Yes, I Am Cheap - About Me

September 1 Check In

nospam@example.com (Cheapskate Sandy) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:42:23 -0700

When I disappear like this you know that it's for work. I can't miss my check-in though so here goes.

August 1, 2010
Student Loan #1 $843.89 @2.47%
Credit Card #1 $1,193.20 @13.99%
Credit Card #2 $2,633.44 @14.24%
HELOC $42,332.66 @3.125%
Student Loan #2 $37,747.21 @3.3-7.5%
The bed $849.00 @0%
Personal Loan $0
Car Note $0
Total: $85,599.40

Emergency Savings: $1,152.02
Emergency Savings Goal: $3,000

September 1, 2010
Student Loan #1 $695.31 @2.47%
Credit Card #1 $938.73 @13.99%
Credit Card #2 $0 @14.24%
Credit Card #3 $3,221.59 @0%
HELOC $41,974.38 @3.125%
Student Loan #2 $37,678.40 @3.3-7.5%
The bed $699.00 @0%
Personal Loan $0
Car Note $0
Total: $85,207.41

Emergency Savings: $963.20
Emergency Savings Goal: $1,500

Let's review my internet income.

Internet Income in August
Google Adsense $2.23
Sponsored Tweets $0.52
Commission Junction $0
Cash Crate $0.25
eHow $0.53
Total: $3.53

Whopping difference in income from last month. I had no time to work at it so all of the income earned was truly passive. I did nothing. A couple of things are different this month. The first thing that you will notice is that I added another credit card. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have 0% interest for the next few months, so I transferred my balance over. I also added some money to the balance because I had to purchase 4, count 'em, 4 new dang tires. All I can say is that construction is bad for rubbers, and winter is coming anyway. Between the cost of tires and installation I paid $500. You're thinking that I should have used my emergency funds, but I also had to pay taxes for the investment property that I purchased so I used some money from that. That's the reason for the drop in my savings.

I am tempted to use the balance of my emergency savings to pay off credit card #1, but I won't do it. I need to maintain at least $1,000 in the emergency account. I'd really feel better at $1,500 but what can I do?

I need to step up my online earnings. I should have more time in September to refocus and get things done. I want to end the year with a decent number. I really need to eliminate one of those credit balances to keep my motivation going. Wish me well.

Quick Update

nospam@example.com (Cheapskate Sandy) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 20:56:23 -0700

Very quick update. I've been very busy at work with no time to post, so please forgive me. I have great news...my wallet was turned in to the Lost & Found and I recovered everything last night. I mean every single thing including the change in my wallet. Who knew that nice people still exist afterall? Thanks for all of the well wishes and notes of kindness. Maybe our collective good thoughts led to some good karma.

Chase still gets the finger but I happily get my wallet.

WOOT!

I Lost My Purse

nospam@example.com (Cheapskate Sandy) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:00:00 -0700

For the first time in my life, I lost my purse. I know exactly how it happened too since I'm actually someone that has always been paranoid about losing it. It fell out of my unzipped bag as I commuted home. I remember hearing the "thud" and looked around to see if I saw what fell, but alas, I didn't look well enough, because my entire life is in a purse in someone else's hand. Worse yet, it was a cute Coach one that I had gotten for a gift from my old boss during one of her moments of guilt and lucidity.

I don't carry cash in my purse (primarily because I have no money), so I wasn't worried about that. My credit cards have great personal liability limits (maximum of $50 on one card and none on the others) in case someone charged up the world, so I wasn't worried about that one either. In fact, under federal law, $50 is the maximum that any bank can charge you for the unauthorized use of your credit card. What worried me was my host of debit cards - 3 in all and where they were on a Friday night in New York.

Have you ever looked at what you would be responsible for if your debit card ended up in someone else's hands? According to the Federal government, your liability for the unauthorized use of your ATM or debit card depends on how quickly you report the loss. Typically, if you report that the card is lost before it has been used, your bank can not hold you liable for any charges that follow your report. If you report your card lost or stolen within two business days after you realize that your card is missing, you will not be responsible for more than $50 for unauthorized use. If you don't report the loss within two business days after you discover the loss, you could lose up to $500. I lost my card on Friday night on the way home and within 2 hours of being home, I noticed that it was gone and popped online and the phone to cancel all of my cards.

My first call was to Chase which promptly informed me that one of my cards had already been canceled about an hour before. Great, I thought! Someone is already out there spending my meager cash. Nope. It turns out that someone called Chase to report that they had found my purse. Nice! I just knew that I was going to get my stuff back. Know what Chase had done? Promptly thanked the caller, canceled my card and didn't take any contact information from the person. Now, I've found a purse or two and I distinctly remember calling Chase once when someone walked out of the bank ATM area and left their card and purse sitting there. I remember Chase not caring about the purse or anything and canceling the card while I was on the phone. They were finished with the call as soon as they canceled the card. I would have thought that they would take my information since I told them that I had someone's purse and perhaps contacted the person to let them know that I wanted to return their property. Nope! I had to insist that they take my number and make a note on the account in case the person called in. In the end I just wound up dropping the bag of at the person's house since I found their information in the bag.

To the good Samaritan that found my purse and tried to do the right thing, thanks! It would be great if you could swing by my home (address on driver’s license in the front) and drop that bad boy off or drop it in a Priority Mail envelope C.O.D. addressed to me. To Chase, I'd love to help you change how you handle those types of phone calls. Customer service doesn't end with you canceling your card; it begins with you trying to connect the lost item back to your client. Now, I just have to worry about my medical insurance cards, replace my store cards, BJ card, driver’s license, etc. etc. Thankfully I never, ever carry my social security card or anything with those numbers on it.

What To Do If You Lose Your Purse or Wallet
1. File a police report. Not necessary in all cases, but just in case.

2. Contact your credit card companies and have the accounts closed.

3. Check your local DMV. Report ID lost and order replacement.

4. Contact your health provider for new cards.

5. If necessary contact credit bureaus to have a fraud alert activated.

6. Buy new purse or wallet.

7. Pop 2 Tylenol for the massive headache that you'll have.

8. Book a massage. You'll need it.

August 1 Check In

nospam@example.com (Cheapskate Sandy) — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 23:00:00 -0700

Hello! I took a little vacation from blogging for the past two weeks. It's my first time off since I began blogging at the beginning of last year. My brain was in need of a vacation, but I'm back into the swing of things and have lots of great topics to cover this month.

July was a tough month for me financially, but the debt did go down a little, which is always a good thing. Let's run the numbers then I'll explain what happened.

July 1, 2010
Student Loan #1 $991.87 @2.48%
Credit Card #1 $1,104.54 @13.99%
Credit Card #2 $2,738.82 @14.24%
HELOC $42,622.45 @3.125%
Student Loan #2 $37,828.33 @3.3-7.5%
The bed $999.00 @0%
Personal Loan $0
Car Note $0
Total: $86,285.01 $

Emergency Savings: $800.24
Emergency Savings Goal: $3,000

August 1, 2010
Student Loan #1 $843.89 @2.47%
Credit Card #1 $1,193.20 @13.99%
Credit Card #2 $2,633.44 @14.24%
HELOC $42,332.66 @3.125%
Student Loan #2 $37,747.21 @3.3-7.5%
The bed $849.00 @0%
Personal Loan $0
Car Note $0
Total: $85,599.40

Emergency Savings: $1,152.02
Emergency Savings Goal: $3,000

I didn't do as well as I would have liked because a few of those "emergency" type of things happened. I had lots of things go on with the car - to the tune of about $350. It had to be done, so there was no way to avoid it. On top of that I am having my transportation costs deducted from my paycheck on a pretax basis, but what I didn't realize was that the entire chunk would come from one paycheck instead of being spread into two as it was before. That was kind of painful, but I learned that lesson and will adjust appropriately for August.

Let's review my internet income.

Internet Income in July
Google Adsense $0.05
Sponsored Tweets $0.00
Commission Junction $15.70
Cash Crate $66.05
eHow $0.82
Total: $82.62

My income from Google ads pretty much sucked last month. Horrible really. I don't know why I keep it...I know, so that I can get to that $100 payout amount and then I'll kick that like a bad habit. On the other hand, Cash Crate really paid off for me last month. I only filled out 5 offers and the balance came from bonuses that I received from a few of you signing up so that was good. Might have to do a few more of those in August. Once I get that check it will go right to the smallest student loan.

My goals for this month? Again, work at that smaller student loan and now that I think about it, that card with the lingering 1K balance. I also have to pay property taxes soon for the house which will be a pain, but it has to be done. I'll let you know how it all goes at the end of the month. It would be nice to finish the year with the bed, student loan and the lower credit card debt gone. That was I can focus on the two largest monsters.

July 1 Check In

nospam@example.com (Cheapskate Sandy) — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 21:00:00 -0700

Happy Independence Day! I'm celebrating my own path towards independence by posting my debt update. It's time to see how I'm coming along with getting rid of the debt. Remember, the goal was to save some money and reduce some debt. Let's see how I did.

June 1, 2010
Student Loan #1 $1,239.61 @4.5%
Credit Card #1 $1,102.07 @13.99%
Credit Card #2 $2,920.57 @13.99%
HELOC $43,057.68 @3.125%
Student Loan #2 $37,905.02 @3.3-7.5%
The bed $1,321.50 at 0%
Personal Loan $0
Car Note $0
Total: $87,546.45 $

Savings: $549.24
Savings Goal: $3,000

July 1, 2010
Student Loan #1 $991.87 @2.48%
Credit Card #1 $1,104.54 @13.99%
Credit Card #2 $2,738.82 @14.24%
HELOC $42,622.45 @3.125%
Student Loan #2 $37,828.33 @3.3-7.5%
The bed $999.00 @0%
Personal Loan $0
Car Note $0
Total: $86,285.01 $

Emergency Savings: $800.24
Emergency Savings Goal: $3,000

I did pretty well! More than half of my monthly income went to debt servicing with is always my goal. I also managed to add $250 to the savings account which is a little tough to do when I'd rather put it all to debt servicing. You'll notice credit card #1 didn't move much, but I actually paid the debt down during the month and then ended up adding $250 in medical bills back onto the card. I had some oral surgery and the copay was brutal, but better than paying the entire amount out of pocket.

This month I've decided to add the income that I'd made online. It'll start out low and hopefully work its way upward. I hope to generate enough income on this site to pay off the smaller student loan. Keep in mind that I might not have actually been paid yet, because each of these sources have payout thresholds, but I've earned it.

Internet Income in June
Google Adsense $4.55
Sponsored Tweets $0.12
Commission Junction $15.00
Cash Crate $3.00
eHow $1.25
Total: $23.92

That's pretty decent considering that the one thing that actually involved me performing an action (sending out a Tweet) is the one that paid the least. The eHow article was written 8 months ago. All the others were based on someone clicking on an ad or signing up for a membership. In July I hope to continue reducing the debt and surpass the total that I made online. Wish me luck! Now on to watching the fireworks display that my neighbors insist on keeping me away with. Enjoy your hamburgers and hot dogs.

Jebus It's Hot

nospam@example.com (Cheapskate Sandy) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 08:00:00 -0700

It's Friday. I'm supposed to have a bunch of coupons and tweets and stuff for you. I know that I owe it to you, but Jebus it's hot as Hades here, and I don't believe in air conditioning, so I can't think straight. My legs are already sweating from the dang laptop and it's only been a minute.

Before you think that I went coo coo for cocoa puffs (consult your nearest urban dictionary) you have to understand where I'm coming from. I'm cheap. Shocker! This blog isn't called 'Yes, I'm Cheap' because I think it's cute; it's because I'm the cheapest person that I know. I absolutely refuse to buy an air conditioner when my freezer makes perfectly good ice, and when energy costs keep going up. I have never received a notice from Con Ed (that's the energy conglomerate in N.Y.) saying, "Surprise, the rate that we're charging you for electricity is decreasing." That and I just refuse to buy more crap. Well, more accurately, I can't afford to buy more crap. Follow me here.

Do you have a credit card bill? Yes? Do you carry a balance every month? You do? Do you remember what the hell you spent that money on three years ago? Neither do I. That is why I absolutely refuse to add one more penny to my credit card debt. Yes, I know that I can pay for the A/C in cash, but have you seen how much money I have in the bank - which, I hear, is only supposed to be for emergencies? You do remember that I live paycheck-to-paycheck right? Well, today's paycheck doesn't foresee an A/C unit in my future. Besides moving into the office where it's a frosty 67 degrees all day every day, the only other option that I have is to walk around in some indecent state of undress and hope that the neighbors don't call the cops...or take photos...without giving me a cut of the proceeds.

Which all leads me to the question, is it cruel and unusual punishment for Puppy to be so hot that she's moved into the bathroom? I left her water and even dropped a few ice cubes in, but she took the ice out of her bowl and took the slivers with her into the bathroom. I kid you not. I don't want the ASPCA knocking on my door for being a bad pet parent. So, in the interest of not getting a fine or having Puppy pass out from heat stroke, I think that I might have to buy the damn A/C. It's only for the dog. I promise.

P.S. Does anyone else from New York remember when you were a kid and the firefighters used to open the hydrants for you to splash in? Or better yet, when they didn't arrest you for having a water balloon fight with every single kid on your block or at least drench your worst school enemy with a Super Soaker? These kids don't know what they're missing!

P.P.S. I wonder what the fine would be to open a hydrant and run through a few times with the dog? Hmmm.

Image courtesy of S.I. Live Blog

Bucket List Item Complete: Cut Hair Very Short

nospam@example.com (Cheapskate Sandy) — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 06:00:00 -0700

I totally forgot to cross something off my bucket list. On Mother's Day I cut my hair. I didn't just cut my hair, I cut my hair OFF. How can I best describe this? Something of a cross between Pink, Rihanna, Ellen and Halle Berry. I guess that might be a little confusing. Basically one side is pretty much almost shaved and the other side is long enough to have my hair be professional looking in the day. The back is pretty much cut off. I'd say maybe it's 1/4 inch long in graduated layers. It took a bit of getting used to. Word to the wise, do not walk into your local salon and tell the stylist that you want something edgy and you don't mind having it extremely short. Yikes!

I walked into the office and no one recognized me. I mean to the point where people walked past me thinking that I was someone new. It was hilarious and I kep touching my hair because I felt kind of boyish. No, no, it didn't feel boyish. It felt bald. At least that was my perception. I'd love to take a photo for you, but I like to keep my photos off the internet so I'll leave you with a few of the ladies that I mentioned. Love them all.

June 1 Check In

nospam@example.com (Cheapskate Sandy) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 11:03:18 -0700

It's June. Time to check in on how I'm doing with my debt. Sorry for the late post. I had the most horrible migraine and work is incredibly busy again.

May 1, 2010
Student Loan #1 $1,436.27 @2.48%
Credit Card #1 $662.93 @13.99%
Credit Card #2 $3,384.04 @14.25%
HELOC $43,560.28 @3.125%
Student Loan #2 $37,985.67 @3.3%-7.5%
THE BED $1,446.50 at 0%
Personal Loan $0
Car Note $0
Total: $88,475.69

June 1, 2010
Student Loan #1 $1,239.61 @4.5%
Credit Card #1 $1,102.07 @13.99%
Credit Card #2 $2,920.57 @13.99%
HELOC $43,057.68 @3.125%
Student Loan #2 $37,905.02 @3.3-7.5%
The bed $1,321.50 at 0%
Personal Loan $0
Car Note $0
Total: $87,546.45 $

Savings: $549.24
Savings Goal: $3,000

I'm surprised that my debt total went down last month. Emptying out my saving to pay off my mom 5 months early was definitely an unforeseen bump in the road but that okay, I'll overcome it.

You'll notice that one credit card balance went up. I paid the total for one year's home insurance with the credit card. I'll put some of June's rent towards the credit card to pay off the amount that the insurance cost. I do have to pay for a certificate of occupancy ($100) which might end right back up on the credit card, and pay for some minor repairs in the house which I project will cost another $200. I'm tracking all the expenses that I pay for the home so that I can claim the rental income and offset the costs of the home on my taxes. This girl is planning ahead.

I checked my credit score and an happy to say that it's at 797! I want to get over the 800 hump to qualify for a loan to take care of some tax liabilities that I have outstanding from when I closed my business. I won't do that until I pay off credit card #1, which I project I will do at the end of July.

With my new credit score in hand I called GEICO to reassess the cost of my insurance and sure enough, my monthly insurance cost went down by about $17. It's not much, but it adds up to over $200 in one year. All it took was a phone call. Next up I want to call one of my credit cards to see if they can offer me a promotional rate on a balance transfer. If I do all of the math and it's cheap to do a balance transfer I might transfer all of my credit card balances onto one card.

How did you do this month?

Image courtesy of Foodaholics

Yakezie Bar Room Battle Royale

nospam@example.com (Cheapskate Sandy) — Thu, 27 May 2010 12:30:00 -0700

Have you met the Yakezie's? Financial Samurai has a challenge to improve the Alexa search ranking of the best personal finance blogs on the internet by helping to promote each other. Alexa is the Nielson ratings of the internet. When I joined the Yakezie challenge on April 19, I was ranked #2,885,904 overall on the internet and #927,455 in the U.S. As of today I'm ranked number #822,544 on Alexa and #125,375 in the U.S. It's an awesome improvement and I'm very proud of my ranking. I had my eye on getting close to the Financially Poor blog (currently #843,348, and #130,034 in the U.S.) and I surpassed them this week. Of course, I couldn't help a little bit of rubbing it in, so I tossed down the gauntlet in the comments section of his blog. I challenged him to a showdown to see who would have the highest rank on July 4th and he accepted. Would you like to help me win?

You can help me improve my ranking by downloading the Alexa toolbar and coming back to my site often. I will be adding more content over the next few weeks and browsing around the pages also helps my search standing. If you have a blog, please link to me and I will happy link to you as well. I have a running blogroll of the Yakezie members to the right and will update it often. You can also help me improve my rankings by linking to any of my blog posts from your social networks or by hitting any of the social media buttons on the bottom of any post.

Ladies, the guys are beating the pants off of us. We can't let them win can we? So, in the name of proving how powerful we can be, I think that we should help me win, don't you? Game on.

How Much Would You Pay for Peace?

nospam@example.com (Cheapskate Sandy) — Mon, 17 May 2010 12:35:00 -0700

I love the Mastercard "priceless" commercials. The one with the kids dancing happen to be my favorite. Not just because the kids had rhythm, but really, who doesn't want the funk? I love that Mastercard knows when to put a price on something and when something is just "priceless". What's priceless for you?

I've always thought that a healthy, and happy family was probably the most priceless of anything that I could want. This weekend, I realized something else is priceless - getting my mother off my list of debtors. Can I put a number to it? I sure as hell can.

Now, I love my family. Don't ever misconstrue that, but do you have some people in your life that always see the glass as being half empty? In fact, not only is their glass half empty, but there are dirty fingerprints on the outside of the glass and whatever was in the glass wasn't what they wanted anyway. Know someone like that? Well that person in my life, apart from one particular coworker, would be my mom. Follow me closely on this one.

Recall that I borrowed $3K from my mom to help purchase the investment property. My mother had expressed interest in purchasing some investment property when my brother purchased his about 7 months ago. When this opportunity presented itself through a friend of my brother's, I offered to go in 50-50 with my mom on the purchase of the property, and she mulled it over for about 2 weeks. Finally, her response was that she didn't want to tie up too much money into a property because she wants to move to Florida at some point in her life. Not this year, not next year, not a third year from now, but "at some point". She said that she would, however, lend me half of the money to purchase the property but that I would have to pay her interest. I countered with borrowing only $3K from her and paying her back within 6 months at 10% interest. That way, she has all of her funds back in a short period and she will get almost ten times the interest that ING is currently paying out, and it'll be tax free. She agreed. We are one month into the agreement and I have already paid her $500.

Continue reading "How Much Would You Pay for Peace?"