So, I've been having our AT&T phone and internet service debited automatically out of my checking. We live in Altadena, and our cellular reception is a joke. Also, we have a baby. So, it seems having a landline would be important in case of emergencies. By emergencies, I mean calling 911 (which someone tried to tell me would go through even if I didn't have reception, but I don't understand the technology of how that would work and I do not want to find out the hard way) -- but I also mean calling my mother in the middle of the night when the baby won't stop crying and I am completely freaked out. Or, when the baby has fallen down, my husband promises he's fine, but I still need to hear it from my mommy.
But for that charming, old-fashioned landline phone service and high speed internet, how much could it be, really? In my mind, I was paying maybe $40 or so a month for it. This figure is based on absolutely nothing seeing as I never actually looked at a bill, the bill is in my husband's name and it's never occurred to me to actually, you know, open his mail.
Imagine my surprise when I'm scrolling through my online banking statement, and the number $90.65 jumps out at me. WHAT?? $90??? What the hell did I spend $90 on? To AT&T? What does AT&T have that costs that much? Did someone steal my informaiton? Is someone going on some kind of telecommunications spree with my money?
Yes. Sadly, that someone is me. I'm paying $90.65 including tax for my combined home phone and high speed internet service. I called the number conveniently located on the online entry and I negotiated myself a much better deal. $90???? Seriously??
HOW I DID IT: I kept saying customer service to the automated system until I got a real human being on the phone. I realized then I was woefully unprepared to make this call. Did I have a billing statement in front of me. Umm, no. OK. Can I provide the last four digits of my husband's social? Umm, no. How about the exact amount of the most recent bill I paid. OH, YESSIRREE! I know that! OK. Actually. I didn't know. I remembered the $90, but had to log back into my bank account to retrieve the .65. So, once I did that, the representative took a look at my account and explained what I was paying for. Also, we had "no promotions" on our account. There's always a promotion to be had.
He looked at my phone service, and said he could drop that down from $37 a month for unlimited nationwide calling to $29 a month for a year.
For the internet, there were three options. A.) $10 off for a year. B.) Sign a contract for one year, and lock into $28 a month for a year. C.) No contract, but 50 percent off for six months. I took option C, bringing me down to $21.50 for six months. After that, I can call in and check for another promotion. I made a note in my calendar to call back in six months and again in a year.
The lesson: You don't need to be terribly prepared for these kinds of calls. Two, read your bills. Three, turns out internet and phone service is much like cable service. You have to call in and fight for the best rates, and keep an eye on your rates spiking.
Savings: I got a one-time savings of $21.50 since he went ahead and reduced this month's bill by that amount. I've reduced my overall bill, before taxes, from $80 a month to $50 a month. That's another $30 for me, for at least six months.
Total Recurring Monthly Savings So Far: $190 a month.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
It's been 438 days since my wedding, and I'm still paying for the website!
I have a terrible habit of not writing things down. I should keep a record of what I'm spending, and I will. I'm just not there yet.
However, it also means that I have my bank's phone number memorized and I often listen to the recorded list of what's coming out of my account. And did you know...I'm spending $11.99 a month for my wedding website. I was married more than a year ago. I never did spend enough time on the darn thing, and now I'm still paying it.
Here. You can see it: http://www.ewedding.com/sites/jeffandnicole2011/
That's about the most traffic that site has ever had. I'm talking to you person who may have just clicked. I still, at this moment, have not yet cancelled it because I feel like I should copy and paste the nice things I said about my wedding party girls. Jeff never got around to doing his part, so nothing nice about the gentlemen there.
Still, I'm paying to have that thing around -- and it was never fully functioning. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!
I've spent roughly $120 so far for the privelege of...what? Having a website around I forgot existed until my bank told me so?
That's just silly.
So, click again in a couple of days. Hopefully, you get a broken link.
Still, it's interesting how we hold on to things that cost us, even when they do not and cannot help us anymore. Whether it's piles of things taking up valuable space in our homes, or in a storage space (more on that soon. Oh, god.), or junk in our heads that just holds us back.
I never realized I also do that in terms of where my money is going. (Which is part of the reason I so seldom have any.)
However, it also means that I have my bank's phone number memorized and I often listen to the recorded list of what's coming out of my account. And did you know...I'm spending $11.99 a month for my wedding website. I was married more than a year ago. I never did spend enough time on the darn thing, and now I'm still paying it.
Here. You can see it: http://www.ewedding.com/sites/jeffandnicole2011/
That's about the most traffic that site has ever had. I'm talking to you person who may have just clicked. I still, at this moment, have not yet cancelled it because I feel like I should copy and paste the nice things I said about my wedding party girls. Jeff never got around to doing his part, so nothing nice about the gentlemen there.
Still, I'm paying to have that thing around -- and it was never fully functioning. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!
I've spent roughly $120 so far for the privelege of...what? Having a website around I forgot existed until my bank told me so?
That's just silly.
So, click again in a couple of days. Hopefully, you get a broken link.
Still, it's interesting how we hold on to things that cost us, even when they do not and cannot help us anymore. Whether it's piles of things taking up valuable space in our homes, or in a storage space (more on that soon. Oh, god.), or junk in our heads that just holds us back.
I never realized I also do that in terms of where my money is going. (Which is part of the reason I so seldom have any.)
Keeping at it
So, I fell off the blogging wagon a bit.
Oops.
Now, I'm back. And, for what it's worth, whatever I'm doing appears to be working. For the first time in a couple of months, I didn't spend my whole paycheck down to the last dollar. That's a good start.
The little changes really do add up to making a difference.
Oops.
Now, I'm back. And, for what it's worth, whatever I'm doing appears to be working. For the first time in a couple of months, I didn't spend my whole paycheck down to the last dollar. That's a good start.
The little changes really do add up to making a difference.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Saving money the fun way
Personal finance doesn't have to be complete drudgery. I've found the fun side.
No matter how broke I may be, or fear being, I still have to put on clothes and go to work everyday, and the general expectation in our office is that you will not look like a vagrant. All of my shoes are falling apart, and I'm seeing (imagining?) sidelong, disapproving glances from the shoe police in the office.
So, I checked out the DSW website and identified a reasonably-priced, work-appropriate pair of knee boots. (In addition to the shoe police, I was also swept up by the cold fall weather we enjoyed for about 72 hours before the temperatures spiked back up into the 90s.)
Still, I felt like I could save just a little more. I recalled one time a helpful DSW sales clerk asking me if I had any of the $10 coupons they mail out to people signed up for their discount program. I confessed I tend to lose those as soon as I get them. She said if I come into the store at a slow time -- like a weekday morning -- they would call into their headquarters for me and check to see if I had any coupons on my account. She said they will often even re-activate expired ones.
So, if a DSW clerk could make a call, could I do it to? I decided to try, and the results were excellent.
How I Did It: I called 1-866-DSW-SHOES. I explained that I tend to lose my $10-off gift coupons, and the representative pulled up my account by my email address and phone number. Turns out that I did, in fact, have several unused coupons. She said she could reactivate three of them, and they would be available for use in a couple of business days. Indeed, the next time I logged on, I had three $10-off coupons waiting for me.
Savings: I got my boots for $30 off -- nearly half price!
Stomping around in knee boots feeling like a super hero? Priceless.
No matter how broke I may be, or fear being, I still have to put on clothes and go to work everyday, and the general expectation in our office is that you will not look like a vagrant. All of my shoes are falling apart, and I'm seeing (imagining?) sidelong, disapproving glances from the shoe police in the office.
So, I checked out the DSW website and identified a reasonably-priced, work-appropriate pair of knee boots. (In addition to the shoe police, I was also swept up by the cold fall weather we enjoyed for about 72 hours before the temperatures spiked back up into the 90s.)
Still, I felt like I could save just a little more. I recalled one time a helpful DSW sales clerk asking me if I had any of the $10 coupons they mail out to people signed up for their discount program. I confessed I tend to lose those as soon as I get them. She said if I come into the store at a slow time -- like a weekday morning -- they would call into their headquarters for me and check to see if I had any coupons on my account. She said they will often even re-activate expired ones.
So, if a DSW clerk could make a call, could I do it to? I decided to try, and the results were excellent.
How I Did It: I called 1-866-DSW-SHOES. I explained that I tend to lose my $10-off gift coupons, and the representative pulled up my account by my email address and phone number. Turns out that I did, in fact, have several unused coupons. She said she could reactivate three of them, and they would be available for use in a couple of business days. Indeed, the next time I logged on, I had three $10-off coupons waiting for me.
Savings: I got my boots for $30 off -- nearly half price!
Stomping around in knee boots feeling like a super hero? Priceless.
Payment protection? I don't think so.
I was taking a look at my credit card, which I don't think I even touched this month, and I was trying to figure out what all the charges were.
One of them was payment protection. I thought about this. My credit card debt isn't actually terribly high. In the event of a catastrophe, in which I absolutely could pay no bills, this particular card wouldn't be my biggest challenge or worry.
Also, there would have to be something so catastrophic that neither myself nor my husband could scrape together a minimum payment. I'm sure there are plenty of scenarios.
Basically, what these kinds of plans allow is a vacation from paying on your credit card under certain circumstances: prolonged illness, disability, etc. There are also certain times -- marriage, birth of a child -- that you may defer payments for a few months. But, there are likely hoops to jump through and much paperwork involved. Furthermore, I got married and had a baby in the last year, and didn't use it or even know that I could.
While I can - because I am very creative - imagine some really sad scenarios wherein I couldn't pay this bill, and no one I love could help me pay it, I don't imagine any of them are likely enough for me to pay $15 every month.That's $180 a year. This is just literally buying time that I might never need, and time that won't serve me particularly well should disaster strike. It's not as though have this protection will wipe out your debt in the event of a disaster. You're just paying money for the privelege of owing money a little longer.
If my credit card company really wanted to protect me, they would give me a little electric shock every time I reached for that card.
I went ahead and cancelled that out.
How I did it: Cancelling this must be a popular option. There's a toll-free number right next to it on my credit card statement. When I called, there was no pressure to keep it, and honestly, the representative seemed a little bewildered that anyone has these things at all.
Savings: $15 a month.
Total recurring monthly savings so far: $160.
My problem: I keep thinking of things I can do with that $160 -- which is completely missing the point!
One of them was payment protection. I thought about this. My credit card debt isn't actually terribly high. In the event of a catastrophe, in which I absolutely could pay no bills, this particular card wouldn't be my biggest challenge or worry.
Also, there would have to be something so catastrophic that neither myself nor my husband could scrape together a minimum payment. I'm sure there are plenty of scenarios.
Basically, what these kinds of plans allow is a vacation from paying on your credit card under certain circumstances: prolonged illness, disability, etc. There are also certain times -- marriage, birth of a child -- that you may defer payments for a few months. But, there are likely hoops to jump through and much paperwork involved. Furthermore, I got married and had a baby in the last year, and didn't use it or even know that I could.
While I can - because I am very creative - imagine some really sad scenarios wherein I couldn't pay this bill, and no one I love could help me pay it, I don't imagine any of them are likely enough for me to pay $15 every month.That's $180 a year. This is just literally buying time that I might never need, and time that won't serve me particularly well should disaster strike. It's not as though have this protection will wipe out your debt in the event of a disaster. You're just paying money for the privelege of owing money a little longer.
If my credit card company really wanted to protect me, they would give me a little electric shock every time I reached for that card.
I went ahead and cancelled that out.
How I did it: Cancelling this must be a popular option. There's a toll-free number right next to it on my credit card statement. When I called, there was no pressure to keep it, and honestly, the representative seemed a little bewildered that anyone has these things at all.
Savings: $15 a month.
Total recurring monthly savings so far: $160.
My problem: I keep thinking of things I can do with that $160 -- which is completely missing the point!
Monday, October 15, 2012
Getting a little money back where I can.
So, it can't always be about making a cut that will save me money in the longterm or even the long run.
I am also working on saving little bits where I can.
Last week, I was monitoring my bank account closely as payday approached. I was sitting on some cash and wanted to keep it out of the bank if I could, as I had plans for it, but had it ready just in case funds got low. I got an email alert that my checking was coming up short, so I went ahead and made the deposit same day to dodge the hefty $35 fee my bank would apply.
And yet, there that fee was the next day. That was strange.
I called my bank, and after waiting on hold for 10 minutes, gave up. I realized it was the day after a bank holiday, so the wait times would be extra long. I called back the next day. A nice guy looked at the account and offered me a very long, complicated explanation as to why I was charged the fee, and then he went ahead and reversed it.
In fact, any time I've been charged a fee by my bank -- even times when I deserve it -- I find if I give them a call, they'll reverse the fee.
How I did it: I was calm, patient, firm but non-defensive. I explained why I thought the fee was applied erroneously. I listened patiently to the explanation, and profusely thanked the guy after he went ahead and reversed the fee. In fact, he told me right up front he could take the fee off my account, but wanted me to understand what happened so I could avoid it in the future.
Savings: $35.
I am also working on saving little bits where I can.
Last week, I was monitoring my bank account closely as payday approached. I was sitting on some cash and wanted to keep it out of the bank if I could, as I had plans for it, but had it ready just in case funds got low. I got an email alert that my checking was coming up short, so I went ahead and made the deposit same day to dodge the hefty $35 fee my bank would apply.
And yet, there that fee was the next day. That was strange.
I called my bank, and after waiting on hold for 10 minutes, gave up. I realized it was the day after a bank holiday, so the wait times would be extra long. I called back the next day. A nice guy looked at the account and offered me a very long, complicated explanation as to why I was charged the fee, and then he went ahead and reversed it.
In fact, any time I've been charged a fee by my bank -- even times when I deserve it -- I find if I give them a call, they'll reverse the fee.
How I did it: I was calm, patient, firm but non-defensive. I explained why I thought the fee was applied erroneously. I listened patiently to the explanation, and profusely thanked the guy after he went ahead and reversed the fee. In fact, he told me right up front he could take the fee off my account, but wanted me to understand what happened so I could avoid it in the future.
Savings: $35.
Well, ouch. That hurt.
A couple of years ago now, I was enjoying the weekly wine tasting at Colorado Wine Company. It's one of my favorite small businesses ever. The owners and staff are smart, friendly and helpful. The wines are really wonderful and at incredibly great prices. I found out they had a few monthly wine club programs. I signed up for the premier one, "The Yummiest Trio." For $80 a month, I was given three of their tastiest selections.
I discovered Eric | Kent wines, which are some of the most amazing I ever tasted. And Fiddlehead. And Orin Swift. So many others that I opened with friends, shared over holiday dinners, appreciated during a quiet evening at home with my husband. I eagerly awaited each month, and I've faithfully saved the tasting notes that come with each month's treasures.
I'd talked about bumping down to one of their $50 a month options, and said I would do that many times. But, then I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Sadly, though, after coming up short earlier this month, I made the call I'd been putting off. I cancelled my wine club until my finances are more under control.
I know it doesn't sound like a big deal. But there have been many times it was helpful to have a nice bottle of wine in the house, like when we needed an impromptu gift, something to bring to a nice dinner or for someone who did something especially nice for us. It was a little monthly exploration and discovery I looked forward to. Not only that, but I really respect the owners of this place. They're really nice people. They have a family. They've made the neighborhood they're in -- the neighborhood that was my home for a while -- a better place. I feel good about spending my money there.
When Jeff and I decided to get married, we made a conscious choice to have the wedding in Eagle Rock, and to use as many Eagle Rock businesses as we could. If we were going to spend money on a wedding, we wanted it to in some small way also help the community we lived in. We ordered our wines from CoWineCo, and even had our rehearsal dinner there -- bringing in some pizzas from next door in what was a perfect recreation of a typical Nicole and Jeff Friday night date. I am not giving up Colorado Wine Company. It is a wonderful business. However, I am going to have to forego my very favorite luxury.
For now.
Savings: $80 per month.
Total recurring monthly savings so far: $145 per month.
I discovered Eric | Kent wines, which are some of the most amazing I ever tasted. And Fiddlehead. And Orin Swift. So many others that I opened with friends, shared over holiday dinners, appreciated during a quiet evening at home with my husband. I eagerly awaited each month, and I've faithfully saved the tasting notes that come with each month's treasures.
I'd talked about bumping down to one of their $50 a month options, and said I would do that many times. But, then I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Sadly, though, after coming up short earlier this month, I made the call I'd been putting off. I cancelled my wine club until my finances are more under control.
I know it doesn't sound like a big deal. But there have been many times it was helpful to have a nice bottle of wine in the house, like when we needed an impromptu gift, something to bring to a nice dinner or for someone who did something especially nice for us. It was a little monthly exploration and discovery I looked forward to. Not only that, but I really respect the owners of this place. They're really nice people. They have a family. They've made the neighborhood they're in -- the neighborhood that was my home for a while -- a better place. I feel good about spending my money there.
When Jeff and I decided to get married, we made a conscious choice to have the wedding in Eagle Rock, and to use as many Eagle Rock businesses as we could. If we were going to spend money on a wedding, we wanted it to in some small way also help the community we lived in. We ordered our wines from CoWineCo, and even had our rehearsal dinner there -- bringing in some pizzas from next door in what was a perfect recreation of a typical Nicole and Jeff Friday night date. I am not giving up Colorado Wine Company. It is a wonderful business. However, I am going to have to forego my very favorite luxury.
For now.
Savings: $80 per month.
Total recurring monthly savings so far: $145 per month.
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