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Archive for March, 2006

Friday! Update: Smoking, Frugality, and Metrosexuality…03.24.2006

24 Mar

Thanks to Singlemom and Eric for their support…I’m proud to say that I’m still smoke free! It’s now been almost a month! 20 days of being smoke free…saving me a whopping $45.00! Not too shabby.

This week has been kind of busy for me at work. On top of that it’s just been rainy and dreary, so I haven’t really been as motivated as I wish I was…My blogging has been meh.

I did find a couple posts that were quite fascinating…The first from Kirby, with a post on being so frugal, we some times forget the value of time in our search for the cheapest things.

And the other from Make Love, Not Debt, who talks about getting $35.00 haircuts! I’d say that’s not being overly frugal. :) But definitely not for me…I’m happy with finding the best deal on haircuts…But I’m not quite ready to go bald. Yet.

Have a great weekend everyone!

 
1 Comment

Posted in General on March 24, 2006

 

National Sales Tax. Part 2

24 Mar

Thanks for all the comments to my original post.

I knew when I wrote the post that there are tons of fine details that need to be taken into consideration, but the bottom line in my opinion is that a national sales tax in replacement of our current income tax would be pretty awesome. Of course fine tuning would be required.

PROs
- Encourage savings.
- Simple, reduce time required, improve producitivity (because people will do other things).
- Reduce government costs, save taxpayer money!
- Tax everyone, including tourism and non-citizens. Non-citizens (aka illegal immigrants) should pay taxes. I believe Tourists should as well, especially since they are using our resources while visiting.

Important Considerations
- Rebate system. There would should be some sort of “rebate” system, which would allow credit for certain income brackets, and other credits.
- What would the “tax rate” be?
- Is everything taxable?
- Is everything taxable at the same rate?
- Industries would virtually be eliminated…Block heads no more…IRS minimized…what type of actions would be done to help evolve these industries? Real lives will be affected.

It seems like the one prevalent belief is that this would not happen anytime soon. It would really be well worth a national discussion on this. Maybe we (pf bloggers and readers) could make it happen? Now THAT would be something to blog. :)

 
4 Comments

Posted in General on March 24, 2006

 

Let’s Get Rid Of “Income Tax”! National Sales Tax Just A Dream?

23 Mar

I hate doing taxes. Imagine if we all didn’t have to “do taxes”! Am I living in a dream world? Of course not paying taxes is definitely dreaming, but is not having to fill out tiny boxes or guessing how much I’m going to owe the government next year a possibility or just a crazy idea? What’s that addage? Something like “There are 2 things guaranteed in life…taxes and death.” So getting rid of taxes completely is not an option, but a national sales tax?

Maybe not so crazy if you look at some “almost radical” ideas being brought up by our politicians. One of them I really like, and it’s the idea of a national sales tax. Instead of being taken out of wages, taxes would be taken out of everything we buy. Read more about it here. The “flat-tax system” is another idea out there, but I’m not so sure I agree with that.

I hope this is an issue that becomes more prominent in the future. I think the US tax system is really a waste of time and energy, and should be made much simpler. It would definitely encourage saving! And of course change is always scary, but in many cases well worth it. What do you think? This is US specific…but there must be some countries with better systems? I have to do some research…

 
7 Comments

Posted in General on March 23, 2006

 

Earn 250 AAdvantage Miles (American Airlines)

22 Mar

Just visit this site and register! You have to watch the intro, but it’s just a minute or so. You can also earn more miles if you test drive or buy a Lincoln Zephyr.

A note on this offer…I actually forgot about it, and today I received an email to signup. I should give credit to Slickdeals.net though, because they did have it there about a month ago…where I initially saw it. I didn’t start my blog yet though! Here’s a direct link to the form…so you can bypass the intro.

 
1 Comment

Posted in General on March 22, 2006

 

FDIC Insurance Limit To Go Up…Sort Of.

22 Mar

The FDIC insurance limit is going up to $250,000 on April 1, 2006…on retirement accounts at financial institutions with FDIC coverage.

Regular insurance limit stays at $100,000.

The best article I could find on the limit increase, was at the Dallas Morning News.

One point that I was always confused with in regards to the insurance coverage was what if you had more than $100,000 but spread out across different banks? Well according to the FDIC website:

Basic Insurance Limit Is $100,000
The FDIC insures deposit accounts such as checking, NOW and savings accounts, money market deposit accounts, and certificates of deposit (CDs). The basic insurance limit is $100,000 per depositor per insured bank.

Then another section says:

Coverage Over $100,000
If you or your family has deposits at one insured bank totaling more than $100,000, you should know that different ownership categories of accounts are separately insured up to $100,000. You may qualify for more than $100,000 in coverage at one insured bank if you own deposit accounts in different ownership categories.

My interpretation is that if you spread your money across different banks, you are entitled to $100,000 in coverage per bank. So I called…1-877-ASK-FDIC (1-877-275-3342). She confirmed, you are covered separately for each bank. Great news! Don’t keep over $100,000 in one bank, unless you have varying account types like joint and single owner. Read more at the FDIC site.

 
No Comments

Posted in General on March 22, 2006

 

What’s In My Wallet?

22 Mar

Brand:
Kaiser.

Type:
Bi-fold, black leather.

Contents:
- Driver’s license
- Lucky charm (I’m not superstitious)
- Lucky charm 2 (Really! People gave these to me…)
- Secret Santa paper (Wow! time to clean the wallet out)
- 3 $20s
- 2 $5s
- 5 $1s (I usually have a max of $20 cash lol)
- David & Buster’s Power Card (Why do I have this in here? I haven’t gone for over a year)
- City & County Golf Card
- Work badge
- Costco card
- American Express Corporate Card
- Visa Business Card
- Best Buy gift card
- Medical card
- Home Depot gift card
- Starbucks gift card
- ATM Card
- ATM Card 2
- Mastercard
- Mastercard 2
- American Express Blue card
- Entertainment card
- Doggie appointment reminder card
- $1 off Quiznos coupon
- Laminated card with phone numbers, membership numbers
- Various frequent customer cards
- 3 receipts (ATM withdrawls, food, etc.)

WOW! I have a ton of stuff in my wallet…What’s in yours?

 
3 Comments

Posted in General on March 22, 2006

 

Even In the 21st Century, Class Matters…

21 Mar

I don’t know how to start this. On one hand, I want to go on and on about how I wish the world were blind to gender, age, race, sexual orientation, and on the other I know that no matter how hard we try, it’s an endless war. I hope one day it’s gone completely.

I remember learning in high school about social class, which included a bit on French social class and Bourgeoisie…Might have been in World History class…ahh, I don’t remember. I always thought that was a neat word…Sounds funny when you say it. Along with onomatopoeia…Haha. See I did pay attention in high school. Sometimes…

Well, even today, hundreds of years later, class still matters. John @ The Financial Ladder brings up this section at the NY Times that discusses social class. Within this section, there’s one chart that really peaks my interest, under the tab “Nationwide Poll,” then “Opportunity and Advancement.” Over 75% of respondents said that the likelihood of moving up is the same or greater than it was 30 years ago. That’s pretty cool. At least some dreams still exist in America. Now to figure out why the other 25% feels different…

 
No Comments

Posted in General on March 21, 2006

 

Monthly Poll: 2006 Better or Worse? Closing early.

20 Mar

I’ve decided to close the poll early. Blogpoll.com was slow, had some,uhhh, in-appropriate ads after you voted (I did not pick those!), and the overwhelming vote (84%) indicates 2006 being better than 2005. For those that indicated better, I hope that’s the case for the entire year!

There were 3 votes (12%) indicating that this year is worse than 2005, though. Whatever the reasons for that, I do hope it gets better. We’re only 25% through the year, which leaves a lot of time for improvement.

Finally, 1 vote (4%) indicated the same…I hope the same means that you are making your millions! :) Thanks for all the votes everyone.

 
No Comments

Posted in General on March 20, 2006

 

To All Animal Lovers…Poor Mooie.

20 Mar

This is a call to all animal lovers, and even those that have allergies and can’t stand them…I just found a website about an animal that was tortured and abused that touched my heart.

Mooie is a 4 month old puppy that was burned by acid over 80% of her body. Just a couple months younger than my dog :( . The police and animal authorities involved did nothing to investigate the issue and destroyed crucial evidence. They don’t know who did it.

I just want to spread the word so that the public is more aware that this type of activity occurs and probably falls under the radar more often than might be thought because animals can’t speak out for themselves. If you know anyone that is abusing an animal, call your local humane society. I hope that this is just an exception, and most animal cruelty cases will be handled properly.

***WARNING*** Graphic content on link. ***WARNING***
Justice for Mooie
***WARNING*** Graphic content on link. ***WARNING***
 
1 Comment

Posted in General on March 20, 2006

 

Know Your Credit Card Benefits!

20 Mar

Price matching, extended warranty, loss/theft reimbursement…it’s easy to forget many credit cards offer this whenever you use their cards. I just thought I’d share some information I used in the past…

Here are links to the benefits I could find offer for each type of card:

Different levels of cards offered have names like Platinum, Gold, Bronze, Titanium, Signature, Blue, and Green — each with different features and services.

Some sites like visa.com lets you actually store product information, which is really convenient, because you don’t have to worry about it should something happen to your purchase.

The general benefits vary, but the core and best offerings are:

Warranty Extension – This will automatically double your manufacturer’s warranty up to 1 year. I know Visa will actually allow you to purchase warranty extension too if you’re interested.
Price protection – If you find your item at a lower price within 60 days, you can get it reimbursed.
Theft protection – If you item gets stolen or damaged within 90 days, you can get reimbursed.

How to make claims:

  • Visa Claims – website
  • Mastercard Claims – Could not find website. Found this: 1-800-MC-ASSIST (1-800-622-7747)
  • American Express Claims – website
  • Discover Card – I’m not sure they have any claims services.
 
2 Comments

Posted in General on March 20, 2006

 
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