Archives for October 2005

Starting an Online Business: Choosing a Storefront / Host

Posted on October 12, 2005 // 10 Comments

Lots of good ideas on my last post, thanks! Tonight I explored my options for hosting an online shop. Not exhaustive, but here are 3 main options.

1. Host it myself. I recently upgraded my Dreamhost account to their ‘Code Monster’ package, which includes a license for Miva Merchant, an e-commerce software product. When I read that it includes “built-in shopping cart and payment processing”, I thought great! I can take credit cards easily. Nope, it just means it integrates with many Merchant Accounts. Still, it’s pretty powerful – This would be the most customizable option, but it will have the steepest learning curve. Unfortunately, I didn’t upgrade to the next hosting level which includes an SSL Secure certificate and a dedicated IP address (both needed to properly accept credit cards).

Cost Estimate: $200/year for SSL License, $5/month for dedicated IP (Merchant Account: ~$100 Setup, ~$20 a month + % fees)
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Filed Under: Entrepreneurial //

Starting an Online Business: Brainstorming, Part 1 of ?

Posted on October 11, 2005 // 14 Comments

As I’ve become more adept at website stuff, I’ve often thought of a lot of little online home-based businesses to start. I think that it would be fun and educational to go through the hoops of getting the business licenses, organizing things, doing cash-flow analyses, etc.

There seems to be three types of sites – ad-supported content sites, selling software or advice (virtual items), and selling physical items. While the first two are probably the easiest and requires the least inventory and/or physical space, I also want to involve my wife in it, and she doesn’t do computers. So we started brainstorming business ideas.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Entrepreneurial //

Easy Bank Bonuses: Virtually Double Your Money With No Risk

Posted on October 11, 2005 // 14 Comments

Sounds like an informercial, huh? I feel that I’ve gotten a lot of new readers who found out about my Emigrant Direct bonus, but don’t forget there are many others for those that are new to the game:

Capital One 360 Bonus: $1 now $250 to open, $50 bonus
VirtualBank Bonus: $100 to open, $20 bonus
Emigrant Direct Bonus: $1 to open, $10 bonus*
HSBC OnlineSavings Bonus: $1 to open, $35 bonus
—
Total: $103 to open, end up with $193. Almost double your money! $90 in bonuses with $352 upfront which is still your money and earning decent interest.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Banking //

Submissions for Carnival of Personal Finance

Posted on October 11, 2005 // Leave a Comment

I’m hosting the Carnival of Personal Finance next week. To submit an article, please either use this submission form, or just e-mail me. Entries are due by 5pm ET on Sunday 10/16. Please follow the submission guidelines posted here. Look forward to reading some good stuff!

Filed Under: General //

Health Savings Account Search – Pros and Cons

Posted on October 10, 2005 // 2 Comments

Still on the search for the best health insurance plan that will let me contribute to a Health Savings Account (HSA). I need to contact my State Farm agent for one more quote, and then I can start crunching some numbers. First, I wanted to write down some basics of what I’ve found out about HSAs, including Pros and Cons. Overall, I think of them as a Traditional IRA for healthcare expenses.

Who’s eligible:
Anyone under age 65 can contribute to an HSA if they buy a high-deductible health insurance policy. The policy’s deductible must be at least $1,000 for individuals or $2,000 for families.

Pros:
» Contributions are tax-deductible, even if you don’t itemize.
» Portable; Like an IRA, it travels with you, not your job.
» Rolls over each year, unlike a Flexible Spending Account.
» Earnings grows tax fee (also like an IRA).
» No taxes on withdrawals used to pay healthcare expenses.
» Possible to invest in mutual funds to boost long-term returns
» Some companies match contributions to HSAs, like others to 401ks.
» HSAs are inheritable.

Cons:
» You’ll have to pay for everything (at least partially) out-of-pocket, including things like routine visits and prescription meds that you may not have been used to paying for.
» High-deductible health insurance means you have to have money on hand to cover the whole amount if needed.
» Best suited for young and healthy people, if you usually max out your benefits a lower deductible is probably best for you.
» You are limited to certain HSA providers.
» The account and maintenance fees can be high, some don’t let you invest in stocks.
» Watch out for exclusions of pre-existing conditions in the policy.
» Since these have only been around since 2004, there isn’t quite as much competition as would be ideal for a consumer.

How much can I put in?
You can contribute up to the amount of the deductible to an HSA, but no more than $2,600 for individuals; $5,150 for families. And you can add an extra $500 if you were born before 1950 to help with health care costs in retirement.

The biggest health insurance comparison site is eHealthInsurance.com.

Filed Under: Insurance //

Budget Results for September

Posted on October 9, 2005 // 2 Comments

Here are our budget results for September via Quicken:

September Budget Results Chart

We did fine overall in most areas including Gas, Dining Out, and Groceries. I try to drive as little as possible these days, and use public transportation for school. Our entertainment bill was $50 less this month, because of our requested cable bill reduction, and the fact that they bill one month ahead and applied the discount retroactively to last month’s bill.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Budgeting //

Carnival Time

Posted on October 9, 2005 // 4 Comments

This week’s Carnival of Personal Finance and Carnival of Debt Reduction are up. Check ’em out! I’ve decided that every week I will also post a Carnival-related food link, because that’s what I think of when I read Carnivals. This week – Cotton Candy.

Filed Under: General //

Never Pay Full Price at Bed, Bath, and Beyond

Posted on October 8, 2005 // 9 Comments

Catching up on housekeeping this weekend, I ran across my stash of Bed, Bath, and Beyond coupons. For those that shop at BBB, if you sign up for their mailing list in-store, you regularly get coupons for ‘20% off any single item’, with some brand restrictions like Dyson vacuums. The great thing about these coupons is that they never expire. I’ve been to many BBB stores from many states, and there is an unstated policy that they accept any coupon, even though there is an expiration date clearly printed on each one!

Bed Bath and Beyond Coupons
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Filed Under: Frugal Living //

Emigrant Direct Referral Bonus Update #2

Posted on October 8, 2005 // 4 Comments

(11/5/05: This is old news, I now have plenty of referrals. Please follow the new directions for the Emigrant Direct Sign-Up Bonus.)

Ok, I’m all caught up on e-mails now. Every who wrote me their 1st & 2nd email on or before Friday 10/7 should have a reply.

Lots of referrals left, so no worries.

As of this writing, 80 referrals have been given out, so 20 are left. I will try, but I cannot guarantee that I will be able to update again promptly when they run out, so this is my official warning: You may not get in on this offer if you are not within the next 20 people to go through my link and apply and e-mail me. But you really have nothing to lose by trying either. FYI, I’ve been getting from 2-8 referrals a day.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Banking //

$35 Opening Bonus for 3.75% APY HBSC Online Savings Account

Posted on October 7, 2005 // 8 Comments

HSBC Banks’s Online Savings Account (features mentioned previously), an ING/Emigrant Direct no-minimum no-fees clone, is currently offering a $35 Opening Bonus for new customers. The bonus code, which is already part of the URL, is ‘ccs20‘ in case you need it. I haven’t opened an account here, and am debating whether or not the $35 bonus is worth for an account I may or may not use, but hey, free money is free money. Anecdotally, they are only doing a “soft” credit pull to check your identity, so your credit score likely won’t be hurt either. Offer expires 10/31/05.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers //

Health Savings Account Search – Initial Quotes

Posted on October 6, 2005 // 2 Comments

School’s keeping me pretty busy, but Open Enrollment ends October 31st, so I need to get going if I’m going to look for alternative health insurance. I’m no expert, but I’m learning – a big website on Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) is HSAInsider.com, and the best rate quote comparison site seemed to be eHealthInsurance.

Going on eHealthInsurance, I typed in my info (male, 27, non-smoker, full-time college student) and actually found a lot of good big-name options. For some reason I thought I’d only find smaller companies. Both Kaiser Permanente and Blue Cross/Blue Shield came with an HSA compatible option for just under $100/month.
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Filed Under: Insurance //

Bank of America lets you Keep the Change, and then some

Posted on October 5, 2005 // 15 Comments

Bank of America has just announced a new program called Keep The Change. If you enroll, every time you buy something with a Bank of America debit card, they?ll round up your purchase to the nearest dollar amount ? and transfer the difference from your checking to your savings account. So if you buy something worth $4.57, you’ll get charged $5 to your checking account, but get the 43 cents straight into your savings account. So far, ho-hum. But, for the first 3 months, they’ll match your “change” 100% (so you’d get 86 cents in your savings), and 5% after that (45.15 cents).

Obviously, you need both checking and savings accounts at Bank of America. I do. You also need to physically walk in a branch to enroll, which I haven’t had the chance to yet. I think I will sign up and participate, but probably only for the initial 3 months and for smaller amd non-gas/grocery store/drugstore purchases.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Banking //
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