Nickeled and Dimed

We haven’t put up any new posts the past few days due to software issues, but starting tomorrow we will be back on track with our regular posting schedule.

In the meantime if you have any questions or story ideas you would like me to write about, I would love to hear them.  Just send them to centsabilitytowealth@gmail.com.

Thank you for your patience these past few days.  I’m excited to get rolling again.

The 191st carnival of personal finance was held at Dollar Frugal and included my article on why you want to be financially responsible.

Head over to Dollar Frugal and take a look at some other excellent personal finance articles.

Here are links to some of the best personal finance related articles from the past couple weeks:

I found my new favorite blog this week.  It’s called Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist, and it is phenomenal.  Seriously.  I’ve seen the site mentioned on several of my other favorite sites, but finally took the time to check it out last week and spent three straight hours reading her past articles.  While it is not exclusively a personal finance site, it mostly offers career advice (how to find a job, how to keep a job, how to advance in a job, how to figure out what kind of job you want, etc.) and obviously a job is a pretty large part of personal finance.  But it is more than simply a job hunting site.  She offers articles on topics ranging from how to get a great job to why you shouldn’t dodge the recession with grad school to sex.  Seriously, check her out.  Just go about half way down the front page and on the right side you will see a feature where you can just go to a random post.  Click on it and be prepared to be entertained and educated for hours.

JD at Get Rich Slowly, one of my other favorites, wrote a fascinating article on the third stage of personal finance.  In the past three years JD has seen his financial situation go from tens of thousands of dollars of credit card debt, to no debt, a fully funded retirement account and a more than adequate emergency fund.  Now, after a recent death of a close friend, he is asking himself “what now”.  This is a great article for those of you who have moved beyond the basics of personal finance or even for those of you who haven’t and want something to motivate you to keep going.

Ramit at I Will Teach You to Be Rich put out a new video on how to save money on your worst problem areas.  These videos from Ramit offer a nice change of pace from the typical personal finance blog.  I also got a chance to preview his new bookwhich will be coming out in March and from what I read it is excellent.  You can save a few dollars by pre-ordering a copy now at the link above.

Jim at Bargaineering had an inspiring guest post from Jim O’Donnell on doing what you love.  With the events going on at my job this is something I have been thinking about a lot lately.  Am I really happy in my job?  Am I doing something meaningful?  Am I passionate about my job?  These are all things Jim talks about in this great guest post.

Erica at erica.biz has an article up about negotiating to lower your phone and cable bills.  I plan to try these tips out in the next couple weeks with my cable bill and will report back on how will they work.

Check these articles out and let us know what you think.  If you have any other interesting personal finance related articles from the past few weeks feel free to post them in the comments section.

 If this is your first time visiting Centsability to Wealth you may want to see what we are about or read our introductory post.

A couple weeks ago we talked about tracking your spending with Mint.  I tried it for the first time in January and I absolutely love it.  That was also the article I have received the most feedback on with several of you trying it and emailing me about how much you like it.  If you haven’t tried it you, head over to www.mint.com and give it a try, it’s free!

Here is a look at what I spent in January, listed from highest charge to lowest:

- $715 on rent- Actual rent is $665 which is split four ways amongst all four roommates.  Courtney and I split the $50 pet fee.  And I deduct 1/4 of the electric cost off what one of my roommates pays me since he pays the electric bill.  So the total I spent on rent and electricity in January was about $217.

- $369 on auto and transportation- This was split up among the following costs:

     - Car payment- $300

     - $61 on fuel

     - $8 on car wash

- $255 on student loans

- $204 on food and dining- This was split up among the following costs:

     - $108 on groceries

     - $55 on dining out

     - $39 on alcohol

     - $2 on fast food

- $192 on cable and internet- This was again divided four ways with the other three reimbursing me 3/4 the cost.  Total I spent was $48.

- $89 on my new computer

- $6 on magazines at WalMart

- $75 on Christmas gift for family member

- $30 on dog food

- $6 on hosting this site

There you have it.  Every penny I spent in the month of January (not really every penny, as this doesn’t include the payments I made on my credit card).

As I have said before, the first step to cleaning up your finances and saving money is figuring out where your money goes.  Whether you use Mint, software like Quicken, or simply a pen and notepad, track your spending.  You will be shocked to learn where your money is actually going each month.

Please continue sound any personal finance related questions, suggestions and tips to centsabilitytowealth@gmail.com

If this is your first time visiting Centsability to Wealth you may want to see what we are about or read our introductory post.

Today at Get Rich Slowly JD posted a fascinating article called “How to Make Your Own Luck“.  In it, he highlights a Newsweek article by Richard Wiseman titled “What it Takes to Survive“.

The Newsweek article talks about the characteristics of people who survive life threatening situations and why it is not simply random luck.  JD’s article takes this a step further and discusses the topic of luck itself.  Here is the highlight of the article:

1. Lucky people frequently happen upon chance opportunities. But this is more than just being in the right place at the right time. “Lucky” people also have to be aware or the opportunity, and have the courage to seize it.
2. Lucky people listen to their hunches. In other words, they listen to their gut instinct. This reminds me of Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink, which argues that often our first instincts are correct.
3. Lucky people persevere in the face of failure. You’ve all seen that Nike commercial from Michael Jordan, right? “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
4. Lucky people have the ability to turn bad luck into good fortune. The past couple of weeks have been pretty shitty for me. They’ve sucked. It would be easy to surrender and just give up. Instead, I’ve tried to find the positive, and to build something constructive out of my experience. Instead of focusing on the loss of a close friend, I think, “What can I take from this?” As I wrote and delivered my eulogy, for example, I tried to learn more about speaking in public. (My second eulogy at tonight’s memorial service should be even better.)

The area of “lucky” and more specifically how our thoughts can impact our lives is something that is vastly interesting to me.  And it is something I plan to write much more about in the future. 

Creating and seizing opportunities is something I’m trying especially hard to do right now, as the company I work for is currently falling under extremely difficult times due to the economy and is laying off thousands of people.  I don’t know how secure my job is or if I will still have it next years, next month or even next week.  But what I do know is that I will not sit around and wait for “fate” to decide my future.  I’m doing everything I can to show my value at my current job and exploring outside possibilities as well.  If the day should come where I am next in line for the layoffs, I will be ready with plan B.

My favorite quote is “life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we deal with it.  I’m comforted by the idea that I am largely in control of my life and that it is not simply left to pure chance.  If luck is something we create, we all have the opportunity to be as “lucky” as we want to be.

Please continue sending any personal finance related questions, suggestions and tips to centsabilitytowealth@gmail.com

Here are my favorite stories from other personal finance blogs throughout the week.

At Get Rich Slowly, JD had an excellent article on the difference between the Warren Buffets of the world and the Donald Trumps, ultimately asking “which America” we want to be.

Ramit at I Will Teach You to Be Rich did a 40 minute video on mentoring, writing effective emails and the financial crisis.

Lazy Man and Money had a great guest post from Studenomics on dispelling common finance myths when it comes to college.

All Financial Matters had a guest post called Stacey’s Guide to Saving Money which highlights six steps to saving money.  It is a great read.

Check out these personal finance articles from the past week and let us know of any other good ones you have read recently.

Please continue sending any personal finance related questions, suggestions and tips to centsabilitytowealth@gmail.com.

Today I’m posting this from my brand new, top of the line, HP laptop computer.  Along with the computer, I purchased the two year full warranty, which fully covers any damage to any part of the computer at no cost to me.  The total price I paid for all this?  $83.59.

That’s about a $900 value for $83.59.  How did I get this great deal?  By purchasing the same full warranty when I bought my last computer three years ago. 

Looking back on that purchase three years ago, I can’t believe how foolish I was.  I was a college student who had a fully functional laptop that wasn’t cool enough anymore.  Being the money ignorant person I was, I went out and replaced this “uncool” computer with a $1,200, all gimmicks included, no expenses spared Gateway laptop.  And to top it all off, I put it on a credit card because I couldn’t afford it.  But in all these dumb decisions I made one great one, I spent the $300 for a full coverage three year warranty.

In the two and a half years I owned that computer, I took advantage of the warranty six different times, including this final time which resulted in a new computer.  Here’s the break down of the money I saved on each of the six times I used the warranty:

First use: Replace battery and power charger- $125

Second use: Replace battery and power charger- $125

Third use: Replace screen- $300

Fourth use: Replace battery and power charger- $125

Fifth use: Replace battery and power charger- $125

Sixth use: Replace entire computer- $900 value - $83 paid = $817 saving

Total Savings: $1617

In two and a half years my $300 investment resulted in a 500+ percent return.  Show me another investment offering that kind of return right now!

And I don’t think my experience with my laptop was outside the norm.  My first computer was repaired under warranty three different times, one of which required the entire hard drive being replaced.  My fiance, Courtney, computer has been repaired four times and will be going for its fifth time this weekend.  In all three cases the warranty paid for itself many, many times over.

Warranties are tricky.  A lot of personal finance experts will tell you to avoid them, that they cost more than they are worth.  While I think this may be true for a lot of products, I will never buy a computer (especially a laptop computer, which is even more fragile) without purchasing the full warranty.

Do you spend the money for the warranty when you purchase a new computer?  What about other products?

Please continue sending any personal finance related questions, suggestions and tips to centsabilitytowealth@gmail.com.

Centsability to Wealth was featured on two different blog carnivals today.

Penelope Pince at Pecuniarities hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance no. 188 and featured Centsability to Wealths article on insurance.  Penelope is also holding a 2009 Financial Resolutions Contest which offers a chance to win a subscription to the Wallstreet Journal, so check it out.

The  Carnival of Debt Reduction no. 175 was held at No Debt Plan and featured Centsability to Wealths article on strategies for paying off debt.

On top of articles from this site, these carnivals feature excellent articles from several other personal finance blogs, so check it out and mention any that your particularly like here.

Here are some of my favorite articles from other personal finance bloggers over the past week:

At Get Rich Slowly, JD had several interesting reads this week.  His Tuesday article on Hustle and Patience talked about Gary Vaynerchuk’s  speech on doing what you love and how people get too caught up in wanting immediate results instead of being willing to workfor the results.  Wednesday featured an excellent guest post from Leo Babauta of Zen Habits titled which talked about replacing your bad financial habits with good financial habits.  And on Saturday he had a nice post highlighting what would be Benjamin Franklins 303rd birthday.  Ben Franklin is the original personal finance guru with nearly everything he said back then still holding true today, including this timeless masterpiece, “He that goes a-borrowing goes a-sorrowing”.

At I Will Teach You To Be Rich, Ramit got a good discussion going by posting a readers question on how to handle his $30,000 worth of debtafter his recent divorce.  The main discussion hinged on whether he should tap the $8,500 in his retirement account to use in attacking the debt, with nearly all commenters advising him to leave it alone.

Blueprine for Financial Prosperityhad an article similar to JD’s about finding success through hard work, talent and passion.

Check out these articles and continue sending Centsability to Wealth any questions, suggestions and story tips to centsabilitytowealth@gmail.com

Here in Ohio, the past week has not been pretty weather wise.  On top of the arcticly cold temperatures, we also got piles of snow dumped on us.  A drive that usually takes me under five minutes took over an hour getting from work to the freeway.  The result of the mix of bad weather and crowded traffic was an increase in the number of auto accidents.

A car accident can be a major hit to your finances.  On top of the costs to repair or replace your car, you could have medical bills as a result of the crash.  Even if you are properly insured, the deductibles alone can put a large dent in your emergency fund.

So with that in mind, here are five mistakes to avoid while driving in winter weather from an article at www.forbes.com by Hannah Elliott:

Driving too fast. Learn to accelerate and decelerate slowly during inclement weather. “I can’t tell you how many crashes, strandings and just bad things in general happen when people are traveling faster than they should be,” New York state police officer David Salmon says. “Not only from the standpoint of losing control of your vehicle on slippery roads, but also the magnitude of a crash when and if you do hit something else.” Take extra care on hills and around corners; accelerating up hills causes wheels to spin.

Following others too closely. During the summer, following other drivers at a count of two or three seconds might be enough, but in bad conditions, allow at least five or six seconds of distance. And don’t stop at all if you can avoid it: The power required to move forward from a stop far outweighs the power required to keep a car rolling, and you’ll need all the help you can get if you’re on ice. And never use cruise control on wet conditions.

Overcorrecting on ice. Learn how to control a skid. If you’re traveling in a straight line, stay calm, take your foot off the gas and brake gently. Turn the steering wheel in the direction you want to go. If you slip on a corner, smoothly accelerate to transfer the weight to the rear wheels, which allows you to steer into the direction of the skid and regain control. If the car uses rear-wheel drive, don’t over-accelerate, or the tires may over-spin completely out of the turn.

Driving while fatigued. Failure to get adequate sleep before attempting a long trip on cold, short winter days greatly increases driving risks. Be realistic in driving estimates so that it’s not difficult to meet planned arrival times. If you start to feel tired, switch drivers or pull into a safe area for a nap.

Driving with poor visibility. Driving at night and driving in the rain or snow greatly reduce visibility, which leads to immense risks on the road. Poor weather is associated with 7,000 fatalities, 800,000 injuries and more than 1.5 million car crashes nationally each year, with an estimated economic toll of $42 billion. Adverse weather is involved in nearly 20% of highway fatalities.

Follow these tips and you will significantly lower your chances of an accident in bad weather.

Please continue send us any questions, suggestions and story tips to centsabilitytowealth@gmail.com