My Two Dollars

Money Quote Friday – “How Fitting” Edition.

David — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:52:59 +0000

“Those who steal from private individuals spend their lives in stocks and chains; those who steal from the public treasure go dressed in gold and purple.” – Marcius Porcius Cato

How fitting for these times… Have a great weekend everyone!

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Using Twitter To Get Better Customer Service.

David — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:30:38 +0000

Do you use Twitter? If no, why not? If you are not using Twitter, you may be missing out on one of the best ways to contact customer service that has ever been used. Sure, you can call a 1-800 number and sit on hold for 20 minutes…or you can find out what a company’s Twitter name is and contact them that way. I have done this on several occasions in the last 3 weeks and twice my issue was taken care of quickly and to my satisfaction. Beats calling up a customer service rep only to get handed to another one and then hung up on! (Thanks, DirecTV and Bank of America)

First up, Comcast. Since I was canceling DirecTV (who didn’t bother responding on Twitter) and looking for new TV/internet service, I put out a call to my Twitter friends for their thoughts on the Comcast Triple Play (which I wrote about here). While I received many great responses and comments, I was also contacted by Comcast themselves via Twitter. They gave me a contact name to email directly, and a live person CALLED ME to set up service at my house. She went over everything with me on the phone, I got all the numbers up front, I received a discount, and everything went smoothly from then on out. Score one for Twitter!

Next up, UHaul. When I was having difficulty getting a guaranteed truck rental, I bitched about them online and they gave me a number to call and have it taken care of. Finally, some help! After dealing with the guy at my local rental place (who claimed to never remember me each week that I came in to see about my truck), I got UHaul to guarantee me a truck, give me a confirmation number, and tell me what time to pick it up. Needless to say, I gave the local guy a terrible review but I only have good things to say about the help I got online.

Sometimes it fails miserably, like in the cases of DirecTV and Samsung, but more often than not people are having great success using Twitter to contact customer service for their issues. Before you pick up the phone and dial a number, try to use Twitter and see what results you get. You can easily find most corporate Twitter accounts by googling “Twitter + Name Of Company”, but if you happen to need one of the two I just used, here they are:

http://twitter.com/comcastcares
https://twitter.com/UHaul_Cares

Happy customer service Twittering!

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When In Doubt, Ask About A Discount.

David — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:30:11 +0000

As you know by now, I just finished a move to Denver, Colorado. And because I moved into a new place, there are a few things I needed to buy to make it more like “home”. I have been checking out a few stores looking for these items, and one thing I have done in every single one of them is to ask if what I am buying is going on sale anytime soon. With the holidays coming up, most stores will be cutting prices, so I wanted to make sure that what I wanted wasn’t going to be advertised next week at a much cheaper price. I found that most clerks were more than willing to tell me the truth, and thus a few of the things I wanted to pick up I will be waiting another couple of weeks for. These are not make or break items – they are just things I wanted for the new place.

One of the places I went to first was Crate and Barrel to get some new bar stools for my kitchen. I knew exactly what I wanted and they had the cheapest price on these compared to any online or brick and mortar store. I asked if the bar stools were going to be on sale anytime soon, and she told me that they didn’t have any plans to put them on sale… so I bought them. (and they look great!) However, I saw a few other things I was interested in while in the store, so I asked her if any of them would be cheaper in a few weeks – and she said yes! She told me which ones would be on sale after Christmas, so I put them back on the shelves and decided I could wait in order to save some money. After all, moving isn’t cheap and I have spent more than my fair share of money this month already.

The lesson here? Always ask as it can never hurt. I know there are some people who ask for a discount on any and everything they buy, but I don’t normally do that. However, I have learned that asking if something is going to be on sale can definitely save you a few bucks – especially around the holidays. So go ahead and ask away – what have you got to lose?

However, if something isn’t going to be on sale and you still really want them, go ahead and buy them:

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To Save Energy, California To Limit The Size TV You Can Buy.

David — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:30:25 +0000

I don’t have much to say, really, but I will say that I think this is absurd. Yes, I am an environmentalist. And yes, I am a liberal who is OK with some government regulation. But not selling certain size TV’s to customers in order to save some energy? Ridiculous.

On November 18th the California Energy Commission (CEC) is scheduled to vote on a proposal that would require by 2011 flat screen energy use be reduced to 30% of the power used today, and by 2013 the energy use would be reduced to 49%. The Consumer Electronics Association says the current CEC proposal would essentially ban the sale of all plasma TVs larger than 60-inches and 25-percent of all HDTVs currently on the market.

So, residents of California can water their lawns all day long, enjoy gigantic swimming pools, play a round of golf on one of thousands of golf courses, drive gas guzzling cars, run air conditioners all year, and light up their cities all night…but they can’t buy a certain size TV for their home? Stupidity reigns sometimes…

What do you think?

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My Experience: Don’t Spend A Ton Of Money On HDMI Cables.

David — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:30:40 +0000

Some of you may remember that I mentioned trading in some American Express Rewards Points towards a new HDTV and a Blu-Ray player, and I finally have them all hooked up here in the new apartment. And while the cable guy brough an HDMI cable to hook the cable box to the TV, the Blu-Ray player didn’t come with one so I had to buy one for myself. So I went online to look for one and was amazed at how vastly different the prices can be! A 6 foot HDMI cable on Amazon.com can vary from $.27 all the way up to $299…I was absolutely stunned. While some are basic and some are high-speed HDMI cables, I did some research online to discover that most of these cables all work perfectly fine, especially for people like me who probably wouldn’t notice any difference at all in the quality. On some HDTV forums it was suggested to at least get a high-speed HDMI cable for Blu-Ray players, so I settled on one that got a ton of positive reviews and only cost $9.99 – this Mediabridge Ultra Series 6ft High Speed HDMI Category 2 Certified cable. I hooked it up and everything works and looks great and I am very happy that I didn’t spend a fortune on a $10 cable!

Out of curiosity I stopped by Best Buy this weekend to check out the prices on their HDMI cables – wow. People actually pay those prices? $79 for a cable with the same ratings and length as the one I bought online for $9.99? What a ripoff. I am willing to bet that no one could tell the difference between an image being sent through my $10 cable versus one sent through an $80 one, and I am so glad I did some homework before wasting all that money.

The lesson here? Don’t blow your money on overpriced cables for your home audio/video setup. Chances are that unless you are charging admission for others to watch movies at your house, you are just wasting your money that could be better spent elsewhere!

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Went With The Comcast Triple Play; Hope They Don’t Let Me Down.

David — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:30:41 +0000

If you do a search for Comcast on the internet, you come across some complaints…actually, a LOT of complaints. (Really, all cable/communication conmpanies have a ton of complaints) And I am not happy that they limit the amount of bandwidth you can use per month, especially since I work from home all day. But I hated DirecTV even more than those issues, so hopefully these guys will be a little better. A few weeks ago I wrote about how much I would save by combining my TV, phone & internet, and after talking with a customer relations specialist, here is what my final bill and package looks like:

- $134 per month, including all taxes & fees
- Unlimited phone
- 12 mbps download speed internet service
- HDTV w/DVR service

Compared to the $152 per month I was paying in New Mexico for no HD and slower internet, this is a pretty good deal. I also got most of the set-up and installation fees waived just by asking, so if you are signing up for any new services you always have to ask. We set up the appointment for between 8-10am last Monday morning, and the guy showed up at 8:10am. Not bad for a first impression!

The guy that came to my place was incredibly nice and friendly, asked me exactly what I planned on hooking up, where I wanted all the “stuff” and a few other pertinent questions. In under an hour, my phones were working, my TV looked great, and I finally had internet service back after 4 days without it. It’s WAAAAAY faster than my old internet service in New Mexico, which is really great for 2 reasons:

1. I can finally do online backups of all my data from my computer. I am trying out BackBlaze for $5 a month.
2. My Blu-Ray player can stream high-quality movies over the internet from my Netflix account to my television. Sweet!

Overall, I have to say that I am pretty happy with the whole process of getting set up here at my new place and happy with the price. Hopefully it will continue and I will still feel like I made the right choice 6 months from now!

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Sunday Money Roundup: Getting Settled In.

David — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:30:42 +0000

I love my new apartment and while I am still unpacking everything, I already feel right at home. It feels good to have made the right decision at this point in my life, and I look forward to discovering all that Denver has to offer. So while I finish going through all my “stuff”, check out some posts I liked from the last week…

Cash Money Life asks To Netflix or Not to Netflix? I most definitely Netflix, especially now that I can stream it right to my TV from my Blu-Ray player.

Five Cent Nickel tells us that you have to Pay Back the Homebuyer Tax Credit if you sell your house within 3 years of buying it. I think this is a great idea, really.

Almost Frugal has the taxes being an untapped resource. Many people don’t realize just how much their tax dollars pay for!

Lazy Man & Money discusses why the Google Admob Acquisition is important to him. Sometimes, the gambles pay off.

Good Financial Cents has some advice on using your credit cards during the holidays.

Debt Free Adventure keeps an “extended warranty” fund at ING. Interesting concept, had never thought of that!

Money Ning wants to help you save money on cruises. I have never been on one, maybe someday I should try it out.

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Money Quote Friday – Never, Ever Have Enough Edition.

David — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:30:12 +0000

I wanted to take a second to thank all the guest posters over the last week while I was moving and getting setting up here in Denver. You guys were a big help, and I sincerely appreciate your posts!

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” — Oprah Winfrey

Have a great weekend everyone, and see you next week with all new posts. Thanks for hanging in while I took the week off!

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Three Easy Steps To Ruin Your Finances.

David — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:30:28 +0000

The following article is a guest post by David of Your Finances 101. David has been a frequent commenter here on My Two Dollars and has just published his first book Don’t Be A Mule: A Common-sense Guide to Saving More, Spending Less, and Generating Extra Income in Your Everyday Life which is available at Amazon.

I would like to provide for you right here and now the simplest and easiest way to ruin your finances. Yes, all right here broken down into plain and simple language, the best way for you to NOT manage your money.

Here we go:

First, Do not pay attention to anything:

When you bills come in the mail, I would not look at anything other than the due date and how much the bill is. Whether it is a water bill for forty dollars or your credit card statement of $1000, by no means should you check anything on these statements. Don’t check your utility bills for mistakes (i.e. a significant increase in any usages over the previous month) because these utility companies never make mistakes! With your credit cards, definitely do not look for any charges that don’t look familiar to you or anything else of that nature.

Second, Don’t sweat the little stuff.

Yes, I would not worry about any of the so-called “little” stuff. Your trips to the grocery store are only for food, so there is pretty much no way to save money there. Looking into something like changing cable companies just to save 10 or so dollars on your monthly bill is simply not worth doing. Coupons? Forget about it. A complete waste of time. Even if there are coupons out there that can save you money every single week on the items you buy most, why bother? You’ve got better things to do.

Third, Adopt the attitude of “It’s Only Money”.

You see, I realize that you probably work hard for your money, but after we get past that little insignificant fact, when it comes down to it, it is only money right? There is no point whatsoever in trying to do little things like research your larger purchases to make sure your getting the best price, or to even try to alter your lifestyle to lessen the load on your wallet. Better to go through life just carelessly letting money stream out of your wallet like there is no tomorrow. Because there really isn’t, is there? You certainly don’t need to plan for retirement, nor do you need to try to provide for your children’s future. And by no means would you ever want to get to the point to where you have extra savings in your life that you could actually get to start generating additional income for you. No, none of this is worth your time, even though you do work hard for your money.

Finally, I am being a little facetious here. It certainly takes more than these three easy steps to completely ruin your personal economy. But, if you implement these three things into your daily life, you would be off to a very good start.

For those of you interested in actually improving your personal economy, check out my recently published book. You’ll find the link below. It is based strictly on personal experiences and I really think that it can add value to your life.

About The Author: David Bakke is the creator and author of the personal finance blog Your Finances 101. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of South Florida. After many years in corporate restaurant management, David currently serves as a department manager in the retail industry. David resides with his wife and son outside Atlanta, GA. His book Don’t Be A Mule: A Common-sense Guide to Saving More, Spending Less, and Generating Extra Income in Your Everyday Life is available at Amazon.

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Holiday Budgeting: Making Tough Choices In A Recovering Economy.

David — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:30:26 +0000

Recently the news has been buzzing that the Great Recession is over, and recovery is on the way. However, with 15.1 million Americans out of work and about 30% of US factory capacity remaining idle, it’s clear that the economy is going to impact many families this holiday season. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), two-thirds of American families are going to be adjusting their holiday shopping plans.

You might be tempted to pull out the credit cards and charge this year’s holiday gifts, décor and travel, because the economy is getting better. It’s never a good idea to count on a windfall before it happens. Rather than spend money you don’t have, put the credit cards away and use cash or a debit card. According to the Annual Holiday Survey conducted by the non-profit group Consolidated Credit Counseling Services Inc. over 54 percent of respondents said they would spend less money this year due to the economy and feeling like they are carrying too much debt already.

Here are some tips to get the most out of your holiday shopping:

Create a Holiday Budget – Don’t start your holiday shopping until you know how much you have to spend. NRF estimates that the average consumer is going to spend $682.74 on this year’s holiday-related shopping. Ideally, your holiday budget shouldn’t include adding more debt to your credit cards.
Make a Holiday Shopping List –Write down a list of everyone you want to give a holiday gift to this year, the type of gift, and the dollar amount you want to spend on each person. Make sure the amounts don’t exceed your overall holiday budget. If you budget doesn’t stretch far enough, consider getting group gifts or making a few homemade gifts. Make your list early enough to give you time to shop for holiday deals.
Search for Holiday Deals – Black Friday and other sales events are right around the corner. Some sites, like Black-Friday.net, were created just to track that popular sales event. You can also visit bargain hunting sites like FatWallet.com and DealHunting.com, and search Twitter for coupons using CheepTweet.com and CouponTweet.com. If you’re shopping online, take into account the cost of shipping. Make sure you’re really getting a good deal.
Leave the Credit Cards at Home – People spend more when paying with plastic instead of cash. The easiest way to avoid putting your holiday purchases on the credit cards is to leave them at home.
Stick to Your Holiday Shopping List – When you’re at the store, buying the holiday gifts, resist the temptation to stray from your shopping list. Remember if you never intended to get it in the first place, then you’re not saving any money if you buy additional sales items.

If you have a popular gift that you absolutely have to have this holiday season, make sure to get it early. Retailers are expecting a soft sales season this year, and have cut back on their inventory to prevent too many markdowns at the end of the season. It’s very possible that once the item is gone from the shelves, it won’t be back till after the holidays.

About the Author: Kathryn Katz is a single mom, internet marketer and professional copywriter. Kathryn is a Certified Personal Finance Counselor and works for Consolidated Credit Counseling Services. The non-profit credit counseling agency offers the Holiday Survival Guide to help holiday shoppers.

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