Spilling Buckets

Build a Casino or Raise Taxes? Which Do You Prefer?

2009-11-05T20:00:00.011-05:00

When will we ever learn? Read this headline:

Voters reject spending limits, OK Ohio casinos
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Voters in the states of Maine and Washington on Tuesday rejected measures to limit spending, while Ohio's ailing economy swayed residents to approve casino gambling.

Since you are smarter than me, you may have only needed to reread that once.

Here is a little more about the measures:

Ohio voters, after turning down casinos in previous elections, changed their minds as the state struggles with sinking revenue due to the economic recession. The measure, which passed with nearly 53 percent of the vote, allows casinos in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo.

After rejecting casino propositions 4 times in the last 19 years, Ohio voters, so weary from economic boom times, so tired of saving and investing their money reaped from decades of 100% full employment at wages 15x the national average, decide to allow casinos in four cities.... Ok, maybe I misread that last part, but...

Just listen to this response from friendly neighbor Kentucky. Do you smell some kind of gambling arms race? When will it stop?:

Local legislators say approval of casinos in Ohio will make the issue more urgent in Kentucky during the 2010 legislative session.

“I’m glad for Ohio and sorry for Kentucky,” said Rep. Carl Rollins, D-Midway. “We should have done it first. This just puts us further in the hole.”

Sen. Julian Carroll, D-Frankfort, said he “detests gaming as a source of revenue,” but it’s the only option besides raising taxes.

Are spending cuts an option?? It's common sense that state and federal revenues decline when the economy contracts, but why can't we continue the logic and design matching amounts of shrinkage to coincide with these declines? Why do tax hikes and casino building come about instead? Can we really just keep taking the easy road?

To quote Ned D, a commenter on the original story from the Marketplace Scratch Pad:

Gambling has the same effect on a local economy as taxes. It draws money away from productive businesses. The de-capitalization of local businesses reduces innovation, while producing nothing of added value, once the honeymoon period is over.

The job creation brought about by casino construction and subsequent staffing would be significant (34,000 jobs, bringing $200 million in licensing fees and generating an estimated $651 million annually in revenue for Ohio and its local governments and school districts. ) The revitalization of blighted areas would also come about....

Is it sustainable? Don't get me wrong, casinos can be viewed as entertainment, expensive entertainment, but aren't they just swapping a boring drain on a community (tax) with one that is seductive and addictive (gambling losses)?

Net Worth Update: October 2009 +$60 Yikes!

2009-11-02T06:49:00.005-05:00

Yikes, we just finished our net worth calculation for October and well, it looks like it spent 30 days watching the Colbert Report instead of marching towards the land of $0. We were very fortunate to post an increase of $60 or 3%. Our total net worth stands at -$1,861.

Three important things took place this month: First, we are happy to report that our DBA earned its owners (us) a net income of just over $2,000 this month which is really exciting. This is the second month in business after spending the first month's income to pay off all of the equipment, tools, and supplies we needed. Keep on Truckin'.

Here is the full spreadsheet (click to see detail)

Lez and I have also been saving for several months in the hopes of purchasing some furniture and a really nice DSLR camera. Clench your teeth, we got both this month. We found a nice set for our fireplace/living room/dining room shown below. Hopefully it will last us about 40 years. It better last us 40 years.

We also purchased a really nice digital camera, the Canon EOS 7D 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3-inch LCD, and basic 28-135mm lens. While this wont last us 40 years, it is a massive improvement from our last and propels us into a whole new level of hobby/amateur photography. We will be posting some pictures just as soon as we learn how to use it.

We are also in the process of creating a new budgeting and saving system and tying things into our list of goals and aspirations. More on this soon...

How did you guys do?

Jay Walking

2009-10-27T15:14:00.002-04:00

I know we are "smarter than the average bear" being Personal Finance bloggers, but there is still some stuff that should be basic American knowledge. If you want a laugh check out the video below:

Thanks to Budgets are Sexy who got it from Fabulously Broke.

*Side note related to Presidents and Dollars: There's a new dollar coin series showcasing all the US Presidents. I'm trying to collect them all since they look really cool and I have an affinity for dollar coins . More details can be found at the US Mint website.

Things To Do Before We Die - Our Bucket List

2009-10-26T07:42:00.006-04:00

"Either you run the day, or the day runs you" - Rohn

At the time of this writing, the days seem to be running me.

One of the hardest things for me to do is to slow down and reflect on where I am in life and where I am going. I have an extreme tendency to let each day bleed into the next and often loosen my grip on life direction.

This blog is one of the tools we are trying to create to keep us on the path we design. We still wander off course, sometimes go backwards, and sometimes stand still, but we have found that writing down where we want to be, and where we want to go, is a large part of the solution.

With that thought, Lez and I put together a list of things we would like to achieve and experience before our lives end. What we feel is important will change and like everything this list will evolve, but here's to a life well designed. We plan on updating this monthly along side our net worth posts.

Our List:

Become debt free - In Process

See Mount Rushmore

Experience all 58 National Parks - We've seen 2/58 so far (not counting things we've seen separately that the other person hasn't)

Witness the launch of a Space Shuttle Mission - Scheduled

Witness the launch of a CEV (Crew Exploration Vehicle) Mission

Become skilled at a card game and attend a national conference (Ryan)

Learn how to change the oil in my car

Learn to play an instrument (Ryan)

Learn Celtic dancing (Leslie)

Own a canoe

Learn how to make a sweater from scratch (Leslie)

See the Northern Lights

Be able to identify major night sky constellations

Be able to identify most trees on a hike

Have a photograph published in a major magazine (Ryan)

Spot, Photograph and identify 60% of the birds found in Peterson’s Guide to
Bird’s of Eastern and Central NA

Grow and create all aspects of a meal

Run a 10k race

Complete the 100 push-up and 200 sit-up challenges

See a whale

Drive from Maine to Alaska

Visit Normandy Beaches

Bag a whitetail buck during archery season (Ryan)

Go quail hunting (Leslie)

Catch a Fish in every great lake - 2/5 so far (Erie and Ontario)

See the Pacific Ocean (Ryan)

Watch all 100 top movies (Netflix list) - 35/100 so far.

See an active volcano

Visit a crater site

Visit Area 51 – Eat at the diner

Visit the Trinity Site

Attend a taping of The Price is Right

Research and understand American History from the Revolution to Today

Learn to cook chili

Hike the Appalachian Trail

Visit Ireland

Build something complex out of wood (Ryan)

Make a quilt (Leslie)

Read all of Stephen King’s Books (Ryan)

Create self sustaining passive income of $40,000 in one year - In Process

Create entrepreneurial business gross income of $80,000 in one year - In Process

Read a biography of every American President (Leslie)

Achieve 1,000 blog subscribers

Get my name on a plaque

Visit all 50 states - We've seen 10/50 so far (not counting things one has seen but the other hasn't)

Make a full Thanksgiving dinner (Leslie)

See wild penguins

Ski at Mad River Glen (Leslie)

Sky dive

Ride in a Hot Air Balloon

Get a Black Belt in a respected martial arts style (Leslie)

What is on your list?
How do you stay on track?
What can you share about the process of designing a life?

New Personal Finance Personality: The Financial Physician

2009-10-22T14:09:00.007-04:00

A few weeks ago Ryan and I were listening to the radio at the beach when a new talk show came on: The Financial Physician with Lou Scatigna. The show intrigued us so we listened for a while.

Today I remembered this guy and googled his show to find out more information. It turns out he is based in New Jersey and has a local radio show there, but is now branching out to XM radio (Sunday's at 6:00 on 165) and has a pilot TV program in the works.

The radio show is similar to many others: he takes calls and answers questions. We listened to his whole first episode on XM Radio. He went almost half the show without getting any calls, so you would have a very good chance of getting on if you tried. Regardless of the number of calls, he had some very interesting commentary and discussed where he thinks you should keep your money and assets given the current state of the world. Ryan and I found ourselves discussing and contemplating many of the points - and getting into a very good discussion while listening.

The pilot television show is really different from other shows I've seen; it chronicles the story of Juliet who has stage 4 metastasized cancer, is going through a divorce, is unemployed, and has a lot of debt. Lou gives her two months expenses, and the got to work solving as many of her financial problems as he could. He got lawyers to help her pro bono and gets a new car donated to replace her crashed one. He even gets people to come in and redo her house and make it safer for her health. Basically he goes around and networks the resources available to Juliet, sometimes getting donations, other times just pulling it all together in a way she wasn't able to in her overwhelmed state, and at the end pays off a lot of her old bills. It's a mix between Extreme Makeover Home Edition and Dave Ramsey.

This guy is a new fresh face, and is doing some great things for very needy people. Check him out if you get a chance.

Caveat Emptor: Make sure you actually get the deal

2009-10-19T11:51:00.005-04:00

After reading this post on Bible Money Matters, I couldn't help but think of our own similar experience:

Ryan and I were traveling to Atlantic City for a mini-vacation after we checked out housing for a job offer he received, and had booked a stay at one of the casino hotels via their online booking website. We had been to Atlantic City before, and by entering our players numbers were able to get a few comped nights.

Awesome - free rooms, in a cool hotel, what more could we ask for?

So we get to the hotel and start to check in, when we are told that we have to pay for Saturday night and that they "don't allow comps for Saturdays." We were confused, we had the confirmation online and when we "checked out" the total was $0.00 not $150+ for Saturday night. We tried to reason with them, explaining how the balance was $0 and how we wouldn't choose to stay here if we had to pay the full price, but they kept saying the charge wouldn't show up online and would only appear when we checked in. Of course this didn't make any sense to us, and we kept fighting for the arrangement we agreed to.

After a while we tried to find the printed confirmation email and code, but of course we forgot to bring it with us. Luckily we had our laptop, and were able to sign on to our email via their wireless system (after paying the $20 for 24 hours connection fee) and showed the manager our confirmation which clearly showed all nights, including Saturday, free of charge.

The manager looked it over, hesitated, and was still saying it shouldn't have been possible - that this was completely unheard of, especially for people like us who didn't come down and play regularly- but eventually she admitted that our email verified what we said all along, and she let us have all nights at the comp rate. The whole ordeal took about an hour of talking to several different people and trying to figure out what happened while staying civil after traveling all day.

The moral of the story? Make sure you bring your confirmation numbers, and make sure you actually get the deals you sign up for. Double check that what you are paying is what you agreed too. In our situation it was obvious because we intended on paying nothing, but I could easily see fees and other charges getting tacked onto a bill without the customer noticing. Caveat Emptor.

Making a Halloween Leaf Man - Video

2009-10-13T07:41:00.003-04:00

Sunny October Day Photos

2009-10-11T10:44:00.001-04:00

It's a sunny October day. Here are a few macro photos.

The Great Global Warming Swindle?

2009-10-09T04:58:00.010-04:00

It has been a little while since we engaged in a healthy debate.....

I was sent a link to this video, and not expecting much more than partisan fact smearing and convenient statistical cherry picking I watched it. Yes, it's long and there are those things, but it really got me thinking....

Do we really understand how our activities, particularly CO2 emissions, affect the climate?

Look, I am just as much for clean air, less toxins, untouched wilderness, and clean water, as the next guy who drinks organic free range happy cow milk, but based on our current level of technological advancement and limited resources, how can we balance our progress and make the right environmental choices? Seems like an easy questions, but when there are 6,789,343,428 of us, it gets a little thick.

(what the heck is he saying?, please rephrase)
Are we really at a crisis point? and is human activity, specifically CO2 emissions destroying the planet?

Here is the kicker:
Those arguing for a CO2 emissions tax or Cap and Trade often cite the Precautionary Principle:(The principle implies that there is a responsibility to intervene and protect the public from exposure to harm where scientific investigation discovers a plausible risk in the course of having screened for other suspected causes. The protections that mitigate suspected risks can be relaxed only if further scientific findings emerge that more robustly support an alternative explanation.)

BUT, No one ever talks about the risks of not using CO2 emitting energy sources, especially on the peoples of developing nations.

CO2 energy sources are currently cheaper, and much more efficient than non-CO2 emitting sources. This may change, and you could argue to help promote that change, but should we hinder/slow the ascension of a majority of the world from a state of poverty and starvation based on our current understanding of CO2's affect on the environment.

You and I are rich. Can we afford to give up a chunk of our future wealth? Of course we can. But should we? Do we have to? Do we have to do it quickly? Do we have the right to force others to? Will we, should we?

Remember, fear and images of disaster (correct or not) bring with them media coverage and oodles of research dollars.

What I find truly frightening is: not the fact that global warming will kill a chunk of the Earth if we don't act soon, or the possibility that it is all a bunch of Bologna, it is the fact that faced with a serious scientific issue, because of political involvement, the results and ideas have been so muddied and slandered who knows what the best solution is?

Watch the videos and chime in with your thoughts....

The Great Global Warming Swindle (great vid)

An Inconvenient Truth
(Al makes you pay for his video, couldn't find it free online)

Comic Source

Frugal Recipe: Homemade English Muffins

2009-10-06T19:05:00.005-04:00

Today, after rushing out to work without more than a quick snack breakfast, I decided I needed something filling and quick to eat on the go. I remembered seeing somewhere that you could assemble your own English muffin sandwiches and freeze them for easy reheating and planned on getting the ingredients to make that happen. However, when I went to the store to pick up English muffins I was astounded at the ingredients paragraph. After being unable to find a box that was really food as opposed to "food" I decided to make my own. So, this frugal recipe is the result of trying to eat better at breakfast.

This takes a little longer than a box, or even a drive through Tim Horton's, but it tastes better!

Homemade English Muffins:
(adapted from Recipezaar)

Ingredients:

1 packet rapid rise yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup milk, lukewarm plus 1 cup milk
1 egg, slightly blended
2 tablespoons sugar
4 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup butter plus 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Process:

Mix the 1/2 cup luke warm milk with the sugar and yeast, and let sit.

Scald the milk (bring to a near boil, but not a full boil from low heat, stirring often) and then stir in the 1/4 cup butter to melt. After the butter has melted mix in the egg.

Combine the two mixtures.

Slowly add flour, 1/2 cup at a time until fully incorporated.

Knead the dough for 4-5 minutes, or until there's no flour on the edges and it looks a little shiny.
Leave the dough covered in a warm spot for about 1 hour until it doubles in size.
Knead the dough a few more times to get the air out.

Roll the dough to about 1/2 inch thickness, and use a round cutter (biscuit cutter or glass rim) to cut out round shapes.

Sprinkle the corn mean on a plate, and after you cut each muffin press it in the corn meal to coat the edges.

Place on a cookie sheet to rise for 20 more minutes.

Heat a flat bottom skillet to Medium, then reduce the heat slightly. Spread the melted butter on the skillet and place the muffins on top. Cook about 5 minutes per side, until well browned. Be sure to re-butter the pan before you add each batch.

When ready to eat, use a fork to separate - you should get the traditional "nooks and crannies" that way.

Top with whatever you want. I made a sandwich with 2 eggs (cooked round) a slice of thick precooked but warmed ham, lettuce, and cheddar cheese. It was truly Eggselent! I asked my friend to help name the sandwich, and he came up with the AM, the American Morning. (which is what I had for dinner tonight)

If you have the time these are really delicious!

I'll let you know how well they reheat when I grab some for breakfast later this week.

Almost 25% of the country pays NO TAX at all.

2009-10-04T16:36:00.004-04:00

It may come as no surprise that a large percentage of American's pay no federal income tax, and many people don't pay any taxes at all - but it should be surprising just how high that percentage is, and how it is growing.

According to the Tax Policy Center, 47% of households pay no Federal income tax while 24% pay NO taxes at all and might actually get money back.

Contrast this with the other end of the spectrum: according to the Tax Foundation, the top 1% of households payed almost 40% of all income tax revenue in the country. Even worse, 20% of the federal income tax budget comes from the top 0.1% of households, which is less than 200,000 people out of a country of 300 million.

How is this possible? America has a tiered system, so the more you earn the higher percentage of your income you send to the government. This is different from a fair tax, where everyone pays the same percentage. Many families don't make enough money to be charged at even the lowest tax bracket, while others shoulder the burden. This year more families than ever will be exempt from taxes, due in part to the $787 billion stimulus bill, and the original bailout plan, which also increases the money the government is spending.

How is this sustainable? There is constant debate in Congress over who should have to pay taxes, and how much. Right now the majority are leaning towards taxing the richest earners even more, while continuing to exempt more and more families. This system cannot be indefinite; eventually the "rich" won't have any more left to give, government programs will still be underfunded. With the country's budget continually expanding to include more and more programs, and with an ever shrinking pool of taxpayers, something will eventually snap.

Although I suppose we can continue what we have been doing by indefinitely printing more money...

Networth Update: September 2009 +$2771!

2009-10-01T15:36:00.014-04:00

We were very fortunate at Spilling Buckets, and managed to get our net worth closer to break even than ever before! Our net worth is now -$1961.37, an increase of$2771! A few more good months of positive growth and we might finally reach our "Day of Zero!" (Even if this comes almost year later than expected it is still going to be exciting and worth a celebratory dinner.)

The photo introduction here is a floor made entirely of pennies. Interesting idea, eh? I found the photo on The Donut Project; apparently it's the floor at in a grill in NYC. I thought it fitting for our Net Worth post, since a portion of the extra income saved this month came from our newly founded small business experiment.

Anyway - here are the details:

(See how close to $0 we are?!)

You won't see a separate category for our small business income yet. We do have a checking account set up (see below: "Business Checking"), but haven't added it to the income portion of the spreadsheet yet - right now the money coming in just increases our assets.

Investments: +4.76% for September, +21.55 YTD

(We're also SOOO close to $20,000 in investments, another milestone.)

Alternative Income: $361.82 for September, $3636.43 YTD

Here are the full versions of the spreadsheets:

Alternative Income Breakdown - Fully updated as income is earned throughout the month.
Monthly Budget Breakdown - September Edition
Full Net Worth breakdown - September Edition

Here are blank versions the spreadsheets we use; you can download them if you are interested in using our templates:

Where did the money go? A spread sheet we use to track individual expenses, both fixed and variable. Each purchase we make is added. We normally use credit cards so we can update this at the end of the month with all purchases, but if we pay cash for something it is added the same day. You can see the 5% Fun Fund in use here - we budget 5% of all income towards fun purchases.

Monthly dashboard A spreadsheet that shows how our net worth has changed from month to month. It is also used to record the value of all assets (liquid and illiquid) as well as expenses and the current net worth.

Frugal Recipe: Homemade Applesauce

2009-09-29T21:57:00.014-04:00

I've featured homemade jams, breads, and granola bars... now it's time for the wonderful flavors of fall with Homemade Applesauce!

My friend, A, and I went apple picking this weekend and stocked up. We ended up picking two full bags, which was about 30 lbs!

What can you do with that many apples besides make apple sauce? (and maybe a pie or two...)

First you need to wash the apples, which we did in the sink. You can get more clean that way, and faster too - just make sure your sink is clean and washed out from the last time you rinsed chicken... (::shudder::)

Then you need to chop the apples in to semi-small pieces. You can leave the skin on like we did, or peel it. I find that leaving the skin on makes the sauce more flavorful. You will be removing it before canning so its alright for this step. The size we found worked best was 16ths: cut an apple in fourths then quarter that again. It's a fairly easy process once you get going.

After they are chopped up place them in a large pot with a little bit of water (maybe a cup, or even less) and bring to a boil. The apples will soften and reduce down.

Once they are sufficiently soft you need to mash them and remove the skins. You can do this with a strainer, or with a food mill. A food mill is definitely the easier way to go. Luckily A has one, and she brought it along.

We used the largest grating which lead to something in between smooth and chunky sauce.

After the skins have been removed and the sauce is pureed more, put it back on the stove and bring to a full boil again for a good 3 minutes. You need to make sure it boils long enough to kill any bad germs. This is where you add the spices you want. We added cinnamon and nutmeg to taste, and would have added a few cloves but I was out of them.

Finally you ladle the hot sauce into already cleaned and sterilized canning jars, leaving 1/2" headroom. Tightly screw on a cap, and place in a boiling water canner for 20 minutes. You don't need to add any additional acid, since apples have enough by themselves. (If you don't believe me check the Ball Canning and Home Preserving Handbook - it's by the jar makers themselves)

If you have any extra (which we did) you can refrigerate it and enjoy it right away.

It's a bit time consuming, but not at all difficult, and very worth the yummy results. From our 30 lbs we got 18 pints of sauce - more than enough to split and last all winter. I love fall flavors.

And as a final note, I leave you with a photo of Bernadette's children. Bernadette is the squirrel with the strange tail that moved into the tree outside our house. She was originally Bernard, but then we saw two babies poking their heads out to explore, and realized she was a girl. They are adorable as they try to get the courage to venture outside the tree while Mom watches and chases them back. Here are the babies trying to get a view of our cooking.

Debit Cards are not as Easy as they Appear

2009-09-28T14:58:00.006-04:00

Something caught my eyes a few days ago and I've been meaning to post about it:

I saw this interesting article in the New York Times while I was browsing it at lunch one day, "The Card Game: Overspending on Debit Cards is a Boon for Banks."

The article chronicles a man who uses his debit card in order to keep better track of his money, and spend it more wisely. This is a technique pushed by many PF-ers, including the famous Dave Ramsey. But it isn't always as easy as it sounds. True, you don't have to worry about 29.95% interest when you can't pay off your debt, but that doesn't always mean that its cheap.

The man in the article made a deposit, but it took days to clear. While the bank was processing his deposit he spent a few dollars on coffee and was charged a $34 overdraft fee. The thing is - he had the money in the bank, it just hadn't cleared. Of course the bank wouldn't budge on refunding the fees. But that wasn't the worst of it: "Some banks further increase their revenue by manipulating the order of a customer’s transactions in a way that causes more of them to incur overdraft fees."

Most banks make more money on bank fees than they do on credit card interest now, totaling $27 billion in fees this year v.s $20 billion from credit, and it appears they are doing everything they can to keep that number high.

There is talk of legislation to curb these "abuses." and according to the article, "the Federal Reserve is considering requiring banks to get permission from consumers before enrolling them in overdraft programs, so that consumers like Mr. Means are not caught unaware at the cash register."

Of course the banks are arguing that if regulations are put on these practices they will have to distribute the expenses other ways, such as eliminating free checking accounts.

The article really struck a chord with me - how many people struggling to get out of debt and be smart are getting hit by the banks re-ordering their transactions trying to maximize their profit? Then again, if you were a bank and needed to come up with an order of operations, wouldn't you maximize profits too?

The moral of the story is to be very diligent about your finances. Expect transactions (especially deposits) to take several days to clear, and if you are close to going over make sure you monitor your spending daily. Maybe the "envelope system" of withdrawing cash at the start of the month is really the best way to go. You can't overdraft or rack up debt against your envelope...

Here's a discussion on the topic, at the Room For Debate Blog.

2009 NY State Fair & Demolition Derby Video

2009-09-18T13:03:00.001-04:00

Images and video from the 2009 New York State Fair in Syracuse, including the championship Demolition Derby.

Book Review: The New Rules for Mortgages

2009-09-16T00:01:00.002-04:00

I was asked to participate in an online book tour for a new book by Dale Robyn Siegel: The New Rules for Mortgages.

After I accepted I received an advanced copy of the book, a sponge, and a memo pad. I was not compensated in any way, nor was my opinion influenced by anyone other than myself. (unless you count the sponge as a bribe) :-p

Here's what I thought:

Although we had just purchased a house, I still found the book extremely informative. It is short - just under 200 pages - but covers everything you might need to know about buying a house and applying for a mortgage. Dale covers topics from FICO scores, to properly inspecting a property, to the types of mortgages available, to what to expect at closing.

I found I wanted to read the book cover to cover, like a chapter book, but quickly got overwhelmed by the detailed information, and had to pause several times while reading.

A book like this would have been very helpful to read before we had started the home buying process, since I did not know much of anything when we first started. I was able to learn most of what Dale says in the book via a medley of online sources and library books, but nothing covered as much as The New Rules for Mortgages does in one swell foop. If you don't know much about the mortgage and banking industry this book could be very helpful, but if you already have a baseline idea of what's out there and what you are interested in then you might find yourself reading a lot of what you already know.

It certainly is written in a fun way - but it is also easy to get lost with all the knowledge in the book. For example, just reading the section on FICO scores makes it seem extremely difficult to get a good rating. There are several tricks to improving your score before applying for a loan, or for keeping it high during the approval process, and they are all covered. It didn't matter for our loan, because just going about our daily lives gave us both very high FICO's, but if your score is questionable there are good tips. Same for the types of mortgages - we knew we wanted a fixed rate no matter what, but if you are unsure this book would help you explore all the different options available. If you are unsure about any aspect of the home buying/mortgage applying process this book has you covered.

In the changing real estate market (after the boom) there are many things that are different and stricter - this book does a good job covering all situations in "today's economy." If you are thinking about buying a house with a mortgage I would recommend checking it out. It might not be a book you want in your permanent library collection, but is definitely worth getting from the library.

One thing is for sure: Dale is very easy to contact and talk to. If you have a question you could visit her blog page or send her an email and I am sure you will get a real, honest, fast, reply.

R.I.P. Annie Le

2009-09-14T10:10:00.008-04:00

I hadn't planned on writing this post today, but I can't think of much else: my neighbor during my freshman year of college had been missing since Tuesday, and I believe they found her body today.

You never expect something like this to happen to someone - let alone happen to someone that you know! Annie wasn't a very close friend, but we were neighbors and I met her, Jon, and other friends for lunch many times while in college.

Annie Le was a grad student at Yale, and supposed to get married over the weekend. While Ryan and I were at a co-workers (gorgeous) wedding, I couldn't help but think of her, and how sad the situation was. And then today I found out that they discovered her body in the wall behind some pipes.

I know this is said about most people who go missing, or are murdered, but Annie was truly a happy person. She had a HUGE smile, and was one of the most bubbly, and smart, people I've ever known. She and Jon were great together and it makes me incredibly sad that her life was cut so short.

Although this is a particularly sad day, I can't help but look at her life as a reminder to really live your dreams. You never know when your time is up - you could live to 115 and live a long, healthy life; or you could be murdered before your wedding. I know it is cliche - but make sure you live each day of your life without regrets.

When we started this blog, Ryan and I had planned out exactly how much we would need to save each month to retire at different years. If we saved an extra $100 per month here it would cut back retirement by 1 year, etc. We had white boards and spreadsheets with calculations and goals. Then somewhere along the line we abandoned the deferred life plan, and began trying to enjoy every year rather than saving it all for retirement.

It has been difficult to follow this new plan sometimes. It has put some of our debt repayment on hold, and it is still all to easy to get caught up in the daily grind and forget to take steps back once in a while to relax and breathe.

At Ry's co-workers wedding we talked with his boss about hiking the Appalachian trail. He and his wife do a few miles at a time in 1-2 day trips, and have hiked hundreds of trails across the country. Ry and I love hiking and being outside, but have not taken nearly as much time as we would like to pursue it. This weekend has given me new motivation to plan on getting some of our "life goals" accomplished. You can't wait because you never know what will happen tomorrow.

Shuffle Winners

2009-09-10T14:35:00.004-04:00

The Shuffle for a Shuffle is over - I hope you enjoyed the guest posts that were scattered all over the College Money Network.
I am pleased to announce the winners:

iPod Shuffle was won by the "Dad of Divas" Christopher
Money /Kiplinger's was won by Brad
Total Money Makeover Book was won by Jen from "Saving Cents In the City"
Starbucks Gift Card was won by Nicole

All Winners have been contacted via email. If they don't reply we will contact a runner up for the prize.

There's another exciting announcement: You may have noticed an unfamiliar guest poster during the shuffle. Someone you haven't seen with the College Money Network before... I am proud to introduce the newest member of the CMN - M.D. of Studenomics.

He has some great posts, all tailored to college students and recent graduates. One of his recent posts talks about how to avoid scams when looking for extra income. Be sure to check out the site, it is well written and offers some valuable advice. MD - Welcome to the CMN!

Canning Exchange!

2009-09-08T13:06:00.005-04:00

Two weeks ago I posted about my participation in the Jam Exchange over at Steph Chows, and how I thought it would be fun to exchange more than just jam.

Well it turns out Steph was the only one interested in the exchange. I was a little bummed at first - then I remembered that we have a personal finance (mostly) blog, and then I wasn't surprised. But it also turns out that she is here in Rochester - and pretty close - so today we met for the exchange and for lunch. Save some money on shipping, meet someone new, and get awesome jam... what could be better?

So how did it go?

Steph is great!

I am so terrible at first meetings; I am always awkward, too quiet, and always worried about being weird. But she's totally sweet and easy to talk with.

She suggested this place in the South Wedge, the Open Face Sandwich Eatery. I had never been there but it sounded good and it was. Their sandwiches are a little unconventional (I had the "corn mush") but they were delicious. I couldn't finish my sandwich because when I get nervous can't eat much, and meeting someone new always makes me nervous - but I would totally go back again.

We got there right around the same time, and Steph was easy to spot. She said in an email she would be wearing a yellow sun dress, so it was bright and noticeable - although the shop is really small and I doubt I would have had trouble finding her anyway.

I didn't say this at the time (probably should have) but the sun dress was really cute, and she had a matching yellow button necklace that I wanted to make a copy of for myself. I have a bunch of spare buttons from my moms sewing kit and I might try it. I wish I could pull off wearing dresses like that - but they always fall flat on me. I felt like a total conservative in my purple polo shirt and pony tail - but it's what I need to wear to work, and my hair was a total frizz this morning so I had to put it up. I am always too self conscious about stuff like this.

Anyway - it turns out she lives really close to where we used to live, and for a while actually lived right across the street in another apartment complex. Her job sounds like tons of fun - I mean, they actually have cats that hang out, and the building is a converted old house. So much more fun than the basement lab I am in. I love my job, but I hate the lack of windows.

We swapped canned stuff - mostly jam, but I threw in a half pint of salsa. I now have half pint each of apricot and blueberry peach to try. I can't wait to make toast tomorrow and crack open one of the jars. (I'll post a picture of the jam when I get home)

Next year I am definitely going to pick my own apricots and make a large batch. I intended to this year, but never got around to it and then the season was over. It turned out that the farm she picked her fruit was the same place we went blueberry picking with Ry's dad. Both of us were disappointed in their raspberry crop this year, which is why I made multi-berry jam (raspberry, black raspberry and blueberry) and is why she ended up with apricots.

The lunch was very interesting, and I am glad I got to meet her. I hope we meet again sometime (maybe for fruit picking/jam making?) and that she didn't think I was totally boring. Now I have to get back to reality and back to work. Although, it's a very slow month here though, and I might take off early.

Don't Become A Victim of Yourself

2009-09-05T06:52:00.016-04:00

Beware of the thief on the street that's after your purse, but also beware of the thief in your mind that's after your promise. ~ Jim Rohn

There is a war going on.... and it is inside your head.

Do you remember seeing cartoons of the little devil and angel on someones shoulders? "No. No. No." says the angel. "Go ahead, it'll be alright." says the little devil.

When I got up this morning a little voice said "You really don't have to run today. You can skip today. You got in late last night, you exercised yesterday, you've got some work to do." But I well know that if I postpone a day, I'd have to make up for it somewhere. Don't let it just go. It's kind of interesting...conflicts like this are common. We have to be careful we do not become a victim of ourselves.

The little thief in your head says "Success won't happen to you. You're too tall, you're too short. You've never done it before. It's not gonna happen for you. Other's can find this book, but you can't find it. If you found it you probably wouldn't read it. If you read it you probably wouldn't understand it."

There is a constant series of warfare that exists in our mind. It is part of life. It's what makes life an adventure. If you boil it down into something very simple..."Would it be possible to win if you couldn't lose?" There has to be an adventure in order to have a victory. In order to have a win. In order to overcome. In order to create something of value you must keep pulling positively against negative forces.

If you were to take a football today, walk out to the stadium, put it under your arm and cross the goal line, would we all cheer and call it a touchdown? Well, no. It's not a touchdown until you face the three hundred pounders who want to smash your face into the turf, dance by the defenders, and cross the line, then we might call it a touch down. Maybe a championship. But, not without the conflict.

We live in a world where opposites are in conflict and we are in the middle. On any given day or occasion those conflicts can occur. We need to be cautious, try our best, but not be too cautious. Let those daily experiences lead us into a better week, a better month, a better year.

Where Should College Students Keep Their Money?

2009-09-04T07:32:00.003-04:00

It's our turn to shuffle around the College Money Network, and we will be featured in a guest post tomorrow at Living Almost Large - be sure to check it out, and read some of the other articles on LAL's site, she's got some great posts. One I found really interesting was on whether you should Do It Yourself (DIY) or pay someone, and how they have balanced the two.

Today, Poorer Than You has written a post for us. The topic is one that is very helpful for college students: where to keep money. There are so many choices that it can be overwhelming, especially for someone newly on their own. Stephanie breaks several options down here, for all different types of scenarios.

Where Should College Students Keep Their Money?

78% of college students work while taking classes, at least according to a brief by the American Council on Education [PDF]. Which means that more than 78% of college students have money to handle. Whether your money comes from an on-campus job, a full time career, or stuffed in birthday cards, you need to know where to put it.

Day-to-Day Spending

Money is made to be spent, and you’ve got a list of things you want and need to spend it on! For your everyday spending money, get a no-fee student checking account. Many banks offer this, although you may have to go in and ask about it if its not advertised. Choose a bank that has ATMs on campus, or locations convenient to where you spend the majority of your time.

Do not take all of your paychecks to a check-cashing place! The fees they charge are ridiculous, and they’re really not any more convenient than putting your checks in the bank. In fact, if you have the option, a checking account can be more convenient after you set up direct deposit. It’s easy: just take a blank check, write VOID across it in big, big letters, and take it to your employer to have direct deposit set up for you.

A debit card on your checking account can make it even easier and more convenient to use your checking account for everyday spending. And, if you feel you can handle the responsibility, you can also get a no-fee credit card and use it like a debit card. That is, only spend money you already have in your checking account. This will give you certain credit-card-only benefits, while also building your credit history. But do your research and be sure you can handle it before taking the big step of getting a credit card.

Short-Term Savings

You’ve got things you want to do in the next few years, and those things cost money. Whether it’s an awesome spring break trip, savings up for nice TV, or whatever fits your style, everyone has short term savings goals. If nothing else, you should be putting a little money aside for a Getting Established Fund. This is money that will pay for all the little things that come up in the six months after you graduate: suits and résumés for job interviews, security deposit for your first apartment, DMV fees if you move out of state… there are a lot of things that come up! A Getting Established Fund will help you pay for those things easily, but you’ve got to start putting money away for it now!

For short-term savings, there’s nothing like a no-fee high yield online savings account. These babies link electronically to your existing checking account, and you can move money back and forth. They offer better rates than most brick-and-mortar bank savings accounts, so your money will actually grow! Many banks offer high yield savings accounts, but my personal recommendation is ING Direct. Their rates are good, their security is top-notch, and their online interface is easy to use.

Mid-Term Savings

For those goals that are five-ten years away, you want something a little more powerful than a savings account. With a few years to grow, a good interest rate can really help you out. Goals in this category might include buying a car or a down payment on a house, or extensive travelling. For these goals, you should look into Certificates of Deposit (CDs) or an account with SmartyPig.

I prefer SmartyPig to CDs, because it has some advantages that are really key. First of all, most CDs don’t allow you to do regular deposits – you have to open up a new CD each time. SmartyPig actually requires regular automatic deposits, so you’re forced to actually save for your goal. Secondly, you can’t take the money out of a CD before it “matures” without suffering a penalty or loss of interest. With SmartyPig, you can close a goal and get your money whenever you like. SmartyPig has tools to help you visualize your goal and savings, and you can even get bonus incentives if you get your money out of the account in the form of a gift card.

Long-Term Savings

Believe it or not, someday you’ll probably want to retire, or at least have a boatload of money waiting for you! For this, a retirement account is key. But there’s a certain type of retirement account that can help you save for other goals that are 10+ years away. It’s a Roth IRA, and you can remove any contributions (but not earnings) you make at any time. A Roth IRA is a vehicle in which you can invest in the stocks, bonds, or other securities of your choice. Of course, do your homework before getting into this! A great book to get you started: The Boglehead’s Guide to Investing.

Don’t be overwhelmed by the options available for where to keep your money. Just break it down in terms of when you’ll need the money, and separate your cash from there. Remember, the worst thing you can do is do nothing, and visit a check-cashing place every two weeks. Start with a checking account and work your way up!

Net Worth Update: August 2009: +15.76% or +$885

2009-09-01T13:38:00.015-04:00

Our net worth is up again, if only slightly. We have been very fortunate most months, and have had very few where we end down. This month is no exception, and we ended in the black $885, ending with a net worth of -$4,732.76.

This month was a little crazy with eating out and other fun spending, we were over budget by $91 - and there's really no excuse for it other than having fun and being lazy with cooking.

We were also over budget on groceries ($11 - even with eating out) and gas ($43 - although I did take a trip to see some college friends the first weekend, and this is over by the cost it took to get there and back) but well under for miscellaneous expenses ($140- which makes up for almost all of the overages). Unfortunately this means our Fun Fund, currently set at 5% of our income, plus any carry over from previous months, is still in the red. Its proving to be much harder than we thought to cut back and get that balance up, we consistently spend between $250 and $300 on fun stuff even when trying to cut back.

We were able to get alternative income flowing again, and pulled in over $440 for August. Our investments were also up for the month, by +3.42%.

Here are the details:

Investments Update: +3.42% for August, +19.03% YTD

Alternative Income Update: +442.01 for August, +3,132.46 YTD

The full spreadsheets with all the information can be seen here:

Alternative Income Breakdown - Fully updated as income is earned throughout the month.

Monthly Budget Breakdown - August Edition

Full Net Worth breakdown - August Edition

Here are blank versions the spreadsheets we use; you can download them if you are interested in using our templates:

Where did the money go? A spread sheet we use to track individual expenses, both fixed and variable. Each purchase we make is added. We normally use credit cards so we can update this at the end of the month with all purchases, but if we pay cash for something it is added the same day. You can see the 5% Fun Fund in use here - we budget 5% of all income towards fun purchases.

Monthly dashboard A spreadsheet that shows how our net worth has changed from month to month. It is also used to record the value of all assets (liquid and illiquid) as well as expenses and the current net worth.

Don't forget to enter for chances to increase your own net worth by winning a prize in the Shuffle for a Shuffle going on with the College Money Network.

Back to School Shuffle!

2009-08-31T10:23:00.009-04:00

For many students the shuffle of orientation, welcome back partying, and unpacking, has ended and given way the shuffle to classes.

With college just getting back into full swing, we at the College Money Network have decided to have a shuffle of our own in the form of a Give-Away. As part of the shuffle the members of the CMN will be moving between blogs, and doing a series of "Back to School" guest posts on other members sites. Be sure to check out the first swap over at Broke Grad Student, who will be sharing an article by Green Panda Treehouse.

Besides reading fascinating articles you also have the chance to win some awesome prizes. Just in time to help ease the reading and workload that teachers seem intent on piling on the first week.

Prizes

4GB iPod shuffle
Copy of The Total Money Makeover
One-year magazine subscription to Kiplinger's or Money Magazine
$20 Starbucks gift certificate

How to Enter:
Each of the CMN sites will have separate chances to enter - so be sure to check out each article to maximize your chances of winning. Here are the ways to enter at Spilling Buckets:

1 entry - friend Spilling Buckets on Facebook
1 entry - follow Spilling Buckets on Twitter. (I'll need verify that your account isn't spam)
1 entry - leave a comment on our blog and if interested subscribe to our feed.
3 entries - write a blog post, or send us an email (if you don't have a blog) regarding finances in college. You can write about your student loan debt, your after college plans, tips for incoming freshmen... anything related to finance and college. Be sure to send me the link, and link back to this give-away to ensure I see the post. You don't have to be in college currently to write something.

How To Win

All valid entries will be assigned a unique number. We will use a random number generator to select the winning numbers. Odds of winning depend on the number of entries received.

All entries must be received by September 6, 2009 at 11:59 PM PST.

Winners will be notified the following week. After all the prizes have been claimed, we will release an official announcement listing the winners.

Rules and Restrictions

All winners must be 18 years of age or older and live in the United States.
No purchase is necessary to participate in this giveaway.
We will choose the winners from the qualified participants. We are the sole judges of adding entries to the list. Plagiarized content, trackback from splogs, spams, and comments containing abusive or inappropriate languages will not be considered.
To award the prizes, we must be able to contact you. Please leave a valid email address with your comment, or make sure we can contact you through your web site. Your contact information will not be shared with anyone else.
For certain prizes, winners will be required to submit a physical address to ship the prize. Again, your contact information will never be shared with anyone.
Prizes are provided as-is, and substitutions may be made at our discretion.
Winners must reply within 1 week from the time we notify them to claim their prize. Otherwise, they forfeit their prize, and it will be awarded to an alternate.

7 Things That I Wish I Had Known as a Freshman

2009-08-26T12:13:00.007-04:00

Yesterday was Freshman Move In day at the University. This means that staff were encouraged to take the day off (which I did) because the school would be ~~infested~~ bustling with young eager students and parents descending on the school with carloads full of college "necessities."

I went and had lunch at one of the re-opened dining halls today, and was looking around at the other patrons. I know that each year I get older, but it still seems like each year the freshman look younger. They look more nervous than I remember being, and still tote their keys on lanyards around their necks with maps of campus buildings being checked frequently.

Our school has a pretty neat orientation system, it's over a week long and for the first few days parents and students have activities together. This helps students and parents adjust to the separation. They've actually cut off a few days since I went through it, but it's still long and very informative. Since move-in was only yesterday many tables were filled with two parents and one student, getting a taste of campus food for the first time.

All these new faces got me thinking. Now that I've been out of college for three years, (I graduated in 2007, this is the 2010 school year), what would I tell the incoming freshman if I had to give a seminar during orientation? What tid-bits of information would be most valuable to a newbie entering the world of college, and the University of Rochester?

A lot has changed since I graduated: there's been a new library built, dining halls revamped, new apartment style dorms built... but many (I'd even venture to say most) things are still the same. And most of my experiences (and the advice stemming from it) can be applied to all freshman at any school

Thinking back, here are 7 things that I wish I had known as a freshman:

Don't be afraid of trying new things. University of Rochester has a truly awesome curriculum because we only have one core required class outside of specific major requirements - so take advantage of this and don't declare a major right away. Explore new fields while you can. I did this by taking Astronomy, Cognitive Science, Computer Science, Religion, Psychology, Philosophy, Linguistics, and of course the required writing class in my first year here. I also tried fencing, Wado Ryu karate, and ultimate Frisbee; and although I didn't end up sticking with any of them during college I am very glad I tried all three. Don't limit yourself! Even if your school has lots of requirements make sure to fill your electives with things you are interested in and might never get a chance to study again.

If someone on your hall asks you do to something (within reason) do it! Before the work load get tough and things get busy take advantage of being in a new area with new people. It is unlikely that you will be in a situation like this again - where everyone is new and exploring the world around them. I did this and saw some awesome shows, heard fascinating speakers, had great experiences, and made life long friends in the process. Only one other freshman on my hall, Anna, and I really took advantage of the situation and really branched out with every opportunity.

Keep up with the things you loved in high school. This is one I didn't do as well as I would have liked. I used to play soccer and go skiing every winter, and freshman year I did start off playing intramural club soccer and joining the ski race team (there was no recreational team at the time). But I chickened out of the practices that were late at night at "bad" times, and stopped going to both after a few weeks. I regret it to this day and if I could go back and tell my younger self to suck it up and go I would, but I was very intimidated when it came to stuff like this, and it was tough to get motivated go outside in the cold at night.

You don't need to drink to have fun. Cliche but true. I was actually afraid of getting drunk and drinking (school and my parents did a good job instilling me with a healthy fear of underage drinking), and even though many people went to the frat quad each night I stayed in. I was able to find friends with similar interests and we had tons of fun each night playing games and talking without beer. You don't need to be as against drinking as I was - but you also don't need to get wasted every night to meet people... and it's bad for your health anyway.

You really DON'T need all that stuff on the college checklists. When I packed for school we had so much stuff that we had to borrow our friends Suburban to fit it all. It was ridiculous. About 1/3 went home again with my parents, and another third went home over Christmas break. Even then I probably had too much stuff. If you have something you don't use much at home then you probably won't use it in college either. If you have clothes you don't wear much you probably won't wear them much either. With tiny dorm rooms and limited closets, and storage space, make sure you pack sparsely. Worst case mom and dad can ship something you forgot or you can make a Wal-Mart run with friends.

Budget your time carefully. In college your main purpose is to study and get a degree in a particular field, but that won't consume all of your time. You will find yourself with lots of homework, labs, and reading to do - but with even more free time to do what you please. Make sure to keep a careful balance between having fun and studying; it's very easy to go to either extreme and limit yourself. Even when school is in full swing make sure you budget your time and studies effectively, you don't want to be the person who can't go out because they have too much reading to do, or the person who always hangs out and fails. I used to write time flow charts and and allocate time for each thing I needed to get done that day - but it took months to figure out the best system for me to really achieve balance.

Watch your spending. It's easy to over spend when you want to try new things and meet new people. $10 here for a movie, $15 there for dinner, $3 for a show ticket this weekend... it all adds up. Chances are you don't have a job on campus (yet) and have limited savings. I had a credit card in high school and had learned careful spending then - but really be extra careful if you haven't had a card before, it's only too easy to pay for something now and forget how much it adds up until the bill arrives. I will admit to needing parental bailouts a few months when I over spent - luckily my parents were able to help and I never acquired credit card debt. If you do have savings, budget yourself a certain amount each week and stick to it. If you don't then try to get a job and in the mean time take advantage of free activities. You probably are going to come out of school with student loans - the last thing you want is consumer debt on top of that.

Really, when it comes down to it, the most important thing is to just relax and have fun. Remember that everyone there is new and just as nervous and excited as you are. The four years will FLY by and you'll look back in envy at the times you spent in school and the long vacations. Although I still work in a college, and am surrounded by the experience every day, my life is very different now that I've graduated. You won't be able to appreciate it until you graduate yourself, but really - there is no other experience that comes close to what you get out of the university experience. Take full advantage of it while you can.

How to Save a Bunch of Money Buying College Textbooks

2009-08-25T06:54:00.001-04:00

It's like someone just walked up, kicked you in the shins, and ran away. Dropping $400 or more on textbooks is just about as common as dropping organic chemistry... That's why we decided to update and repost this resource.

First a little Q&A.
Why are textbooks so damn expensive?
What can students do about it?

When I sat down to write this guide I was sure the first thing I would talk about would be those money grubbing greedy book publishers and their profit driven scummy practices. As a student who has been forced to perform the new course textbook buying dance almost 20 times, I was sure that they sat in dark rooms smoking expensive imported cigars, cackling as they watched their ~~Swiss~~ small hidden island nation bank accounts roll over to that 9th digit at our expense. I think I was wrong.

Enter the organized used book marketplace, the Back to the Future textbook arms race:

While some of the above may be true, research has led me to believe that a change in the dynamics of the textbook marketplace a few decades ago could be the real problem. Publishers of recent face a newer and more powerful enemy, one that is constantly adapting and updating materials, one that students increasingly look for first in the campus bookstore or online, and one that may contain highlighting, vulgar doodles, coffee stains, and funky odors; THE USED BOOK.

Publishers today fight with the efforts of their past selves, and unless they constantly change they cannot compete. "Great Scott!" You may say, "Frugal students trying to save a buck (or a few hundred) by buying used books have inadvertently caused textbooks to become more expensive."

Yes, it's articles like this that may be partly to blame. A used book removes two big middle men and fails to provide income for the publishers or royalties for the authors, thus they must raise prices and frequently come out with new (but almost exactly the same) editions to keep students away from used copies. Stop reading now if you do not want to be part of the problem.

How to save a bunch of money on your textbook purchases:

Before you can go any further you must gather intelligence. There are three ways to find out if a book is required for a course and if so, exactly what book that is:

Email the professor as soon as you find out who they are, politely introduce yourself and ask which materials will be required for the course. Be sure to specifically ask if they might be able to give you the title, author, and ISBN number. (That number is your golden ticket to massive savings and will make all the efforts discussed below much easier. Not familiar with the International Standard Book Number, Wiki it here)
You can always go undercover as a "normal student" and take your course schedule to the bookstore to ask an associate, or use the shelf labels, matching your class numbers to the correct stack of books. Be sure to take a pen and paper and record the discovered titles, authors, and ISBNs. Also note the full price for future bragging. Just kidding...well maybe not.
As a last resort you can wait until the first day of class when the book information is usually distributed in the course syllabi. This is not ideal as you don't have any time to allow for shipping when you find it cheaper online.

OK, now that you know what you have to acquire, Try these Steps.

1. Go for the absolute jackpot and just for the heck of it, try your campus and city library, you would be surprised what you might find for free.

2. See if you can find a student who may have taken that course in semesters prior (a little more of a challenge for a freshman). Ask to take the bad memories off their hands, bargain with them to swap books if you have some they need, or start the negotiating at a ridiculously low price. Often if you show them cold cash, along with a small collection of baked treats, or corner store goodies, they may take the bait.

3. Number three is a little more practical and where the meat hits the grill: Buy your textbooks online. It sounds like common sense but you would be surprised how many students are either too afraid or too lazy to do this. Here are a list of personally tested sites to check out in order of what I have found to be the cheapest, your results may vary: (common sense online buying practices apply: read and understand what you are purchasing, search by the ISBN to ensure a perfect match, mail them to your college mailbox, and anticipate shipping times and costs)

eBay
Valore Books
Amazon (used marketplace only)
Half.com
Bookbyte.com (used marketplace only)
eCampus (used marketplace only)
Biblio
abebooks
Check out CampusGrotto for additional sites
Others (feel free to search Google at top right of this page to find more)

4. Be creative but smart. Share or borrow books, etc. Be careful of free, non-mainstream electronic forms, or non-US versions of textbooks [although an outstanding cash saver if you can find the right versions], the small chance of big consequences may not be worth the savings. It's hard to save money by doing "normal" things, so be flexible, but be smart.

5. Look through the comments below for some more great tips and resources. Thank you to everyone who has chimed in with their ideas and experience. Have an idea that's not here, or want to share your experience? Please leave a comment.

That first week of class you will see the bookstore jammed with students, parents credit cards at the ready. Please be different and don't be lazy, save 35-70% by not following the herd. Regardless of how your education is paid for, money is money, save it.

Tip from experience #1: If classes are starting tomorrow and you still haven't received that book you bought last week from half.com, it may be worth while investigating your campus book store return policy. Many times you can purchase a book and return it (with receipt) up until the end of your school's add/drop period for a 100% refund (check with the cashier to make sure). This may buy you an extra week or two while the books are still traveling across country via USPS media rate (save the most money on shipping with this rate, also the slowest). Don't miss assignments waiting for you books, that's just foolish.

Tip from experience #2: NEVER sell your book back to the bookstore. If you think they just club you on the purchase price and not the buyback price, you are in for a world of hurt. Do yourself a favor and sell textbooks online too. Using the same methods above to maximize recouping your investment. I used to think that I should keep the books and build a small "personal library". Trust me, you will change your mind, and unless it's a cornerstone calculus book, sell back your philosophy and English literature books while they are still worth more than a paper weight.

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