Catherine Shaffer's blog
Posted 15 weeks 4 days ago by Catherine Shaffer
Frugal Living
I noticed Paul's interesting article (NEVER Pay for a Redbox DVD Rental Again ) about using Redbox codes to rent movies for free, and in theory, I am all for it. But we don't have Redbox nearby, and I would never manage to return a movie in 24 hours with my crazy life. Fortunately, I have a diabolical method of getting movies for free. Even free-er than Redbox free! Nowadays, I laugh as I drive by Hollywood video. Why did I ever pay $4 to rent a movie? Why, God, why?
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Posted 18 weeks 6 days ago by Catherine Shaffer
Personal Finance, Making Extra Cash, Entrepreneurship, Real Estate and Housing, Investment
The truth is that rents sometimes do not cover the monthly costs of owning the rental home, so how is it that these real estate gurus make their money? A lot of people think that it must involve unfair tactics, such as buying investment property at below-market rates from gullible elderly people, but there can't possibly be enough gullible elderly people to keep the whole industry going.
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Posted 19 weeks 3 days ago by Catherine Shaffer
Personal Finance, Making Extra Cash, Entrepreneurship, Real Estate and Housing, Investment
With dropping home prices, a long term investment in real estate is looking pretty attractive. Whether you want to buy rental property outright, or renting is your plan B when your house doesn't sell, the most important thing you need to think about before you become a landlord or landlady is risk. The concept of risk in renting property tends to draw blank stares. After all, you have insurance on the property. You have a lease. What's the problem?
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Posted 22 weeks 3 days ago by Catherine Shaffer
Personal Finance, Technology, Shopping
I've watched other Mac lovers fall away from the True Faith, one-by-one, but I never thought it would happen to me. However, yesterday when we brought home the newest addition to our Mac family, an 80 Gb iPod Classic, it would be my turn to be disillusioned. After you pay the hefty $249 price tag, plus an extra $30 for a wall charger (they used to bundle those in for free), plus $55 for the composite AV cable for your TV, plus any other little extras you may need, there is a hidden cost that blows up in your face when you get it home.
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Posted 22 weeks 5 days ago by Catherine Shaffer
Personal Finance, Lifestyle, Budgeting
In my previous post about the hardships of life on a six figure income (queue strings), I mentioned in passing that we had a $4000 veterinary bill for our dog. A couple of people mentioned veterinary health insurance. Nala was actually too old to have qualified for insurance at the time she died. We would have had to have signed her up when she was younger. After Nala died, I checked out veterinary health insurance plans, hoping to save ourselves the same ordeal with our new puppy, Chewie. When I studied details of several plans, I concluded that these insurance programs are not a good deal for pet owners.
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Posted 23 weeks 1 day ago by Catherine Shaffer
Personal Finance, Frugal Living, Career and Income, Making Extra Cash, Lifestyle, Budgeting
Nowadays, six figures is still above average, but its buying power in terms of lifestyle may have eroded even more than the value of a dollar, as those of us within striking distance of six figures have learned to our regret.
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Posted 27 weeks 2 days ago by Catherine Shaffer
Personal Finance, Frugal Living, Shopping, Budgeting
A new study out today in PNAS confirms what we always suspected was true. The higher the price you pay for a product, the greater your subjective experience of pleasure in the product. For a tightwad like me, that's a no brainer. Of course people think that expensive stuff is better. Most of the time, I feel a smug satisfaction knowing that I can enjoy the same quality for a fraction of the price, or free. But here's the kicker. That pleasure experience is real, according to Caltech researchers Hilke Plassmann, John O'Doherty, Baba Shiv, and Antonio Rangel. At first I felt that this was clearly the devil's work, but as I was polishing the cobalt blue enamel on my Aga range this morning, I had a change of heart. Maybe, sometimes, pleasure is worth the price we pay for it.
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Posted 29 weeks 3 hours ago by Catherine Shaffer
Personal Finance
The trouble started innocently enough. For as long as I can remember, Grandma bought a lottery ticket each and every week. She promised us, her children and grandchildren, that when she won (not if), she would solve all of our financial problems. Grandma was the ultimate giver. She was generous with her time, her love, and especially with food. A child of the Great Depression, she has a love of abundance, and a dread of hunger and deprivation. It is her personal tragedy that these motives led her to total financial ruin late in life, as she willingly handed her life savings, over $100,000, to con artists and thieves.
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Posted 29 weeks 4 days ago by Catherine Shaffer
Frugal Living, Deals, Coupons, Shopping
Couponing and bargain shopping are not for everyone. It takes some time to clip the coupons, organize them, and keep track of sales at all of your favorite stores. But since I've gotten into it, I realized I was missing out on some very simple deals. A number of retailers and manufacturers run perpetual sales or coupon deals on products such that you would be a chump to pay full price for them.
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Posted 29 weeks 5 days ago by Catherine Shaffer
Green Living, DIY
What if there was a way to honor the beauty and intentions behind your received Christmas cards, while at the same time allowing you to get rid of the darned things without guilt? By cannibalizing the cards your friends and family send you, you can save your conscience, save the earth, and save a buck.
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