Tuesday Tips - Will become a weekly standard

I love alliteration, what can I say. Monday’s are always hectic for me and I often can’t sit down to write an eloquent post, so I’ve decided to make Tuesdays a post about something frugal and environmentally friendly. As this is my first “Tuesday Tip” I’ll make a point to keep my tips organized into two categories: Frugal ways to save money and how the tip ties in with the environment. So here goes:

Tip #1 : Use your own reusable containers for water and food.

Frugal ways using your own containers saves you money:

• Carrying around a water bottle allows you to fill up your canister where ever you go, and it’s free (minus the cost of the bottle). Most places have drinking fountains or water spigets, and most restaurants serve water for free. If you aren’t one to fill up on “tap” water, you can fill your bottle before leaving home.
• Bringing your lunch to work in reusable containers saves you money. Not only do you save money bringing your own food, you save money on the zip lock bags you no longer have to purchase.
• Discounts for bringing your own canister. Some places give small discounts for bringing in your own cup. For instance, Starbucks offers a 10 cent off discount for bringing in your own cup.

Using your own container is better for the environment:

• Less trash to throw away after lunch. If you bring your own lunch to work in a reusable container, you won’t have to throw away the “wrapper” when you’re finished. Just take it home and rinse/wash it out or wipe it out (depending on its contents).
• No more paper or plastic cups to throw away (and less for the companies to produce in theory). Again, less trash is produced if you bring your own reusable cup.

Since I’m trying to keep my tips short and sweet (that’s the whole point of them), I’d love to hear feedback on how or if you use this tip.

Cougar Flats Tent. A nice two-room tent, my husband can actually stand up in it and he's over 6 ft tall.

With Spring Break upon us, or for some their children, the thought of going away has been swimming around in my mind as of late. Since this month has not been inexpensive based on my calculations, my best option (meaning least expensive) is either camping or a day / weekend trip to a nearby city. I’m lucky to live on the coast and in an area that has a temperate climate all year long, so my options are copious. Ideal camping destinations are within an hour or three at the most, and gorgeous day trips involving either travel by train or car are within the same amount of time; from San Diego to San Luis Obispo, or Ojai to the Sequioas, the price for living in Southern California is sometimes negated by the glorious destinations within a 200 mile radius.

I’ve decided to break down my options by type, instead of price. Though the price range is similar, the experiences are not. First let me explore camping, something I love to do. Over the years, my husband and I have acquired enough camping equipment to make camping very comfortable (I also won’t be factoring this into the overall cost since it’s been compounding over the years). We are still “roughing” it in a tent, but our tent is larger (in comparison) than a studio apartment in New York. Below are some camping benefits:

• Beautiful scenery. Again, I’ve got weather on my side and a choice of desert, valley, mountain, or coast locations to choose from. I like to use ReserveAmerica.com to reserve campground spots. They show you an actual map of the campground sites and, if the campground allows, you can select your exact spot. This has come in handy when camping at both unknown areas and familiar ones. For instance, we like to camp at Wheeler Gorge. A creek runs through the entire campground and some sites are closer to the water than others. Their map allows me to reserve my favorite camp site, number 41, exactly where the creek bends. (I realize I just gave away my favorite site!) There is a small fee attached to booking through this site, but it makes up for it in convenience. Most camp sites range between $10 a night to $20 a night.
• Peace and quiet. Most campgrounds have a “lights out” policy and by 10 pm campers are required to whisper, or at least not whoop it up. For the most part, this is enforced. My husband and I have only had two problems (one really wasn’t a problem, just a very loud couple – if you get my drift.) One of the worst problems we ever encountered was a small campground that did not have a ranger on site, too many people in one campsite partying all night is not the ideal camping experience. We now make a point to camp at places that have a site manager or ranger.
• A camp fire. Who doesn’t love campfires? Roasting marshmallows over the fire, sitting so close you have to jump back to make sure an ember doesn’t land on you. Another benefit to booking online is making sure your campsite allows campfires and comes with a fire ring. Living in SoCal has made me very fire conscious, and we have learned the hard way that not all campgrounds allow camp fires. (P.S. The thought of marshmallows is much better than the real thing. After eating one or two, I’m done!)
• Hiking. Many of the campgrounds I stay at are within national parks. Most national parks have ranger stations where you can pick up a map that details the hiking trails. My husband, who is a good sport but not an extreme hiker, likes to choose the easier hikes that are under a 2 hour time span.

Making our camping comfortable has been a learning experience. We’ve now gotten savvy to a camping checklist and make sure we run through it before leaving. Organizing our camping gear in large, clear rubbermaid bins has also helped. Some things we take making camping comfy are a tackle box full of cooking utensils and spices, a blow up air mattress, an air compressor to blow up the bed, two camping stoves, an ice chest, camping dinner ware and cookware that stays in the garage all year long (we wash them before and after our trip), flashlights, lanterns, matches, and a portable heater in case of cooler nights. (And lots of propane!) Total cost of camping, including the cost of the site and groceries is usually around $200 for a three day trip. This price could be reduced based on the type of groceries purchased, but my husband loves grilling up filets while camping.

Our second option is a day trip to a nearby city. We have a couple of choices for traveling to a place such as Santa Barbara, San Diego, or San Luis Obispo. We can either drive, hauling our bikes on our bike rack, or take an Amtrak train. A couple of years ago we opted for the train to Santa Barbara. It was my first experience on a train and I loved it! Not only could we place our bikes in their luggage car, but the seats were really big and comfortable and you could get up and walk around to the diner car. The travel time wasn’t much more than if we had driven. Below I’ve outlined some benefits of a day trip (either by car or by train):

• Explore a quaint ocean city by bike. I’ve mentioned how much I love my bike before, but one thing I’ve noticed about cities such as Santa Barbara and San Diego is how bike-friendly they are. Bike lanes are clearly painted on most of their streets. Biking also lets you see each individual store and restaurant much clearer than driving past them.
• Bar hop. Yes, I know I shouldn’t be biking and drinking. However, I do feel it’s safer than drinking and driving. At least the only person I can injure is myself.
• Check out the residential neighborhoods. Exploring coast line cities is always fun, and checking out their residential architecture is something I like to to, whether on a bicycle or in a car.

There are definite benefits to both driving and taking the train. Train rides are generally a little more expensive. For instance, our trip to Santa Barbara cost us $67 for two people round trip. Driving, we probably would have spent about $30. When I factor in shopping and dining in a nearby city the cost ends up being very close to camping, hovering around $150 – $200.

What trips are you planning this spring or summer? Are you finding ways to save money? Are you staying close to home?

My husband and I purchased term life insurance a few years back with the idea that if either one of us kicked the bucket, so to say, earlier than anticipated, we wouldn’t be financially decimated by that experience. (Emotionally is another topic, obviously!) Our policy was inexpensive, about $40 a month, for a policy worth $100,000 in case of death and it covers us up to the age of 80. Term life insurance policies have no cash value, so there would be no way for us to cash it out. When we signed our policy, this was best option for our situation since we still weren’t financially responsible at the time and couldn’t afford the premiums on a whole life policy.

Last year, we added a travel accident rider that is worth twice the amount of our original policy. This covers car accidents, plane accidents, pretty much any accident where one is physically moving to and from a place. This week, my husband had to travel to a funeral. As I was booking his flight on Monday, I realized I had forgotten to pay the annual premium on this rider! Now, I’m not wishing any ill-will on my husband (I love him!), but the idea of him traveling clear across the country and NOT having this additional policy in place made me nervous. As he was traipsing across the country on a total of 4 plane rides then renting a car and driving on snow-covered roads, I knew we had to remedy this before he left. With a quick call, we made our payment and settled my uneasy mind.Yes, I know. This sounds very shallow, wanting to make sure I eek out every dime possible in case of death. But that’s what life insurance policies are for!

A few years ago, National Geographic posted a chart showing all the possible and probable ways to die. With death being a 100% sure thing at some point in one’s life, it was an interesting tidbit of information. If you look below, you’ll notice heart disease is the primary killer among humans followed by cancer, but motor vehicle accidents are 4th! Plane accidents involving deaths are pretty low, coming in 13th, just after bicycle accidents. Funny thing, I’m not so sure my rider covers biking, an activity I do frequently. Take a look for yourself:

Ways to Go from National Geographic and 10 Minute Math

Do you have a life insurance policy that covers your spouse? What about travel accident insurance? If you don’t have a policy, what reasons made you decide to forgo one? Is this just a morbid topic that you rarely discuss with your loved ones?

Cut up those credit cards?

One of my goals for this year, that I have partly accomplished, is raising my credit score. I need to get my score above 740, at minimum, so that when I apply for a mortgage loan, I’ll be able to get the best rate. I still need to raise my score about 40 points (this is an average as all 3 credit bureaus are reporting slightly different scores). One thing I’ve learned about improving my credit score, is keeping my debt to credit ratio low. Since I’ve paid off all of my credit cards, I’m looking pretty good here. However, another factor that affects a credit score is how much total credit banks are willing to loan you. Since I’ve been on a mission to improve my poor credit history, I haven’t had much credit extended to me these past few years leaving me with very low credit limits.

So, here is my dilemma: I have two credit cards with low credit limits that are charging me monthly fees and/or annual fees (totaling approx. $155 for the year) . I don’t use these cards at all anymore. However, there is a catch with these two cards: they were originally a way to pay off old collection debt. These cards were offered to me about 6 years ago to pay off two other credit cards that had gone into collections. Once I paid the old debt off in full, they extended a limited amount of credit to me. I’m now thinking of canceling these two credit cards now that they are paid in full, but then my overall total available credit limit will be reduced by almost $1,000. How will this affect my credit score? Will it ding my score by a few points? Since I’m hoping to apply for a mortgage loan with in the next year or so, I’m trying very hard to keep the activity on my credit report to a minimum.

After doing some research, canceling my two credit cards would probably affect my credit score a little bit. By how much, I don’t know exactly. I have two options; A.) I cancel these cards and save $155 annually, with the potential of losing a few points off my credit score, or B.) I keep these cards until I am able to purchase a home.  That could be up to 18 – 24 months meaning I would have to spend up to $310 on fees, but I’d be saving my credit score.

For now, I think I will keep the cards. If purchasing a house becomes ever more elusive and my time frame extends to more than 24 months, I might just go ahead and cancel these two cards. I do know that when I obtain that mortgage loan, these two cards are getting the ax!

What do you think? Would canceling these cards now be beneficial? Am I making the right choice by keeping these cards a little longer?

I'm burning my candle at both ends this week.

I’m posting this mid-week because 1.) I didn’t post any round-ups this past weekend, and 2.) I’m really behind on some projects…crap!  Some terrific articles have been written on various Yakezie member sites that I’d like to share, instead of banging out an article of my own. Enjoy!

• Sweating the Big Stuff and How to Raise Your Credit Limit (This also touches upon hard inquiries and soft inquiries)
• Young and Thrify and What’s Your Latte Factor? Of course I had to read this one! I love my Starbucks. However, it does make me think about spending my $2.50 daily. It sure adds up!
• Ultimate Money Blog is running a whole series on state economies. I love statistics! This one is about Alaska. So who wants to live near Sarah Palin?
• Rainy Day Saver changed the look of her blog too. I like it! Check it out. (P.S. I’m still working on mine )
• My Money Minute and Wine on a Budget. I personally am more of a beer drinker, but who doesn’t love wine? Okay, me. But most people like it.
• Monevator plays devil’s advocate on Wasting Money on Memories. Yet, the conclusion is well done.

Since I’m burning the candle at both ends this week (to use a figure of speech), I will make a point to post something meaty in the next day or so. Please hang in there,  I’m just juggling too many jobs right now. (That’s a good thing, though. Right?  )

Wells Fargo ATM

Until recently, when I would deposit checks into an ATM, it would take about 2 business days or longer for them to clear the bank. Since Wells Fargo has introduced the “No Envelope” deposit method at the ATM, they now post that day if deposited before 8 PM. What a convenience! Here’s what’s different, there are no deposit envelopes to use and fill out anymore. In the past, a bank teller would have to pull out the envelopes and manually enter them as deposits into your account. Now, I deposit the checks directly into the slot (up to 8 checks can go at once, I think) and the ATM scans the routing and account numbers at the bottom of the checks. The ATM asks for confirmation of the amounts of each check and total amount.  Those funds are available the same business day, as if you went into the branch itself and deposited them.

The new method decreases the likelihood of human error, and it also reduces the amount of check scamming. With the envelope, people could deposit toilet paper and withdraw money they really didn’t have. This wasn’t caught until a human opened up the envelope and realized the scam. Now, the ATM visually sees the check numbers and can credit your account that day. If you feel uneasy about depositing checks sans-envelope, you have the option to print a receipt with copies of the checks you deposited. This is very helpful if you enter individual deposits into your check register or Quickbooks program.  I admit that I love this new method.

However, this means that if you are writing checks, you need to make sure the funds are available in your account. Something most of us do, but now it is crucial. I’m sure that Wells Fargo isn’t the only bank electronically scanning checks and crediting funds immediately. If you write a check, you had better make sure those funds are there!

Here’ an overview of the new check scanning ATM:

• Saves you the time of filling out an envelope and adding checks manually. The ATM will automatically add the amounts for you, you just need to confirm the amount.
• Checks are credited that day, just as if you went into the branch. What a time saver!
• A receipt with copies of the checks is available for your records. Just like you receive a deposit receipt from a bank teller, the ATM can not only print a receipt, but also print one with the check copies in case you are uncomfortable with this new method.
• You can also deposit cash directly into the ATM and print a receipt with a copy of the bills you deposited. I’ve always been wary about depositing cash, but because the receipt prints the bills, I feel more comfortable now.

Do you use the ATM to deposit checks? What about depositing cash? Is your bank offering this type of ATM service? Would you use it if they did?

The Cap Light - Our passive income generator!

For years my husband has been on a mission to make money while we sleep, or figure out a way to make passive income. The beauty of this plan is simple: work more upfront, profit more later on and in the off hours. His plan is finally coming to fruition 11 years later. We’ve tried many side businesses on top of his web and graphic design business (our primary income) to get to this point. Some businesses include:

• Hot dog stand – Ended up being way more work than we thought, little profit. We quit 6 weeks into it. This wasn’t really passive income, since we were up at dawn brewing coffee, handing out danishes, and freezing on the street corner!
• Photography business -This just evolved into our successful graphic and web design business. I guess I can’t really count this as a side business or passive income either.
• Child ID Kits – My husband originally thought ID Kits would be the idea that would make us money while we sleep. It didn’t really catch on.
• FROG – Three years ago my husband had a brilliant idea (before the iPhone had launched), create a mobile portal for smart phones making accessing the internet a breeze. FROG is still going strong, but isn’t generating any income. We are still working on this one, I’m sure someday we’ll figure it out. For now it is passively working (over 10,000 active users) and adding new users daily. If anyone thinks they can help with FROG, please let me know!

Well, we finally hit one idea that is making money without a lot of work: The Cap Light. My husband’s goal this year was to begin networking with small businesses that he took an interest in. He could help design their website and marketing materials for a percentage of their sales. Now with the marketing in place, the orders are rolling in. My husband makes a small profit off each sale without much work on his end. Many of the ads came out this week in a few different travel and RV publications helping create most of the orders. As goofy as this product seemed in the beginning, it is a huge hit with campers, RV travelers, and just about anyone who needs a third hand to hold a flashlight.

We are working on another passive income generator that is a more lucrative business idea with a company that produces dependent eligibility audit software. In exchange for building their new website, we will profit 10% on every online or web sale. Since their product ranges from $8,000 on up, our profits could become very lucrative. With the success of The Cap Light this week, we can only hope that this next venture will also make us money while we sleep.

Ya’ gotta love that passive income! My 2010 motto: Work smarter, not harder.

What experiences have you had with passive income? Have you tried different business ideas to help generate additional income? Do you currently have a successful passive income generator you could share with us?

Ventura County at dusk

I love exploring city statistics, comparing them with the city I live in, and making comparisons to cities I contemplate moving to. One site I always go back to is BestPlaces.net. I can quickly use their city compare link and glance through their copious amounts of data. (The one draw back to using this site is much of their data is a few years old. I’m hoping that when the 2010 census is published, they will update their statistics.) Another feature I find helpful is personal quotes and opinions about cities that people leave on their site. This helps narrow down the positives and negatives of an unknown city.

I use this site when considering my options for moving. For instance, I’m currently thinking of moving to a neighboring county, Ventura. It’s only a 30 minute drive away from where I live in Los Angeles County. But their population is 1/10 the size. According to Google, Los Angeles County is busting at the seams at almost 10,000,000 people – Whoa! Ventura County’s population, just to the north west, is under a cool million.  Ventura County is almost half the size, but even factoring this in, the population density is 1/6th of that of LA County (according to Wikipedia). What a difference! Less density means:

• Less traffic! A huge problem with LA county.
• Better, smoother roads due to fewer cars. I’m really tired of the pot holes chewing up my car.
• Less people! I love our city’s diversity, but I feel a little like a sardine lately. Too many people in such a small area.
• Better bicycle infrastructure. Ventura county is more bike-friendly with bike lanes painted on most of their roads.
• Less graffiti. Because we have so many people, there’s more chance of hoodlums messing up the city. Lately, many of them have been having a heyday with spray paint!

When comparing counties, I’m also looking for a little break in the cost of living. According to BestPlaces.net, I will be saving money on most of my expenses. Below is a graph directly from their website:

City Cost of Living Comparison

I’m not claiming Ventura County is cheap in any sense of the word. But it is cheaper than where I live.

Another factor to consider is their employment, or unemployment rate, and future expected growth. Los Angeles, and California in general, is pushing an unemployment rate of 13%. Ventura, however, is slightly lower than that. Since I will also have to search for a new teaching job, or something temporary for a while, this may bring me more prospects. You’ll also notice from this data below that most people in Ventura make more money than those in LA county, promising at least!

Cost of Living

Because this data is slightly outdated, I know that the sales tax has increased about 1%, but it has all over California. Ventura County’s sales tax is still 1% or more less than LA’s. Again, another reason for me to think seriously about moving.

On a side note, Ultimate Money Blog is doing something similar, but comparing all 50 states. I find this data fascinating. If any one is thinking of moving out of state, this might be a good window into what other states have to offer. If you use her descriptions along with BestPlaces.net city comparisons, you might find a city and state you would prefer to live in.

What city do you live in? Have you recently moved to a new city? What data did you use? Are you contemplating moving?

Our Honday Element "Ellie". It's what inspired up to go camping!

Today, my husband refinanced our Honda Element. I wasn’t too thrilled about the idea at first, because it meant having car payments for a longer period of time. But after doing the math, we realized we would be saving money.  Over all it means we will be paying a few months longer, but will be saving over $2,400!

Here is how it played out, you can be the judge and decide if it was a good move or not (I love feedback!)

• Our current auto loan APR was 9.98%. Not great, but when my husband first financed the vehicle, his credit was in the low 600’s, not very good.
• Our current auto payments with the 9.98% loan was $475 a month. We’ve owned the car almost 4 years, so this was a high payment for the length of time we’ve owned the car, and we still had 22 months to go. We owed $9,500 on the car.
• The new refinanced loan is now 7.25%, this is more than 2 percentage points less. Better credit score equals better APR.
• Our new payment will be only $319 for 33 months. This is the stinker part of the refinanced loan, the length of time. This adds almost a whole year onto the new loan. However, there isn’t a penalty for paying it off early. We can also save another half a percent on the loan if we set up auto-debits and we will definitely be doing this!
• I calculated my monthly savings: $156 saved per month. This equates to a savings of $3,432 over 22 months (the original length of the first loan). Since I’ll be paying about $1,000 more in interest, because the loan was extended, I deducted the $1,000 off the saved monthly amount. This leaves me with a total savings of $2,432.

Overall, I think this was a good move. I don’t like that we will be paying for the car longer. However, because there is no early payoff penalty, I might still be able to pay the car off in two years. If I don’t pay it off early, at least I know I’ll be able to stick the savings of $156 a month into savings. With a meager savings rate of 1.14% in two years I should be able to save:   $3,786.21 based on Bank Rate’s simple savings calculator and compound interest. (This is if every dime of my savings get deposited into my savings account!)

What are your thoughts? Was this a good move? Should we have stuck it out with the higher payment and APR, but shorter time period?

This is the last part of the Half Dome hike. When I first saw this, I said no way! But then I did it and it wasn't that frightening.

As I am remaining to keep my blog quasi-anonymous, I realize that there are some things you should know about me. (I’m kinda stealing this post idea from Ryan’s 8 Random Things About Me post from Planting Dollars – Sorry Ryan!) So here are just a few quick and dirty facts about me:

• I’m short. Barely 5′ 2″. My husband, on the other hand, is a foot taller than me.
• I’m a Starbucks addict. You probably already knew this, especially if you checked out my guest post at gobankingrates.com.
• I love my green, Raleigh, Comfort bike. I bike as much as I can to Starbucks (of course!) to school, to the bank, to the grocery store. (Though lately I’ve been a little lazy !)
• I use Quickbooks to help track my spending. I’m the bookkeeper around my house, including handling all of my husband’s client invoices (he’s self employed), purchase orders, and even help out on projects occasionally.
• I’ve been able to pay down about $8,000 in debt. I still have more to go, but I’m getting there. I should be seeing that finish line in under 24 months, whew!
• My husband and I are hoping to purchase a house in the next year to year in a half. Perhaps a little house, under 1,500 square feet.
• I’ve increased my credit score by almost 200 points this past year. I need to raise it about 60 more points, but if I continue making on time payments and using my credit cards lightly, that should happen this year.
• I love architecture, especially little house plans. For those of you who are looking for terrific house plans, I finally created a ‘House Plan’ category and organized my posts that include links to house plan sites I’ve found. You can see this category on the right side bar. I notice that much of my Google traffic is from people searching little house plans, so here’s to you!
• I like to hike. I’ve hiked the Grand Canyon twice, hiked Yosemite’s Half Dome in a day (up and down), hiked Vernal Falls twice, and I hope to someday hike Mt. Whitney. (I’m not at all interested in Mt. Everest!)

Random facts that confirm I’m boring!