Blog Money Whore

I try not to spend money on new stuff, but when I do, I follow a few simple rules:

1. Always use a credit card with rewards. It boggles my mind that there are people out there using credit cards that offer absolutely no cash back or points. Unless you have bad credit, then you’re losing out! I primarily use a card that offers 2% back on all purchases, which are deposited quarterly into a 529.
2. Always use the credit card with the best rewards for your spending category. For example, grocery stores, drug stores, and gas can often yield you 5% in cash back rewards. Don’t use a credit card that will only get you 1% cash back on those categories! In particular, I take advantage of Discover’s Get More program each quarter when they offer 5% cash back on different categories like travel or movies.
3. Use a website like Bond Rewards (please leave a comment if you’d like a referral) or FatWallet to get a percentage of your purchase back. These sites essentially join affiliate programs and earn money for each customer they refer. In turn, they then give you a percentage of those earnings. The site ev’reward compares rewards and cash back for different sites, so you can always use the highest earning ones. Just keep in mind that earnings can take a really long time to show up and occasionally require a little prodding.
4. Search for rebates and discounts using sites like FatWallet and SlickDeals. Lately, I’ve found myself at RetailMeNot a lot, too, for coupon codes. A popular search for me in particular is to type some store name followed by “coupon”, “discount”, “promo code”, etc. into Blingo.
5. Look for rebates and the lowest prices on PriceGrabber. I especially like PriceGrabber, as they have a rebate program that offers you $5 (sometimes more) for writing a very short review of a product. This is only available to the first 25 (or is it 50?) reviewers and only for some products, and they’ve never denied me a rebate.
6. Be patient. Prices usually drop on items. Do you really need it now? I bet there will be a sale or price drop at some point. Most retail prices have a lot of wiggle room. The day I buy a Wii, for example, is not coming anytime soon. Somewhat related is buy quickly when you see an incredible price. It won’t last long. If you buy from a place like Amazon, then make sure you use a site like Refund Please to take advantage of price drop refunds. Some credit cards even have price guarantees, too. Read the fine print in your agreement!

Also, remember to keep copies of all your rebate forms! Rebate processors are infamous for denying rebates, so you should always be able to provide proof. It’s your money. Make sure they give it to you!

Many people think chasing after rebates and discounts like this is a complete waste of time, but when they find out how much I actually spend on items, they’re invariably convinced that I have the right approach (unless they happen to be total moneybags who like to waste money). For example, guess how much I paid for my TiVo. Absolutely nothing! It was free after rebate. (Side note: do searches on FatWallet for the acronym FAR.) All I had to do was fork over money for a lifetime subscription.

Maxim recently had an interesting article called “Make More Money at Work!: How to work a second job from the comfort of your crappy office.” While I don’t officially condone double-dipping on your employer’s dime, many people definitely work second or third jobs in order to make ends meet or to earn a little extra money. These seem to be the best choices from the article. The others either require too much work, experience, or concentration and aren’t as immediately lucrative:

• eJury.com: Make money by evaluating cases before they go to trial. $5-10 per case.
• OnlineVerdict.com: $20-60 per case

A few more I’d like to suggest are:

• Amazon Mechanical Turk: There are lots and lots of “Human Intelligence Tasks”, which can be done mindlessly and often while doing something else. I actually did make a few hundred dollars here a couple years ago when it first came out.
• Rent a Coder: If you know any programming language and are willing to freelance a bit, there are tons of jobs here.
• Craigslist: Look particularly in the part-time, etc., and gig sections for tons and tons of random stuff. For example, I once made an easy $200 by writing a few short reviews for Yelp.

And then, there are the mindless survey/point sites:

• e-Rewards: By invite only (but invitations are seemingly never rejected). Answer surveys in exchange for e-cash, which can be redeemed for stuff. I’ve stayed at the Hilton family of hotels a couple times for free due to surveys done at e-Rewards. This is also a great way to watch free movies.
• e-Miles: Just click on buttons, look at ads, answer around 3-4 questions and earn frequent flier miles. This is totally mindless and only takes like five minutes a week. I mostly use this to keep my US Airways miles active, as I rarely fly with them.
• MyPoints: They send you email with ads, you click on a button and earn points. This, too, is totally mindless but more lucrative than e-Miles. Exchange your points for all sorts of gift cards and points. I like to get either Hilton Hhonors points or United miles. Please leave a comment if you would like to receive a referral.
• Pinecone Research: This survey site is generally described as the best one out there, and they pay decent cash for taking surveys. However, a) invitations to join are just about impossible to get and b) surveys may not necessarily come to you very often. I have yet to get a single survey despite being a member for a month.
• Opinion Place: Take a survey every few days or so to either earn some measly cash or some frequent flier miles. I use this to get a few extra AA miles.

Aside from the ones listed in Maxim, I use all of these sites to earn a little extra cash or points from time to time. Every little bit adds up! Just click away if you’re totally bored or doing something else that doesn’t require much attention, e.g., watching reruns on TV or spacing out at work.

Let’s say you just graduated from college and got a decent job. You have a little extra cash on hand after taxes and are wondering if you should buy a big screen TV or save for retirement. You’re probably going to buy the big screen because that’ll allow you to have an incredible Super Bowl Sunday, but due to your nagging parents, you realize that having some savings is pretty important. What should you do?

Well, ask yourself this question: would you rather have $4000 now or $1.6 million in 38 years?

Seriously, $1.6 million.

Let’s make some assumptions:

1. You just graduated from college and are 22 years old.
2. You will start withdrawing money from your Roth IRA at 60 years old (the earliest without penalty is 59 1/2).
3. Your money grows at 10% per year, which is not at all impossible given 38 years of semi-risky growth.
4. You contribute $4000 per year to your Roth (the maximum allowed amount is going up in the future!).

Well, if you do all those things, then you will have $1.6 million in tax-free money at the age of 60. That’s pretty freaking awesome! For $1.6 million, you can easily forget that you’re old—just buy a new hip and splurge a little on that cute 22-year-old tart who doesn’t know enough to save money but who looks incredible to your sexagenarian eyes. If you can hold out until the age of 65, then you’ll have $2.6 million in tax-free money. That’s freaking incredible! Thanks to compounding interest and good saving, you’ve become a millionaire while working a crappy 9-5 job and you probably won’t have to work another day of your miserable life.

Don’t believe me? Download this Excel spreadsheet and put the numbers in yourself. You can easily adjust your annual contribution and growth rate. You can even make the model more complicated if you want. See what happens if you only contribute $2000 a year (you still become a millionaire) or your money only grows at 7% per year (you still become a millionaire).

What are you waiting for? You still have until Tax Day to make your contribution for the previous year, and the earlier you do it, the longer your money can grow! Yeah, saving isn’t exactly on most people’s minds at the age of 22 (trust me, I know as a 25-year-old who looks like a teenager), but it really pays off!

I remember the days when CafePress.com simply had a t-shirt and nothing more. These days, there’s a heck of a lot of merchandise available for sale! You can make just about any sort of apparel imaginable including a zillion varieties of t-shirts, hoodies, underwear, etc. Plus, they have all sorts of nifty housewares like mugs, clocks, magnets, and stickers. Then, you even have the ability to publish books, audio CDs, and data CDs. It’s really become a powerhouse for the self-publisher, and the best part of it is it’s all FREE. You can still set up as many basic stores as you want without paying a single dime. It’s also ridiculously easy. I took me no more than a few hours to set up my store using pre-existing designs that I tweaked a bit for each product.

So how do you make money? Simple. You specify the markup on the base cost. For example, I’m selling the Days That End in Y T-Shirt for $9.99 on a base price of $8.99. That means for every t-shirt I sell, I earn $1. (Please buy a t-shirt!)

Anyway, what are you waiting for? If you’ve been sitting on an idea for an awesome t-shirt or poster, then do it now! Go create that store!

For the last couple years, I’ve been a member of Zipcar, and I’ve loved it! It’s really convenient, and I’ve been able to survive without owning a car. Why do I love it? Well:

• There’s no need ever to deal with annoying humans. Just use the fast website to reserve a car yourself and then pick it up yourself using your member card.
• The cars are parked everywhere. There’s at least half a dozen cars within a few blocks of my apartment.
• You can rent by the hour rather than by the day!
• Gas is included!
• Insurance is included!
• The cars are nicer than comparably priced cars at rental car companies.
• There is no underage fee. If you’re under 25, then don’t let the rental car companies stick it to you!
• All sorts of random discounts like buy one get one free meal at Ikea!

I’ve driven the cars as far as New Haven, CT and Providence, RI from Boston without any troubles, and I’m often able to pick up a reservation at the last-minute. If I need to go somewhere in a few minutes, then I just log online, reserve a car, walk over, and pick it up. It’s very simple. Even better, if you join using my link, you will get $25 of free driving. What are you waiting for?

Plus, due to their recent merger with Flexcar, they’re present in even more cities around the world! I’ve even used a Zipcar in Vancouver, BC, Canada before!

Join Zipcar and get $25 in free driving!