Could be vice versa, but in this CNN Money article, the husband sounds like a douche.

“I am a miser,” Brittany freely admits. “I’d rather have money in the bank than almost anything else.”

Not Michael. “I think that’s stupid,” he responds with a laugh. “Take the hair shirt off and live your life a little.”

Everyone will probably agree that financial issue can be a major source of tension in relationships, especially when the couples differ on their handling of finances. A part of me always wonder why people don’t work (or find) out the possible financial differences before committing to a marriage; but of course, I know next to nothing about marriage.

(more…)

Stop Buying Crap #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 | #11 | #12 | #13 | #14 | #15 | #16

Stinking Bottle Water That Cost More Than Earl Grey Tea

You’re probably like me—every time you’re forced to buy a bottle of water at some outdoor event, you curse the human body for it’s pitiful need to be hydrated.

“Oh, why didn’t I bring a canteen with me on this hike through the desert!?”

Because as you know, $1.25 for a bottle of water at the local Desert-Mart is a total rip-off.

Here’s how (probably) Pepsi’s Aquafina got started:

“Guys, I just got a great idea,” says one PepsiCo executive, “Get this, we’ll buy water from the local municipal tap water, treat it with our ’special’ purification process, mark it up 3,000% and watch the profits roll in!”

“That’s bloody brilliant!”

If you rely on bottled water as one of your primary water source—you’re seriously throwing money down the drain. Even if you buy those 1-gallon jugs, the cost will add up significantly compare to the alternatives of tap water and home filters.

In most develop country, the municipal water supplies are of just as high quality as bottled water, if not better (especially compare to some mineral water bottles).

If convenience is your issue, buy a canteen. They come in all these different crazy sizes, you’re bound to find one that suits your needs. If taste is one of the issue, chill the water before use. When water is ice cold, taste difference are a lot less noticeable. If your like those ‘flavor splash’ bottled water, buy a freaking fruit—it’s healthier.

Related Links

• Consumer Report on choices of water and their cost

If you ever find yourself driving in Southern California, this guide may be quite handy.

Traffic congestion is a tricky and complicated business, requiring looks into other larger problems such as the social and economical impact in the region. Thus, it’s entirely appropriate for a so-called personal finance blog to put forth a guide on some of the busiest highways in the nation.

The 5-6 AM Crowd

This is probably one of the better crowds to drive with. These guys aren’t on the road for fun, they’re trying to get to work. Their no-BS attitude makes the commuting experience a blast. That is, incident free blast. No fuss, just from point A to point B and be done with it. They’re usually not distracted by the cell phone because they understand the ones awake at this time are probably also on the road with them.

The 5 to 6 crowd also likes to drive at a fairly fast pace, even though the highway is slowly becoming semi-congested. They’ve dance the dance before, so they know the routine. They understand that if they drive at a slow speed in the fast left lanes, they’ll just be making things worse for everyone. So, they’ve concluded that if everyone drives at a reasonable speed together, things will work out O-K.

Unfortunately, congestion occurs due to accidents by douches from other time periods. They think they need to speed through traffic just because they woke up in the middle of the night at an unknown location; or, have to get to work early that particular day to setup some lame meeting.

The 7-8 AM Crowd

Argh. It’s not that the 7 to 8 AM crowds are morons, it’s just there’s so many of them that your chance of having morons on the road greatly increases. There’s not much to say about the 7 to 8 AM crowd, they’re just too many of them. Damn the standard working hours.

Problems occur during this time period can usually be attributed to previously mentioned morons. Occasionally you’ll also get a 5-6 AM dude, waking up late and panicking. He’ll forget his daily training and attempt (in vain) to fly through the 7 to 8 crowd.

The 9-11 AM Crowd

At around 9 AM, the transition period, you’ll still have some unlucky 7-8 people around. Unfortunately they don’t magically disappear. At 10 to 11 AM, things quiet down a wee bit. Life gets a bit easier. People commuting at this time are those lucky bastards that have work or school late. You’ll also see some of them in cars that’s worth three times more than yours. The real infuriating thing about these schmucks is the fact that you know their car can go 0-60 in 5.3 seconds, but they’re getting on the highway on-ramp at the speed of a turtle.

As you’re stuck behind said vehicle doing 40 mph, slowly merging in while the highway traffic is at a brisk pace of 70, you curse out loud and realized that you’ll die today, all because some jackass won’t merge on the highway at a reasonable speed.

The 12-3 PM Crowd

You have your lunch crowd, the shopping crowd, the pick kids up from school crowd, and the got-off work-early-yay-I’m-free crowd. All of them are on cell phones.

“What? You’re still at work? How unfortunate!”

Some of will have one hand on the phone and the other hand on the wheel. The ones with bluetooth headsets etc. aren’t any better, they’ll fling their free hands about in the air as they describe an event to the other person on the line—even though the other person can’t see them.

You’ll curse out loud as one of them slowly drift into your lane without realizing it. You honk madly to little result, as they’re oblivious to what they just did. So you drive past them and stare at them hard, because that’s the universal ‘you’re driving like an asshole’ sign.

“Oh man this ugly guy is totally looking at me, I think he’s trying to hit on me!”

The 4-6 PM Crowd

@#^&*$@!!!

“I just want to get home so I can watch So You Think You Can Dance!”

The 7-10 PM Crowd

Some are the ones still stuck from the 4 to 6 PM rush hours, those poor fools. Although traffic has lighten up, the 7 to 10 PM crowds aren’t any better. They’re a jumpy, impatient lot. They’re either late for their date or late for some sort of event or another. Everyone’s cutting through traffic, trying to beat the next car ahead of them.

Problems occur during this time are usually due to some stupid 7 to 10 person in their fixed up ride, thinking they’re Michale Knight from Knight Rider. Some will be in really fast vehicles, losing control because they upped the engine but didn’t up the suspension, tires, or brakes. Some will be in POS vehicles (but not to them), losing control because—well, they’re in a POS vehicle.

The 11-4 AM Crowd

Should really be at home already. Don’t they have jobs or something, dammit?

There are thankfully very little of this crowd, so there aren’t too many problems. Occasionally you get unlucky and you’ll meet the 11 to 4 AM highway construction crowd.

Noteworthy Negative Impacts on Southern California Highway

1. Rain - Southern Californian’s nemesis.

It’s really silly, but a good number of people living in Southern California cannot drive in the rain.

The minute a sprinkle drops, red brake lights will appear and traffic will suddenly slow down 40 mph. Which would be fine, if it wasn’t so abrupt and sudden. Oh sh*t rain! *slams on brake*

Things get more stupid when everyone starts speeding up again. “Hah, all that hype about driving slow in the rain, what a bunch of BS! It’s not that bad at all!”

Southern Californians, for some reason, cannot understand the fact that tires may have a difficult time touching the ground surface when there is a layer of water between them—especially since water can’t magically compress itself. Thus, there are treads on tires to help with traction during wet condition. Southern Californians will do well to remember that when treads on a tire are gone, they should replace the tires. Unless they like spinning around on the 405.

The possible impaired visibility from rain would dictate that you should replace your tail lights if they’re broken, and you should swap out your wiper blades if they’re dulled. But why bother, it never rains.

2. CHP - You know, California Highway Patrol

It’s not that they make things worse for everyone. They probably do a good job on pulling over wacky drivers.

The problem is, whenever their presence is known, you’re suddenly stuck in granny driving land. Everyone will suddenly drive at 61 mph, clustering together, afraid to pass the CHP unit.

You’ll try in vain to get out of the wolf pack, so you can get to your exit. But, that’ll never happen till the CHP unit exit the highway (only to get back on the next entrance). Apparently, some people still get fooled by this tactic.

3. Driver License from Cereal Boxes

The license to drive in California, is given out as if they’re the free prize from a cereal box. Yours truly is a testament to that. Drivers education in California is lacking severely, while DMV testing is a crazy joke. Some are insanely hard, failing you if you dare to cough. Conversely, some are insanely easy, passing you even if you storm through stop signs (because they’re in a good mood that day).

Regardless of how silly DMV driving test is, you will eventually get a license—even if your driving skill is crap. This issue probably applies all across the country anyway. Just compare our driving statistics with that of other developed nations with higher license requirement (e.g., age requirements).

Other Friendly Tips

1. When merging on the highway, merge at reasonable speed. When you force other cars to brake, you create a not too awesome chain reaction at entrance points.
2. Just because your ride has AWD doesn’t mean you can cut through traffic in a rain storm at 90 mph. It doesn’t mean your tires will magically stick better to wet ground.
3. If you like to drive at 55 mph, please stick to the right lane. When there’s a trail of car behind you but none in the next lane, you’re probably driving too damn slow.
4. If you merge all the way to the carpool lane only to drive slower than traffic in regular lanes, you’re a douche bag. Get back out to the regular lanes, please.
5. When you’re driving past an accident, please don’t slow down just so you can ogle at the scene. It would probably be good if you just keep going at a reasonable speed.

Happy Driving!

Every time I see a person sign up for a retail store credit card at the check-out line, a little part of me dies inside. I would scream “No! Don’t do it!” silently, hoping to convey my dismay telepathically. Unfortunately, it never seemed to work.

There are about sixty-seven different reasons why you shouldn’t apply for a retail store credit card, but for the sake of simplicity and my sanity, let’s just go with five:

1. Shady credit lenders.
2. Interest rates are ridiculously high.
3. Tarnish your credit with unnecessary line of credit.
4. Benefits are usually nil while penalty fees are usually in abundance.
5. Some are store-only credit cards and can’t be used for purchase at other locations.

Reason #1

When you apply for a store credit card, it is usually issued by a sub-prime lender in partnership with that particular store. You may enjoy shopping at that store, they may have great customer service, but be wary to associate their credit card offering with the actual store.

Store cards like Gap Card, Banana Republic Card, etc. are issued by the infamous Monogram Credit Card Bank, an offspring of GE Money. They are notorious for their shady practices, such as magical late fees and magical finance charges even if you paid balance in full. If you don’t pay attention to the actual bank that issues the line of credit, you’ll be doing yourself a major disservice.

Reason #2

The interest rates are ridiculously high. Expect APR in the ranges of 20%-24%

“Sign-up for an IKEA card and get 15% off right now!”

Wow. 15% off the brand new dorm room set sounds like a smashin’ deal—but not if you carry a balance. Alright, no problem—all you have to do is pay in full and you’re set. Except when you deal with shady lenders like mentioned above.

“Woops, we accidentally charged you. We’ll fix that and credit your account right away.”

“Hmm? You still have those charges plus extra finance charges from the previous month? Well… okay, we can only remove one of them though.”

Reason #3

It’s one thing to build credit, it’s another thing to screw up your credit with large amount of unnecessary accounts open. The entire ordeal can be made even more confusing by the fact that sometimes closing unused accounts may end up hurting your credit score, especially if you carry large balances.

It’s very simple. Don’t have more credit cards than you have fingers (hah, yours truly is approaching the forbidden ten as we speak). A small saving at some retail store isn’t worth the amounts you’ll pay when you have trouble obtaining favorable mortgage rate in the future.

Reason #4

The benefits are usually stupid. Congratulations! You’ve spent $1,000 at Banana Republic. Here’s a $10 gift card! Oh, there’s a minimum purchase of $100.

But while the benefits are few and far in between, the penalty rate and fees are more than many regular bank issued credit card, even compare to other sub-prime lenders. Things will probably be okay if you stay vigilant, but using a credit card shouldn’t require mass paranoia—just a small dose of healthy suspicion.

Reason #5

Some of these credit cards are store-only credit cards. If you don’t see a VISA, MasterCard logo (or a Discover like the Wal-Mart card pictured above), you won’t be able to make purchase with them at other places. Not a big deal if you’re a frequent shopper at those specific stores, but when combine with all those reasons above, doesn’t it reduce the value and utility of the credit card by a bit? Why bother making purchase with a card that can potentially give you so much trouble, especially when you have other options?

Alternatives

A lot of people seem to suggest store cards to build credit with, due to their general no credit, bad credit friendliness. In my opinion, they’re to be used as a last resort in rebuilding credit. If you have no credit because you’re a student, there are many student credit cards available from nation-wide banks such as Citi, Bank of America, and numerous others. The Citi mtvU Visa Card, despite associated with the now-crappy music channel, is actually a pretty good pick for many students.

Bad credit and want to shape up? Try out local credit union, or check out Patelco Credit Union’s Visa & MasterCard. It has been noted by others with bad-credit that you should try applying via phone with Patelco to increase your chance of approval. You can also check with your bank or credit union to see if they offer secured credit cards.

Having said all that, the next time the cashier ask you if you would like to sign up for a credit card, politely tell them “No thanks, I don’t think it’s a good idea to open a line of unnecessary credit which may potentially jeopardize my credit without carefully considering the benefits.”

If you dont’ do that, you may find yourself being stared at intently by a weirdo from the next check-out isle, with his lips moving and seeming to whisper, “No… don’t do it.”

Related Post:

• Oh #@&! The Credit Card Company Held a Gun to My Head & Forced Me to Use the Card!

Hi.

Welcome to the blog. According to the stats, 65% of you said “what the hell is this” and left within five seconds. No biggie. I’m rather used to that, being ugly and all.

Here are some recent post of note:

• HOWTO: Keep Track of 95% of Your Accounts in One Place
• Understand Credit Card Terms & Condition Because You Don’t Want to Get Screwed

You should click on the big orange icon on the left and subscribe to the blog, as you’ll be guaranteed to at least three two worthwhile post per year.

Before you leave, please check out the links to other personal finance blogs, you’re bound to find something you like!

Thanks to Karyn McCormack for the spiffy article and keeping safe my secret identity. heh

Crap or Not? Tempur-Pedic Mattresses and Pillows

Aka “memory foam” for the generic and cheaper brand.

Some people seem to swear by this thing. The infomercial often touts that sleeping on these mattress will make you feel like you’re sinking into a cloud. Or, slowly drowning in the sea—as how I felt when I tried it.

The often found polyurethane based material was original designed for NASA for use in the space program (was it ever actually used?), hence the wacky mention of “the only mattress recognized by NASA and certified by the Space Foundation.”

Spiffy.

Said mattress can be found for over thousands of dollars. Every salesman you’ve met will tell you that “9 out of 10″ people loved it. Hype aside, memory foams have many medical application, especially for those who have to be bed bound for long periods of time.

Hmm. Crap or not? You can vote on the top left of the blog.

Poll Result:

Related Post:

• Crap or Not #7 - Digital Cameras
• Crap or Not #6 - First & Business Class
• Crap or Not #5 - Gym Membership
• Crap or Not #4 - TMX Elmo
• Crap or Not #2 - AAA Membership
• Crap or Not #1 - Ionic Breeze Air Purifiers

Stop Buying Crap #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 | #11 | #12 | #13 | #14

If You Don’t Buy All These Stuff, You’re Going to FAIL

Reader’s email:

Has shopping for “Back to School supplies” become the new corporate holiday?

I’m sure it hasn’t. Your kids definitely need a Lightning McQueen Portable CD Boombox for the upcoming school year. Or a new iPod, wireless router, and digital camera.

If you stroll around fine retail stores such as Target, you will no doubt realize that, if you dare use last year’s backpack, notebook, and binders—you will fail miserably academically. Because as you all know, backpacks magically disintegrate within a year.

Wardrobes are another story. Reader’s email suggest that kids do in fact grow astronomically through summer, so new clothes may be essential, but not $1,000 essential.

The same goes with you silly college students. Text books are expensive enough as it is, don’t fool yourself into thinking that you need a new desk, laptop, or the latest styling—no body cares what you look like anyway. You don’t need to extreme makeover your dorm room, nor do you need new bedsheets—try washing them for a change.

Cap’s back to school supply: $200 textbook, paper from Costco (supply since elementary), free pen and notepads from local realtor.

Sick of getting those credit card solicitation in the mail?

Head over to optoutprescreen.com or call 1-888-567-8688. Tell them politely that you’re no longer interested and want to see other people. It’s best for the relationship.

You have the choice of:

• Opt-Out and have a long break of 5 years.
• Opt-Out permanently, since the relationship was dead 3 years ago.
• Opt-In. Maybe you reconsidered and figured it’s not so bad.

But wait, the point of this post isn’t to tell you to opt-out. For a lot of people, there is a very valid reason to not opt-out.

FACT: Some of the juiciest credit card offers are only available if you’re opt-in.

If you have Hercules-like credit score and history, and you’re interested in receiving some pretty nifty credit card offers, you really should stay opt-in. Low prime rate cards, insanely high credit-limit, and lengthy promotional rate period—these offers are out there, but many of them are not available to the general public.

Even if you don’t have superb credit score and history, staying opt-in may be to your advantage, especially if you’re in the market for new credit cards. Although pre-approve hardly means you qualify for the credit card offer, having a gauge of what type of cards you may qualify can help a lot when your credit’s not so good. Receiving hundreds of credit card offers can also help you gauge your credit rating in the eyes of lenders. As your history and score improve, the types and amount of offers you receive will definitely vary.

Having said all that, here are some reasons to Opt-Out:

• You’re incredibly persuadable and apply to credit card offers like it’s free cookie.
• You may not be savvy enough (yet) to distinguishing between bad and good offers.
• You base your credit worthiness on the amount of offers you get.
• You’ve gone through three shredders to shred these card offers.
• The amount of junk mail you get toppled your mail box.
• You’re shopping for a mortgage or refinance soon and don’t enjoy refinance calls.
• Finally, you hate how they spell your name wrong on these offers.

Hmm. Maybe there should be a change to the title of the post.