Archives for September 2005

Cash In That Spare Change Without Fees

Posted on September 13, 2005 // 12 Comments

I hate carrying around spare change, I don’t know why. I put all mine into a jar by the front door the second I get home. I try to use credit cards exclusively, but somehow the spare change has filled two spaghetti sauce jars already. Coinstar machines are everywhere now, trying to cash in on people’s laziness and giving you bills after charging a surcharge of 8.9% (9.8% in Canada). For someone that is happy when my saving account rate bumps up 0.25%, that’s too much. But now, you can lug your change to the machine and get a gift certificate for the full amount to select Coinstar partner stores – including Amazon.com, Starbucks, Hollywood Video, Pier 1 Imports. [Coinstar Kiosk Locator]

According to this CNN Money article, they are doing this by buying discounted certificates and pocketing the difference. Very smart. But I’d note that I could buy gift cards for Starbucks and Hollywood Video at a Safeway grocery store using my Citibank Dividend Card and get 5% cash back, so that would be like paying a 5% fee on my spare change. The Amazon option sounds pretty neat though.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Frugal Living //

MyMoneyBlog Flashback: Third Quarter

Posted on September 11, 2005 // 1 Comment

Continued from 1st and 2nd Quarter…

June
» Finally made up my dang mind about car insurance.
» My current favorite savings account, Presidential Bank’s Premier Savings Account, was born with a great interest.
» Talked about using credit cards efficiently by getting the best cash back of 2-5% from using the right credit cards. Also here and here.

July
» Finally got serious about budgeting, and did some historical analysis and set some budget target limits.
» Revealed more about me.
» Shared about getting some free money action.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Best of MMB //

MyMoneyBlog Flashback: Second 3 Months

Posted on September 7, 2005 // Leave a Comment

Continued from December to February, here is the next installment:

March
» Started my 5 minutes of fame, with mentions in BusinessWeek and the Wall Street Journal online.
» Continued my 5-minutes with a blurb on television’s CBS MarketWatch. Download the video: RealPlayer format or Windows Media Player format.
» Ended it with a stint on top of Yahoo’s ‘Ten Money Blogs Everyone Should Read’.
» Provided a little insight into why I hate E-Trade, and am very satisfied with Ameritrade, even though they pulled the plug on the beloved FreeTrade.

April
» Had personal information leaked/stolen, so I made my own Identity Theft Recovery Plan.
» Re-stated my Mid-Term and Long-Term Financial Goals.
» Went to DisneyWorld!
» Picked up both Microsoft Money and Quicken personal finance software packages, and promptly got annoyed at Quicken.
» Had a little giveaway.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Best of MMB //

MyMoneyBlog Flashback: First 3 Months

Posted on September 7, 2005 //

Wow, today is the 9-month anniversary of this blog’s first real post. I’m sure most of you weren’t around then, so I’ve decided to make a bit of a flashback post collating what I think were interesting highlights of MyMoneyBlog. Here are the first three months:

December
» Opened up my financial life with my first Net Worth post
» Read two books that greatly affected my investing outlook – A Random Walk Down Wall Street, and The Four Pillars of Investing.
» Picked Vanguard as my Retirement Broker

January
» Chose Vanguard Target Retirement 2035 Fund VTTHX for IRA.
» While thinking about where to park my liquid cash to earn the best interest rates, I discovered online banks with high APRs like Emigrant Direct.
» Stirred up the pot talking about “Good” Credit Card Debt, and How To Play the 0% APR Balance Transfer Game.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Best of MMB //

Hiatus

Posted on September 7, 2005 // Leave a Comment

A family situation has come up, and I will be out of town for the next several days. Please redirect any good wishes towards New Orleans. I’m glad that I have the means to buy a last-minute ticket across the country if that is what I need to do. Please forgive any delays in answering e-mails, etc.

Filed Under: General //

Budget Results for August

Posted on September 6, 2005 // 2 Comments

Here are our budget results for August:
August Budget

Gas – We ended up not spending that much on gas this month, I think it just balanced out with going over on gas in July. The high prices haven’t really affected us since we don’t drive all that much.

Dining Out – We are getting used to eating out less and cooking more. It is making me dine out more consciously so I can still try all the new restaurants that we want.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Budgeting //

On Being Poor.

Posted on September 6, 2005 // 6 Comments

Being Poor. Lots of buzz around it, hundreds of comments too.

One line that struck me was:

Being poor is knowing your kid goes to friends’ houses but never has friends over to yours.

I don’t feel I’ve ever been poor at all, but I used to not invite my friends over because I was ashamed to show them our family’s small 2 bedroom apartment (which was smaller than the apartment my wife and I currently live in together alone), while they lived in big nice houses. I wonder if my parents ever knew. I hope not, they’ve provided me with more than I could ever ask for.

Anyways, read the post and the interesting comments too. Don’t miss the last line of the post.

Update: More comments here.

* Found via a commenter, Kyle Welsh’s blog. Thanks Kyle!

Filed Under: General //

Carnivals Are In Town Again

Posted on September 6, 2005 // Leave a Comment

I wish the real carnival came to town this often too… but the next best thing, this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance and Carnival of the Capitalists are up. Is it just me or does every time I read “carnival” I think “funnel cake”? Maybe it’s just my diet talking.

Filed Under: General //

September 2005 Financial Status / Net Worth Update

Posted on September 5, 2005 // 1 Comment


[Read more…]

Filed Under: Goals //

No Monthly Goal Re-cap for August

Posted on September 4, 2005 // Leave a Comment

I just realized I didn’t set myself a monthly goal for August. My last monthly goal was for July for setting up a budget, which I did. Looking over August, I guess an appropriate goal was to decide on how to handle my 401k rollover, and execute it, which I did. I need to get back on track for September.

Hmm.. future goals… I’m satisfied with the way my retirement investments are set up right now… one focus will be on maximizing the return on my cash without adding too much risk as my time horizon is about 18 months. Also, I am investing time into learning more about the mechanics of real estate investing… as well as learning more about stocks and bonds like options and such. So many things out there to learn.

Filed Under: Goals //

HSBC Online Savings Account Now at 3.75% APY

Posted on September 4, 2005 // 3 Comments

HSBC Bank has had their no minimum, no fees Online Savings Account around for a while now, but this is the first time they have offered a better rate than Capital One 360, VirtualBank, or Emigrant Direct. I don’t have an account there, but it does have some nice features:

  • Currently at 3.75% APY
  • Open with $1, No minimums or monthly fees
  • Online access and unlimited linked external accounts
  • ATM card and withdrawal access through any ATM, deposits at HSBC ATMs only
  • FDIC Insured, and HSBC is a major international bank.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Banking //

Interest Compounded Daily vs. Monthly: Does It Matter?

Posted on September 3, 2005 // 54 Comments

Short answer: No, not really, unless you are talking amounts over six figures.

I’ve seen so many people get hung up on this, I think it deserves a post. The easiest way to explain it is with an example. Let’s say ‘DaBank’ compounds interest daily on their accounts, and ‘MoBank’ compounds interest monthly. Let’s say you have a $10,000, 1-Year CD with both of them at the same 5% APR interest rate, and compare how much interest you have at the end of the year. Both credit interest monthly.

MoBank:
Since MoBank compounds monthly, you are getting 5%/12 = .4166% every month. So, at the end of the first month, you will have 10,000 x 1.004166 = $10041.67. During the second month, you will be earning .4166% on $10041.67, not just $10,000. So at the end of the 2nd month you’ll have $10083.51, not $10083.34. This goes on for twelve months:

  • $10,000 x (1 + .05/12)12 = $10511.62.

DaBank:
Since DaBank compounds daily, you are getting 5%/365 = .0137% every day. So, at the end of the first day, you will have 10,000 x 1.000137 = $10001.37. Using the same basic formula as above for 365 days:

  • $10,000 x (1 + .05/365)365 = $10,512.67.

So over the course of a year you’ve only earned $1.05 more by compounding daily versus compounding monthly!

The easy way to not even worry about this is to just compare APY instead of APR.

If you compare APYs, or annual percentage yield, the compounding effect is already taken into account, whether it be daily, monthly, or every 6.374 seconds.  In our example above, MoBank would advertise a 5.12% APY and DaBank could advertise a 5.13% APY, with the same 5% APR. I hope that clears things up for some!

Filed Under: Banking //
« Previous Page
Next Page »