interest and will be reported to IRS on Form 1099-INT. If multiple accounts are opened with the same signer, only one account will be eligible for the bonus.

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.


Bank of America Free Museum Tickets 2017 Dates

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.

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Bank of America is running their Museums on Us program again for 2017, which offers cardholders free admissions to 150 museums, science centers, and botanical gardens nationwide on the first full weekend of every month (Saturday and Sunday). Simply present any valid Bank of America® or Merrill Lynch® credit or debit card and photo ID for free admission.

Note: Each cardholder gets one free general admission, so be sure everyone with their own cards bring them. I really need to add my 4-year-old as an authorized user…

2017 Calendar Dates (Check specific museum for actual hours)

  • January 7th & 8th
  • February 4th & 5th
  • March 4th & 5th
  • April 1st & 2nd
  • May 6th & 7th
  • June 3rd & 4th
  • July 1st & 2nd
  • August 5th & 6th
  • September 2nd & 3rd
  • October 7th & 8th
  • November 4th & 5th
  • December 2nd & 3rd

Here’s an excerpt from their press release with newly added museums in 2017:

New members of the Museums on Us program in 2017 include:

· American Museum of Natural History (New York City)
· Clyfford Still Museum (Denver)
· The Haggin Museum (Stockton, Calif.)
· Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum (New York City)
· Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston)
· National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force (Pooler, Ga.)
· New York Botanical Garden (New York City)
· San Bernardino County Museum (Redlands, Calif.)

These partners join a list of preeminent institutions (in more than 100 major cities) that continue to offer free general admission for Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and U.S. Trust cardholders throughout the first full weekend of each month. A small sampling includes the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), Shedd Aquarium (Chicago), the National Center for Civil and Human Rights (Atlanta), the Denver Zoo, LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and the Miami Children’s Museum.

Here is the full list (PDF) of participating locations. One of the available museums is the Thinkery in Austin, Texas. We found it to be a fun and interactive children’s science center. The admission was $9 per person (23 month and under free). That means taking advantage of this offer would have saved us $18 (or $27 if the little one had a BofA card in theory). I’ve seen other museums on their list with $20 admission prices.

While I wouldn’t open a new bank or credit card account for this feature, it is a nice perk if you already have such accounts. You can also sign-up for a free text reminder before each free weekend. I signed up and haven’t gotten any spam texts from BofA, just the reminders. Here are the Bank of America credit cards that offer competitive features that I have reviewed in the past.

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.


Ebates Brick & Mortar In-Store Cash Back 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.

ebateslYou probably know about online shopping portals that offer cash back or airline miles if you buy stuff through them. Some people even manage to earn miles by ordering things online and then picking it up in-person (to save any shipping charges). However, eBates actually has a limited In-Store Cash Back Program for traditional brick & mortar stores. You can get between 2% and 10% back at participating stores like Petco, Old Navy, Macy’s, GNC, and Ann Taylor. (There are also Double Cash Back promotions from time to time.)

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Here’s an overview of the process:

  • Link your debit or credit card and provide eBates with your credit card information. At this time, it only works with Visa and American Express.
  • Manually link a store on their website. You can use their smartphone app (iOS/Android) for convenience. Be aware of some exclusions like gift card purchases.
  • Shop at the store with that specific credit card. Debit cards must be run as “credit” purchases where you sign (no PIN). It’s very discreet. You don’t need to say anything, show a membership card, provide a coupon, etc.
  • After you shop, the store will be unlinked automatically. If you want to shop at that store again, you must remember to manually re-link the offer to your card.
  • You may not get instant confirmation. Ebates will e-mail you regarding your in-store cash back after up to 6 days.

This seems like an easy way to get a little bit extra without changing your shopping patterns. I went ahead and linked up my credit card and added a few stores. I’ll probably use it just like Rewards Dining where I also link up my credit cards and then promptly forget about it. If I happen to dine at a participating store, I’ll get some frequent flier miles. (Occasionally, I will target my dining if I am trying to generate activity to prevent miles expiration. I have a go-to local sandwich shop for this purpose.)

If you don’t have an eBates account yet, you can use my eBates referral link and get a $10 cash bonus by making at least $25 in total qualifying purchases with 90 days of joining. Simply look for an online merchant like eBay, Proflowers, Groupon, or LivingSocial where you’d spend $25 anyway.

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.