Every year, my girlfriend and I hold off on buying some stuff from Best Buy that we really want. This is because we know that every year McDonald's runs their Monopoly game offering stackable "Best Buy Bucks" coupons (up to $50 off on any purchase). However, this past year, rather than going to McDonald's and getting absurdly fat on the food, we mailed away a ton of self-addressed stamped envelopes requesting free game pieces. When they arrived in the mail, we had accumulated a serious amount of free bucks (some of the pieces were worth $1 and some were worth $5).
About a week before the Best Buy Bucks expired, I went to my local Best Buy in Secaucus, NJ to purchase some blank DVDs as well as a new DirecTV HR20 receiver. When I reached the register, the clerk explained to me that they were no longer accepting Best Buy Bucks pieces. When I asked why, she said that her manager said they were no longer good anymore. After trying to get some more background and getting no where fast, I asked to speak the most senior manager currently working. When I told him what she told me, he tried pulling some lie that Best Buy headquarters had phoned each Best Buy the same morning and said that they were to turn away any Best Buy Bucks. When I called his bluff, he retreated and said that the call was actually a lie and that this local Best Buy had decided to stop accepting Best Buy Bucks coupons that were in sequential order because they presumed they were stolen. (I guess at McDonald's stores all the pieces on a stack of cups and sandwich/fry containers are in sequential order and some employees steal/sell them.) I had explained that I mailed away for the pieces and that it was extremely unprofessional for him to assume that I was a thief. While this argument going on, another customer came up with the same problem and was listening in on my argument with the manager. The manager then informed us that we were trespassing and then threatened to call the police and have us both arrested. I then threatened back to call the local news channel's beat reporter and have them do a story about their poor handling of the situation and refusal to honor un-expired coupons. (Mind you, it was a few days before Black Friday, which I also reminded the manager of.) Eventually, the cocky and aggressive manager blinked and agreed to give me my proper discount. I told him that I wasn't leaving until he honored the same for the other customer as well (which warranted a smile from the shy high-school kid standing behind me, and an angry scowl from the manager behind the counter).
All in all, a good battle -- but the consumer definitely came out on top.
To boot, when we entered the non-Best Buy Bucks codes on the website, we ended up scoring a $200 American Express gift card. ;) Thanks McDonalds! Perhaps you should do some Circuit City Bucks next year.
In the Army we have a high demand for the 123A battery. These power some optical devices, a handheld hard drive device and the little flashlights that attach to our rifles (Surefire).
In the event that these batteries have to be purchased "on the economy" rather than through the supply system, you can save a few bucks on each one.
Duracel's number is DL-123A. Kodak's is KL-123A. But don't buy these.
Buy the DL-223 or KL-223. These are usually somewhat less than $20 each, while the 123's run about $13. But when you cut off the plastic wrapper of the 223, there's 2 123's inside!
The rub about financial matters is that there is so much more to managing your money than what appears on paper.
Sure, taking out a personal "consolidation" loan to cover off all your credit cards and (hopefully) take advantage of a lower interest rate MIGHT work, but: 1 - If you're up to your neck in debt you may not even qualify, and 2 - the intangible. I once suggested that a client of mine consolidate her debts since she had a stable income and all the signs pointed towards "go"....and she replied that if she only had one debt to repay, she'd probably go out and buy a new Thunderbird! Something happens psychologically to some people, and the worst offenders for getting themselves into an even bigger pickle are those who consolidate their debts then rack up the credit cards again.
Balance transfers often fall under the same category. Nine times out of ten they are superb and on paper, they're the way to go. The trick is you still need to pay off those debts, and ideally you should be just as aggressive with a 0% interest debt than you would be with a 32% interest debt.
I guess the fundamental question here is why do you desire $1 million in 25 years? What will that bring you, a sense of security? Will your action of being frugal today pay off tomorrow? Is the sacrifice worth it? If your goal is to make $1 million, is there a faster way of achieving it, if that’s your goal. Or if your goal is a sense of security, can you achieve it today, or must you wait twenty-five years?
Have you checked out Toontracker ? My kids make fun of me because I spent all day on there listening to old "Pole Position" and "Foofur" theme songs.. I am now also sporting the coolest "Jem" screensaver.
Back in the 1980's I lived about a six hour drive from the area where most of my family lived, which also had many more retail establishments than the place where I lived. One of these places was a so-called catalog store, where you entered the store, filled out an "order form", dropped it in a slot, and several minutes later you'd be paged to a counter where they had your order (after it had been picked from the stock in the back room). These types of stores went away about the same time as parking lot photo processing kiosks, but I digress. This particular store was still about an hour away from our ultimate destination (the town the family lived in) so it's not like it was real convenient to go there.
Anyway, during the summer I had purchased a solar-powered digital wristwatch. This was supposed to run for years, with the internal battery recharged by a solar cell on the face of the watch. Unfortunately, it went completely dead within a few months, well within the warranty period. When we came back to the area for Thanksgiving I returned it to the store, and they offered to ship it back to the manufacturer for warranty service. I was assured there would be no charge for this.
About a week before Christmas I got a postcard from the store stating that my watch had been repaired and was ready to be picked up. So a couple days before Christmas, on the way to the family for the holidays, I stopped at the store to pick up the watch. I thought it would be easy, just go in and show them the postcard and they'd give me the watch. Was I ever wrong.
When I went to the counter the guy at first couldn't find the watch and didn't seem particularly interested in looking for it. When I explained that I lived over 250 miles away and that it wasn't convenient for me to just come back, he went back in the back and rummaged around a while, then came back out and told me he couldn't give me the watch because the manufacturer hadn't paid the store for the repair. "So let me get this straight - the watch is back there but you won't give it to me because you think the manufacturer owes the store something? Doesn't the store stand behind the merchandise it sells?", I asked.
He said they did but basically kept giving me BS excuses why he couldn't give me the watch. I then asked to speak to the manager, and was told that the manager was on his dinner break and wasn't available. I guess he thought he was pretty slick; I think the real truth was that he didn't want to be bothered to look for the watch, but in any case the concept of "customer service" was totally lost on this jerk.
I proceeded to walk away from that counter and out into the main part of the store. I positioned myself near the jewelry counter, where it appeared several customers were contemplating last-minute holiday purchases. And I took up a position in the middle of the activity and said, in a very LOUD voice:
"Well, I can assure you that I will never buy anything else from a store like this that refuses to honor the warranties on their products!"
The place grew quiet...
Several people turned and stared...
And the reluctant employee turned about as white as a sheet. He practically ran over to me and said "Sir, please, just a moment, I'll get the manager for you."
And when the manager arrived and I explained what had just happened to him, he couldn't have been more apologetic. He found my watch and gave it to me. He did say that there was some type of reimbursement expected from the manufacturer, but that was not my problem, especially since they had sent me a card indicating that the watch was ready to be picked up. He didn't say what might happen to the employee I originally spoke to, but I would hope he got reprimanded, at least.
One thing I will say is that by the time I had walked out into the store area, I had made up my mind that the only way I was leaving without my watch was if I was escorted out of the store by the police or mall security. And if that happened, I was mulling my options as to which television station or consumer protection agency was going to hear from me first. So, it's probably a really good thing that the manager diffused the situation. I may have been slightly more flexible if it was a local store and not so far out of my way, but in no way do I regret my actions that day. Sometimes, the only way to deal with unreasonable people is to do something a little unexpected.
Oh, by the way, it turned out that the concept of a solar assisted wristwatch was apparently just too far ahead of its time. The thing celebrated the expiration of the warranty period by dying again (within a few weeks). I never bought another one, for obvious reasons.
I always thought it was too bad I didn't know any of the writers of Seinfeld - this whole incident was so bizarre that with a little added creativity it could have been the basis of a Seinfeld episode. :)
A bottle of "Two Buck Chuck" Charles Shaw wine from Trader Joe's
I also recommend:
1. Watching "Cheaters," "Wife Swap" and "Sunset Tan" because nothing is more relaxing than some bellylaughs!
2. Reading. It is probably the only thing that truly relaxes me, unless I'm reading a bank statement.
3. You Tube. I can, and have spent hours on there without realizing it. It is beyond relaxing for me. I looking up old bands I love or bands I've been curious about, tv shows of my youth, movies.
You know - I think next when I need button batteries that I shall dismember some A23s. Also, as a point totally unrelated to batteries, This video was on the end of video 'suggestions list'. Very nice it is too, whilst being completely scientific of course ;-)
This is to be used only if you don't have a working flashlight or AAA membership. Very McGuyverish - it's better to keep a working flashlight in your car for this. Or park under a streetlight to change that tire.
Be alerted that Best Buy is presently involved as defendants in multimillion dollar law suits for criminal offenses involving product fraud. Just type on your search engine Best Buy Fraud! This type of felony is being ignored by Law Enforcement Officials since Best Buy is a major influential conglomerate.
I'm a Private Detective and presently retained an Attorney in order to establish a Nationwide Class Action Law Suit against Best Buy. If you are a victim then read on...
They are selling all type of damaged electronic devices, computers, televisions, etc that are manufactured in Communist China and negligently put together. The result is that you get a mechanism that will not operate accordingly. Also their deceptive Insurance Plan is never honored and they refuse to be responsible for such!
Thus, this is a criminal enterprise that is misrepresenting the interest of the Public and many victims don\'t know where to go. Also, when you as a consumer contact Best Buy Headquarter in Minnesota, they also refuse to replace or exchange or refund your item. This is plan and simple "Fraud".
Therefore, my class action law suit will integrate and generate Millions of dollars in damages for all those who sign up with prove of purchases! Let\'s get the ball rolling and put these criminals out of business. Please also Network this email among all your friends and feel free to publish it freely on the Internet and printed material for others to see!
Do not buy products at the Kendall Drive store, Miami, Florida, under their criminal Manager named Oscar Valera. This Neanderthal is a real Gangster!
Best of Luck
Charles Del Campo
Miami, Florida
Tel: (305) 529-4949
Thanks for making the monetary correlation between the cost of luxury / indulgence and time spent on the job. We need to attain the means to pay for these things. Sometimes the cost of indulgence is worthwhile. Sometimes finding the frugal substitute is very much part of the reward to self, the luxury. Good ideas. Bravo.
For relaxation, I like to pull up a good cat. In the absence of a good cat, though, I'll often substitute one from our house. Any port in a storm. Ha ha.
I'm a huge fan of the outside nap. Of course up here in the boondocks I need to make sure that's after major blackfly season and before it gets to be below freezing. But I still dig it.
Valerian tea is a great one. Or, just pop a couple of valerian capsules and pick whatever other tea you like.
My friend swears by bread baking as well. I love my machine, but since the movers have it still, I may need to take up the practice.
If you have debt, or would like to use credit for a "no interest loan", then I think balance transfers are great. Some of the offers even waive the transfer fee. Can't get better than that.
We've used this strategy before when there are large chunks of money we know are coming in within the next few months. For example if within a six week period we are expecting a large tax refund, the interest balance on a CD to come due and a large ticket item (like an old car) to sell, we've used this strategy even if we already have the necessary money in the bank to get maximum interest earned on our funds. If you know what date towards the end of the month your credit card company rolls your statement over, you can even get two statements before the funds are due rather than just one. Pretty slick for large ticket items that you'd rather be able to earn great short term CD rates on. This takes discipline, though.
"Sorry, this is a ridiculous statement. The staff at a movie theater have *lots* of other stuff to do, and leaving your personal trash on the floor simply makes more work for them to do in the same amount of time."
More work translates to more hours; maybe whoever is working at the theater does have more work to do and this adds to it but then again maybe he needs the hours and therefore would not mind the extra time spent at work. By dropping my candy wrapper on the floor with others I have created another hours worth of work, giving me another $7-$8 maybe and that is what he needed to buy flowers for his girlfriend... I am not happy to leave my wrapper on the floor.
When you disassemble a 12 battery you get eight 1.5 volt alkaline button cells with a capacity of 0.028 Amp-hr. each.
I know this because I 've disassembled more than 60,000 of them yielding a half million button cells.
Believe me, It has saved me some serious money!
In my ever lasting desire to keep my skin clear I joined a well know skin care club that sent their products to my door every two months. To my surprise one November I got another package just after receiving one the month prior. I decided to quit the club and mailed back the product. As promised they refunded my money, for the product only not the shipping. I called to inquire why. They explained that as per their policy they are unable to refund the shipping. I explained that I did not authorize an additional shipment. The customer service rep explained the additional shipment was made because their shipping facility was closing for Christmas (in November). She also smuggling added that notifications were sent to customers about the additional shipment. I said, “Oh really, can I have a copy of this letter because I didn’t receive it.” She immediately said, “I will refund the shipping.” Now when I get told about these “policies” that is the first thing I say, “I must have missed that. Can you send me a copy of this policy?”
I'm not sure how well this may work for others, but one method I've found particularly helpful in conjunction with the above 6-step plan is taking advantage of balance transfer options and "specials" from your current creditors. I had followed the above steps for 5 months and completely paid off my highest interest creditor (BoA @ 22%). One month after I had started paying the next highest creditor (Citi 12%), BoA sent me a 1 year 0% balance transfer offer. The 3% balance transfer fee was the equivalent of 3 months of interest on the CitiCard which would have taken 6-7 months to clear continuing the same payment. Taking advantage of the offer allowed me to pay off the Citi card in 1 month and remove interest charges from any of the remaining debt. I am still paying off the BoA card currently, but having it at 0% allows me to make smaller, less painful, yet steadily progressive payments without gaining interest charges.
Some handy info to know, save some cash.
Every year, my girlfriend and I hold off on buying some stuff from Best Buy that we really want. This is because we know that every year McDonald's runs their Monopoly game offering stackable "Best Buy Bucks" coupons (up to $50 off on any purchase). However, this past year, rather than going to McDonald's and getting absurdly fat on the food, we mailed away a ton of self-addressed stamped envelopes requesting free game pieces. When they arrived in the mail, we had accumulated a serious amount of free bucks (some of the pieces were worth $1 and some were worth $5).
About a week before the Best Buy Bucks expired, I went to my local Best Buy in Secaucus, NJ to purchase some blank DVDs as well as a new DirecTV HR20 receiver. When I reached the register, the clerk explained to me that they were no longer accepting Best Buy Bucks pieces. When I asked why, she said that her manager said they were no longer good anymore. After trying to get some more background and getting no where fast, I asked to speak the most senior manager currently working. When I told him what she told me, he tried pulling some lie that Best Buy headquarters had phoned each Best Buy the same morning and said that they were to turn away any Best Buy Bucks. When I called his bluff, he retreated and said that the call was actually a lie and that this local Best Buy had decided to stop accepting Best Buy Bucks coupons that were in sequential order because they presumed they were stolen. (I guess at McDonald's stores all the pieces on a stack of cups and sandwich/fry containers are in sequential order and some employees steal/sell them.) I had explained that I mailed away for the pieces and that it was extremely unprofessional for him to assume that I was a thief. While this argument going on, another customer came up with the same problem and was listening in on my argument with the manager. The manager then informed us that we were trespassing and then threatened to call the police and have us both arrested. I then threatened back to call the local news channel's beat reporter and have them do a story about their poor handling of the situation and refusal to honor un-expired coupons. (Mind you, it was a few days before Black Friday, which I also reminded the manager of.) Eventually, the cocky and aggressive manager blinked and agreed to give me my proper discount. I told him that I wasn't leaving until he honored the same for the other customer as well (which warranted a smile from the shy high-school kid standing behind me, and an angry scowl from the manager behind the counter).
All in all, a good battle -- but the consumer definitely came out on top.
To boot, when we entered the non-Best Buy Bucks codes on the website, we ended up scoring a $200 American Express gift card. ;) Thanks McDonalds! Perhaps you should do some Circuit City Bucks next year.
In the Army we have a high demand for the 123A battery. These power some optical devices, a handheld hard drive device and the little flashlights that attach to our rifles (Surefire).
In the event that these batteries have to be purchased "on the economy" rather than through the supply system, you can save a few bucks on each one.
Duracel's number is DL-123A. Kodak's is KL-123A. But don't buy these.
Buy the DL-223 or KL-223. These are usually somewhat less than $20 each, while the 123's run about $13. But when you cut off the plastic wrapper of the 223, there's 2 123's inside!
I've linked this article here.
Yoga can be done at home and is a great stress reliever.
Hitting the health club during their slow time when nobody else is there and boil yourself in the hot tub uninterrupted.
Hi all! Thanks for the comments.
The rub about financial matters is that there is so much more to managing your money than what appears on paper.
Sure, taking out a personal "consolidation" loan to cover off all your credit cards and (hopefully) take advantage of a lower interest rate MIGHT work, but: 1 - If you're up to your neck in debt you may not even qualify, and 2 - the intangible. I once suggested that a client of mine consolidate her debts since she had a stable income and all the signs pointed towards "go"....and she replied that if she only had one debt to repay, she'd probably go out and buy a new Thunderbird! Something happens psychologically to some people, and the worst offenders for getting themselves into an even bigger pickle are those who consolidate their debts then rack up the credit cards again.
Balance transfers often fall under the same category. Nine times out of ten they are superb and on paper, they're the way to go. The trick is you still need to pay off those debts, and ideally you should be just as aggressive with a 0% interest debt than you would be with a 32% interest debt.
Know thyself, and manage thy debts accordingly!
I guess the fundamental question here is why do you desire $1 million in 25 years? What will that bring you, a sense of security? Will your action of being frugal today pay off tomorrow? Is the sacrifice worth it? If your goal is to make $1 million, is there a faster way of achieving it, if that’s your goal. Or if your goal is a sense of security, can you achieve it today, or must you wait twenty-five years?
Jessica,
Have you checked out Toontracker ? My kids make fun of me because I spent all day on there listening to old "Pole Position" and "Foofur" theme songs.. I am now also sporting the coolest "Jem" screensaver.
Back in the 1980's I lived about a six hour drive from the area where most of my family lived, which also had many more retail establishments than the place where I lived. One of these places was a so-called catalog store, where you entered the store, filled out an "order form", dropped it in a slot, and several minutes later you'd be paged to a counter where they had your order (after it had been picked from the stock in the back room). These types of stores went away about the same time as parking lot photo processing kiosks, but I digress. This particular store was still about an hour away from our ultimate destination (the town the family lived in) so it's not like it was real convenient to go there.
Anyway, during the summer I had purchased a solar-powered digital wristwatch. This was supposed to run for years, with the internal battery recharged by a solar cell on the face of the watch. Unfortunately, it went completely dead within a few months, well within the warranty period. When we came back to the area for Thanksgiving I returned it to the store, and they offered to ship it back to the manufacturer for warranty service. I was assured there would be no charge for this.
About a week before Christmas I got a postcard from the store stating that my watch had been repaired and was ready to be picked up. So a couple days before Christmas, on the way to the family for the holidays, I stopped at the store to pick up the watch. I thought it would be easy, just go in and show them the postcard and they'd give me the watch. Was I ever wrong.
When I went to the counter the guy at first couldn't find the watch and didn't seem particularly interested in looking for it. When I explained that I lived over 250 miles away and that it wasn't convenient for me to just come back, he went back in the back and rummaged around a while, then came back out and told me he couldn't give me the watch because the manufacturer hadn't paid the store for the repair. "So let me get this straight - the watch is back there but you won't give it to me because you think the manufacturer owes the store something? Doesn't the store stand behind the merchandise it sells?", I asked.
He said they did but basically kept giving me BS excuses why he couldn't give me the watch. I then asked to speak to the manager, and was told that the manager was on his dinner break and wasn't available. I guess he thought he was pretty slick; I think the real truth was that he didn't want to be bothered to look for the watch, but in any case the concept of "customer service" was totally lost on this jerk.
I proceeded to walk away from that counter and out into the main part of the store. I positioned myself near the jewelry counter, where it appeared several customers were contemplating last-minute holiday purchases. And I took up a position in the middle of the activity and said, in a very LOUD voice:
"Well, I can assure you that I will never buy anything else from a store like this that refuses to honor the warranties on their products!"
The place grew quiet...
Several people turned and stared...
And the reluctant employee turned about as white as a sheet. He practically ran over to me and said "Sir, please, just a moment, I'll get the manager for you."
And when the manager arrived and I explained what had just happened to him, he couldn't have been more apologetic. He found my watch and gave it to me. He did say that there was some type of reimbursement expected from the manufacturer, but that was not my problem, especially since they had sent me a card indicating that the watch was ready to be picked up. He didn't say what might happen to the employee I originally spoke to, but I would hope he got reprimanded, at least.
One thing I will say is that by the time I had walked out into the store area, I had made up my mind that the only way I was leaving without my watch was if I was escorted out of the store by the police or mall security. And if that happened, I was mulling my options as to which television station or consumer protection agency was going to hear from me first. So, it's probably a really good thing that the manager diffused the situation. I may have been slightly more flexible if it was a local store and not so far out of my way, but in no way do I regret my actions that day. Sometimes, the only way to deal with unreasonable people is to do something a little unexpected.
Oh, by the way, it turned out that the concept of a solar assisted wristwatch was apparently just too far ahead of its time. The thing celebrated the expiration of the warranty period by dying again (within a few weeks). I never bought another one, for obvious reasons.
I always thought it was too bad I didn't know any of the writers of Seinfeld - this whole incident was so bizarre that with a little added creativity it could have been the basis of a Seinfeld episode. :)
A bottle of "Two Buck Chuck" Charles Shaw wine from Trader Joe's
I also recommend:
1. Watching "Cheaters," "Wife Swap" and "Sunset Tan" because nothing is more relaxing than some bellylaughs!
2. Reading. It is probably the only thing that truly relaxes me, unless I'm reading a bank statement.
3. You Tube. I can, and have spent hours on there without realizing it. It is beyond relaxing for me. I looking up old bands I love or bands I've been curious about, tv shows of my youth, movies.
Sip a glass of cheap cabernet, plug into your ipod, and watch flickr interesting - last 7 days slideshow.
You know - I think next when I need button batteries that I shall dismember some A23s. Also, as a point totally unrelated to batteries, This video was on the end of video 'suggestions list'. Very nice it is too, whilst being completely scientific of course ;-)
Bravo on batteries though!
Only if they were to give me a discount, otherwise I'll go to a teller. Same with banks..
I love salt scrubs and they are dead easy to make at home.
Put some fine sea salt in the palm of your hand and add an equal amount of olive oil.
Scrub it on damp skin and then rise off with warm water.
Be careful though...the olive oil can make the tub slippery!
It costs maybe $0.10 for the salt and oil, but it makes me feel like a million bucks.
This is to be used only if you don't have a working flashlight or AAA membership. Very McGuyverish - it's better to keep a working flashlight in your car for this. Or park under a streetlight to change that tire.
Be alerted that Best Buy is presently involved as defendants in multimillion dollar law suits for criminal offenses involving product fraud. Just type on your search engine Best Buy Fraud! This type of felony is being ignored by Law Enforcement Officials since Best Buy is a major influential conglomerate.
I'm a Private Detective and presently retained an Attorney in order to establish a Nationwide Class Action Law Suit against Best Buy. If you are a victim then read on...
They are selling all type of damaged electronic devices, computers, televisions, etc that are manufactured in Communist China and negligently put together. The result is that you get a mechanism that will not operate accordingly. Also their deceptive Insurance Plan is never honored and they refuse to be responsible for such!
Thus, this is a criminal enterprise that is misrepresenting the interest of the Public and many victims don\'t know where to go. Also, when you as a consumer contact Best Buy Headquarter in Minnesota, they also refuse to replace or exchange or refund your item. This is plan and simple "Fraud".
Therefore, my class action law suit will integrate and generate Millions of dollars in damages for all those who sign up with prove of purchases! Let\'s get the ball rolling and put these criminals out of business. Please also Network this email among all your friends and feel free to publish it freely on the Internet and printed material for others to see!
Do not buy products at the Kendall Drive store, Miami, Florida, under their criminal Manager named Oscar Valera. This Neanderthal is a real Gangster!
Best of Luck
Charles Del Campo
Miami, Florida
Tel: (305) 529-4949
For the guys, we can add a box of ammo to the list (and a safe place to discharge it, of course).
Thanks for making the monetary correlation between the cost of luxury / indulgence and time spent on the job. We need to attain the means to pay for these things. Sometimes the cost of indulgence is worthwhile. Sometimes finding the frugal substitute is very much part of the reward to self, the luxury. Good ideas. Bravo.
For relaxation, I like to pull up a good cat. In the absence of a good cat, though, I'll often substitute one from our house. Any port in a storm. Ha ha.
Those nasty flies draw blood in a bad way... yech!
I'm a huge fan of the outside nap. Of course up here in the boondocks I need to make sure that's after major blackfly season and before it gets to be below freezing. But I still dig it.
Valerian tea is a great one. Or, just pop a couple of valerian capsules and pick whatever other tea you like.
My friend swears by bread baking as well. I love my machine, but since the movers have it still, I may need to take up the practice.
Great post, Linsey.
That's quite an endorsement.
If you have debt, or would like to use credit for a "no interest loan", then I think balance transfers are great. Some of the offers even waive the transfer fee. Can't get better than that.
We've used this strategy before when there are large chunks of money we know are coming in within the next few months. For example if within a six week period we are expecting a large tax refund, the interest balance on a CD to come due and a large ticket item (like an old car) to sell, we've used this strategy even if we already have the necessary money in the bank to get maximum interest earned on our funds. If you know what date towards the end of the month your credit card company rolls your statement over, you can even get two statements before the funds are due rather than just one. Pretty slick for large ticket items that you'd rather be able to earn great short term CD rates on. This takes discipline, though.
Interesting post.
"Sorry, this is a ridiculous statement. The staff at a movie theater have *lots* of other stuff to do, and leaving your personal trash on the floor simply makes more work for them to do in the same amount of time."
More work translates to more hours; maybe whoever is working at the theater does have more work to do and this adds to it but then again maybe he needs the hours and therefore would not mind the extra time spent at work. By dropping my candy wrapper on the floor with others I have created another hours worth of work, giving me another $7-$8 maybe and that is what he needed to buy flowers for his girlfriend... I am not happy to leave my wrapper on the floor.
No arrogance needed, only conscious.
When you disassemble a 12 battery you get eight 1.5 volt alkaline button cells with a capacity of 0.028 Amp-hr. each.
I know this because I 've disassembled more than 60,000 of them yielding a half million button cells.
Believe me, It has saved me some serious money!
In my ever lasting desire to keep my skin clear I joined a well know skin care club that sent their products to my door every two months. To my surprise one November I got another package just after receiving one the month prior. I decided to quit the club and mailed back the product. As promised they refunded my money, for the product only not the shipping. I called to inquire why. They explained that as per their policy they are unable to refund the shipping. I explained that I did not authorize an additional shipment. The customer service rep explained the additional shipment was made because their shipping facility was closing for Christmas (in November). She also smuggling added that notifications were sent to customers about the additional shipment. I said, “Oh really, can I have a copy of this letter because I didn’t receive it.” She immediately said, “I will refund the shipping.” Now when I get told about these “policies” that is the first thing I say, “I must have missed that. Can you send me a copy of this policy?”
I'm not sure how well this may work for others, but one method I've found particularly helpful in conjunction with the above 6-step plan is taking advantage of balance transfer options and "specials" from your current creditors. I had followed the above steps for 5 months and completely paid off my highest interest creditor (BoA @ 22%). One month after I had started paying the next highest creditor (Citi 12%), BoA sent me a 1 year 0% balance transfer offer. The 3% balance transfer fee was the equivalent of 3 months of interest on the CitiCard which would have taken 6-7 months to clear continuing the same payment. Taking advantage of the offer allowed me to pay off the Citi card in 1 month and remove interest charges from any of the remaining debt. I am still paying off the BoA card currently, but having it at 0% allows me to make smaller, less painful, yet steadily progressive payments without gaining interest charges.